The final week of the first stage of the Championship League Snooker tournament begins inside the Morningside Arena in Leicester on Monday when another two groups will be played out in the opening tournament of the season.
That means another eight players will open up their campaign each with the aim of topping their group and coming back for the second stage of the competition next week. We look like we are in for a competitive day of action.
Group 1
Fixtures
Scott Donaldson vs Michael Holt
Rod Lawler vs Alfie Burden
Scott Donaldson vs Alfie Burden
Rod Lawler vs Michael Holt
Alfie Burden vs Michael Holt
Scott Donaldson vs Rod Lawler
Preview
The action on Table Two on Monday was meant to be the group being played out on Table One because it was meant to have Ronnie O’Sullivan in it but that isn’t the case now because he has withdrawn from the event. That leaves Scott Donaldson as the top seed in the section and he will be looking to make the most of that chance. Rod Lawler is now elevated to the second seed which really highlights the potential for a big run for Donaldson. Alfie Burden is the third seed and he looks to have a good chance to get his season underway in style. Michael Holt is the man who replaced O’Sullivan and he’ll be looking to make the most of his chance because he doesn’t have a tour card so this could be a big day for him.
Group 19
Fixtures
Noppon Saengkham vs Ross Muir
Mark Davis vs Jenson Kendrick
Noppon Saengkham vs Jenson Kendrick
Mark Davis vs Ross Muir
Jenson Kendrick vs Ross Muir
Noppon Saengkham vs Mark Davis
Preview
That means that the group that is on Table One on Monday is Group 19 where the Thai star Noppon Saengkham will be the top seed and favourite to make progress into the second stage. His countryman Thepchaiya Un-Nooh has already done that and he’ll be out to emulate him. The veteran Mark Davis is the second seed in this group and having only stayed on the tour courtesy of the Chinese bans he will be out to start his season off well and not need such fine margins again. Jenson Kendrick is the third seed and the fourth seed is Ross Muir, who is back on the tour after landing the EBSA European Amateur Championship earlier in the year.
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Group Betting
It doesn’t look like all of the bookmakers have received the information that Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from Group 1 and some of those who have haven’t priced Michael Holt into their group market so we can’t really bet on the action over on Table Two. For what it is worth, I like Alfie Burden in that section after his run to the final of the World Seniors which should have given him some confidence. With no market though that is irrelevant.
Over on the main table you would imagine the group is between the top two seeds because Jenson Kendrick still lacks experience while Ross Muir has to establish himself at this level again. I’m not convinced by Mark Davis though. I think he is a bit of a fading force in truth so the section could be all about Noppon Saengkham but that is well and good but the odds perfectly reflect that so I’ll leave the group betting alone here.
Match Betting
That leaves me looking at the match betting for a punt on the action and luckily this time around we do have one of those situations I look out for in Group 1. In fairness, there could have been a case for both lower seeds to be backed to win their opening matches but Alfie Burden is the favourite to beat Rod Lawler and while that is rightly so, it is their first match of the new season so I’m not interested in backing anyone at short odds.
The other opening match definitely interests me though. The last time we saw Scott Donaldson he was withdrawing from the World Championship with a tremor issue he has been dealing with and that was only a few months ago so there is no guarantee that such a problem has cleared up completely. That might leave him vulnerable to a Michael Holt who we know has been doing some practice of sort by the videos that have appeared on his YouTube channel. This is a big opportunity for Holt to win through and earn a few quid that can be a start to him getting back on the tour. At the prices I’ll take him to see off a potentially weakened Donaldson.
Tips
Back M.Holt to beat S.Donaldson (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with Coral
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