The group stage of the Champion of Champions has concluded and now the semi-finals are the focus of attention beginning with the first one on Friday evening when Neil Robertson takes on Mark Selby inside the behind closed doors setup at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
Both these men came through tough matches in their group to make it through to this stage. These two players aren’t just two of the best in the world, they are both in good form so we should be in for something of a cracking contest here.
Neil Robertson
Although the opening match for Neil Robertson was easy enough with Jimmy White never at the races and unlikely to beat the Australian anyway, he had to come through a tricky test against Ding Junhui in the group final, which looked like it might go either way at 4-4 before Robertson pulled away to win 6-4. The defending champion made four centuries in his group which highlights how well he played when you consider he only won 10 frames.
Robertson had been in good touch going into this tournament after making it through to the English Open final where interestingly he beat Mark Selby in the semi-final that week. He was also a quarter finalist in the European Masters so having not particularly impressed without crowds at the end of last season, the Aussie looks to have come to terms with the surroundings and is playing the snooker we expect of him in recent times.
Mark Selby
The group stage for Mark Selby was exactly what we have come to expect from him in the past. He was behind in both matches but battled back on both occasions to come through and take his place in this semi-final. It was particularly typical Selby in the group final where he trailed Kyren Wilson 4-0 but he doesn’t know when he’s beaten and although he eventually fell 5-3 behind he won the last three matches to make it through and he is very much a danger from here on in.
Much like his opponent in this match, Selby came into the tournament in very good form. He won the European Masters to open up the season and made it to the semi-final of the English Open. He also made the final day of the Championship League so Selby has been playing some good snooker. He has actually been scoring very well this term too. He has already made 11 centuries in the first three tournaments so if he adds that regularly to his battling game he is going to be hard to beat.
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Head to Head
These two men are certainly no strangers to meeting each other. This will be the 20th time they do battle with Robertson having the edge with 11 wins to the eight of Selby. Interestingly though Robertson only leads by five on the overall frame count which suggests that when Selby wins he wins well but Robertson only gets over the line narrowly. This will actually be their third battle behind closed doors after Selby got the better of Robertson at the World Championship before the Australian got revenge at the English Open last month. This will be their fifth semi-final with Robertson having won three of the first four.
Betting
My hunch is that Mark Selby might think that he is playing with the house money after his escapology act in the previous round and with that in mind I fancy he could well win this match but there is nothing certain about it and when you look through the history books you would have to side with Robertson because he has won more of their previous matches and tends to have a better record when they clash at this stage of a tournament.
That makes me swerve the match market but that is fine because the best bet here has to be over 9.5 frames. When they met in the last four of the English Open last month they went to a deciding frame and I don’t think anyone will be too surprised if we are seeing the full 11 frames here either. By and large matches between these two are pretty tight affairs as their styles blend well so taking that into account it is hard to see either running away with this. Whoever wins and however they do it, I expect the end outcome to be 6-4 or 6-5 either way.
Tips
WON – Back Over 9..5 frames for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
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