Sports Blog 04/01/2016: Snooker Preview – Masters, Sunday 10th to Sunday 17th January 2016

The second part of the 2015/16 Triple Crown is almost upon us, and Spreadex has a host of fixed odds and spread betting opportunities ahead of the Masters at Ally Pally this weekend.

Sunday sees the tournament begin, with defending champion Shaun Murphy taking on Mark Allen. That victory last season saw Murphy finally complete his Triple Crown around a decade after winning the World Championship in 2004/05. This season, however, Murphy hasn’t found much success, a 2nd place finish in Paul Hunter Classic (losing to Ali Carter) his best result. Mark Allen, Masters quarter-finalist last year, has been slightly better, winning the Victoria Bulgarian Open, coming 2nd in the Champion of Champions and reaching the Shanghai Masters semi-final. Though similar form means there isn’t much in this match-up, our Spreadex traders prefer the defending champion at a Murphy/Allen 10-3 Supremacy spread of 2-5.

Second on Sunday sees no. 2 seed Stuart Bingham face Ding Junhui; despite being ranked 2nd, Bingham’s highest finish so far this season has been a semi-final place at the Shanghai Masters, losing to eventual runner-up Judd Trump. Ding Junhui, meanwhile, won the Haining Open alongside a quarter-final finish in the Shanghai Masters to leave him at 9th in the world. Despite their respective seedings our Spreadex traders have found this just too close to call, offering a choice Bingham/Junhui 10-3 Supremacy spread of -1.5-1.5, with both players at 9/10 fixed odds.

Moving onto Monday and Shanghai Masters runner-up Judd Trump takes on the 16th seed Stephen Maguire. Beyond his aforementioned Shanghai 2nd place finish, Trump hasn’t been up to much in 2015/16, a quarter-final exit in the Australian Goldfields Open (which he won the season before) countered by a 1st round collapse in the Champion of Champions. Maguire has already beaten Trump this year, knocking him out at the Goldfields Open before losing to Martin Gould in the semis, as well as managing a surprisingly victory over Mark Selby in the Champion of Champions. Yet our traders don’t expect the Scot to match that feat, instead offering a Trump/Maguire 10-3 Supremacy spread of 3.5-6.5.

Monday evening then sees the ‘selective’ Barry Hawkins face a fairly consistent Joe Perry. Hawkins took two months off at the start of the season with the aim of remaining fresh for longer, something that appeared to work as he returned with a win at the Riga Open. Perry has been far busier, reaching the quarter finals of the Goldfields Open, the International Championship and the Six-red World Championship, as well as reaching the semi-final of the Champion of Champions. Perry’s relative good form makes him a tough match for Hawkins, with our traders offering a narrow Hawkins/Perry 10-3 Supremacy spread of 0.5-3.5.

Arguably the pick of the entire 1st round, Tuesday sees Ronnie O’Sullivan face 13th seed Mark Williams. The recently OBE’d O’Sullivan made his first appearance in nearly 8 months at the German Masters qualifiers, exiting in the 2nd round but nevertheless ending a self-imposed exile that has lasted since the he exited in the 2014/15 World Championship in the quarter-finals. Williams (a quarter-final exit at the Shanghai Masters his best result so far this season) will be hoping for a rusty Rocket when he faces the former champion on Tuesday, but may well be out of luck if our traders have anything to say about it, with Spreadex offering an O’Sullivan/Williams 10-3 Supremacy spread of 7.5-10.5.

Closing Tuesday is world no. 1 (if no. 3 seed) Mark Selby, who faces 12th seed Ricky Walden. Selby, the beaten finalist last year, has only managed semi-final appearances in the International and UK Championships this season, yet remains ranked no. 1 by a comfortable margin. He has also won the Masters 3 times already, most recently in 2012/13, meaning he goes into the tournament as one of the favourites. Walden, on the other hand, has been handed one of the tougher draws, his best result this season being losing to Junhui in the Haining Open final, and barring a shocker looks like he will be going home early, Spreadex offering a Selby/Walden 10-3 Supremacy spread of 6-9.

Wednesday then sees the 1st round wrap up, but not before a debut from Liang Wenbo, who takes on John Higgins. Wenbo snuck into the top 16 with a UK Championship final finish, leading him to make his first appearance at the Masters. Whilst initially it may appear that Wenbo has been fortunate in his draw, avoiding the likes of Selby, Murphy, O’Sullivan and Robertson, John Wiggins is having one of his best seasons in years, winning the Australian Goldfields Open and the International Championship, with quarter-final finishes in the UK Championship and the Champion of Champions. It gives the Scot the advantage over his Chinese opponent, with Spreadex offering a Higgins/Wenbo 10-3 Supremacy spread of 7-10.

Finally Wednesday ends with Neil Robertson taking on Marco Fu. The Thunder from Down Under has been in fine form this season, winning both the UK Championship and the Champion of Champions with victories over Liang Wenbo and Mark Allen respectively. Whilst Fu’s record can’t compared to Robertson’s he hasn’t been a slouch this season either, winning both the General Cup and the Gibraltar Open. Yet it’s hard to look beyond the Aussie ace at the moment, with Spreadex offering a Robertson/Fu 10-3 Supremacy spread of 6-9.