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UK Championship Snooker final: Robertson set for second success

| 06.12.2015
SPORTSBOOK ODDS

Jamie Clark, Sports Editor | December 6, 2015

2015 UK Championship final

  • Sunday, December 6th
  • Break-off: 13:00 and 19:00 GMT
  • Barbican Centre, York
  • Live on BBC2 and Eurosport

Rampant Robertson in pole position for title

The way in which Neil Robertson and Liang Wenbo reached the 2015 UK Championship Snooker final could not be more different.

Betway UK Snooker Championship - Day Eleven - York Barbican

Chinese cueman Wenbo edged a cagey affair against Leeds overachiever David Grace 6-4 in a match that almost took six hours, with neither potter able to play their natural game on the green baize. The Thunder from Down Under, meanwhile, left world number one Mark Selby shocked by a second semi whitewash.

As a result, Robertson is Coral’s overwhelming odds-on 1/6 favourite to regain the UK title he won in 2013, while Liang is a 4/1 long shot to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Ding Junhui and take this tournament.

Wenbo will have to try and Trump Thunder

While this UK final may look like a foregone conclusion, 28th seed Liang eliminated event favourite Judd Trump and former finalist Marco Fu en route to reaching it.

That is clear evidence that Wenbo can punch above his weight, and he does have three previous victories over Robertson to his credit, but in short format snooker.

It’s the best of 19 frames in the final at York’s Barbican Centre, and this long haul across two sessions does seem to favour Australian expat Robertson, who leads the head-to-heads with Liang by an extra victory 4-3.

Early frames may be shared

One thing of note from those previous meetings is the scoreline after four frames – it’s been 2-2 in each of the last three, and a repeat of that at the mid-session interval of the opener is a nifty 9/5 price.

Betway UK Snooker Championship - Day Eleven - York Barbican

Robertson does tend to pull away from Wenbo, however, and that’s why he’s odds-on at 3/10 and 1/5 in the race to four and eight frames markets.

There’s no denying the Thunder has played the best snooker at this year’s UK Championship by some way, eliminating three fellow former winners in Stephen Maguire, John Higgins and Selby to set up this straightforward-looking final.

Related

Check out our snooker section for full coverage of the UK Championship.

Coral’s top tip: Punters cannot look past Neil Robertson for the title, it’s just a case of how many frames Liang Wenbo will win. Playing 15 of a possible 19 looks a shout, with Robertson romping to a 10-5 win at 6/1.

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Author

Jamie Clark

Athletics aficionado, die-hard snooker fan and Crystal Palace supporter Jamie has written for Coral since February 2014 after spells with Soccerlens and the Press Association as a digital journalist and copywriter. A former East Midlands sports correspondent and Bwin tipster, he is a graduate of both the University of York and University of Sheffield, with a Masters in web journalism from the latter.