Big Names Missing from Snookers’ Players Championship
If there is one thing the 2022/23 snooker season has not been, it has not been predictable. There has been no ranking tournament success for Ronnie O’Sullivan, Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Stuart Bingham, Stephen Maguire, and other established big-name players.
With 11 ranking tournaments consigned to the record books, pre-season odds of none of the aforementioned pros taking at least one ranking title would have been a healthy double-figure price. They will not win ranking event number 12 either – as they are not qualified to play.
Gary Wilson has fared well in the Players Championship draw. ©GettyImages
As a result of a poor season, many established champions are missing from this week’s ITV and Eurosport televised Players Championship. This competition – restricted to the top 16 ranked players on snooker’s one-year ranking list – is worth a handsome £125,000 to the winner. Only four consecutive victories are required to take the prize.
Mark Allen and Robert Milkins Have Delivered
Last year Neil Robertson defeated Barry Hawkins 10-5 in the final, but neither player is in this year’s field. The list of 16 players with a ticket to the Wolverhampton tournament in 2023 is headed by Mark Allen. The Northern Irish player has had an exceptional season winning over £500,000 helped by victories in the Northern Ireland Open, UK Championship, and World Grand Prix.
Another form horse is Robert Milkins. The 46-year-old turned professional in 1995 but did not take his maiden ranking tournament victory until last season when winning the Gibraltar Open.
Milkins – affectionally known as ‘The Milkman’ – had a quiet start to the 2022/23 campaign but showed promise when making the semi-finals of the German Masters at the beginning of February. On Sunday, he proved that was no fluke by beating Shaun Murphy in the final of the Welsh Open.
Other ranking tournament winners of the current campaign that will play in this week’s Players Championship are Luca Brecel, Kyren Wilson, Ryan Day, Gary Wilson, Mark Selby, Chris Wakelin and Ali Carter.
Trump Holds the Aces in Best-Of-11-Frame Format
The betting for the Players Championship is not headed by any of these players. At 7/2, the best snooker betting sites make Judd Trump the competition favorite. Trump may not have won a ranking tournament, but a string of solid efforts has taken his earnings – from ranking events – to £115,500.
His best result came in the World Grand Prix – where Mark Allen held him off 10 frames to nine in a tense final. The result has been complimented with quarter-final appearances in the European Masters, Scottish Open, and British Open.
Outside of raking tournaments, Trump did land the £725,000 Master a month ago. This season Trump has won 37 of the 52 matches he has played. The stat is respectable. But, in the scheme of the Players Championship, his record of winning eight-of-the-nine games that were a best-of-11-frames format is huge. The 2023 Players Championship has a best-of-11-frame format in every round until the final.
A Semi Final Clash for the Favorites?
Based on 2022/23 results, Allen is the obvious choice for many. In addition to his three tournament victories, he was a finalist in the British Open, a semi-finalist in the English Open, and a quarter-finalist in last week’s Welsh Open.
Rejuvenated by weight loss, and a public “weight off of shoulders” bankruptcy, Allen has shown remarkable consistency. The stumbling block for him in the Players Championship is a potential semi-final clash with Judd Trump.
Nevertheless, Allen is 11/2 second favorite in the outright lists. It means the probability of either Trump or Allen taking this prize is estimated to be 37.6 percent. Our betting calculator shows this makes the proposition approximately 13/8.
Back Then Lay Wilson If He Wins Two
Backing a big-priced selection from the bottom half of the draw could be the best way to approach this competition. This has, after all, been an unpredictable season for the most part. Of those in the bottom bracket, Mark Selby is interesting as he meets Shaun Murphy, who may be shell-shocked by his defeat in the final of Sunday’s Welsh Open.
Selby is only 6/1 in the outright betting. Gary Wilson is a better betting option at 40/1, especially as an each-way play. The best snooker betting sites are offering terms of half the odds for positions 1-2. If Wilson can win three games, he will be in the final, and the bet is a winner.
Ding Junhui is his first-round opponent – and he is very beatable. The Chinese player reached his first final in three years when making the decider of the UK Championship in November. He has been a first or second-round casualty in the subsequent five tournaments he has played.
Zhou Yuelong – who has never won a tournament – could wait for Gary Wilson in the second round. Kyren Wilson is the more likely rival, but he was beaten in the first round of last week’s Welsh Open (by little-known Pang Junxu) and has been eliminated in the first round of this competition five times in six previous attempts.
Gary Wilson’s tasks will be more difficult thereafter – if he does reach the semi-finals – but his 40/1 odds will be a distant memory at this juncture, and punters could lay their stakes (or more) on the betting exchanges to enjoy a freeroll.
