Bet of the Day: Underdog White to see off Fu again in Group Semi
Published:
Value is with the 26-year-old in Coventry
Marco Fu may be 20 places above Michael White in the World Snooker Rankings, but it’s the man from Glamorgan who goes into Tuesday’s Champion of Champions meeting with form of his side.
White reached the Quarter-Finals of the English Open last month, seeing off world number two Ding Junhui with a 4-2 victory along the way. By contrast, Fu suffered a 4-1 defeat to the number 58-ranked Tian Pengfei in the First Round.
The Welshman also got the better of Fu during their last meeting, with ‘Lightning’ breezing to a 3-0 victory in last year’s Championship League clash.
With Fu having endured a difficult 2017 and his opponent seemingly on the up, Coral’s Bet of the Day is Michael White to Win at 27/20.
Lightning has a habit of striking first
Strong starts were the backbone for White’s impressive performance at the English open. The 26-year-old cuesmith won the opening three frames against each of his first three opponents – Lukas Kleckers, Ding Junhui, and Ben Woollaston.
He’s also gone 1-0 ahead in three of the past five meetings with Fu, while the Hong Kong native has lost the first frame in two of his previous three fixtures – including against world number 105 Boonyarit Keattikun last month.
Fu went on to win that game 5-1, showing that even when he’s able to see off opponents easily, his start to games is often unconvincing. The Coral News Team like the look of First Frame Winner: Michael White at 11/10.
Exciting White victory looks to be good value
Lightning may have seen off some quality opposition en route to the English Open’s last eight – but not without a few nerves. Having led 3-0 against Ding, he lost two frames before finally securing victory. Meanwhile, Thai veteran James Wattana was only beaten 4-3 in an unpredictable Round of 16 encounter.
As for Fu, he’s generally been involved in topsy-turvy games this year, with his World Cup outings producing a 5-3 victory over Ian Burns and defeat by the same score by Peter Ebdon.
With Head-to-Heads between White and ‘Hong Kong Fuey’ generally proving entertaining – including a 4-3 win for the former in 2010 – Correct Score: Michael White 4-2 looks a lively longshot at 6/1.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
