Snookers Young Guns Break Through

Since the year 2000 Snooker has tried to bring through the best young players and support them. Four players from the first “Young Players of Distinction” from that year are now in the World’s top ten. Ali Carter, Shaun Murphy, Ryan Day and Stephan Maguire. Murphy has won a World Championship in 2005 and I am sure will add to his haul in the future, whilst Ali Carter has made it into one final and is a perennial contender for the title at the moment.

Here is my preview for the semi-finals and how I think the final will pan out given my selections using the sports betting odds from https://www.bwin.com.

Neil Robertson 1/4 versus Allister Carter 3/1
(Robertson is leading 6-2 after one session of play)

My each way tip for the title Carter has done me proud making his way through the draw and clinching a semi-final spot. Unfortunately he has come up against Robertson who seems destined for a genuine shot at the title this season. He is a very seasoned campaigner now and has been on the snooker circuit for around seven seasons. Carter has played in the final before, but Robertson seems to have destiny and ability on his side. I think Robertson will win the coming session and take either an 11-5 or 10-6 lead into the third session. Anything can happen but he showed incredible ability to go 12-2 up against Steve Davis in a race to 13 and he can cope and extend a big lead.

Carter has the ability to come back and has won a ranking title. Touching 30 you feel he is at his peak and this is the best chance for any of the semi-finalists to win the championship given the lack of world class operators like Higgins or O’Sullivan in the draw. There has been a definite changing of the guard with players like Williams, Stevens, Ebdon, Doherty, Lee, Hendry, White and Davis no longer in contention it appears for the major titles after a long period where this collection of players dominated.

The new generation of stars have definitely broken through to the top echelon of the game.

Graeme Dott 6/5 versus Mark Selby 67/100
(Dott is leading 5-3 after one session of play)

I feel for Graeme Dott. He never gets the respect and is never expected to beat top players, yet he does time and time again. He is the only player left in the draw that has won a World Championship title and he cannot be overlooked. I think he could win it and his current form is probably better than when he won the title in 2006.

Mark Selby was doing a lot of joking around and I am not sure he was focused enough in session one. Hopefully a family member or his professional pool playing partner Vikki Layton will point this out to him and remind him of the prize and that he must be 100% focused if he is to win. There was obviously needle between Selby and O’Sullivan in their quarter final and Mark played well because of it, joking around with Dott is dangerous. Selby knows he should win this match and this could be a banana skin for him.

Although I completely respect Graeme Dott’s current form and appreciate he could win the whole tournament I expect Mark Selby to edge him out possibly in a deciding frame shoot-out. In the other semi-final I would tip Neil Robertson to win the semi-final with a five or six frame lead. The final between Robertson and Selby would be a classic and earmark a new era of younger players contesting for the top titles, with O’Sullivan and Higgins being the experienced campaigners that prove to be their main rivals.

Look out for more betting tips in the near future from this site.

By Malcolm Clarke