Snooker Champion of Champions – November 5th – 11th
It is a busy old time of things in snooker at the moment with some big tournaments being all clustered together. The Champion of Champions tournament this week, which is being held in Coventry, is a non-ranking event. Shaun Murphy is the defending champion but is nothing more than a big 16/1 outsider to defend* (betting odds taken on November 4th, 2018 at 6:08 pm).
Snooker Champion of Champions Winner Odds*
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5/2
Ding Junhui 7/1
Mark Selby 13/2
Judd Trump 8/1
John Higgins 15/2
Mark Williams 10/1
Neil Robertson 11/1
Mark Allen 14/1
Barry Hawkins 16/1
Shaun Murphy 16/1
Kyren Wilson 18/1
33/1 bar
* (betting odds taken from Betfair on November 4th, 2018 at 5:51 pm)
Table of Contents
Tournament Format
This is a 16-man tournament and the qualification process is pretty straightforward. The event is for winners of World Snooker events over the last 12 months (from a maximum of 26 events). The winners of the first sixteen events (starting with the Champion of Champions) all automatically qualify. In the case of one player winning multiple events, for example, the winners of the next ten tournaments are open qualification spots. If the draw isn’t filled from all of that, players are taken on standings from the current World Rankings.
1st Quarter (Group 1)
Defending Champion Shaun Murphy is the top seed and therefore he heads up the section (Group 1). He gets an opener against Jimmy Robertson, who was the surprise winner of the 2018 European Masters at the beginning of October. Murphy actually hasn’t won a title since this tournament last year.
The quarter finals will then see the winner of that match face either Ding Junhui or Michael Georgiou. Georgiou booked his place with a win at the 2018 Shoot-Out back in February while Ding hasn’t won a qualifying tournament in the last twelve months, so comes in through the Order of Merit. Despite that Ding is a decent 10/11 odds option* (betting odds taken on November 4th, 2018 at 5:51 pm) to win the quarter.
2nd Quarter (Group 4)
The Rocket has won the tournament twice, back in 2013 and 2014. He has been to the final of the last two edition as well where he was beaten by John Higgins in 2016 and then Shaun Murphy last year. He is in the second section of the draw and he is the 11/10 favourite at Betfair to win his quarter. O’Sullivan will open against Stuart Bingham and play the winner of John Higgins or Ryan Day in the quarter finals.
Sullivan has won five of the qualifying tournaments this season, the most recent being the Shanghai Masters back in September. He is naturally going to be the big threat even if he gets a showdown against Higgins. Higgins won the 2018 Champions League to qualify.
3rd Quarter (Group 3)
Mark Williams is the third seed in the draw and he had a pretty strong twelve months with wins at the 2018 World Championship, the German Masters, World Open and the Northern Ireland Open. That’s a strong track record from the Welshman. He opens with a game against Kyren Wilson, which is a tricky draw for him as Wilson is always a threat. Trump is the 13/10 favourite to win the section* (betting odds taken on November 4th, 2018 at 5:51 pm)
The winner of that will get a tough quarter final match as well because waiting there will be either Judd Trump, who is the tournament 6th seed or Luca Brecel. Trump has had a fruitless twelve months in terms of qualifying titles, so his World Ranking place gets him in. Luca Brecel was the last player to secure his spot at the tournament, again by World Rankings
4th Quarter (Group 2)
Mark Selby is second seed for the tournament and he opens with a tricky game against Australia’s Neil Robertson. Selby won the 2018 China Open back in April to get his place at the tournament, while he did also add the recent China Championship. He clearly enjoys playing out there. Robertson qualified with a win at the Riga Masters in July.
The winner of that match will face either Barry Hawkins or Mark Allen. Hawkins is the seventh seed for the tournament and he is a World Ranking entrant. Mark Allen opened the year with a bang in winning the Masters back in January to secure an early place. He also added the recent International Championship as well to take a bit of form forward. This is a very competitive group and Allen at 3/1 to win the section could surprise* (betting odds taken on November 4th, 2018 at 5:51 pm).
Predictions
You can’t ignore the track record of O’Sullivan in this and this is just a quick-fire short tournament so you would expect him to flourish. He is the one to beat in any tournament that he enters of course and his record over the last twelve months speaks for itself. We just can’t find any kind of reason to oppose him in the top half of the draw.
The bottom half of the draw is so wide open that it is nothing more than a crapshoot at this point really. Selby is the top seed but the form isn’t quite hot enough from him, but the same can be said of Trump as well and Williams hasn’t been strong over the second half of the season. We are going to pull for Mark Allen to reach the final because at least he has current form.
