China Open: betting update
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A look at who’s in and who’s out
We are getting to the business end of the 2017 China Open and punters have sat through shock after shock in the early exchanges. Chances are, unless you had your money on Mark Selby pre-tournament, your player is already out.
Rocket flies home
We raised questions over O’Sullivan’s desire to do well in this part of the world before a cue had been chalked, and he proved us shrewd when bowing out at the second-round stage. The Masters champion had his challenge scrapped when losing to world number 51 Mark Joyce.
In another strange performance from Rocket, he gave a pair of century breaks, but was at no point ahead in the contest, and eventually went down 5-4. It’s a tough gig following the 41-year-old with your cash.
Trump out in a stunner
Judd Trump, our pre-play pick, was certainly shaping like a man there to win, and made headlines with a stunning 147 break on-route to a 5-3 victory over Tian Pengfei. That was the third maximum break of his career, and although he coasted to the win, the early warning signs were there for those who had their money down.
Trump was sensationally knocked out by little-known Iranian player Hossein Vafaei Ayouri on Friday morning, a result that sent shockwaves through the sport. Ayouri got people talking with a 5-3 giant-killing, meaning he will contest his first ever ranking semi-final match.
The weekend certainly started off in surprising fashion, with Mark Williams also downing Shaun Murphy 5-1. Another betting upset, very few would’ve been on Williams, with even less tipping him to do it so emphatically.
Selby leads the betting
That leaves Mark Selby at the head of the market on Friday morning, and punters wanting to jump aboard can have 13/8 at Coral on him going all the way.
This certainly appears to be Selby’s title to throw away, but he had to earn his place in the quarter-finals, beating Andrew Higginson in the final frame. The world champion had a much easier time of it when brushing past Martin O’Donnell in the second round, bagging a 5-1 result.
Mark Williams heads the chasing pack, and he’s currently 9/4 second-fav following that magnificent win over Murphy.
