The opening Home Nations event of the season will see its champion crowned on Sunday when Stuart Bingham and Mark Davis meet in the English Open final for the Steve Davis Trophy over the best of 17 frames in Crawley.
This might not have been the final many expected when the week began but these two have been the standout players of the week and as such we should get a thrilling conclusion to what has been an excellent week of snooker.
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Mark Davis
I guess when a player beats John Higgins, Ryan Day and Ronnie O’Sullivan from the last 16 onwards it is hard to argue that he does not deserve his place in a final. That is exactly what Davis has done and remarkably he has only dropped four frames in those three matches. That might be the best statistic of them all in fairness.
We should recognise that all three opponents clearly had their issues but to make a big thing of it would be to the detriment of Davis and that would be unfair. What has been impressive and what has caught the eye regarding Davis, who competes in his first major 15 red final here, is that his scoring has got better with every match he has played on the main table.
Stuart Bingham
You would say that Stuart Bingham is the more comfortable man at this stage of a tournament. He has won a number of titles including the biggest one in the game so the occasion and the spotlight and magnitude of it is unlikely to get to the Essex cueist. He goes into the final as the favourite though and that isn’t always the easiest thing to live with.
Bingham might not have the level of opponents on his record this week that Davis has but only really Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in one of the earlier rounds has given him any problems. Bingham has dismissed Ali Carter and Stephen Maguire to make it into this final so it isn’t like he is here by fluke. He has scored very well all week and has looked to ooze confidence, not just on the table, but in his interviews away from it.
Head to Head
These two men have met on 24 previous occasions throughout their lengthy careers with Davis holding the slight edge by 13 wins to 11. He has won the last four meetings however to a frame differential of 13-1. That has actually taken Davis ahead by 78 to 76 in terms of the frames they have won against each other. Bingham can take comfort from the fact he leads 5-2 in meetings in the last 16 onwards in tournament play.
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Betting
I’m already going to make some decent money on this final having backed Stuart Bingham to win the tournament. Therefore with the 20/1 place money in the bank I’m effectively on him at 40/1 here which is more than enough interest for me in the match betting but there is one bet for the final that I can’t ignore.
That comes in the total frames market where the 10/11 on over 14.5 frames looks too big to ignore. We have a couple of players in sensational form here. Davis is probably edging it on the week so far but you’ve got to think Bingham will close in if Davis sees the finishing line should the Sussex man pull clear. Bingham hasn’t won a title for a while though but in truth both men look to be playing well and I don’t see either running away with it. 9-6 either way gets the job done and given what they’ve shown this week I would be surprised if it is any easiest than that.
Tips
WON – Back Over 14.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
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