It is the penultimate day of the Championship League snooker event on Wednesday, one where we will find out the identity of the four men who will go into the final group on Thursday to do battle for the first title since the sport returned from lockdown.
The shocks are beginning to come thick and fast in this event now and world champion Judd Trump will be out to fend off being another one. He is involved in one of two groups which take place inside the Marshall Arena on Wednesday.
The Format
The whole tour were invited into the tournament with the highest ranked 64 players getting into the draw. The 64 man field have been split into 16 groups of four in the first round. Each group is a round robin with everyone playing everyone else over the best of four frames with two points for a win and one for a draw. The player who tops the group goes through to the group winner stage where the 16 remaining players are split into four more groups of four over the same format. Those four winners then go into the Championship group which is once again played out over the same format. Whoever tops that group is the champion. Two groups will be played on each day until the final day when the Championship group is played. The entire tournament is live on ITV4 in the UK.
Tuesday Recap
We went through the entire first round without a player winning a group after losing a game and on Tuesday both groups were won by men who lost their first match. Stuart Bingham lost his opening match on the main table but rebounded to win his next two 3-0 to send Ronnie O’Sullivan packing from the competition. On the other table Ben Woollaston lost his opener to Martin O’Donnell but never dropped a frame thereafter to secure his place in Thursday’s final group.
We were back to winning ways on Tuesday as the match that Bingham lost was his opening one against Sam Craigie. Craigie should have led 2-0 but got pegged back to 1-1 by the former world champion. It isn’t matter though as he took the last two to deliver the goods at 2/1. Unfortunately Liang Wenbo couldn’t follow suit in his match against Martin O’Donnell which ate into the profits but it was a good day despite that.
Group A
Fixtures
Luca Brecel vs Mark Joyce
Gary Wilson vs Ashley Carty
Gary Wilson vs Mark Joyce
Luca Brecel vs Ashley Carty
Gary Wilson vs Luca Brecel
Mark Joyce vs Ashley Carty
Preview
Table two stages an interesting group which looks to have a couple of fancied runners in with a couple of outsiders. Gary Wilson is the leading player in terms of the rankings in the section and he was phenomenally good in winning his opening group so he looks to be the man to beat. Luca Brecel touched off Jack Lisowski to come through his first group and he looked to be in decent nick so the World Championship semi-finalist might not have this all his own way. The two outsiders will be out to show they are not making up the numbers. Mark Joyce is a seasoned campaigner and coming through this group could be huge for him. Ashley Carty caused a major shock when he came through a group involving Neil Robertson at the weekend so he shouldn’t be scared of anyone here.
Group B
Fixtures
Judd Trump vs Ryan Day
Dave Gilbert vs Barry Hawkins
Dave Gilbert vs Ryan Day
Judd Trump vs Barry Hawkins
Barry Hawkins vs Ryan Day
Judd Trump vs Dave Gilbert
Preview
We were not going to go the entire week without the term ‘Group of Death’ being used and it is probably apt that it has been saved this long because Group B looks the mother of all groups. We have three players firmly inside the top 16 on show here and another who has been in with the elite and who probably still should be there on ability alone. World champion Judd Trump is the favourite to come through the group but the likes of Dave Gilbert and Barry Hawkins need no introductions. They are both capable of winning the tournament let alone this group. As outsiders go, Ryan Day is about as good as they get and the Welshman will be out to show he is getting back to his best after a lengthy spell in the doldrums as he has adjusted to having a new cue.
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Group Betting
You have to be a brave man to get involved in the betting in Group B. There is a genuine case to be made for all four men in that section. The one thing I would say is that Judd Trump looks a little short at odds on in that sort of company. There isn’t a match in the group that he is guaranteed to win. As it is I don’t need to bet on that section because Dave Gilbert, my one remaining outright bet, is in it and given who is in the final already you’ve got to think if he can escape this section he could be the favourite to win the title. That’s enough interest for me there.
The other group has more potential however. Gary Wilson appears to be all the rage after his showing in the opening round where he won all three matches and banged in four tons in the nine frames he won. That is all well and good but I have to ask what he beat in Gerard Greene, Mike Dunn and Mitchell Mann. My suspicion is not much and we’ve already seen the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Liang Wenbo and Sam Craigie who were equally as impressive come a cropper in their semi-final groups. My suspicion is that the form of the group Luca Brecel came out of could stand up here. He saw off Jack Lisowski, Oliver Lines and Robbie Williams and it wasn’t like he didn’t score. He had a 138 break. I get that he only won one of his three matches but he looked in fair touch and in a group which does look to be between the two main protagonists, Brecel looks better value to come out on top.
Match Betting
There isn’t a huge amount which floats my boat over the course of the day in the match betting, although maybe there should be because a case can be made for any result in the ‘Group of Death’. I’m happy to leave Group A alone in the match betting front. You’ve got to think that comes down to the Brecel vs Wilson clash and I’m effectively on Brecel there, especially if he has the high break going into it which gives him the draw too. I’ll go with one in the other group though.
Once again I’m not completely sure what to take from Barry Hawkins’ opening group. He won two of the three matches but only beat Hammad Miah and Craig Steadman which might not be a whole lot of use to him here. Ryan Day was in a tougher section which had Kyren Wilson in it and although ‘The Warrior’ wasn’t at his best over the course of the day, he played his best stuff against Day and the Welshman still came out on top 3-1 in that match. Day and Hawkins have met 10 times in the last two runnings of the Championship League and although that was over the best of five frames rather than four, Day leads 6-4 despite having a dog of a season this term. Interestingly in their three meetings in it this season, Day has won 3-0 twice and was 2-2 after four frames in a 3-2 defeat. That makes me think that the 6/5 on Day without the draw could be a shade on the big side.
Tips
WON – Back L.Brecel to win Group A for a 3/10 stake at 2.63 with Betfred
PUSH – Back R.Day to beat B.Hawkins (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Coral
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