Round one proper of the Welsh Open concludes on Tuesday evening. James Cooper recommends two bets.
Snooker betting tips: Welsh Open matches
1pt Liam Pullen to beat Chris Wakelin at 9/4 (General)
2pts Robbie McGuigan +2.5 frames to beat Dave Gilbert at evens (General)
As is the nature of these best-of-seven “crap shoots” we’ve already seen more than our fair share of shocks in Llandudno with Mark Selby, Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy falling by the wayside.
The last-named was powerless to do anything against rising star Chang Bingyu, who knocked in four centuries with a 100% pot success rate to boot on Tuesday morning.
In probability as well as simple logic, the shorter the match format, the more likely it is for the underdog to triumph but as ever, that only counts for something if that fact isn’t built into the match prices.
That may well be the case in the Chris Wakelin v LIAM PULLEN encounter with the improving youngster value at 9/4 for another upset.
As the season unfolds there are always a few players I like to be against when they are a short price and in truth Wakelin isn’t one of them on the back of career-shifting 18 months which has seen him break into the top 16 bracket.
For much of the Scottish Open in December, the aforementioned Chang played better than anyone so it was full credit to Wakelin that he emphatically turned the tide with a comprehensive 9-2 victory in the final, doubling his ranking titles in the process.
Pullen, though is quietly going about his business on the tour, banking an all-important 22k in prize money when reaching the quarter-final of the Xi’an Grand Prix, the biggest cheque of his fledgling career.
Well regarded as a sound technician of the game as a junior (unsurprising given he’s coached by Peter Lines) Pullen has really ramped up his scoring power this season, a facet that is absolutely vital to compete on tour these days.
Having recorded just the two centuries from 135 frames in 2024/25, Pullen has already banged in ten tons this season (from just over 200 frames) which showcases a marked improvement when among the balls.
A couple of high-qualify matches against John Higgins (winning one and falling short in a decider in the other) should have given Pullen a lot of confidence as to which direction his career is going and he sits 58th on the one-year list (he also has a two-year card secured).
Based on the level I estimate each player is at currently, Wakelin would be 8/11 and Pullen 11/8 per frame, which suggests 2/1+ as a fair price for Pullen to reach four frames first.
There’s plenty of 9/4 available on that eventuality, which should be snapped up.
In terms of tour survival, ROBBIE MCGUIGAN needs a deep run in Wales or rely on finding his best form in the World Championship qualifiers in April.
He’s given himself a chance with a very impressive 4-1 win over Daniel Wells to qualify for this and while beating Dave Gilbert may be a bridge too far, McGuigan has been underestimated slightly on the handicaps.
Whereas Pullen now looks a well-rounded tour player, McGuigan has looked far more streaky when I’ve seen him play, his shot selection and safety not quite there yet.
What isn’t in doubt though is McGuigan’s talent when he’s on a “going” day and he was a very successful junior after all.
Given those factors, I would certainly prefer to side with McGuigan in shorter-format matches.
It should go without saying that opponent Gilbert is a class act on his day but he hasn’t had as many of those as he’d have liked this season, failing to get beyond the last 32 of an event.
As such, he finds himself languishing in 42nd on the one-year list and while I don’t expect him to come unstuck against McGuigan, there could be an air of vulnerability about him at present.
In fact, on the 2.5 frame handicap, I make McGuigan an odds-on shot to cover that cap yet there’s a bit of 21/20 available to go with the general even-money, which looks like a sound investment.
Elliot Slessor’s performance against Zhao Xintong merited a win last week and his north-east derby against Sam Craigie could be an interesting watch.
With Craigie tough to weigh up at present, Slessor makes appeal on the -1.5 handicap but the price does look about right, so I will leave that alone.
Posted at 14:00 GMT on 24/02/26
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