Welsh Open Snooker 2018 Winner Odds & Preview

Murphy and Trump appeal for Cardiff challenge

Snooker Betting

The Welsh Open 2018 snooker action is underway at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff and this is the sixteenth ranking event of the season. After Ronnie O’Sullivan swept his way to the World Grand Prix title on the weekend against Ding Junhui, it is The Rocket who is going as the outright favourite at 11/4 odds with William Hill* (betting odds taken at 7:27 p.m. on January 26th, 2018).

Reigning Champion

Stuart Bingham is the current Welsh Open Champion. He had a pretty comfortable run through to the tournament of last season’s final where he went head to head with Judd Trump. It was a fascinating tussle between the two of them though, without a century break being made in the match. It was Bingham who edged his way to the title in a deciding frame.

Welsh Open Snooker 2018 Winner Odds*

Ronnie O’Sullivan 11/4, Mark Selby 9/2, Judd Trump 8/1, John Higgins 9/1, Ding Junhui 10/1, Neil Robertson 12/1, Mark Williams 14/1, Shaun Murphy 20/1, 25/1 bar* (betting odds taken at 7:27 p.m. on January 26th, 2018)

The Draw

It is a big 128 man-field starting off in the first round of the tournament and that means there are great quarter-betting options for the draw to consider. Ronnie O’Sullivan heads up the bottom half of the table where he would potentially meet up with John Higgins in the quarter finals. The top players in the fourth quarter are Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy who would be set to meet up in the final eight and then the winner would move on to meet the winner of O’Sullivan’s quarter.

In the second quarter, there is Ding Junhui, Judd Trump and Neil Robertson all knocking around, and the top quarter of the draw for the Welsh Open looks to be the easiest to navigate and that means that Stuart Bingham, the reigning champion has a pretty good chance of pulling together a deep run.

Ronnie O’Sullivan

The Rocket was in the mood last week at Preston, storming his way through the tournament and then not giving Ding Junhui a whiff of a chance in the final, which O’Sullivan won 10-3. O’Sullivan has won this title four times before and twice in the last four editions as well. So he has nice tournament history although he tanked in the second round last year against Mark Davis. Anything less than a quarter-final berth would be a huge shock.

Judd Trump

Trump had a good run in last season’s Welsh Open in reaching the final. He is looking for his first title since winning the European Masters back in October last year. He did get to the final of the Shanghai Masters the following month where he lost out against Ronnie O’Sullivan. He needs something of a redeeming performance here after losing out in the first round of World Grand Prix.

Mark Selby

Selby was in good form at the World Grand Prix last week, easily handling an early test against Neil Robertson. He lost a decider in his semi-final against Ding Junhui. Last season in the Welsh Open he was stopped in the round of 32 but he is a former winner of the tournament, collecting the title back in 2008. He has looked a little short of his best for some time though.

Shaun Murphy

Murphy has had a pretty solid season and he has been one of the more consistent performers this season. Murphy lost in the second round last season but went to the quarter of the World Grand Prix last weekend where he was stopped by an inspired Stephen Maguire. Murphy looked to be playing some decent stuff though, even in defeat.

Prediction

Really the setup of the draw means that the first rounds should be a breeze for the seeded players and you can expect a packed draw at the quarter-final stage where the real action begins. We are looking to get Shaun Murphy on side in this one as a 20/1 each way odds option at William Hill* (betting odds taken at 7:27 p.m. on January 26th, 2018), just because he is in the bottom quarter where his main opponent is the out of form Mark Selby and Murphy has good generally consistency going. O’Sullivan had a long week in Preston so we are giving him a pass this weekend and the other one that we would be looking at is Judd Trump who has to be due for a good run.