Free snooker betting tips: Simon Crawford previews the English Open in Barnsley

07:32 · MON October 16, 2017

Our Simon Crawford is backing Neil Robertson for English Open glory in Barnsley this week - and also has a 40/1 outsider.

Neil Robertson vowed he would be playing with more "passion and aggression" this season following his early exit to Marco Fu in May's World Championship - a defeat he labelled "garbage".

Early signs would suggest that this new bold approach is paying off for the Australian left-hander who already has a tournament victory to his name with the new campaign still very much in its infancy.

The 35-year-old beat world number one Mark Selby, Fu in the semi-finals and then Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final to win the inaugural Hong Kong Masters back in July.

Since then he has reached the third round of both the World Open and European Masters and the signs are certainly there that he will add to his 12 career ranking titles sooner rather than later.

It's been just over 12 months since his last one, the Riga Masters. That was the only final he reached last season, despite going close in both the World Open and European Masters where he made the last four.

There were also some lows such as his 6-3 loss to Peter Lines in the opening round of the UK Championship, plus early exits in the German Masters and Welsh Open.

Yet Robertson remains ranked eighth in the world and you would expect a former world champion and Triple Crown winner (World Championship, Masters and UK Championship) to play his way back into form and be a consistent title challenger.

There is absolutely no doubt he has the game to be at the very top of the sport.

He is prolific break-builder with more than 500 career centuries to his name - including 103 in the 2013/14 campaign, making him the only player to record 100 tons in a season.

The Aussie is widely regarded as one of the best long potters the game has ever seen, while his safety play is measured.

Robertson will arrive in Barnsley this week for the English Open as confident as anyone else in the field based on current form.

Judd Trump is an obvious danger having won the European Masters in Belgium earlier this month, but even world champion Selby has only shown glimpses of his best so far in this campaign.

Robertson begins against Q-School winner Billy Joe Castle on Tuesday night and, if successful, will face the winner of Li Hang v Chris Wakelin.

He is in the first quarter where Barry Hawkins is the highest seed, while defending champion Liang Wenbo plus the likes of Anthony McGill, Tom Ford and Michael Holt are potential opponents further down the line.

This tournament is wide open and at 18/1 (general), Robertson looks well worth siding with.

There has been plenty made recently about the renaissance of the 40-somethings in the game and it's the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins who have taken most of the plaudits.

Yet if you look at the record of Mark Williams, 42, in the past couple of seasons it would be the envy of most players on the circuit.

Last season the Welshman reached the final of the China Open and was leading Selby 8-7, but lost three frames in a row.

He also reached the semi-finals of the Riga Masters and last eight in the Northern Ireland Open, UK Championship and Gibraltar Open.

Left-hander Williams has already done even better this season, having won the Six-red World Championship, reached the semi-finals of the Riga Masters for a second successive year and the last eight of the China Championship, World Open and European Masters.

Mark Williams is a dangerous outsider

Bearing in mind these are the only tournaments he has played, that is quite some strike rate.

A world champion in 2000 and 2003 and the first left-hander to win it, there is no doubt Williams is perfectly capable of mixing it with the best, but a lack of consistency has been his Achilles' heel in recent years.

However, in this kind of form I believe he is a very dangerous outsider and worth a small each-way punt with bwin offering a market-best 50/1. I'll take 40s with a firm offering each-way terms.

Where to watch on TV: Eurosport