The opening day of the Snooker Players Championship Finals sees eight matches taking place in Manchester as the tournament kicks off at quite a pace.
The first day sees some of the biggest names in the tournament in action. Ding Junhui kicks off things on the main table and he is followed by Shaun Murphy with Judd Trump in action in the evening.
Ding takes on Dave Gilbert in the first match. The man from China will be buoyed by his run in the World Grand Prix while Gilbert will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing first round exit in Wales.
On all recent form you would think Ding will win that match but he is probably priced accordingly so I will leave that match alone especially as I’m on him outright anyway.
Murphy plays Liang Wenbo for the second tournament in succession on Tuesday afternoon. Wenbo has got a good record against Murphy and the Englishman openly admitted that he finds Wenbo awkward. Wenbo looks to have gone back into his shell form wise but Murphy’s admission about his opponent is enough to keep my powder in my pocket there.
The evening session on the main table sees Michael White playing Luca Brecel and Judd Trump against Martin Gould. The latter is one of the matches of the entire round and should be great viewing. A case can easily be made for Gould being value there but I’m reluctant to take Trump on first up.
The other match looks much harder to call. When Michael White is brilliant he can beat anyone but when he’s awful he can lose 4-0 to anyone. Luca Brecel has had some good results in recent times but he will admit himself he hasn’t always played well and that is enough to put me off.
On the other table Marco Fu kicks things off when he faces a refreshed Alan McManus before Ben Woollaston takes on Jimmy Robertson. Fu is a warm favourite and on recent form that is about right but this isn’t the format to be taking handicaps especially in the first round while I’m on Woollaston outright so I don’t need to go in on him.
The evening session sees Ali Carter facing Graeme Dott and then Rory McLeod meets Mike Dunn and it is on this session that my bet for the opening day comes.
By and large Graeme Dott has been in good nick since the turn of the year. He made the semi-final of the German Masters where he lost to the eventual champion Martin Gould and he enjoyed some good results in the Championship League too. Things haven’t gone so well this month but he tends to come good at this time of year as his results at the Crucible will testify.
Carter also had a decent run in the Championship League but his ranking event form hasn’t been great for a while hence why his ranking is the low one that it is. You also never quite know just how fit the Captain is so I’m going to take him on here with a Dott who I believe is in pretty good nick. At odds against the former world champion is the bet here.
In the other match I’m gagging to take Rory McLeod on but I can’t find a genuine reason to take Mike Dunn. Any bet I did have would be a fade of McLeod rather than a punt on Dunn and we’re not really getting the odds to justify that so I’ll stick with Dott on the opening day.
Back G.Dott to beat A.Carter for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Bwin
Back him here:
so carter to win last tournament then to get beat 1st game this one ? would like to know your reasoning for this .
sorry got that wrong, you did not tip name to win last tournament
Rest assured bid, if I ever take someone in one tournament and oppose them in the next you’ll be given all the reasons why.