The last snooker final of 2018 takes place at the Emirates Arena on Sunday when Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen meet in the Scottish Open final with the Stephen Hendry Trophy and a decent Christmas bonus at stake for the winner.
Both men had their stories to tell in the semi-finals but they overcame them to take their place in this final where they will meet over the best-of-17 frames and two sessions to determine who walks away with the trophy.
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Shaun Murphy
Going into the tournament there won’t have been many who would have expected to be watching Shaun Murphy on the final day but there is a saying about form being temporary and class being permanent and the former world champion is a living example of that. Although he has had to come through a couple of tight encounters he has been pretty comfortable throughout the event so far.
You always want to watch a player get better as a tournament goes on. It is a sign that he should go very well in the final and that is what we have seen from Murphy. Having arrived here with low expectation you get the feeling there will be an air of freedom around the Magician in this final. He showed in the Champion of Champions final last year that he can deliver in title showdowns.
Mark Allen
They don’t give out awards for a player of the calendar year but if they did then Mark Allen would surely be close to it having won The Masters and the International Championship as well as making the final of the UK Championship last week and now this. It is not stretching the truth to suggest that he is in the form of his life right now.
I said before his semi-final that he appears to be running out of juice and that proved to be the case as he slid 5-2 down to Daniel Wells but the Welshman did not finish him off and Allen came through to make it into this final where he will know he needs to up his levels dramatically if he is to go away with the title.
Head to Head
These two good friends have played each other on 18 occasions in all competitions with Murphy leading 12-6 so far. This is the first time they will have met in any final let alone one of this stature. Allen has won their last two ranking event matches but they have not met since 2016 and both are different players now so how much weight that holds I’m not sure. Murphy only leads 76-62 in frames which suggests that his wins tend to be quite close with Allen generally winning with a bit to spare.
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Betting
I’m already on Shaun Murphy to win this final at 50/1 and with the 25/1 place part of that bet already landed I’m in no rush to bet on the outcome of this match if for no other reason than I actually expect Murphy to win it. I think he’s getting better this week whereas Allen is teetering on the edge of not having a lot left and by his own admission he hasn’t taken it seriously at all.
I do like Murphy to make the highest break in this final. He didn’t score as he can in his semi-final win over Judd Trump but he still had four runs of 70+ which was decent enough. The two centuries when his opponent was collapsing in the semi-final aside Allen hasn’t really scored all that well this week. I’ve a feeling Murphy could dominate this final and were he to do that he would make the highest break too.
Tips
Back S.Murphy Highest Break for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Skybet
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