The last group of the Champion of Champions is on the schedule for the card on Thursday, where we will complete the semi-final line up in what is fast becoming one of the best tournaments on the snooker circuit.
Neil Robertson, Mark Allen and Judd Trump are already through to the latter stages and on Thursday inside the Ricoh Arena the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins will look to join them in the final four.
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Jimmy White
When the draw was announced the one match of the group stage that caught the eye of every snooker fan was the one between the defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan and the World Seniors winner Jimmy White.
This is a clash of the two most popular players in the game’s history and the eyes of the snooker world will be on it. I would imagine the majority of them will be on White as we don’t get to see him on the green baize at this sort of level very often anymore. It will be interesting to see if he has caught O’Sullivan at the right time given that the ‘Rocket’ has lost his last two matches, however his record here is little short of incredible. He has never not made the final and these one table invitation events get him going. I’m tempted to back 4-0 O’Sullivan but I’ve already been burnt doing that this week so I’ll leave this one alone and just kick back and watch two greats collide.
John Higgins vs Stuart Bingham
For the third time in the space of two days we have a repeat of a match in the World Open as John Higgins takes on Stuart Bingham for the right to face the first winner in the group final later in the day. Higgins beat Bingham in Yushan and he’s favourite to do it again here.
I would imagine this is going to be an extremely competitive match, because the likelihood of facing O’Sullivan in a one table scenario is something that will appeal to both. Bingham was fantastic in China last week but Higgins pulled him down a peg or two with a barrage of breaks to go along with his excellent safety play. I think this environment will suit Higgins more and so he’s the call at a fair 4/5 price.
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Group Betting
This group is an interesting proposition because if you feel after two defeats to bang average opponents compared to the two he could meet in the final, that O’Sullivan is there for the taking then you can get 4/1 or 11/2 on Higgins or Bingham which offers decent odds on backing the pair knowing you’ve got a winner if O’Sullivan is beaten.
Higgins is definitely good enough to beat O’Sullivan on any stage there’s no doubt about that but I reckon seeing who is in this group will get the juices of the defending champion flowing here. I expect him to be bang up for this which he clearly wasn’t in the English Open nor in China last week. I can’t look past O’Sullivan here but even at 4/9 I can’t be backing him so I’ll leave the group betting alone.
Tips
WON – Back J.Higgins to beat S.Bingham for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
Back him here:
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