We’re down to the last four in the China Championship and those remaining in the tournament will be doing battle over the best of 17 frames in the semi-finals on Friday hoping to book a spot in Saturday’s final where a cool £200,000 awaits the winner.
Both semi-finals will be played over two sessions on Friday and at the end of the day we will know the two men who will battle it out for the title come Saturday.
Mark Allen vs John Higgins
This semi-final looks like it should be a cracking encounter. Mark Allen is playing snooker from a different planet this week with five tons and a stack of breaks from his two wins while John Higgins is always class personified.
Allen actually has a good record against Higgins and has beaten the Scot in seven of their last eight meetings so there is something about going up against Higgins that inspires the man from Northern Ireland and brings the best out of him. The best is already coming out of him but that record should further exude confidence in Allen and I’m with him at odds against here.
Shaun Murphy vs Stuart Bingham
Another man who is playing fantastic snooker this week is Shaun Murphy and he faces the man who denied him a second world title 18 months ago in Stuart Bingham. Credit where it is due to Bingham for keeping up the intensity this week after a busy few weeks but he might need his very best to come through this one.
After a dominant performance against Joe Perry in the first round where he flew into a 4-0 lead with a barrage of breaks Shaun Murphy did the same thing in the quarter final against Marco Fu. He was 5-0 up in no time at all and there was no coming back from there.
Things have been a little bit more of a struggle for Bingham although when he has been in first in a frame he has still looked good among the balls but literally every chance he gets he is going to have to make full use of if he is to win this one. The way Murphy is playing I expect him to blast ahead and not look back.
Tips
Back M.Allen to beat J.Higgins for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Bet365
Back him here:
Back S.Murphy to beat S.Bingham for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Betfred
Back him here:
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