The Championship League Snooker returns on Monday when another eight players get their tournament underway, all boosted by having played a match or more in the European Masters in the same Marshall Arena venue in Milton Keynes.
We saw plenty of big names in this tournament prior to the break for the European Masters and we have another big name on show to bring us out of the break as Neil Robertson headlines an intriguing looking day.
The Format
The whole tour were invited into the tournament with it now getting ranking event status. The 128 man field have been split into 32 groups of four in the first round. Each group is a round robin with everyone playing everyone else over the best of four frames with two points for a win and one for a draw. The player who tops the group goes through to the second stage where the 32 remaining players are split into four more groups of four over the same format. Those eight winners then go into two more groups where the winner of each will battle it out in a best of five frame final for the title. Two groups will be played on each day until the final day when the Championship group and final is played. The first stage of the tournament is on Free Sports.
Day 8 Recap
We had a favourite progress and a big upset last Sunday when this tournament was last in operation. On the main table things went as expected as Mark Selby came out on top in his group before embarking on a journey that saw him win the European Masters. That was not the case on the other table where the favourite Michael Holt was well and truly beaten. Jamie O’Neill was the man who surprised the remainder of the group to book his place in the second stage of the competition.
It was a level day for us betting wise back then because once again our bet was refunded as a push. That was on Sean Maddocks to beat Daniel Womersley and when it went 1-1 we were hopeful of collecting in full but Maddocks threw away the next one from a winning position. Thankfully he put together a good frame to pick up the draw which at least got us our money back which wasn’t too bad.
Group 11
Fixtures
Alexander Ursenbacher vs Riley Parsons
Anthony McGill vs Lukas Kleckers
Anthony McGill vs Riley Parsons
Alexander Ursenbacher vs Lukas Kleckers
Anthony McGill vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Riley Parsons vs Lukas Kleckers
Preview
World Championship semi-finalist Anthony McGill is the man who will be expected to come through the group that will take place on table two on Monday. He went well enough at the European Masters to suggest that he is in decent enough form and when you look at who else is in the group it does appear to be his to lose. Alexander Ursenbacher probably shouldn’t be ruled out though. He made it to the World Championship at the end of last season which is a sign that he is progressing nicely. Riley Parsons and Lukas Kleckers will be out to show they are not just making up the numbers.
Group 17
Fixtures
Neil Robertson vs Ken Doherty
Andrew Higginson vs Eden Sharav
Andrew Higginson vs Ken Doherty
Neil Robertson vs Eden Sharav
Eden Sharav vs Ken Doherty
Neil Robertson vs Andrew Higginson
Preview
The bigger group of the two on show on Monday is the one which will be played out on table one as Neil Robertson looks to join the likes of Judd Trump, Barry Hawkins and Mark Selby in the next stage when he plays his first round group. Robertson would have been disappointed to be beaten in the quarter final of the European Masters and will hope to make up for it here. Andrew Higginson is the second highest ranked player in the group but Ken Doherty will fancy his chances of causing an upset. Eden Sharav is also capable of putting a spanner in the works too.
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Group Betting
In an ideal world we would have got more than 12/5 on Alexander Ursenbacher to win Group 11 because I think he has every chance of coming through instead of an Anthony McGill who might not be aggressive enough to come through and certainly showed no signs of being so in the earlier Championship League this year just after lockdown. That price is only about right though and I don’t like either of the two outsiders so I’ll sit this one out.
It is hard to bet on Group 17 as well because in all likelihood Neil Robertson is going to come through it. He is absolutely no price in terms of betting but based on what we saw at the European Masters last week he is unopposable. There isn’t anyone who looks remotely strong enough to oppose him with so I’ll leave the group betting alone unless before the off Ursenbacher drifts to a more attractive price.
Match Betting
That means my betting interest on Monday will come from the match betting where I like the former world champion Ken Doherty to beat Andrew Higginson. Once again I’ll bet without the draw in play but I’d actually have these prices the other way around as I expect just a bit more from Doherty than I do Higginson. Doherty actually played pretty well in the European Masters last week in beating Farakh Ajaib in the first round. He then ran into an absolute train against Mark Allen who made four tons in four frames against him.
Higginson had a good win over Oliver Lines in the first round last week but never made a 50 break in the match and then he lost to Duane Jones in the second round which would have been a big disappointment. Not scoring well enough is a bit of an issue for Higginson and has been for a while and it is for that reason that I think if anyone wins this it will be Doherty. As ever I’ll bet without the draw but it is Doherty for me if there is a winner here.
Tips
WON – Back K.Doherty to beat A.Higginson (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
Back him here:
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