The final of the British Open will take place inside the Morningside Arena in Leicester when the second tanking title of the season will be won and lost as Gary Wilson takes on Mark Williams, with the winner bagging a cheque for a sweet £100.000.
Both men came through their semi-finals in fine fashion on Saturday evening and will have enough time to rest and recover to give their all in this final, which sees the format go up to the best of 11 frames meaning six is the magic number for the title.
Gary Wilson
This is a second ranking event final for Gary Wilson, who sits pretty high up alongside Jack Lisowski in the list of players who are yet to get their hands on major silverware, so this is a pretty big evening for the Geordie in more ways than one. Not only would a win here earn him a lot of ranking points and get him back in the truly big events, but a lifelong dream would be accomplished in winning not just a title, but a pretty prestigious one which looks like it will remain on the calendar moving forward.
Wilson cruised through the first three rounds of the tournament without dropping a frame, but he has had to do it the hard way since then with him having to come out on top in deciders in the last three matches, seeing off the likes of Hossein Vafaei and Dave Gilbert in that time. In his semi-final win over Elliot Slessor he made a 50 break or more in all four frames that he won so he might just be peaking at the right time.
Mark Williams
It hasn’t really been plain sailing for Mark Williams this week either. He has also had to come through his fair share of deciding frames but there are signs that he is warming to the task even though he has been nowhere near his best. It is a sign of his temperament and his natural ability that he has made it through to this final even though he has probably only had his C game at best with him, although with the exception of Ricky Walden his draw hasn’t been the hardest in all honesty.
The one thing Williams has done this week is hold his nerve in the important moments. He has been there for the taking but where his opponents have wilted with the winning line in sight he hasn’t and that could be important in this final if it goes tight. Williams knows how to get over the line to pick up silverware having done it on many occasions. The occasion certainly won’t get the better of him and even though his game isn’t in the best shape he is clever enough to know how to win.
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Head to Head
These two have met on three previous occasions and it is Williams who holds the upper hand having won all three battles. One of those was in a six red match but the other two were over the 15 red table with their latest meeting coming in the China Championship three seasons ago. Williams won that match 5-2 having won their previous meeting 4-3. This will be the first time they have met in a final of any sort.
Betting
On the balance of play this week you would have to consider that Gary Wilson has every chance of winning this final but it would be his first success and baulking at the finish line can’t be ruled out. I suspect the format might bring out the better elements of the Mark Williams game so I’m expecting something of a tight final. The nature of the week has been players having to play under pressure because there has been so many deciders around, these two being involved in six between them.
That they have both come out on the right end of three deciding frames each shows that they can hold their nerve in the more intense moments which I think bodes well for a close final. I’m a little surprised given the conditions of the format they have played in this week that over 9.5 frames is as big as 21/20 but that looks like the best way to play the final. If I was picking a correct score I’d go 6-5 Williams but this gives us 6-4 or 6-5 either way so I’ll go over there.
Tips
Back Over 9.5 frames for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with BetVictor
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