The final of the Players Championship will be played out across two sessions of play at the Aldersley Arena in Wolverhampton on Sunday when Ali Carter takes on Shaun Murphy for the second Duelbits Series title of the year.
These two men are both near enough assured of their spot at the Tour Championship so this final is all about getting to 10 frames and winning what is a pretty lucrative title, one which will have a huge impact on the world ranking of whoever wins it.
Ali Carter
There was a time when a player went past 40 in age when he would be on the decline but Ali Carter might have played the best snooker of his career over the last month even at the age of 43. He won the German Masters at the beginning of the month and now he has shown plenty more good form this week to make it through to this final. Were he to win here he would win the biggest title of his career and will send his ranking safely inside the top 16.
It would also be a second win of the season which means that Carter would almost be guaranteed to spend the entirety of the next campaign in the top 16 so his career is undergoing more than a decent autumn period. It is hard to begrudge him the success he is having after the health issues he has endured over the years. What that has done has made him a steelier character, one which doesn’t falter when the pressure moments arrive which could be significant here.
Shaun Murphy
It is not very often in any sport where a player has the disappointment of losing in a final one week and then is able to dust himself down and pick himself up to go again and reach another final a week later but that is what Shaun Murphy has been able to do. He lost out in the Welsh Open final seven days ago but hasn’t just made it through to this final, he has powered his way through with a blitz of scoring and a really confident strut.
Murphy has only lost six frames all week and has been scoring centuries like they have gone out of fashion. He has been the best player so far in this tournament and has accounted for Mark Selby and Kyren Wilson to prove it. Murphy didn’t do a whole lot wrong in that final last week other than maybe run out of a little bit of petrol. He shouldn’t have any issue in that regard here having only played three matches in six days.
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Head-to-head
There have been 18 previous meetings between these two men with Ali Carter having come out on top in 10 of those matches to the eight of Murphy. Carter is nicely ahead on the frame count as well at 91-83 which suggests he has won some of those matches with a bit to spare. It was Murphy who won their most recent meeting which was in the World Grand Prix last month when he came through 4-0. They have met in one previous final which Carter won but it was the concluding game of a PTC event so nothing like the magnitude of this match. This will be the fourth time they have met over multiple sessions. Carter leads that status 2-1.
Betting
I already have a betting interest in this final having backed Shaun Murphy to win the tournament before a ball was struck and I am really keen on his chances in this match so I’m more than happy to let that 10/1 punt ride. It means I don’t really need to get involved in this match because there is no need to back Murphy again and with the place part of the bet securing a profit there isn’t really much of a need to do any hedging or anything.
If I was going to bet on this final I would probably look towards the Murphy centuries because he is ploughing them in at the minute but that has been reflected in the odds and the lines which are skewed a little too much for my liking. I can’t decide whether I expect Murphy to pull away or not so the total frames doesn’t really interest me much either. I’m happy to watch this final and hope that Murphy lands the outright rather than back something I’m not completely confident about.
Tips
No Bet
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