The Champion of Champions got underway with a very competitive group on Monday and we have similar in store inside the Ricoh Arena on Tuesday, when four more hopefuls bid to qualify for the semi-finals of the competition.
Neil Robertson made it through to the last four on Monday and on Tuesday the likes of Mark Selby and Mark Allen will attempt to join him. They might not have it all their own way though so we should be in for another excellent day of action.
Mark Selby vs Yan Bingtao
The first match in Group 3 sees the former world champion and winner of the English Open in Mark Selby, going up against the talented Chinese player Yan Bingtao, who won the Riga Masters to make it into this event.
Bingtao is full of class but I have to admit I’ve been a little disappointed since he won the Riga Masters. I was on him for that tournament because I’m a big fan but he has barely won a match since then and although he loves the big stage I’m unsure he is in the sort of form needed to take care of Selby. Selby won the English Open just a couple of weeks ago and he was going well in China last week too until he ran into Stuart Bingham who smacked in four tons and a 90 against him.
That might just be the sort of form it will need to beat Selby at the minute and while I like Bingtao, there has been no evidence recently that he is in that sort of touch. I’m happy to take Selby to come through this one with a bit in hand. I just think he has better recent form and that extra nous.
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Mark Allen vs Matt Selt
The second group semi-final should be a competitive affair as the Scottish Open champion Mark Allen takes on the tournament debutant in the form of the Indian Open winner Matt Selt for a place in the group final later in the day.
Selt is here on merit which is the first thing you need to say about him. It isn’t easy to win any tournament these days so he deserves credit for that but he doesn’t play his best stuff on the bigger stages and that is something he needs to start doing to go to the next level. Allen is arguably the best big game player in the game outside Trump and O’Sullivan and like all star players relishes these situations where there is only one table and all eyes on him.
Like the earlier match I expect the more experienced player to be too good here but there isn’t a whole lot of margin for error on the -2.5 line and the price isn’t that appealing on the -1.5 line so rather than force something I’m going to sit this one out I think.
Group Betting
The odds suggest that the final of this group will be Mark Selby against Mark Allen and that is pretty much how I see it as well. Sometimes I like to take on the market in these group books but I just don’t fancy either outsider to win their opening match enough to even consider chancing one of them to win the group.
I’m not going to bet on the outcome of the group because that match up would be a pick ‘em one for me. Assuming it is that final we expect I’ll be looking to get involved in over 9.5 frames in the group final but heading into the group there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of value anywhere so I’ll leave that alone too.
Tips
WON – Back M.Selby (-1.5 frames) to beat Y.Bingtao for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Bet365
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