UK Championship Snooker – Semi-finals Betting Preview

We’re down to just one table in the UK Championship in York now as the tournament has reached the semi-final stage where the big money starts to get played for as well as the potential of a place in the final of such a prestigious event.

After yet another dramatic day on the baize on Friday we are left with a very surprising semi-final and a potentially mouth-watering one. Both semis take place on Saturday across the usual two sessions.

This really is where the tournament cranks up another gear. There is one table in play and all eyes will be on it and the pressure really mounts up now so it will be interesting to see how David Grace and Liang Wenbo cope with that in the first semi.

Wenbo was in sensational form in his quarter final win over Marco Fu. He came out firing on all cylinders in that match rattling in three centuries in the opening three frames before falling over the line but credit to him to winning having surrendered a 5-2 lead.

David Grace came from miles back to win in the quarter final. He was being heavily outclassed by Martin Gould as Gould took a 5-1 lead but then he also saw the winning line too soon and became more and more nervous and ultimately failed to get the job done. Credit to Grace for holding himself together better but it would be pushing it to say he did too much right.

Given how both saw the winning line too soon at times in their quarter final I’m not sure it is a wise move backing either of these to win the match. I would imagine there will be plenty of nerves around throughout the piece as it is the biggest game either will have played and the reward for winning is huge.

I do think Wenbo might come out firing a bit better though. He’s used to playing in one table environments which Grace isn’t but also Grace went through a bit of an emotional rollercoaster on Friday night and he won’t have got to sleep until late and has to play again at 1am. Wenbo was taking it easy and should be more settled initially and at even money he looks good value to lead at the mid-session interval.

The other semi-final should be an absolute blockbuster between the two best players in the game right now. Robertson came through a titanic, high quality battle with John Higgins in the quarter final while Mark Selby was on easy street for the second round in a row.

Robertson had to deep into all his reserves against Higgins and I’m hoping for his sake he has some left here because he’s likely to need them. Robertson has scored really well this week and he’s going to need to do that again here. It is vital he does that and not get bogged down by Selby.

Selby goes into the match knowing he has a good recent record against Robertson. He has won their last four meetings including in the quarter final of the International Championship last month. He also saw off Robertson on the way to the world title in 2014. He has this habit of dragging Robertson into his match and it works perfectly.

I’ve got to say I’ve looked at this match from just about every possible angle and each one I look from all I see is this being really close. Both are great fighters on the table and both are top grade and are used to this environment and I fully expect this to go beyond the 9.5 frames.

I’ve had a feeling that Selby’s name could be on this title ever since he dodged a huge bullet against Jamie Jones in the last 32 and I can’t ignore the odds against on Selby who seems to always turn up with his A* game when he plays the likes of Robertson and O’Sullivan. 5/4 is big on the world number one.

Back L.Wenbo to be ahead after 4 frames vs D.Grace for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Ladbrokes

Back M.Selby to beat N.Robertson for a 4/10 stake at 2.25 with Betway

Back M.Selby vs N.Robertson – Over 9.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Paddy Power

Blog snooker YTD: +90.43pts