The Champion of Champions kicks off on Monday with a stellar field assembled for the tournament which will be televised on ITV – Richard Mann previews the action.
Snooker betting tips: Champion of Champions
2pts Mark Selby to win the Champion of Champions at 13/2 (Sporting Index)
1pt Shaun Murphy to make the tournament high break at 14/1 (General)
MARK SELBY's record in the ITV events is surprisingly poor, so much so that he has been known to joke about it from time to time. The Jester from Leicester maybe, but Selby is a monster on the table and I'm backing him to reign supreme in the prestigious Champion of Champions next week.
For all Selby has yet to win an event that is rapidly becoming one of the biggest on the snooker calendar, he reached the last four back in 2013 and again last year when playing really well in his first two matches, before pulling off a memorable comeback to see off Kyren Wilson in the quarter-finals, only to lose a final-frame decider against Neil Robertson in the semi-finals. As Stephen Hendry famously said at the time, that semi-final was one of the best matches he had ever witnessed, with the pair trading six centuries and Selby only losing the final points count 656 to 647.
I just don't subscribe to the theory that Selby doesn't enjoy this event, or its format, and I think more recently, Selby's modest record in the Champion of Champions coincided with a general downturn in his form, one that saw him struggle for consistency and confidence for a couple of years before he roared back to this brilliant, granite best last season.
Selby won three events last term, picking up the European Masters and Scottish Open titles before confirming he really was back when winning his fourth World Championship at the Crucible in the spring. He also reached the final of the Shoot Out in a fruitful campaign.
While an unusually quiet snooker calendar so far this season has made it tricky to get a good grasp on exactly where players currently are with their games, I think there have been some promising signs from Selby who started poorly at the British Open, but then looked much sharper when reaching the last 16 of the Northern Ireland Open before progressing to the same stage of the English Open last week.
Having looked really sharp in the early rounds in Milton Keynes, I was disappointed to see Selby lose to Yan Bingtao there, but there was only one frame in that match, while he didn't do a great deal wrong when an on-song David Gilbert beat him in Belfast previously.
On the whole, I do think Selby is steadily heading in the right direction and as we have seen time and time again, his appetite for winning big events against the top players in the game makes him such a tough nut to crack. His safety play is peerless and his scoring very heavy when he's playing well. Barring the aforementioned Bingtao match – where both players appeared to get bogged down – Selby's scoring has been strong in the last couple of events.
Just as is always the case with this brilliant event, there are no easy draws and Selby will face close friend Gilbert again in the first match from Group 2 on Wednesday. Gilbert has enjoyed a fine start to the season and patently represents a stern challenge, but Selby still leads the head-to-head 8-4 and would be favourite to exact revenge on Bingtao, or see off Shaun Murphy, in the group decider. Of course, Selby has recent results to overturn with two of the other three players in Group 2, but I believe his form is good and likely to keep getting better ahead of some huge tournaments either side of Christmas.
From there, Ronnie O'Sullivan or John Higgins loom as the likely opponent in the semi-finals, but Selby would relish a match with either and might be hard to stop if navigating his way out of an admittedly tricky opening section. It took a colossal effort to halt his progress last year and he will be desperate to put that right.
Red-hot Robertson an obvious threat
Were Robertson not on a collision course with Judd Trump in the semi-finals, I would have probably preferred last year's runner-up as my headline bet. Robertson is one of the most streaky players on the tour – proving himself an almost irresistible force when hot – and as well as making the final of this event, he was runner-up at the English Open and winner of the UK Championship all before last Christmas. In the previous campaign, Robertson made three finals in as many events between January and February, and having come from behind to edge out John Higgins in a brilliant final of the English Open a matter of days ago, it's hard to escape the feeling that a big few weeks are ahead of the Australian.
Robertson is going to take the world of stopping here and in York, but Wilson very nearly beat him in Milton Keynes when losing a final-frame decider and their potential rematch pits two in-form performers who aren't easy to split. Preference would be for Robertson, but it's a very tough match, before he would then have to meet Trump for a place in the final. There are rarely easy draws in a tournament as strong as this one, but the 2015 and 2019 champion will have to work extremely hard for the trophy on this occasion.
Trump's own form is likely to cause some debate, having reached the quarter-finals of the Northern Ireland and English Open, but failed to finish the job when letting leads slip over Mark Allen and Mark King. I wouldn't be too critical and expect him to resume winning ways soon, but 9/4 is awfully short for all the early part of his draw is favourable. He'll need to raise his game once the competition hots up and while he might, I'm happy leave him alone at the prices.
After losing the Northern Ireland Open final from 8-6 in front, the aforementioned Higgins displayed great resolve to reach another final last week, but he was again unable to get over the line having found himself 8-6 up and with Robertson seemingly on the ropes. His post-match comments told the story of a man hurting from two bruising defeats, and bouncing back from this latest loss will take a mammoth effort.
Higgins, like the man he beat in the English Open semi-final, O'Sullivan, has his game in good working order, but neither have been quite good enough to win any silverware this term and both have questions to answer at present: Higgins how he quickly recovers from a challenging few weeks; O'Sullivan having lost five finals last season and again knocked on the door last time without sparkling like we know he can.
At 45 years of age, some might question whether O'Sullivan's best is good enough to win titles anymore, but I can't agree with that argument and expect him to be a big threat at the UK Championship. It wasn't long ago that O'Sullivan was world champion and the standard of play he is still consistently producing will ensure he keeps getting enough chances to add to his 37 ranking titles.
Another clash with Higgins in the last eight would be something to savour, and one he might fancy having appeared a shade unfortunate in the deciding frame of their match last week, but Selby could be lying in wait thereafter and he was much the best when the pair met in the final of last season's Scottish Open.
Break from the outright betting
In the highest break market, Trump looks awfully short at 7/2 given his best this season is a break of 128. With a season-best of 140 and his penchant for making big breaks, Robertson (4/1) makes more appeal, and he's preferred to O'Sullivan, too, who has yet to surpass 129. With a 147 maximum break and eight centuries already this term, Higgins rates a live contender and appeals at 10/1, though not quite as much as SHAUN MURPHY.
Last season's World Championship runner-up has looked in good touch so far this term, making 11 century breaks with a best of 138, and he will know his best chance of beating Bingtao and then likely Selby will be to attack in the same manner he did in that memorable Crucible final back in May.
Murphy is a fearsome scorer when on song and with the best-of-11 frames matches giving every player a fair crack at this market, I'm happy to take 14/1 for the 2017 champion to have the tournament high break.
Published at 1145 GMT on 12/11/21
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