The latest snooker title will be won on Sunday when the world champion Judd Trump takes on the Shootout winner Thepchaiya Un-Nooh for the World Open trophy and the cool matter of the £150,000 first prize.
This could be a career defining day for the Thai player as he would catapult himself into the top 16 in the world rankings with a win and really launch his career. A win for Trump would see his dominance of the game continue.
Judd Trump
I said going into his semi-final with John Higgins that we hadn’t seen the best of Judd Trump in this tournament and I still don’t think we have, but what we have seen is all of his competitive intent. Many a player could have folded in the semi-final when Higgins recovered from 5-2 down to level at 5-5 so credit must go to the world champion for showing such good poise and holding himself together to get the job done.
In order to feel comfortable in this final, Trump would like to score better than he has done in recent matches. He has only made one century in his last three matches and that is unlike him so if he can find some confidence in the balls he will feel good about himself here. If he can’t he can fall back on a much improved safety game but the last thing he wants to be doing is leaving his opponent with chances.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
You get the feeling that the last couple of weeks have defined Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. He won the tournament last week with a win over Mark Selby along the way and he has already seen off Dave Gilbert and Kyren Wilson in this tournament. It has been noticeable how his safety game has improved in that recent period and although one or two of his shot selections were questionable in the semi-final, his character can’t be questioned.
The Thai number one has come from 4-2 down to Dave Gilbert and 5-3 down to Kyren Wilson to win in deciding frames and in those deciders he has put together excellent breaks under extreme pressure. All snooker fans have always known that Un-Nooh has all the talent to be a major player in this game but much like his opponent here it has taken him a while to get his all-round game up to a decent standard. It looks to be there now.
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Head-to-Head
These two men have met on four previous occasions with Trump holding a 3-1 advantage. Un-Nooh won their meeting in the Six Red tournament so the three 15 red matches have all been won by Trump. When you look at the frame total though Trump only holds a 21-18 lead. Of their previous meetings, the only one which feels remotely relevant here is their last one which came in the World Championship earlier in the year. Trump won it but it went to a deciding frame over this same 19 frame distance and at one point in the match Un-Nooh led 7-4 so that should give the Thai plenty of encouragement.
Betting
Followers of this site right from the beginning of the tournament are in an excellent position as we are on Thepchaiya Un-Nooh to win this match at 100/1 having named him as our outright bet for the week. We already have the 50/1 place money in the bank so we can sit back at what is effectively a free shot for all the loot to make a wonderful week an amazing one for us.
In terms of this final though we have an interesting mix. Trump has to be considered the better player of the two of course but there is no doubt in my mind that Un-Nooh has played the better snooker this week and that dynamic could well lead us to a close match, assuming the Thai settles into the final early doors. That makes me think that over 15.5 frames is the way to go here. The World Championship meeting between the two wasn’t the only time they’ve gone to a decider. There is enough to think we’ll have a lengthy final here.
Tips
Back Over 15.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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