The semi-final groups get underway in the Championship League snooker event on Tuesday as we gear towards a conclusion to the first tournament back since the Covid-19 shutdown inside the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
16 players remain in the competition and on Tuesday eight of them will battle it out for two of the slots in the final group on Thursday and with two former world champions and a number of talented players on show we should be in for a great day across both tables.
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.
Monday Recap
It was a tough watch on Monday it has to be said but it was another dramatic conclusion with the group on the main table coming down to the final frame of the day before Martin O’Donnell won it to seal a draw with Mark Allen with confirmed the Englishman would progress to the semi-final. Sam Craigie caused something of a shock in terms of the odds in the other group although given how well he played over the course of the day there was no surprise about it. The likes of Ali Carter, Matt Selt and Michael White all disappointed.
We were looking good in our bet on Monday when Michael White dominated the opening frame of his match against Martin O’Donnell but he missed the final yellow which allowed O’Donnell to steal it and White crumbled from there so we could do with three big days in this tournament to come out of it with a decent return, although we do have two outrights still running for us in the semi-finals at nice prices.
Group C
Fixtures
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Harvey Chandler
Stuart Bingham vs Sam Craigie
Stuart Bingham vs Harvey Chandler
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Sam Craigie
Sam Craigie vs Harvey Chandler
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Stuart Bingham
Preview
The first semi-final group on the main table has a very appealing look to it particularly with two former world champions on show. Ronnie O’Sullivan will be expected to dominate the group once again and having looked good in his first round section there appears no reason why he can’t do that. Stuart Bingham is always a runner in these things although he’ll need a better display than he put in during the opening round. You would think improvement will come naturally though now that rust has been shaken off. Sam Craigie was the most impressive of the four men in this group in the initial round and he hasn’t had much time to drop out of form either. He could be a dark horse. Harvey Chandler is in with some big boys here but has little to lose with at least £5,500 guaranteed for his work so far.
Group D
Fixtures
Tom Ford vs Liang Wenbo
Martin O’Donnell vs Ben Woollaston
Martin O’Donnell vs Liang Wenbo
Tom Ford vs Ben Woollaston
Martin O’Donnell vs Tom Ford
Liang Wenbo vs Ben Woollaston
Preview
The most competitive of the four semi-final groups will be the one on the second table on Tuesday when four players all ranked within 12 places of each other in the world rankings battle it out for a place in the final group on Thursday. Tom Ford is the highest ranked player on show and he cruised through his opening group but you could argue that Liang Wenbo was the most impressive of the four players in the first round, and in Mark Selby he took the biggest scalp too. Martin O’Donnell will need to back up after a late night on Monday and he’ll need to play a lot better here than he did then. Ben Woollaston is the lowest ranked player of the four in the group but at world ranked 38 he isn’t exactly a mug.
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Group Betting
I’ve not really had much appetite for betting on the groups all week and not a whole lot has changed in that regard here. The main table group all centres round Ronnie O’Sullivan and it is so hard to oppose him because this event should really be right up his street. In saying that, if you wanted to take on the Rocket given that he is a short price, there are a couple of capable players to do it with in the form of Stuart Bingham and Sam Craigie. The latter could well be value given that he played so well on Monday but to go through you would think he will have to avoid defeat against both O’Sullivan and Bingham and that is a tough ask.
The other group is extremely competitive and you don’t really need to work too hard to make a case for all four men in it. There is no winner of that section that would cause a surprise given how closely ranked and tightly matched they are but the group does carry the first of our two remaining outright bets in Tom Ford and so we have a natural interest in proceedings without needing another investment. If Ford can win the group our 150/1 punt will gather significant interest.
Match Betting
I will chance my arm at a couple in the match betting however and I’ll begin on the main table where Sam Craigie looks a decent price to get the better of Stuart Bingham even without the draw in play. Craigie rattled in two centuries and three other breaks over 70 in just eight winning frames on Monday so he looked in fantastic touch whereas it all just looked like a bit of a strain for Bingham on his first showing. To be fair to Bingham he made seven 50s over the course of the day but they were against inferior opponents who missed plenty of opportunities against him. This one feels tighter than the odds suggest so the 2/1 on Craigie draw no bet is worth taking.
I wouldn’t usually bet with the draw in play in a four frame match but I’m surprised that Liang Wenbo is odds against to beat Martin O’Donnell. You should never rule out the possibility of improvement in a player from one day to the next but O’Donnell will need to show a lot of it having come through three gruelling matches on Monday with a high break over the course of the day of just 62. In winning his first group Wenbo had runs of 69, 100, 117, 103 and 59 and looked in a really fluent touch. O’Donnell showed a reluctance to go after frames in his first group and I don’t see that style progressing much further in this tournament. Wenbo’s scoring prowess should see him win this at an attractive price.
Tips
WON – Back S.Craigie to beat S.Bingham (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
Back L.Wenbo to beat M.O’Donnell for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Coral
Back him here:
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