The line up for the final stage of the Championship League Snooker tournament will be completed on Thursday when the last two second phase groups will be played out inside the behind closed doors setup at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
We’ve seen some big names make their way into the final two groups already this week and on Thursday another couple of top 16 players will be looking to join them on what looks like being a very competitive day of action.
Day 19 Recap
Wednesday was a very dramatic day and it contained the tightest group of winner’s week so far over on table two where Ken Doherty edged out Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. The former world champion either had to win his last match against Jordan Brown or draw it with a break higher than 135 so when he made a 139 break to go 2-1 up he knew he was through. Things were a little more simple for Kyren Wilson on the main table as he cruised into the second of the final groups.
We didn’t preview the Wednesday action but there was an outstanding bet from Tuesday which once again offered up plenty of frustration as we got a push out of Graeme Dott in his match with Mark Selby but that would surely have been a win but for a ridiculous fluke from Selby to win the third frame. Thankfully Dott won the last frame even though it meant nothing to him by then to get us our money back.
Stage 2 Group G
Fixtures
John Higgins vs Jamie Clarke
Tom Ford vs Martin Gould
Tom Ford vs Jamie Clarke
John Higgins vs Martin Gould
Martin Gould vs Jamie Clarke
John Higgins vs Tom Ford
Preview
The group on the main table on Thursday should be one of the more entertaining ones of the entire tournament as four form players who are all good to watch battle it out. John Higgins is the highest ranked player in the group but there are doubts over whether this format truly suits him and if it doesn’t then the aggressive Tom Ford and Martin Gould will be looking to pounce. Both men are looking for a back door route into the Champion of Champions next week so they will be motivated. Jamie Clarke completes the group but he is playing the best snooker of his career right now. This group is tasty.
Stage 2 Group H
Fixtures
Mark Davis vs Li Hang
Joe Perry vs Tian Pengfei
Joe Perry vs Li Hang
Mark Davis vs Tian Pengfei
Joe Perry vs Mark Davis
Li Hang vs Tian Pengfei
Preview
Table two won’t be the worst watch in the world on Thursday either. While the eye catching snooker is more likely to come on table one, the competitive stuff could well be here. Joe Perry is the highest ranked player and will be looking to go within a good day of making the Champion of Champions next week himself but Mark Davis has previous in these quirky events and can’t be ruled out. The Chinese pair of Li Hang and Tian Pengfei are more than capable of competing at this level though so this should be a decent group.
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Group Betting
I haven’t been too encouraged in getting involved in the group betting in recent stages of this event and that isn’t changing on Thursday where both groups look a bit of a betting minefield. On table one I do think John Higgins is vulnerable but that is reflected in three of the four combatants being 3/1 or shorter in the betting. Jamie Clarke isn’t the worst 10/1 shot in the world in fairness but whether he can tame all three players I have my doubts. Martin Gould would be my pick if I had to choose one but there isn’t much confidence behind that.
Ironically on the other table I would say Joe Perry looks a better favourite of the two fancied runners on Thursday yet he is a bigger price than Higgins to win his group. All four players in this group are 3/1 or shorter which reinforces what I said above about it potentially being the most competitive group of the lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if Perry wins this group but at the same time I wouldn’t be shocked if he doesn’t. I’ll leave the group betting alone.
Match Betting
I will go with one bet in the match betting front though and that comes in the form of Martin Gould to beat John Higgins in the evening session. Although I’ll be betting without the draw in play given the format, I think Gould has a great chance here. To be fair both men have had decent runs in the first two ‘proper’ ranking events of the season with Gould making the final of the European Masters and Higgins the semi-final of the English Open so the form of the two is there for all to see.
I think this one will come down to the format and I think Higgins is just more comfortable over the longer formats whereas Gould probably prefers these quirkier short races. Aggressive snooker tends to get rewarded more here and that is what Gould brings to the table. Gould beat Higgins in the first round of the European Masters and actually won both their meetings in the Championship League in its old format last year. At 6/4 without the draw in play Gould feels a good bet to me.
Tips
WON – Back M.Gould to beat J.Higgins (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Coral
Back him here:
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