English Open Snooker Betting 2018 Winner Odds & Predictions

Can O'Sullivan defend title in Crawley?

Snooker Betting

English Open Snooker 2018 Preview – October 21st – 25th, 2018

The next World Ranking event of the 2018/19 Snooker Season is the English Open which kicks off on October 21st. The action comes from the K2 in Crawley and it will be the sixth ranking event of the season. The reigning champion is Ronnie O’Sullivan who is, not surprisingly, the 3/1 odds favourite* (betting odds taken on October 12th, 2018 at 5:07 pm).

English Open Winner Odds*

Ronnie O’Sullivan 3/1
Mark Selby 11/2
John Higgins 7/1
Mark Williams 8/1
Judd Trump 11/1
Neil Robertson 14/1
Kyren Wilson 16/1
Barry Hawkins 20/1
Shaun Murphy 28/1
Jack Lisowski 33/1
Mark Allen 33/1
Marco Fu 33/1
Ryan Day 33/1
Stuart Bingham 40/1
Allister Carter 40/1
Joe Perry 40/1
Bar 50/1
* (Betting Odds were taken from William Hill on October 12th, 2018 at 5:22 p.m.)

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Reigning Champion

Ronnie O’Sullivan swept his way to last season’s title beating Kyren Wilson in the final. It can be argued that he had a fairly easy run of things in terms of the draw. He beat Jack Lisowski in the quarter, Anthony McGill in the semi’s before romping to a 9-2 win in the final over Wilson. That was after a deciding-frame victory over John Higgins in the last sixteen.

O’Sullivan is looking for his first ranking title of the new season. That is because he hasn’t entered any of the other five that have gone down so far. He did win the non-ranking Shanghai Masters for a title defence back in September. That took his career winnings to over £10 million, the first player to ever reach that figure. He is the 3/1 outright favourite* (betting odds taken on October 12th, 2018 at 5:07 pm) and punters won’t have a lot of trouble backing him.

Contenders

Mark Selby warmed up well with a win at the World Ranking China Championship at the end of September so that was a big boost for him. That was after winning the Naining Open (non-ranking) earlier in the season so he isn’t in bad shape and that is why he is going as the second favourite at 11/2 odds* (betting odds taken on October 12th, 2018 at 5:07 pm). He lost in the third round last season against Xiao Guodong.

There is last season’s runner-up Kyren Wilson who may pique the interest of punters. Not only does he have that form from last year’s run at the tournament, but he took a World Ranking win at the Paul Hunter Classic in August and then in September won the Six-red World Championship. So he is certainly a decent enough 16/1 each way option* (betting odds taken on October 12th, 2018 at 5:07 pm).

Will Big Guns Do Better?

A lot of the big names struggled at the event last season. Shaun Murphy made it to the last sixteen though but he hasn’t been in the winner’s circle at any event, ranking or non-ranking this season so far. He will have a point to prove through after failing to qualify for the recent European Masters.

John Higgins had his best performance of the season at the China Championship, in reaching the final there. He withdrew from the European Masters following that. He will have been cursing his luck after having met O’Sullivan in the round of sixteen last season at the English Open. He was a quarter finalist in the inaugural season.

Judd Trump reached the final of the inaugural English Open two years ago and he went back to the fourth round last season, so not a bad return from him at the tournament. It’s enough, on top of his quarter final run at the China Championship to warrant having a look at him. He crashed out in the second round of the European Masters recently on a quest for his third straight title there.

The Draw

Ronnie O’Sullivan has a pretty manageable section of the draw ahead of him. So you would expect to see him reach the quarter finals at the very least. Kyron Wilson is the most likely opponent that he would meet at that stage given the way that the draw is set up.

Judd Trump heads up section three which puts him on a quarter final collision course where he could potentially meet John Higgins or Marco Fu, the big names from the fourth section of the draw.

Mark Selby should have nothing to stop him reaching the quarter finals really, only himself. The draw ahead at the quarter final stage (dropping into the opposite half of the draw from O’Sullivan) looks comfortable too. That will add to his appeal.

Shaun Murphy, with his current lack of form, could find his section a bit of a grind. If he battles his way through though there is a decent enough draw ahead of him that could be waiting at the quarter-final stage.

Home Nations Series

The English Open is the first of the four tournaments which make up the Home Nations Series. The other tournaments are the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast, the Scottish Open in Glasgow and the Welsh Open in Cardiff. If a player can win all four tournaments in one season then there is a huge £1m bonus prize to be collected. This is just the third season of the Home Nations and as of yet, no-one has even managed to win more than one in a season.

English Open Predictions

A tournament still pretty much in its infancy and so we can only look at current form. Ronnie O’Sullivan got that great title defence achieved recently in Shanghai and he has to be worth a look here to do the same in Crawley.

Selby does look like the other sensible option, partially because of the draw. For our longer-priced offering, we are going to eye up Mark Allen. He was a losing quarter finalist last season at her English Open and just made a good run to the quarters of the European Masters. From 28/1 in the easiest section of the draw, he’s worth a look* (betting odds taken on October 12th, 2018 at 5:07 pm).