James Cooper assesses the season so far and recommends two bets for the upcoming Champion of Champions.
Snooker betting tips: Champion of Champions
2pts Kyren Wilson to win Group 3 at 5/2 (Star Sports)
1pt Mark Allen to beat Zhao Xintong at 11/10 (General)
With the switch to Greenwich Mean Time a fortnight ago, we are now in prime snooker territory as the nights draw in and temperatures fall.
That said, aside from a brief summer hiatus, top-level snooker is a year-round pursuit these days, with Wu Yize’s stunning victory in China on Sunday the ninth different winner from nine events this season.
The depth on the tour is now evident and the show quickly moves on to the Champion of Champions, the final snooker event filmed on ITV, staged in Leicester from Monday.
With a chunk of the season already under our belts, the form lines are starting to present themselves so before play commences, the table below ranks the performance of 15 of the 16 players relative to their ability and opposition faced (Alfie Burden isn’t on the Main Tour so his record isn’t listed).
Murphy and Williams lead the way
As is hopefully evident, the right-hand side column ranks the level of over or underperformance of each player judged on their results relative to their ability and that of their opponents.
It’s probably no major surprise that the top six players have all tasted success this campaign, with Shaun Murphy and Mark Williams the two who have played at a sustained high level.
The Championship League results aren’t included in this so a nod to Stephen Maguire, winner of that early event this summer, who can have his performance upgraded a notch as a consequence.
With regards Judd Trump, a cursory glance at his position in the table doesn’t make for great reading with a solitary final appearance this term below his expectations.
That’s the pertinent point here, though, as using this metric, such are the standards Trump has set, it’s not easy for him to produce a positive number given he’s favourite for every match he plays.
A return of 18 wins from 26 is a very good one for practically everyone in the game and he’s deservedly favourite this week, albeit perhaps without the air of invincibility that has been the case.
As for Zhao Xintong, we are not quite in Luca Brecel territory for post-Crucible drop off but it’s hardly been a vintage spell of snooker from the current world champion (more on him later in the column).
What are the best bets?
Group 3 is the strongest of the quadrants and the case for opposing Zhao Xintong at present is a compelling one.
First up is MARK ALLEN, who has been chalked up as the outsider but this rock-solid competitor is a man you want in your corner in these close-fought contests.
Quite how he won the English Open in September is anyone’s guess given his precarious position in four of the matches.
A helping hand from his opponents was certainly evident but Allen emerged with enormous credit in getting the job done.
Allen has drawn a bit of criticism for his pace of play at times in the last season or two and there would be a temptation to employ similar tactics against the swashbuckling Xintong but I think Allen will resist that urge and just get on with the task in hand in what is a quick-fire best-of-seven frames clash.
The previous head-to-heads (two wins for Allen and one draw) don’t really have much relevance as Xintong is a far better player these days but quotes of 6/5 (general 11/10) look just about acceptable as I was expecting close to 10/11 the pair.
Jack Lisowski will doubtless still be on the crest of a wave following his emotional breakthrough win in Belfast and a defeat of Ronnie O’Sullivan in China was another welcome boost.
Punters prioritising recent form over a larger body of work are siding with Lisowski to get the better of Kyren Wilson, as he did en route to Northern Ireland glory, but that could be misguided.
A 9-8 record in Wilson’s favour is hardly a notable one but Wilson has retained his place at the top of the tree for some time and while he’s been a shade quiet by his own standards of late, he is a ranking event winner this season.
Match prices of 8/11 v 6/5 look a shade of an over-reaction, even for this shorter-format match compared to 8/15 v 13/8 in Belfast a matter of weeks ago.
The best way to have Wilson on side, though, could be in the TO WIN QUARTER 3 at 5/2, which looks an attractive proposition given he’s 15/8 fav with me yet second in with the layers.
Preview published at 0920 GMT on 10/11/25
ALSO READ: Richard Mann's outright preview
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