Players Championship snooker: Thursday preview and best bets

Snooker betting tips: Players Championship

2pts Three or more Match Centuries in Neil Robertson v Kyren Wilson match at 7/5 (Unibet)

0.5pt Four or more Match Centuries in Neil Robertson v Kyren Wilson match at 7/2 (Sky Bet)

2pts Ronnie O'Sullivan to beat Jack Lisowski (-2.5) at 10/11 (Sky Bet)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Jack Lisowski v Ronnie O'Sullivan (1900 GMT)

Thursday's evening offering from the Players Championship features two payers to have contested five finals between them this season, but neither has been able to go all the way and enter the winners' enclosure.

For RONNIE O'SULLIVAN, he can at least console himself with the fact that he currently holds the record for ranking titles with 37, and that he is the reigning world champion having tasted Crucible glory for a sixth time in Sheffield last summer.

Still, losing two of those finals to old rivals Judd Trump and Mark Selby would have hurt more than he would care to admit, while Sunday's defeat to Jordan Brown in the final of the Welsh Open is entitled to have left him even more frustrated.

While those first two losses came at the hands of two great players at the top of their games, and at a time when O'Sullivan was apparently social distancing with the practice table, he was expected to beat the lowly-ranked Brown given how he easily he had navigated his way to the final. Sunday's reverse felt like an opportunity missed.

We probably saw those frustrations finally come to boil when he threw his rest in anger when struggling for rhythm against Ding Junhui on Tuesday. Having grinded his way into a 5-3 lead, O'Sullivan struggled to shake off his opponent who pulled the score back to 5-5 before the Rocket threw caution to the wind and produced a typically fearless, match-winning break of 95.

While not at his best, that victory might prove to be a significant one for O'Sullivan, particularly the manner of it, which saw the veteran come good in a close match having unusually lost a few of them this term.

I think he'll build on Tuesday's win and I certainly think he can pick up another title before the season is out, perhaps even this week. Like everyone else left in the tournament, he will have noted Judd Trump's early exit and sensed an opportunity to resume winning ways.

Match odds of 1/3 suggest he will overpower Jack Lisowski in much the same way he has in their previous two encounters - O'Sullivan has won both, winning 11 of the 14 frames contested - and the fact he won this event in 2018 and 2019 once again underlines how comfortable he is in events like these that have trimmed, select fields.

Despite Lisowski making impressive strides of late and reaching the finals of the World Grand Prix and German Masters, he still needs to take his game to the next level in order to break his title duck, and won't find O'Sullivan in charitable mood here.

O'Sullivan has played really well since the turn of the year, scoring well and gritting his teeth when needed, and it's those traits that should again make him too streetwise for an opponent who remains happiest when able to play on his terms.

I doubt O'Sullivan will let him do that, and backing the Rocket on the handicap (-2.5) looks the way to go.

• Back Ronnie O'Sullivan (-2.5) with Sky Bet

Neil Robertson v Kyren Wilson (1300 GMT)

To many snooker bettors, backing total centuries might seem like one of those guilty pleasures you really ought to do without. When it goes wrong, it is incredibly frustrating and getting left high and dry in the 90's can test the coolest of heads.

Still, these markets invariably offer an exciting interest and if you pick your players - specifically the ones who place real importance on century breaks - you can make it pay.

Mark Allen has turned himself into a prolific century-break maker this season while Neil Robertson has been just that for a number of years.

The Australian - who won the UK Championship earlier in the campaign - is already up to 46 centuries this season, having made 73 last term, and he kicked off his Players Championship bid by adding four more against Lu Ning in the first round.

I've always loved the freshness angle with Robertson, whose last few campaigns have seen him go on red-hot streaks for a few weeks before inevitably dropping his standards before another peak.

Having missed the recent Welsh Open, Robertson should be fresh and primed for another deep run in this event, with the signs in his match against Ning certainly positive.

Expect his scoring to remain heavy in his quarter-final match with Kyren Wilson on Thursday and given the latter has also made giant strides in the break-building department in the last 18 months, I'm predicting another high-scoring encounter here.

Wilson has made 52 centuries so far this season, already surpassing the 33 he made in 2018/2019 and 46 in 2019/2020, and he looked in good touch when beating Ryan Day 6-1 on Tuesday.

The 7/5 (Unibet) for THREE OR MORE MATCH CENTURIES looks fair enough and I can't resist a smaller play on four or more Match Centuries at 7/2 (Sky Bet), too. I'll just about the resist the 10/1 Sky Bet offer for five or more Match Centuries.

• Back three or more Match Centuries with Sky Bet

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