The Championship League Snooker tournament concludes inside the Morningside Arena on Friday when the two third stage groups are played out ahead of the final of the competition as the opening event of the season draws to a close.
Eight men head back to the arena looking to win their respective group and book their spot in the final. Five of the players will be aiming to seal a place at the Champion of Champions and four go in search of a first ranking success. We are set up for a fascinating final day.
Group A
Fixtures
Shaun Murphy vs Xiao Guodong
Robert Milkins vs Chris Wakelin
Shaun Murphy vs Chris Wakelin
Robert Milkins vs Xiao Guodong
Chris Wakelin vs Xiao Guodong
Shaun Murphy vs Robert Milkins
Preview
The action on the main table on the final day comes from Group A where we have three previous ranking event winners looking to add to their collection and one aiming for the biggest day of his career. Shaun Murphy is the top seed in this section and the favourite to come through it after winning five of his six matches so far. The man who beat him in the Welsh Open final last season, Robert Milkins, is the second seed. He too has come through the draw unbeaten but with three wins and three draws. The Shootout champion Chris Wakelin has impressed in another short format event, dropping just four frames on his way to this final group while Xiao Guodong has made it in as the fourth seed as he looks for a first ranking event title.
Group B
Fixtures
Mark Williams vs Sam Craigie
Noppon Saengkham vs Cao Yupeng
Mark Williams vs Cao Yupeng
Noppon Saengkham vs Sam Craigie
Cao Yupeng vs Sam Craigie
Mark Williams vs Noppon Saengkham
Preview
Over on Table Two we have another high quality group battling it out for a place in the final. You would expect that to be the case with everyone having won two groups so far. Mark Williams is the top seed in this section and the only top 16 ranked player in the group. He is also the only player left in the tournament who has won every match he has played in the event. He has only lost one frame too although Robbie Williams is the highest ranked player he has met to date. Noppon Saengkham is the second seed in the group. He has drawn twice on his way to this stage and is seeking a first ranking event title. Cao Yupeng might not have gone through with a perfect record but he is unbeaten and is scoring like a dream and is a dangerous third seed. Sam Craigie is the fourth seed in this group which goes to show how strong it is.
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Group Betting
I’m already invested in Group A on the main table as I am effectively on Robert Milkins at 14/1 to win this group having backed him outright at 28/1 and he’ll land the place part should he come out on top in this section. I think there is every chance he does that too because he has a good recent memory against Shaun Murphy having beaten him at the Welsh Open final. Chris Wakelin and Xiao Guodong are perfectly respectable challengers in this section although the way Guodong literally fell over the line in the second stage would put me off backing him. If I wasn’t already invested I would leave this group alone such is the competitiveness of it but as I have that interest I’m definitely sitting it out.
Group B isn’t really an easy one to bet on though. There is certainly a genuine case that the 6/4 or so on Mark Williams is a big price when you consider he has only lost one frame in 19 in the competition but the level of player he comes up against in this group is much stronger than what he has faced so far and that puts me off. I would probably side with Cao Yupeng if I was betting on this group but this is a section which screams of plenty of draws and I don’t want to be losing out on a high break on a 3/1 shot or thereabouts.
Match Betting
Once again I am going to keep my powder dry on the match betting front on the main table because half of the matches I already have an interest in and it won’t take too long for the other matches to have a bearing on whether Robert Milkins wins that group or not. I really don’t think that Xiao Guodong looked strong enough to beat Shaun Murphy based on what we saw earlier in the week anyway and I certainly am not opposing Milkins.
I don’t want to be taking Mark Williams on either, although Sam Craigie might have a free shot at him given that he would be the highest ranked player that the Welshman has faced in the tournament so far. The other match certainly interests me though. Both Noppon Saengkham and Cao Yupeng have looked good in this tournament but the extra scoring power of Yupeng has been impossible to ignore. He has performed well under pressure too. He was 2-0 down in a key match with Judd Trump on Thursday and came back to draw 2-2. He looks to be playing slightly better than Saengkham and in what is a pick em match, which it shouldn’t be in my eyes, I’ll play the Chinese player.
Tips
Back C.Yupeng to beat N.Saengkham (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
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