Richard Mann tipped Ronnie O'Sullivan to win the UK Championship at 5/1, and has a couple of big-priced selections for this week's Scottish Open.
Snooker betting tips: Scottish Open
1pt Mark Allen to win the Scottish Open at 16/1 (General)
1pt Shaun Murphy to win the Scottish Open at 22/1 (General)
MARK ALLEN and SHAUN MURPHY contested the Scottish Open final in 2018, and these great mates are the two names to concentrate on again in Edinburgh this week.
Allen, the fifth seed this year, would appear to have plenty going for him having continued his good run with victory in the Shoot Out on Saturday night, confirming his game remains in excellent shape.
How much significance one should place on results at the Shoot Out when previewing other ranking events is open to debate, but I can’t believe winning any tournament is a bad thing, nor do I have concerns about Allen backing up quickly given that when he won this event five years ago, it came just a matter of days after losing to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the UK Championship final.
Mid-December can be a tricky time of year for many of the top players, with families at home and at the end of a long year, but it has rarely effected Allen, UK champion in 2022 and also semi-finalist at the English Open when it was held on this very week last season.
Allen hard to fault on recent form
Allen was the best player last term, certainly before Christmas, and after a slow start this time around, his form has been trending upwards. He was a brilliant winner of the Champion of Champions having thumped Judd Trump in the final and is hot on the back of victory at the Shoot Out which suggests he is very close to his best right now.
Winner winner chicken dinner. Mad out there at times and it’s a bit of a lottery but very happy to be this years winner. 10th ranking event win too @WeAreWST 😂🎣🎣 pic.twitter.com/n2oDYgFh4C
— Mark Allen (@pistol147) December 10, 2023
With a tick for Allen’s form, his record in this tournament and at this particular time of year, the Northern Irishman appears to have plenty going for him, along with a draw which won't worry him too much. Trump may lay in wait later down the line, but as we’ve seen recently, that isn’t an easy match-up for him.
With plenty of 16/1 available, Allen looks worth sticking with.
Murphy coming to the boil nicely
While Allen currently appears to be at the top of his game, I think the recent signs from Murphy strongly hint that he is close to returning to his best.
The debate about where his maximum break at the Shoot Out stands on the list of all-time 147s is probably one for another day, but nobody can argue it wasn't a magnificent break, regardless of your views on the format itself. It also confirmed that Murphy must be cueing very well.
Murphy has been on my radar for a number of weeks now. Gong right back, he was beaten by Jack Lisowski in a brilliant match at the British Open where the pair traded four centuries in seven frames. He made the last 16 in Northern Ireland before losing to eventual runner-up Chris Wakelin, and then lost in the quarter-finals of the Champion of Champions to Trump having led 3-1.
He didn’t do a lot wrong that night, nor against Hossein Vafaei at the UK Championship when defeated 6-4 by a man in seriously good form. In fact, Vafaei probably played the best snooker all week in York until crumbling a touch against his idol Ronnie O’Sullivan.
I think he’s close and as demonstrated last term, it can be worth following Murphy when he begins to play his best snooker again. Quiet until reaching last season’s Welsh Open final, Murphy then went on a golden run which saw him win the Players Championship and Tour Championship at a canter.
We might not be in that territory just yet, but I’m happy to bet that he isn’t far away. At 22/1, Murphy looks attractively priced given his draw also appears favourable.
Trump a worthy Home Nations favourite
With three titles already in the bag this season, along with two silver medal finishes and a deep run at York, the aforementioned Trump makes perfect sense as overall favourite at 4/1.
Trump is a brilliant, well-rounded snooker operator nowadays, and an outstanding Home Nations player. This format can be brutal, but he appears to have it mastered, and it’s only price and the feeling he’s been to the well so many times in the last few months that puts me off.
Having strong views on two other top players, who are both big prices, makes looking past Trump easier, and it’s the same with O’Sullivan who did these pages a favour when winning as the headline selection (5/1) at the UK Championship.
With so many ranking points in the bag, I had my doubts as to whether we would even see O’Sullivan in Scotland, but he’s played in plenty of Home Nations events in the last few years and rarely looked like winning one. In fact, the 2017 English Open was his last Home Nations triumph.
Two-time winner Mark Selby can be expected to take things more seriously, but his form has been patchy, too patchy to warrant taking single figures about him, while I can't have Ding Junhui or John Higgins on my mind for different reasons.
They say this is a magical time of the year, so I’m sticking with The Magician and a player in Allen who has made a habit of producing miracles in the run up to Christmas. Here's hoping for a repeat of 2018.
Posted at 1800 GMT on 10/12/23
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