The Players Championship got under way on Monday night - Richard Mann provides his first round match-by-match preview here.
Judd Trump v Michael Holt
Tuesday 25 February - 1900
The first-round clash that everyone wanted and expected to see between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump has been scuppered following Michael Holt's brilliant victory in the Snooker Shoot Out on Sunday, the Hitman catapulting himself up to number 16 in the one-year world rankings and edging O'Sullivan out of qualification. That won't bother either Trump or Holt, however, and the reigning world champion will be hopeful of getting his title bid up and running with Holt entitled to be a little weary, at least mentally, following his maiden ranking-title success in Watford. I expect Trump to run out a comfortable winner here for all match odds of 1/7 make little appeal.
Prediction: Trump 6-2 Holt
Yan Bingtao v Kyren Wilson
Tuesday 25 February - 1900
Two of the sport's rising stars lock horns on Tuesday in one of the more interesting ties of the first round. Yan Bingtao's ascent up the snooker rankings has seen him win the Riga Masters and reach the semi-finals of the UK Championship and Welsh Open already this season, his brilliant safety game belying his relative inexperience. Expect Bingtao to continue to make his mark from here on in but Wilson himself has a recent Welsh Open final appearance to his name and looks to have his game in good working order at present. The outcome of this one could be decided by who gets the better of those tight frames that turn scrappy and 8/5 about Bingtao probably underestimates just how hard he can push Wilson.
Prediction: Bingtao 6-5 Wilson
Mark Allen v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Wednesday 26 February - 1300
Following a strong start to the season that continually promised a major title, Mark Allen has gone off the boil in recent months and I have some real concerns about his form at present. Allen made the semi-finals of this event 12 months ago but he could be vulnerable this time around with Thepchaiya Un-Nooh a particularly dangerous first-round opponent. Thepchaiya himself hasn't quite been at his sparkling best of late but a run to the quarter-finals of the European Masters recently was more encouraging and the carrot has certainly been dangled at 7/4. At the prices, he looks worth chancing.
Prediction: Allen 4-6 Thepchaiya
Recommended bet: 2pts Thepchaiya Un-Nooh to beat Mark Allen at 7/4
Shaun Murphy v David Gilbert
Wednesday 26 February - 1300
Fresh from his recent Welsh Open success, Shaun Murphy will have high hopes of adding to his Players Championship success back in 2011 for all a first-round match with David Gilbert can be expected to ask some big questions of him. On Gilbert's part, he surely remains the best 'maiden' on the tour and a runner-up finish at this year's English Open confirms he is very close to that elusive first title. Gilbert's scoring has remained solid all season - 32 centuries and counting - while Murphy scored so heavily in Wales that this encounter has big breaks written all over it. With that in mind, 11/10 for over 1.5 match centuries looks very fair and helps complete the first-round staking plan.
Prediction: Murphy 4-6 Gilbert
Recommended bet: 2pts Over 1.5 total match centuries at 11/10
Ding Junhui v Stephen Maguire
Monday 24 February - 1900
In a repeat of the final of this season's UK Championship final, Ding Junhui will bid to get his campaign back on track when taking on Stephen Maguire in the tournament opener. Despite enjoying one of the most notable victories of his career in York in December, Ding is still struggling for consistency and was beaten 4-0 by Scott Donaldson in the opening event of The Coral Series, the World Grand Prix, recently. It has been a similar story for Maguire since York and given that his record in this is moderate, Ding looks the right favourite at 8/13. Having failed to qualify for the Players last year, the Chinese made it to at least the last eight in the three previous renewals and the glitz and glamour of an event a big as this one is sure to have him dialled in.
Prediction: Ding 6-4 Maguire
Mark Selby v Mark Williams
Monday 24 February - 1900
Despite winning two of the four Home Series events this season, Mark Selby is another of the sport's biggest hitters still struggling for the consistency that allowed him to occupy the world number one spot for so long. While his very best remains awfully hard to beat, he hasn't been able to find that form as often as he would like. With his beloved World Championship drawing ever nearer, he is certainly worth watching with interest but Monday's opponent, Mark Williams, is currently a long way from the player who triumphed for a third time in Sheffield in 2018 and as such, we may not see too many fireworks in this one. With two fine tactical operators on show, this could be hard-fought, particularly in that department, and over nine frames at 11/10 might be the way to go.
Prediction: Selby 6-4 Williams
John Higgins v Graeme Dott
Tuesday 25 February - 1300
A run to the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open was John Higgins' fifth last-eight finish of the campaign, in addition to semi-final appearances at the World Open and Northern Ireland Open, and he will be hopeful his consistency is rewarded with some silverware before the season is out. He takes on fellow Scot, Graeme Dott, on Tuesday and he, too, has enjoyed a consistent run of form which saw him finish runner-up at the World Grand Prix recently. Despite Higgins holding an impressive head-to-head record over Dott (21-8), this has all the hallmarks of another close affair and just as was the case when the pair met in the last 16 of this season's World Open, Higgins is just fancied to prevail by the odd frame. Over nine frames at 6/5 looks well worth a play with 10/3 for the match to go to a deciding frame also catching the eye.
Prediction: Higgins 6-5 Dott
Recommended bet: 2pts Over nine total match frames at 6/5
Neil Robertson v Joe Perry
Tuesday 25 February - 1300
Following a golden run that saw him two tournaments and finish runner-up in one more in as many weeks, Neil Robertson finally ran out of steam when a beaten semi-finalist the Welsh Open. Nevertheless, Robertson remains the form man in snooker and having enjoyed a decent break since Cardiff to recharge the batteries, expect the Australian to come out all guns blazing as he bids to atone for his defeat in the final of this event last year. Joe Perry will be no pushover, though, and this has the makings of a high-quality affair. Perry has stroked in 23 centuries on the way to making two semi-finals and three quarter-finals already this term and with Robertson up to 60 centuries for the campaign himself, we ought to see a few more on Tuesday. I'll be playing over 1.5 centuries at 4/5.
Prediction: Robertson 6-4 Perry
Recommended bet: 2pts Over 1.5 total match centuries at 4/5
Posted at 1530 GMT on 24/02/20
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