Fresh from tipping the 40/1 winner of the Welsh Open, Richard Mann previews the Players Championship where Judd Trump is one of the headline acts.
Snooker betting tips: Players Championship
2pts Judd Trump to win the Players Championship at 9/4 (General)
I wrote before the Welsh Open about snooker’s domination by two men this season and how their absence in Llandudno presented an opportunity to others on the tour, something that won’t be the case at the Players Championship this week.
JUDD TRUMP and Ronnie O’Sullivan have dominated the calendar so far this term, the former having won four titles already and contested three more finals. O’Sullivan has won four big events, including the Masters and UK Championship.
We are witnessing an impressive level of domination and Trump is fancied to maintain his hot streak in Telford, fresh from a week off having skipped last week’s final Home Nations event in Wales to ensure he is razor sharp for a crucial juncture of the season.
It was probably a smart move. Though 14 years O’Sullivan’s junior, Trump has danced every dance over the last few years, playing at every opportunity and giving the smaller events just as much attention as the bigger ones.
But you get the sense that Trump wonders if that left its mark towards the end of those long seasons in the last few years. He departed in the first round here last season, and then suffered the same fate at the World Championship. Even when he lost to O'Sullivan in the final at the Crucible in 2022, Trump argued he didn’t play well all through that tournament.
Going back, Trump has a strong record at this event, winning in 2017 and 2020, having reached the semi-finals in the two intervening years. Looking at his preparation this time around, all the indications are that Trump is eyeing a strong finish to the current campaign, starting with another deep run in this tournament.
Trump was outstanding when last seen winning the German Masters and in another stellar campaign, has already won the English Open and Northern Ireland Open – his fourth win in six years in Belfast.
He hammered Chris Wakelin 9-3 in the final in Belfast, and therefore should have no worries locking horns with the same opponent in the first round here.
With O’Sullivan drawn in the opposite half of the draw, don’t rule out another Trump/O’Sullivan final, but for a few reasons, I think Trump is more likely to be cherry ripe this week and I’m backing him to add yet more silverware to his impressive tally.
O’Sullivan, now 48, has made no secret about his desire to peak for the biggest tournaments and the richest prizes – and he’s not missed with that approach.
But while this is always a big one, it’s hard to escape the feeling that O’Sullivan is already gearing towards Sheffield and a title bid that could provide him with his eighth Crucible win, also meaning he would hold the UK Championship, Masters and World Championship all at the same time. It's stuff of legend and O'Sullivan knows it.
I could have this completely wrong, and O’Sullivan was too strong for Trump when they met in the final of the World Grand Prix in January, only a week after winning the Masters and then immediately talking about taking a break following his own relatively heavy workload.
Nevertheless, he’s a short price this week and with doubts in my mind, I’m happy to let him go.
Elsewhere in the draw, Mark Allen must have been disappointed with his performance in his quarter-final loss to John Higgins in Wales, similarly Barry Hawkins when he lost to Tom Ford a day earlier. Mark Selby is another with question marks over his recent form.
Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy, winners of the last two editions, haven’t even qualified this time around.
Higgins will need to back up quickly from Wales, but there is no doubt he has played well all season and went down all guns blazing against Gary Wilson in the semi-finals there.
Wilson himself had to be respected having won his second tittle of the season in Llandudno, and he is clearly the type of big-match player who is right at home in this environment. Scaling that mountain again so quickly is a big ask, however, and one wonders if he might just run out of steam later in the week.
This is the sort of event that could bring out the best in Ding Junhui who was runner-up at the UK Championship and generally saves his best for the very biggest stage. The Chinese is enjoying a solid season, but Higgins first up is bad draw for both.
Whoever comes out of that match could be very dangerous, but on the very best of their recent form, I'm still not sure either can hold a candle to Trump. Not many can, and I expect him to prove very hard to beat this week.
Posted at 0710 GMT on 19/01/24
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