There is one snooker tournament left in 2021 and it sees the beginning of the Cazoo Series for the season as the leading 32 players of the campaign so far head to Coventry for the World Grand Prix, an event which opens up the gateway to plenty of riches for those involved.
Judd Trump started off his quest for the loot from the Cazoo Series in fine style last year when he landed this title and he has qualified to attempt to defend the crown but there are a lot of players in good form right now who will be out to better him.
Recent Winners
2020 (2) – Judd Trump
2020 – Neil Robertson
2019 – Judd Trump
2018 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2017 – Barry Hawkins
2016 – Shaun Murphy
2015 – Judd Trump
The Format
The top 32 money earners on the season so far make up the draw and the players have gone into the bracket placed where they are in that money list rather than their world ranking. The first two rounds of the tournament are played over the best of seven frames over the first four days of competition before the quarter finals see the format increasing up to the best of nine. The two semi-finals take place on Friday and Saturday evening over the best of 11 frames and then the winner of this first leg of the Cazoo Series is crowned over two sessions and the best of 19 frames on Sunday.
Top Quarter
The UK Championship winner Zhao Xintong is the top seed this week after winning the biggest prize of the season so far and as such he is in the top quarter of the draw. In terms of top 16 ranked players in this quarter there are just three here. They are The Masters champion Yan Bingtao, English Open winner Neil Robertson and the former world finalist Kyren Wilson. The other four players in this quarter are of a decent level too. They are Martin Gould, Mark King, Anthony Hamilton and Noppon Saengkham.
Second Quarter
John Higgins is the highest seed in the second quarter draw this week but despite making four finals this season already he has landed himself in a terrible part of the draw. That is because there are four other members of the official top 16 in this section. They begin with the Northern Ireland Open champion Mark Allen and also include the world champion Mark Selby, UK Championship semi-finalist Barry Hawkins and the Champion of Champions winner Judd Trump. This loaded section is completed by Cao Yupeng, Ben Woollaston and Tom Ford.
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Third Quarter
British Open champion Mark Williams is the highest seed in the third quarter and he is in another tricky section of the draw with four other members of the world ranked top 16 in it. One of those is the main who was beaten in the final here last year in Jack Lisowski while Scottish Open semi-finalist Anthony McGill is also here. Stephen Maguire and Stuart Bingham are the other two players. The other three players in this quarter are the Championship League winner Dave Gilbert, Ricky Walden and Ali Carter.
Bottom Quarter
The new Scottish Open champion Luca Brecel is the highest seed in the bottom quarter of the draw but I think most eyes will be drawn to the man who lost in the semi-final of that event in Ronnie O’Sullivan who is also in this section. Those two are actually the only members of the top 16 in this quarter so they might well have lucked out a little. The other six players include the British Open finalist Gary Wilson, UK Championship quarter finalist Andy Hicks, Hossein Vafaei, Jimmy Robertson, Matt Selt and Jordan Brown.
Betting
I’ll take a main bet and an outsider for the tournament this week. The main bet comes in the form of Kyren Wilson who might well have landed himself in a nice section of the draw even though it has Neil Robertson in it. Zhao Xintong is the highest seed in the quarter that Wilson is in but he is going to have to back up the biggest week of his career and that won’t be easy while Robertson doesn’t look bang on it to me. Of the others in the quarter Yan Bingtao merits respect but if Wilson plays well he should have the beating of him. I’m convinced there is a win in Wilson soon. At the UK Championship he ran into a monster performance from Luca Brecel in the semi-final and at the Scottish, Fergal O’Brien played the best snooker he has played in years against him. That luck has to turn soon and if it is this week Wilson will be hard to stop.
In the other half of the draw I’ll take my chances with Matt Selt who has shown some good form recently. He has made the last 16 of the UK Championship where he lost to Barry Hawkins but that was the day after he had dumped Judd Trump out so it was always going to be hard to be at his best in that game and then in the Scottish Open quarter final he lost out to the eventual winner Luca Brecel in a deciding frame. Selt spoke during the UK Championship of his desire to go deep in the big events now he is beginning to feel more comfortable in them and this tournament has thrown up surprise finalists in Ryan Day, Ali Carter, Graeme Dott and Jack Lisowski and if Brecel struggles after two emotionally tough weeks and something happens to O’Sullivan, Selt could manoeuvre his way into a deep stage of the tournament.
Tips
Back K.Wilson to win World Grand Prix (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 17.00 with Coral (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back M.Selt to win World Grand Prix (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with William Hill (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
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