European Masters Snooker
22 – 26 January 2020
Fresh on the heels of what was a chaotic Masters, the snooker season rolls onto the European Masters. This event is being held in Dornbirn, Austria and it is a ranking event. It is the ninth ranking event of the 2019/20 season. It wasn’t held last year but makes its return on the tour for 2020.
European Masters 2020 Outright Winner Odds*
Neil Robertson 5.0
Mark Selby 5.8
Ding Junhui 8.2
John Higgins 8.8
Mark Williams 13.0
Kyren Wilson 13.0
Barry Hawkins 19.0
Gary Wilson 26.0
Marcu Fu 29.0
Ali Carter 29.0
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 30.0
32.0 bar
* (betting odds from Betfair correct at 05:45 January 22nd 2020)
Neil Robertson the favorite for Austria
The recent Masters was just a mess for punters. Barely any of the favourites in the fixtures there bothered reading their lines. Just one top six seed (out of only a field of sixteen) made it past the first round. It was a tough one to handle. Will the European Masters be more punter-friendly?
Australia’s Neil Robertson was one of the first-round casualties at the Masters. He has just been struggling to go deep in ranking tournament this season. He has made a fourth-round exit in his last two, the UK Championship and the Scottish Open.
He’s as capable as anyone on his day. His best effort at the European Masters was a semi-final place in 2016. He bowed out in the first round last season. Put all that together and he’s probably worth opposing in the European Masters Snooker betting outright market at 5.0* (betting odds from Betfair correct at 05:45 January 22nd 2020).
He’s also in a tricky second quarter of the draw where John Higgins and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is, the Thai player beating Robertson in their last meeting.
A chance for Ding to shine?
Ding Junhui was one of the early fallers at the Masters. Before the break at the end of last year, Ding was running in some good form. He was back at his best in claiming the UK Championship crown in December last year. He followed that up with a run to the third round at the Scottish Open where he was looking in great shape before collapsing against Graeme Dott.
Ding has only been in the main draw of one previous European Masters and that was back in 2006. He is in the first quarter of this year’s event, where Kyren Wilson and losing Masters finalist Ali Carter is.
Carter’s run at the Masters was in contrast to his overall form, while Wilson is just missing a beat at the moment. So Ding has a good opportunity to progress in Austria and has appeal at 8.2 outright* (betting odds from Betfair correct at 05:45 January 22nd 2020)
Will Selby return to form?
The two form players of the 2019/20 season have been Mark Selby and Judd Trump. That’s not even up for question. So to see both of them tank in the first round of the Masters recently was a huge shock.
Trump, a two time European Masters winner, shockingly failed to qualify for the European Masters losing in the first round to Ian Burns during last December’s qualifiers. So it’s all eyes on Selby then of the form-players. Selby is not going to be unhappy at his draw in the third quarter.
The main opposition to him there is Mark Williams and Barry Hawkins, so Selby makes for a nice quarter winner option for European Masters Snooker 2020 betting. Selby reached the semis of the tournament in 2017 and then quarters the following year. It was a third-round exit last term.
But with two titles in the last five ranking events, he’s been on his game and is at 5.8 to lift this year’s title* (betting odds from Betfair correct at 05:45 January 22nd 2020).
Others to watch
The fourth quarter is wide open with the highest-ranked player there being Gary Wilson at 18th. So it’s a betting minefield down there but just too hard to read. That section doesn’t look as if has the quality in it to produce an outright winner.
Ali Carter should have big momentum after his brilliant run to the Masters after having entered as a wildcard. The thing is, you expect only to see him challenging for titles once in a blue moon. It’s going to be hard for punters to trust that he can follow up with consistency.
John Higgins is the fifth seed and did at least get past the first round of the Masters, before being beaten by Carter. The Wizard of Wishaw is a former European Masters winner, but that was back in 1997.
Europan Masters 2020 Predictions
There was a massive outside winner in the form of Jimmy Roberston when the European Masters was last held in 2018. He didn’t even get through the qualifiers in his title defence.
So we don’t have a problem looking for a longer-priced option, not after the carnage that top-ranked players went though at the Masters either.
The Thai Rocket, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh has form and is a wonderful each-way option at 30.0* (betting odds from Betfair correct at 05:45 January 22nd 2020). He reached the final of the World Open in November last year and recently fought his way to the quarter of the Scottish Open.
So he’s there as our pick along with the more reasonably-priced option of Mark Selby. If he gets back to the form that he has shown this season then there is little to oppose him in the entire bottom half of the draw.
