There are two tournaments left in the snooker season, and despite the sporting calendar being hit hard by the Covid-19 virus, the Tour Championship remains on the schedule and begins at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes on Saturday.
Ronnie O’Sullivan won this tournament reserved for the best eight players in terms of ranking money won on the season last year, but he hasn’t qualified for the event this time around meaning we will get a brand new champion.
Recent Winners
2019 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
The Format
There are only seven matches in this tournament with the quarter finals and semi-finals being played over two sessions of action and the best-of-17 frames. The final was due to be the only match of the season outside of the World Championship to be the best-of-25 frames with the winner being crowned over three sessions, however the social distancing and health measures that are in place mean that the final on Friday will just be the best of 19 frames.
Top Four Seeds
Judd Trump has been the player of the season, winning an unprecedented sixth title of the campaign in Gibraltar prior to lockdown, and he is the top seed this week. Having won the Players Championship, he is in pole position to win the Coral Series to go with the BetVictor Euro Series which he scooped when landing the Gibraltar Open. He wasn’t great at the recent Championship League, but if that has blown away the cobwebs, the 13/8 favourite is very much the one to beat this week.
Shaun Murphy has been the number two seed throughout the Coral Series thus far and he remains that for the Tour Championship. The Players Championship semi-finalist looks to have a favourable draw here and with his eyes on a strong tilt at the world title next month, he’ll be looking for a big week here at 15/2. It remains to be seen whether not playing in the Championship League is a negative but if it is that might be the only one there is for ‘Smurf’.
English Open and Scottish Open champion Mark Selby arrives in Milton Keynes as the third seed this week. A couple of years ago he was as close to unbeatable over these kind of distances as you would find, but he hasn’t been in superb touch in recent times and there is a vulnerability about him. If he comes good though he’s more than capable of delivering a strong run for the title at 5/1. He’ll need to be better than he was earlier in the month in the Championship League though.
Neil Robertson had the Euro Series snatched from his grasp prior to lockdown, but he heads to Milton Keynes knowing that if he wins the Tour Championship he will also take the Coral Series title away with him too, so the Australian certainly doesn’t lack for motivation over the week ahead. The World Grand Prix winner will fancy his chances in Sheffield, and as runner-up in this last year looks a leading chance to go one better at 10/3.
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Lower Four Seeds
The UK Championship winner Ding Junhui was due to be the fifth seed but he has decided against travelling meaning that Stephen Maguire takes his place as the ninth man on the money list. The UK Championship finalist is basically playing with the house money this week and that could be significant. He will know he beat first round opponent Neil Robertson at The Masters earlier in the year and if he shows no competitive rust having not played the Championship League, it is possible to see him outrun his 33/1 odds.
Yan Bingtao has been in excellent form since the turn of the year and all that has been lacking is a second title on the season to add to his win in the Riga Masters at the outset of the campaign. He made the final of the Players Championship and played some lovely stuff that week. He will fancy his chances over this longer format as well and could be a danger. There might just be one or two with a little too much nous for him for him to go all the way, but with Sheffield in his sights a good run would be no surprise.
Mark Allen was the number one seed for this tournament 12 months ago and comes here as the seventh seed this year. Illness hampered him before lockdown but there seemed to be no lasting effects of that when he turned up at the Championship League. He played better than his results suggested earlier in the month. He hasn’t had the best campaign by his standards so he will be eager to end the season well. That can never be underestimated at this time of the season.
John Higgins is the eighth and final man into the field and whenever he is in a tournament he is dangerous, especially over a format like this which allows him to get his teeth into the contest. He wasn’t here last year so this will be an event that he’ll be relishing and he might well free up as a result. He should be underestimated at his peril based on his record in big events.
Betting
I’ll go with one bet this week and I’m very much avoiding the top half because arguably the three best chances are in that part of the draw in Judd Trump, Neil Robertson and John Higgins. The bottom half looks wide open with doubts over whether Shaun Murphy can keep up his good form prior to lockdown and whether Selby is the force of old. That leaves Yan Bingtao and Mark Allen and I fancy the latter is worth a bet this week.
Allen hasn’t had his greatest season, I’m sure he’ll admit that, but he is in the field here so it can’t have been a terrible one either. In fact although he hasn’t made a final yet, he has made six semi-finals over the campaign and run into some monster performances in them it has to be said. Allen won’t want to go the whole season without a final or a title so I’m expecting him to be motivated both here and in Sheffield. Although he didn’t come out of the group in the Championship League, he didn’t lose a match and looked in decent enough order. If he beats Murphy in the first round this draw could open up quite quickly. At 14/1 he looks a value shot to me.
Tips
PLACED – Back M.Allen to win Tour Championship (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 15.00 with Betfred (1/3 1-2)
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