The group stage of the Champion of Champions draws to a conclusion on Friday when the final group is played out at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
Group 2 is the one in question and what a group it is. The German Masters winner Mark Selby is joined in this group by the recent Bulgarian Open winner Mark Allen, Riga Open champion Barry Hawkins and Lisbon Open winner Stephen Maguire in a real top quality section. Kyren Wilson awaits the winner in the semi-finals.
However these matches go you would think we are going to get three excellent matches between four top draw players who are all used to this stage and this environment.
The first game of the day sees Selby and Maguire battling over the best of seven frames. It is fair to say Maguire hasn’t really got going this season yet. He made the semi-final of the Australian Open right at the start of it but that seems like a long time ago now and since then he hasn’t won more than two matches in an event.
Mark Selby’s season has been one of up and down too but he looked really good at the International Championship recently and I suspect with the multiple big events both now and in the next couple of months we’re going to see Selby at his best.
If we do see Selby at his best then we’re likely to see him win this but this is one which could go either way if the real Maguire turns up. There’s a couple too many ifs and buts for my liking though so I’ll avoid a bet here.
Allen takes on Hawkins in the second match. Both men are accustomed to going well in the European Tour and PTC events so they will both be used to this format and dare I say more comfortable than some in it.
I always think an aggressive game is the way to go in these best of 7s and that is why these two go well in them because they both have that sort of style so there might not be much between the two here.
One area where Allen does have an advantage is the winning momentum he has built up over the last month or so. Allen was a semi-finalist in the Shanghai Masters and made the quarter finals in the International Championship on his way to winning in Bulgaria so he’s in great form and that confidence he has can see him through here.
I wouldn’t like to call the winner of the group. Any one of the four could win it. I would expect a close final though and I would fancy over 9.5 frames in that final whoever is in it purely because they are all so good but that’s all I have to offer so with that in mind I’ll stick with a punt on Allen here.
Back M.Allen to beat B.Hawkins for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Unibet
