The last snooker match before the World Championship takes place on Sunday when Neil Robertson meets Jack Lisowski in the China Open final in Beijing. The difference between winning and losing this match is £135,000 so the stakes are pretty high.
This is the second final these two will have competed in this season. They opened the campaign in the Riga Masters final. That was the best-of-nine frames while this one will see the winner being the first one to reach 11 over two sessions.
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Neil Robertson
Regardless of what the world rankings might say, there is no better snooker player at the present time than Neil Robertson. He has made the final of the last four tournaments that he has entered, winning in Wales, and is the overwhelming favourite to win here too. He has been particularly dominant this week and looks a worthy favourite.
At one point this week Robertson had won 17 frames on the bounce and although Luca Brecel ran him relatively close in the semi-final, the Australian’s scoring power came to the fore and he ran out a deserved winner. Robertson made 10 breaks of 50 or more in that semi-final and similar scoring here would make him incredibly tough to deny.
Jack Lisowski
He has been knocking on the door all season and now Jack Lisowski has another chance to win his first major title. His good friend Judd Trump won this title back in 2011 and went on to make the world final and the left-hander will be looking to emulate that. Lisowski plays a very similar game to his pal too which adds to the fascination around him here.
After a brutally tough quarter final, Lisowski breezed through the semi-final against a Scott Donaldson for whom the occasion and the exertions of the week to that stage had got the better of him. Lisowski has raised his scoring in the last couple of rounds and if he can keep scoring well here and get the pressure on Robertson, he could yet nick the title.
Head-to-Head
These two have met on three occasions away from the Championship League and Robertson has a 3-0 lead in those battles. He won that Riga Masters final at the beginning of the campaign 5-2 and he also won a two-session semi-final between the two in the International Championship earlier in the season too. Their other meeting came a few years ago which the Australian also won so history is very much on his first heading into this one.
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Betting
I think this final is priced up about right in terms of the match betting. I would expect Robertson to win but I would expect Lisowski to have the scoring power to stay relatively close to him at the same time so nothing stands out in the main match. There is one bet that I like to keep me entertained from the side markets though.
When the two met in a 9-7 win for Robertson in the International Championship earlier this season there were three centuries so the extra distance on top in this match should see us get to a fourth one if they score at the same rate they did back then. Robertson is definitely playing much better now and Lisowski scores for fun. 10/11 on over 3.5 tons looks the best way to attack this final.
Tips
Back Over 3.5 centuries for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Betfair
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