The new snooker season is slowly gathering pace, and Richard Mann has taken a closer look at the Shanghai Masters which starts on Monday.
Snooker betting tips: Shanghai Masters
1pt Mark Selby to win the Shanghai Masters at 8/1 (Unibet)
The usual suspects dominate the betting for the Shanghai Masters, but it’s 2011 champion MARK SELBY who gets the speculative vote in an early-season tournament that punters might prefer to take a cautious approach with before the new campaign really starts clicking into gear.
Nevertheless, the case for Selby is solid. Having won the English Open earlier in the campaign, he signed off from last season by reaching another World Championship final at the Crucible, Luca Brecel eventually ending his hopes of claiming a fifth world title after a terrific tussle.
Selby looking sharp for new season
That came at the end of another productive year for Selby and he appears to have resumed in good shape, reaching the semi-finals of the recent European Masters where he lost out to eventual winner Barry Hawkins 6-4. That was a good match played to a terrific standard and there was certainly no disgrace in coming out second best on the day.
Since then, the 40-year-old has breezed through the qualifying for the Wuhan Open, and he has patently worked hard over the summer to ensure he resumes somewhere close to his best ahead of a run big tournaments.
With the British Open, his defence of the English Open and then Wuhan following in quick succession, that would appear a wise move from Selby whose record in Asia is particularly strong, having also won events such as the China Championship, International Championship twice and the China Open on three separate occasions.
Likely to meet Hossein Vafaei in the last 16, I’m certainly not put off by Selby’s draw. Vafaei hasn’t pulled up any trees so far this season, and a potential meeting with Judd Trump in the quarter-finals is match that I think would suit Selby.
Trump isn’t far off favourite with most firms, and his runner-up finish at the European Masters was a promising start to the new campaign having struggled for consistency last term. However, for my money, he was still striving for his best there and Selby clearly gave Hawkins a harder time a day earlier.
At 8/1, Selby looks the bet.
O'Sullivan hard to gauge ahead of defence
All eyes will once again be on Ronnie O’Sullivan, defending champion having won the last three renewals no less, the latest in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic brought a halt to professional sport, with snooker in China enduring a longer break than most.
It’s great to see snooker back in the Far East and the calendar certainly looks better for it this season, something I’m sure O’Sullivan would agree with given his strong record in this part of the world.
A brilliant winner of the Hong Kong Masters this time last year, it seems fair to assume that O’Sullivan will be reasonably tuned up for this, but the fact of the matter is that we have no real idea as to where the seven-time world champion is at with his game.
Old foe Ali Carter could clearly give him a run for his money if they cross swords in the last 16, and O’Sullivan is another who Selby won’t fear should they meet in the last four. He rates a poor favourite this week in my book.
Robertson ready to rumble?
Lower down the draw and the eye is first drawn to Neil Robertson, who dropped away tamely last season having dominated the previous campaign.
Some will argue that the Australian has a few questions to answer now, but in the early part of last season he produced some outstanding snooker without quite being able to get over the winning line in a number of tournaments prior to Christmas. His form was most certainly there, just not the killer instinct.
Don’t be surprised if Robertson begins the season well, even though losing his first match at the European Masters was an inauspicious start. Robertson is a class act who thrives on the big stage and quotes close to 8/1 are bigger than we are used to getting about the heavy-scoring left hander.
One of the main factors behind his price is that Robertson will face either World Championship semi-finalist Si Jiahui or Ding Junhui in the last 16. It’s a deathly section of the draw and I wouldn’t be dismissive of Ding’s chances at all.
Ding dangerous to discount
Ding has won this tournament twice already, in 2013 and 2016, and though seemingly not the force of old, he was good enough to win the UK Championship in 2019 and reach the final again in York last year.
Ding also won the Six Reds in Bangkok last term and though casual fans won’t give that too much though, the tournament was certainly a big deal to those from that part of the world, in particular the droves of fans who came out to support it.
On the big stage, Ding is still a force to be reckoned and first time up, on home turf, he could quite easily produce something close to his best form. This issue is, as already alluded to, that awfully tough draw.
Williams takes the eye at big price
With that section of the draw swerved, I was tempted to take the plunge on Mark Williams who, as ever, looks to be in good nick and would fancy his chances if getting through to face world champion Luca Brecel.
The Belgian has barely had time to put his feet on the ground since the spring and might just be vulnerable right now.
At 20/1, Williams makes some each-way appeal, but he has lost a number of big, close matches in the last couple of seasons – namely in last season’s Masters final when a 20/1 selection for these pages. I fear that age might just have blunted his killer instinct.
I’ll happily be proven wrong, and Williams remains capable of beating anyone on his day, but he won’t be carrying my money in an event where taking a conservative approach might just be the best policy.
Posted at 1700 BST on 08/09/2023
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