The next Champion of Champions winner will be determined on Sunday when the world number one Judd Trump takes on the home man Mark Selby in the final of what has been another excellent week of snooker in Leicester.
Both men cruised through tricky looking semi-finals on paper and that should fill them both with confidence to take into what should be a very good final should both men play to the level that we know that they can.
Mark Selby
I think it is fair to say that Mark Selby has been the player of the week so far and he is now just one win away from another win on home soil. He will know only too well that being the best player up to the final doesn’t guarantee success in one and that he’ll need to produce another strong performance if he is going to lift the Champion of Champions title for the first time. If he does continue at the same level then he is entitled to be very tough to beat.
Selby has overcome three form players this week. He started by whitewashing Stephen Maguire before he got the better of Mark Williams in an epic group final before taking care of the Saudi Arabia champion Neil Robertson in the semi-final. In the main he has scored pretty well this week and if he scores here then he could very well be tough to beat with the quality of his safety game backing up that scoring power.
Judd Trump
This has been a welcome return to the business end of a tournament for the world number one Judd Trump. I won’t say it is a return to form for the former winner of this competition because he hasn’t really shown anything like the standard that we know that he can play at so far this week. You kind of feel he has been waiting to be put out of his misery but to date nobody has been able to complete the job which might allow Trump to feel as though his name is back on the trophy.
Trump would have been an emphatic favourite to beat Bai Yulu in the opening round, which he did without ever really truly impressing, and then he would have been expected to see off Lei Peifan in his group final. A clash with the world champion was likely to see him tested for the first time but Zhao Xintong was out of sorts and that challenge never materialised so this is probably going to be his biggest test of the week and it will be interesting to see if he can rise to the size of the task.
Special Offer
OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH 888SPORT AND BET £10 TO GET £30 IN FREE BETS PLUS A £10 CASINO BONUS! PERFECT OFFER TO USE ON THIS TOURNAMENT! CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO JOIN. USE CODE 30F. NEW ACCOUNTS ONLY. 18+ T&Cs apply (See image for significant terms). Gamble Aware.
Head-to-Head
These two men have faced each other on 19 previous occasions and it is Judd Trump that holds a 12-7 advantage in those battles. He leads 90-66 in the frame count so a lot of those wins of his have been by a wide margin. Incredibly, this will be just their second final against each other with Trump winning the previous one. It is their third meeting in the Champion of Champions tournament with Trump winning both of the past two while this will be their second clash over the best of 19 frames with Trump winning the first when he won the China Open final between the pair in 2011. History is on the Trump side here.
Betting
History might be on the side of Judd Trump but anyone who has followed us throughout this tournament is already on Mark Selby at 6/1 as he was put up as the potential winner at the beginning of the week. There is absolutely nothing that I’ve seen in the days since then to suggest that Selby can’t win this and actually based on the form of the week there is a case to be made that he could be considered the favourite to come out on top here.
Anyone who isn’t already on Selby could do worse than get on him at 13/10 but those who are but want another interest in this final should look to back Selby to make the highest break. He has made a ton in all of his matches this week whereas Trump has a highest break of just 84 which is a sign that his long game isn’t in great order and he isn’t really firing on all cylinders with his new cue. Selby made the highest break when the pair met in the Shanghai Masters earlier in the season and is scoring better than Trump this week. At 11/10 he’s the value pick in the high break market.
Tips
Back M.Selby to make highest break for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfred
