The Tour Championship 2020 in Llandudno, Wales this week is the final ranking tournament of the season before the World Championships. There is only a field of eight (top eight on the singles rankings after the Gibraltar Open) that will be competing for the honours.
World Number One Judd Trump will be coming in hot after creating history on the weekend. He won a record sixth ranking title of the season as he lifted the Gibraltar Open title.
The tournament starts on March 17th and runs through to March 22nd. It is likely to be played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus.
Tour Championship Snooker 2020 Odds*
Judd Trump 7/11
Neil Robertson 3/1
Mark Selby 9/2
Shaun Murphy 7/1
Mark Allen 12/1
Ding Junhui 14/1
John Higgins 16/1
Yan Bingato 20/1
* (betting odds taken from William Hill at 02:50 GMT on Monday, 16th March 2020)
Snooker Betting at William Hill
Table of Contents
Tour Championship Snooker 2020 Draw
Judd Trump v John Higgins
Neil Robertson v Ding Junhui
Mark Selby v Yan Bingtao
Shaun Murphy v Mark Allen
Quarter-Finals best of 17 frames
Semi-Finals best of 19 frames
Final best of 27 Frames
Judd Trump
Judd Trump has had a record-breaking season. He is the first player ever to win six ranking tournaments in a single campaign. His latest came on the weekend at the Gibraltar Open adding to the International Championship, World Open, Northern Ireland Open, German Masters and Players Championship.
The action in Gibraltar on the weekend was strange. Several players pulled out and some matches were played without referees, players re-spotting the balls of their opponents during fixtures. That was of course, because of the coronavirus outbreak. Trump beat Kyren Wilson 4-3 in the final and it sealed the BetVictor European Series for him as well, earning a cool £150,000 bonus.
Trump goes as the red-hot 7/11 favourite to win the Tour Championship as well* (betting odds taken from William Hill at 02:50 GMT on Monday, 16th March 2020). Regardless of where he finishes at the Tour Championship, his earnings for the season will go over the £1 million mark. He is just six century breaks shy of equalling the record for the most in a season (currently held by Neil Robertson).
Neil Roberston
Speaking of the Australian, Neil Roberton is scheduled to play in Wales. He was one of those who withdrew from Gibraltar over the weekend. It has been a fine season by Roberston, who has been in great form in recent ranking events, picking up a couple of titles for himself.
Fascinatingly Robertson and Trump could meet in the semi-finals. They would have met at that stage at the Gibraltar Open if it had come down to it. Will we get to see the best two in the game at the moment square off in Wales for some fantastic snooker betting action?
Robertson was runner up at last year’s Tour Championship to Ronnie O’Sullivan and is the 3/1 second-favourite behind Trump for this year’s event* (betting odds taken from William Hill at 02:50 GMT on Monday, 16th March 2020)
Mark Selby
Selby has been struggling for form since lifting the Scottish Open in December last year. He has not made it past the quarter-finals in any of the six ranking events since then. Of course, the thing about the Tour Championship is that it is such a small field.
Three wins for someone and they will be walking away with the title. Selby does get the break of going in the opposite half of the draw though. But Selby’s current frailties were shown up in Gibraltar when he lost 4-1 in the Last 32 against Lyu Haotian.
Shaun Murphy
Shaun Murphy will be coming in fresh after not making the trip to Gibraltar Open because he didn’t qualify. Murphy had reached the semi-finals of the Players Championship in his last ranking event. That was on the back of his title at the 2020 Welsh Open in mid-February.
So he has been in decent recent form. There is the thought that he will be back refreshed as well after not travelling to the Rock. With that in mind, Murphy has plenty of appeal to win the bottom section of the draw. He could meet Selby in the semi-finals.
The Rest Of The Pack
Ding Junhui is one of two players from China to make the field. He has claimed the one ranking title this season, which was the UK Championship in early December. Ding has made a first-round exit in three of his last four ranking events.
Yan Bingtao has had a successful season which started with a ranking title at the Riga Masters. There has been recent form from him as well, with two semi-finals and a final in three of his last four ranking events. He’s easily the pick of the outsiders is Yan The Man.
Mark Allen withdrew from the weekend’s action in Gibraltar. He had reached the quarters of the Players Championship before that. Overall his form has gone down over the second half of the season.
John Higgins has been consistent in recent ranking events. He has made a quarter-final exit in each of the last three. There hasn’t been a ranking title for him since 2018 and he is on the outside for the Tour Championship snooker betting 2020.
Tour Championship Snooker Predictions
Well, how do you look past Judd Trump for the title in a tournament which only needs three wins to claim the trophy?
Hopefully, this time around we get to see a Trump v Robertson clash and we would still have to lean on the Englishman to win that prospective battle. So it should be Trump all the way.
But we have to take into consideration someone from the bottom half of the draw to at least oppose in the final.
For that, we will turn to Shaun Murphy who has been having a flourish of improved form at the back end of the season. If there’s anyone likely to really upset the apple cart, it’s him.
