There is plenty of prize money up for grabs this week when the 16 best players of the snooker season so far head to Wales for the Players Championship up in Llandudno. Although only 16 players are in the tournament this is a ranking event so those not yet in the top 16 for the World Championship have a major chance of improving their credentials.
Mark Allen would have been the defending champion this week but he didn’t qualify for the tournament so we are guaranteed a different champion this year.
Recent Winners
2016 – Mark Allen
2015 – Joe Perry
2014 – Barry Hawkins
2013 – Ding Junhui
2012 – Stephen Lee
2011 – Shaun Murphy
The Format
We’re finally done with those pesky best of seven frame matches for the rest of the season and it is longer course snooker from here on in. The first round and quarter finals are the best of nine frames this week and then the semi-finals are the best of 11 before the final is decided over the best of 19 frames.
Top Half
I think it is fair to say this is the weaker half of the draw even allowing for the fact it has the world and UK champion Mark Selby in it. Welsh Open champion Stuart Bingham, Scottish Open champion Marco Fu and Shanghai Masters winner Ding Junhui complete the seeds.
Indian Open winner Anthony McGill heads the rest in this quarter with Champion of Champions winner John Higgins, World Grand Prix finalist Ryan Day and the German Masters champion Anthony Hamilton are the other players in this half.
Bottom Half
There are some real big players in this part of the draw. World Grand Prix champion Barry Hawkins and European Masters winner Judd Trump are two of the big names here while the seeds are completed by The Masters champion Ronnie O’Sullivan and World Open winner Ali Carter.
There are champions everywhere you look in this half and the unseeded players are all winners too. Northern Ireland winner Mark King, English Open champion Liang Wenbo, Gibraltar Open winner Shaun Murphy and Riga Masters winner Neil Robertson complete the field.
Betting
I’m going to take a player in each half this week in what is a really wide open tournament which is going to take a fair amount of winning given that the 16 form players on the tour are all here.
In the top half I’m going to take the Welshman who will hope to thrill the home crowd in Ryan Day. He faces Mark Selby in the first match which isn’t easy but if he can come through that then this draw could open right up for him. He comes here in good form. He made the World Grand Prix final last month and the final of the Championship League last week as well as the semi-final in Gibraltar over the weekend. He’s clearly in great touch and 40/1 looks a touch too big in this tournament.
In the other half I’m going to take the man who won in Gibraltar on Sunday. That is Shaun Murphy who should be feeling good about this week not just because he won over the weekend but because he won at this venue last year when taking the World Grand Prix title. There were signs in the Shootout that Murphy was hitting the ball well and he showed that over the weekend. He has a tough draw here but if he plays well he can still come through.
Tips
Back S.Murphy to win Players Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 17.00 with Coral (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back R.Day to win Players Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 41.00 with Winner Sports (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
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