The Welsh Open

By Crafty Stan

Mark Selby v Judd Trump



Welsh Open First Round - 27th January 2010 15:00 GMT

With the Welsh open still in its infancy there is still plenty of scope for shocks in the 'sprint format' of best of nine frame matches and I see a possible shock outcome in the match between Mark Selby and Judd Trump.

On the back of his Masters win you would probably be forgiven for thinking 'The Jester from Leicester' is a shoe-in for his match against the young gun Judd Trump. Don't be fooled into thinking like that though. Selby loves playing in the Masters and has reached the final in each of the last three years; the Welsh Open is a different tournament and prospect. Trump is himself in great form having won a group and booked himself into the final stages of the Championship League of Snooker and then followed up that success by winning his Welsh open qualifier against quality potter Rory McLeod.

Mark Selby has enjoyed decent progress in each of the last two years at the Welsh open having won in 2008 and got to the quarter finals in 2009 but last year he did enjoy a fairly favourable draw it has to be said and his first round opponent Paul Davies is not in the same class as Trump. Fans of Premier League Snooker will have seen plenty of Trump and know what he can do, as he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-2 on the TV in that competition. It is fair to say Trump really enjoys a short format and this should suit him. I would expect Selby to triumph comfortably over a World Championship format but a best of nine makes me much less confident.

So let’s take a look at the prices. Selby is a best priced 1.44 and Trump a best priced 3.1. If I were pricing this up to a 100% book I would make Selby a 1.62 shot and Trump at 2.63 so therefore the 3.1 offered up by Boylesports has to be cracking value. Get on!

Recommendation: - 2 Points on Judd Trump @ 3.1 (Boylesports)