Premier League Snooker - 10/1 Double...

Premier League Snooker continues tomorrow from the Spiceball Leisure
Centre in Banbury where Mark Allen takes on Peter Ebdon followed by
Neil Robertson up against Shaun Murphy.

Ebdon proved in his opening 5-1 win here against Stephen Lee that he
can play quickly enough to be a threat. He only plays so slowly in
tournaments because he's convinced himself that he has a better chance
that way. His opponent Allen didn't have much run when losing to John
Higgins in their opener two weeks ago but the standard from both
players was quite poor. Indeed Higgins showed remarkable improvement
to lift the Shanghai Masters in impressive style upon which form he is
a contender for more silverware this season.

 

Ebdon and Murphy - Decent priced double

A repeat of that form from Allen though makes Ebdon at 3/1 (StanJames)
far too big and it has to be worth a punt. In his first round match in
Shanghai against Stephen Maguire, Ebdon spent a few minutes querying a
free ball decision although it was obvious that the correct call had
been made. But here you just have to get on with it which will help
him. At the start of his career he played quickly and his heavy win
against Lee proved he can perform under time pressure.

in the second match of the night Neil Robertson will fancy his chances
after thrashing Mark Selby 5-1 in week two of the event. The Aussie
did have some run at the start though which set the tone for the match
- but he was impressive. Contrast that with Shanghai last week when he
laboured to a 5-2 over the wildcard Chen Feilong and then struggled
when whitewashed by a surprisingly clinical Joe Perry.

His opponent Murphy has been knocking on the door recently and is in
great form.  Although in his second match here he quickly went 3-0 to
Stuart Bingham he did improve to salvage a draw. In addition he made
the semi-finals of both the Shanghai Masters and PTC3 in Gloucester
earlier this month. Murphy needs a win here to have any real chance of
making the play-offs and he has the bottle to deliver. Given the
recent form of both players I'm surprised that layers make Robertson
favourite. The 15/8 (general) about Murphy should be snapped up and
we'll put him in a small stake double with Ebdon which pays over 10/1
- again with StanJames.

Snooker - Shanghai Masters Preview by Jeff Anderson

Shanghai Masters Snooker starts on Monday and you can read my preview for sportinglife.com here

In the easier second quarter of the draw Martin Gould opens against
Ryan Day or Yan Wuchen. His likely second round opponent is then John
Higgins who was completely out of sorts in the Premier League on
Thursday despite beating Mark Allen. So I expect Gould to make the
last eight readily.



Gould - New coaching method is paying big dividends

Last month he started working with Stephen Feeney who has developed
and patented the SightRight coaching method. Immediately Feeney picked
up a fault with the way Gould was sighting the ball and fixed it
straightaway. A week later he triumphed in PTC2 and said afterwards
'The improvement has been beyond my expectation and every time I was
among the balls this week I felt as if I was going to clear up'. He
then followed this by losing deciding frame matches in European Tour
Event 1 and PTC3  to Alfie Burden and Stephen Lee - two players who
have shown marked improvement recently. The 50/1 (general) about the
Pinner Potter should be backed each-way.

In the third quarter of the draw Neil Robertson at 15/2 (general)
stands out as a possible winner. He impressed against Selby in his
Premier League opener last week and made the semi-finals here last
year. The Aussie continues to get stronger as his career progresses.
His cue action is gun-barrel straight which holds up really well under
pressure and his temperament is perfect. His first round against
Fergal O'Brien or the wildcard Chen Feilong should be straightforward
and this third quarter isn't the hardest either so he is definite
value at 15/2 outright (general).

In the bottom quarter Barry Hawkins is also worth an investment. He
has a tough opener but Judd Trump has disappointed since his UK title
success last December and has failed to make the last four of any
ranking event since. Trump now plays with slightly more abandon than
he did when lifting the UK title and it's usual that with experience
more safety is played and not less. You need to know when to duck a
shot and a major facet of his game is that he has more flukes than any
other player simply because he hits the ball so hard. But this also
means that when he misses a long pot at pace the object ball is more
likely to develop other balls on the table and leave your opponent in
- which you can't afford to do at this level.

Hawkins won his maiden ranking event the Australian Goldfields Open
title in July. In ET1 - The Paul Hunter Classic last month he beat
Trump and Robertson in his run to the semi-finals. After 16 years as a
professional he now thinks he can win - even when in losing positions
which is fundamental to turning your career around. The 80/1 with
sportingbet is worth a small stake each-way.

Selby far too big at 10/1

Premier League Snooker continues tonight and you can read my preview for sportinglife.com here



Mark Selby - has greater understanding of the variables than the other Premier League players

Premier League Snooker continues tomorrow from the Sands Centre in Carlisle where Shaun Murphy takes on Stuart Bingham followed by John Higgins up against Mark Allen.

Murphy has impressed in the last few weeks. He wasn't disgraced in his league opener going down 4-2 to Ding Junhui and then in PTC3 last weekend in Gloucester he reached the last four.

His opponent Bingham - who reached the last 16 in Gloucester going down 4-1 to the eventual winner Rod Lawler is full of confidence too and looks very comfortable at the table. The Essex player is certainly not frightened to win anymore and has shaken off his reputation for bottling it - largely due to his Australian Goldfields Open win last year.  He could spring a bit of a shock here so the 9/4 Boylesports is worth a small wager - albeit with caution.

The second match of the night is difficult to call too. Higgins chose not to play in the season's two opening ranking events and hasn't impressed in the two recent PTC's. However even though his past league form is largely disappointing his experience under the shot clock should tell against first timer Allen. But we need to be wary of getting heavily involved in both matches so we'll pair the Scot up with Bingham in a small double which pays almost 8/1 with Boylesports.

In the outright betting Mark Selby is worth backing despite suffering a heavy defeat in his league opener last week to Neil Robertson. The Aussie played well but in the early part of the match Selby was faced with two or three very tricky safety shots when it's sometimes difficult to be precise about how the cue ball will react on these one night tables. What you need is to get in early and pick up on any subtleties and nuances with the table while leaving yourself easy shots - this puts you at a slight but significant advantage. 

Selby is in great form though after retaining his Paul Hunter Classic title in Germany last month and events under time pressure reward scientific understanding as well as technical skill at the table. The Jester has now been pushed out to a 10/1 chance outright (general) which should be taken.