The opening semi-final of the Champion of Champions takes place in Bolton on Friday evening as the first place in the final will be filled when the defending champion Judd Trump takes on Mark Selby over the best of 11 frames.
These two are two of the best in the game and both looked in decent enough order in their group wins so we could be treated to something of a classic semi-final if both bring that same form with them to this match.
Judd Trump
I think it is fair to say that given Mark Allen was in the group with Judd Trump, there weren’t too many who expected the defending champion to make it through to this stage but we probably saw the best snooker Trump has played in quite some time. He saw off Luca Brecel in his group semi-final before beating Allen in the group final. He won those two matches for the loss of just three frames and looked back to his very best.
The task for Trump now is to repeat that because I think he’ll admit that he hasn’t really had too much in the way of consistency for a while now. If he can match that standard then he is going to be very tough to beat because there was signs that his swagger was returning. Trump suggested ahead of the first day he played that he was playing well in practice and there were certainly signs of that on Wednesday.
Mark Selby
When you consider that Mark Selby is the only player in the Champion of Champions field this year who didn’t win a title to get into the tournament, you wonder if his name is already on this trophy. He opened up the tournament on the first day and while he was always likely to overcome Lee Walker in his starter to the event, a group final against John Higgins was expected to be a whole lot tougher, but he came through that too.
I guess given that he hasn’t won anything to get in here he is on a freeroll from the very outset but now that he has won his group and is two wins away from landing this title for the first time, I wonder if he will start to come under a little bit of pressure now. We’ve seen signs this season that Selby is enjoying his snooker again and most importantly his off the table issues look to be behind him or being managed better. You get the feeling Selby is ready to win again.
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Head-to-head
These two have met on 14 previous occasions, which feels a little on the low side when you consider how long both have been at the top of the sport for. Trump has had the better of those matches with nine wins to the five of Selby. That dominance is reflected in the frame count where Trump has a 68-47 lead. Trump also leads 3-0 in semi-finals. Trump also leads 3-0 in their meetings over the best of 11 frames so history is very much on the side of the Bristolian even though their only meeting in the last three years was in the hastily arranged Pro Series event last year.
Betting
If we ignore that best of three meeting last time out, Judd Trump has won the last four meetings between these two and won them by scores of 6-2, 6-2, 5-1 and 9-4 and they were all in 2019 or before then when Selby was probably at his best in the game. That suggests to me that Selby struggles with the attacking style of Trump and therefore I can see Trump winning this with a bit in hand, particularly when you consider that while Selby is getting back to full steam, he isn’t there yet.
Both these men played well to come through their initial group but I think Trump was slightly better than Selby and looked close to that aggressive player who has had him one of the feared commodities in the game over the last three years or so. Selby did well to come through but there is still a part of me which wonders what he beat. I think Trump wins this match and based on their history I think he does it with a bit to spare.
Tips
Back J.Trump (-1.5 frames) to beat M.Selby for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Bet365
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