James Cooper previews the early action action at the World Grand Prix and has one recommended bet in his staking plan.
Snooker betting tips: World Grand Prix
1.5pts Elliot Slessor (-1.5 frames) to beat Peifan Lei at 6/5 (bet365 and William Hill)
We’ve got quite used to huge-priced winners of shorter-format events in recent seasons, with Fan Zhengyi and Jordan Brown both around the 750/1 mark when they triumphed in the European Masters and Welsh Open respectively, ironically both beating Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final.
Lei Peifan wasn’t quite that big but his Scottish Open success was still a huge upset when you consider that a month prior to that, Lei had to start from round one of qualification for the UK Championship.
Having successfully negotiated four deciding-frame matches (including a 5-2 recovery to beat Mark Allen 6-5 in the semi-final) Lei never really looked like surrendering an early lead in the final against Wu Yize in Edinburgh, displaying more tactical nous when it mattered.
Perhaps understandably given that career-changing ranking title, Lei has been unable to continue the good work since, suffering a surprising reversal against Allan Taylor before also failing to justify favouritism against Dylan Emery in Welsh Open qualifying.
Lei did edge by Anthony Hamilton 4-3 to qualify for the World Open and while a 5-1 reversal against Kyren Wilson in the event proper is easy-enough to forgive, it’s still fair to say that Lei’s standards have dipped somewhat.
His opponent in Hong Kong on Tuesday is ELLIOT SLESSOR, who is quietly going about his business and remains a shade underrated in my book for someone who finds himself in 22nd spot on the one-year list.
A run to the semi-final in Belfast, coupled with a quarter-final finish in the British Open has kept things ticking over nicely for Slessor, while a last-16 finish in Riyadh was enough to bank a further £30,000.
Both are operating at around a 62% win record this season, though Lei has had the slightly easier schedule on account of entering a few tournaments at an earlier stage and there’s a more consistent look to Slessor’s record on the whole, albeit without the elation of a title.
On his way to that aforementioned Northern Ireland semi-final in October, Slessor defeated Lei 4-1 and I think this is a good match-up for Slessor, who can hold his own against pretty much anyone in the safety department.
The match prices are generally 8/13 v 13/10 but offering comparable value with me is the -1.5 frames handicap line at 6/5, so I’ll plump for that.
Jimmy Robertson came under consideration at 5/2 to beat Mark Allen but Allen has been superb in best-of-seven matches this term, winning 15 of 18 so that bet is reluctantly passed over.
Posted at 0855 GMT on 03/03/25
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