It is the first ever English Open of snooker this week and it will be the seventh ranking event of the 2016 season. On top of that it will also be the first tournament running in the new Home Nations series. The English Open 2016 runs from October 10th through the 16th and features the best in the world as they compete at Event City in Manchester. Even Ronnie O’Sullivan is in for this one which is a huge 128 man tournament.
The new Home Series will consist of this one, the Welsh Open, the Irish Open and the Scottish Open tournaments. The winner of this inaugural English Open will go on to lift the Davis Trophy which has been named in honor of the great Steve Davis, one of snooker’s greatest ever players. Heading up the market as outright favourite is Ronnie O’Sullivan who is a 7/2 shot at online betting site Coral to take the victory, with Mark Selby, Judd Trump and Ding Junhui the only other three coming in at single figures for the tournament.
The draw sees Mark Selby and Judd Trump lumped together in the top half. They are in separate quarters though so would meet in the semi final stage. John Higgins, Mark Allen and Mark Williams are also known around the top half of the raw.
That leaves Shaun Murphy, Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson and Ronnie O’Sullivan all scrapping it out in the bottom half of the draw. Robertson and O’Sullivan are actually together in the same section so would meet in the round of sixteen.
So Ronnie O’Sullivan, the five time world champion and five time UK Championship winner (to just just a few of his many, many honours in the game) is running as favourite to take the inaugural title. There’s not much he hasn’t achieved in the game, so would probably like to make a splash in this first tournament. Not only that, if a player can will all four of the new Home Nations events, then they will walk away with a massive £1 million bonus. This could be just the incentive and fire that O’Sullivan needs as he likes a challenge.
He has said that it is a “fantastic carrot to be dangled” in front of the players. It hasn’t been a particularly busy season for O’Sullivan who missed the first four ranking tournaments of the season and then when he made his return he lost in the second round of the Shanghai Masters. He did go to the final of the European Masters recently in Bucharest where he lost out in a deciding frame against Judd Trump. That was after hammering Neil Robertson 6-0 in the semifinals, The Rocket giving up just 80 points in the entire match.
Mark Selby will carry some backing into this one because he has been to the latter stages of the last three events and is running in great, consistent form. Mark Allen could be a dark horse here because he won at the venue match in March in the Players Championship and has more in him than his Round of 16 exits in his last three events has shown. Judd Trump may have a tough turnaround after his win at the European Masters Final, but the flip side of that, is that if he can continue that form, he will be a major threat.
Ding Junhui, after his win in Shanghai, perhaps wisely took a fortnight off in pulling out of the European Masters to prepare for this one. That may serve him very well and the draw sets him up well for a very good run this season, but it’s not too often that you see players landing back to back wins on the season. One thing to bear in mind, is that this is just a quick shoot out of the best of 7 frames through the first four rounds. The quick fire players like O’Sullivan may well come into their element.
English Open 2016 Snooker Betting
Ronnie O’Sullivan 7/2, Mark Selby 15/2, Judd Trump 17/2, Ding Junhui 9/1, Neil Robertson 10/1, Shaun Murphy 18/1, John Higgins 16/1, Mark Allen 22/1, Stuart Bingham 25/1, Barry Hawkins 28/1, 50/1 bar
English Open 2016 Snooker Prediction
We are going to take a look at Ding Junhui for some value. He is clearly ins some form after his win in Shanghai and smart stepped back from the game for a break for a couple of weeks. That could help him go deep in the tournament and while it is hard winning back to back tournaments, just back in 2013 he won the Shanghai Masters then went on to win four more events that season. He has it is in him and we may have the extra legs with Trump and O’Sullivan having gone long at the European Masters.
Follow all of the action from the English Open 2016 Snooker Betting live at online betting site Betfred through their live in play betting portal. That’s a great way to get a little closer to the action and look around for some extra value through the live markets. Go and register an account with online betting site betfred and earn a free £30 bet as a welcome bonus. Just open the account and place a £10 stake minimum as your first qualifying stake and clean the free bet bonus!
