Although the last tournament only finished in China on Sunday, the Champion of Champions gets going at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Monday as the winners of the tournaments of the last year descend on the midlands for what is usually a good week of snooker.
Just the one table is in operation from the start of the tournament to the end which raises the profile of the competition significantly and often sorts the men from the boys. Conditions should be excellent and the snooker should be too.
Recent Winners
2017 – Shaun Murphy
2016 – John Higgins
2015 – Neil Robertson
2014 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
The Format
The 16 men in the field have been split into four groups of four. Each group has two semi-finals over the best of seven frames and a final over the best of 11 frames to determine who wins each one and progresses to the semi-final of the tournament. One group is played out on each of the first four days.
The two semi-finals are played over the best of 11 frames on Friday night and Saturday night and then the winner of a decent first prize and a title which is becoming more and more coveted will be decided over the best of 19 frames in a two-session final on Sunday.
Group 1
Shaun Murphy is the defending champion this week and as a result he is the number one seed and the top man in Group 1 which will be played out on Monday. He is joined by Ding Junhui as well as the European Masters champion Jimmy Robertson and the man who landed the Snooker Shootout at the beginning of the year in Michael Georgiou.
Group 2
Group 2 will take place on Thursday and it will feature both finalists in the International Championship over the weekend. They are Riga Masters and Scottish Open champion Neil Robertson and Masters champion Mark Allen. China Championship winner Mark Selby and Barry Hawkins are the seeded players in what looks like the pick of the groups on paper at least.
Group 3
We go from the best group to arguably the most open of the groups in the form of Group 3 which will be played out on the baize on Wednesday. World champion Mark Williams headlines it with Judd Trump the other seeded player in the section. They will face up against the Paul Hunter Classic champion Kyren Wilson and the former China Championship winner Luca Brecel.
Group 4
This is the other tasty looking group which has the former champions Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins in it. They would make for a wonderful group final if they can both win their opening matches on Tuesday. The English Open winner Stuart Bingham and the Gibraltar Open champion Ryan Day make up what should be an outstanding day of snooker on the second day of the tournament.
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Betting
When we look at betting on this tournament there are a couple of things to bear in mind, the main one being the effect the International Championship will have on some of the players. I believe those who weren’t in China last week or who went out early could have something of an advantage here.
I’m keen not to bet outright in the top half of the draw because Ronnie O’Sullivan’s record in these select invitation events is pretty good so the man I’m going with this week is Kyren Wilson. He will face Mark Williams in the first round who isn’t firing on all cylinders and who Wilson has a good record against and worst case scenario in the group final would be Judd Trump and he has a good record on him too. A semi-final would be against someone who has been globetrotting early in the week so Wilson has a favourable draw. He was dumped out on the first Sunday of the International Championship so he’ll have been home more than a week by the time his group is played. That’s a massive advantage and he can capitalise on that.
Tips
PLACED – Back K.Wilson to win Champion of Champions (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 23.00 with Coral (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
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