We’ve made it down to the final in the Champion of Champions at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry and despite a week of shocks and surprises we’re left with two of the best in the world to battle it out for the title and the not too shabby £100,000 first prize.
The two men who will play over the best of 19 frames for the pot, the trophy and the title are Mark Allen and Neil Robertson and this has all the hallmarks of a special final.
Neil Robertson overcame his good friend Joe Perry in the semi-final. There was no doubt what the highlight of that match was. It was Robertson’s superb break of 144 midway through it. That is a sign the Australian is getting back to his best form and he’ll look to build on that for this final. He might need to though.
That is because Mark Allen is playing some really good stuff himself. Having come through the group of death in the early rounds beating Barry Hawkins and Stephen Maguire he then saw off the dangerous Kyren Wilson in a semi-final which turned into a bit of a battle in the end.
Generally when these two meet they put on a bit of a show for us. Twice Robertson has seen Allen off the deciding frame in The Masters. In one of those matches they made no fewer than four centuries between them. They also met in the last 16 of the World Championship last year in another great game.
Mark Allen has had his fair share of success over Robertson and I think he is primed for more here. He has looked in excellent nick this week which has come as a follow on from his win in Bulgaria last weekend. Robertson is getting close to his better form but he’s not there yet and in a final of small margins that can be the difference.
Given how close matches between these two have the tendency to be I’m happy to take over 16.5 frames here at even money. I fancy we’re going to see one of those high quality one visit finals where they punch and counter punch ending in a 10-8 or 10-9 success so I like the overs there.
Back M.Allen to beat N.Robertson for a 4/10 stake at 2.70 with Unibet
Back Over 16.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Coral
Blog snooker YTD: +111.54pts
