Coral Tour Championship match betting previews & free tips

Free snooker tips, best bets and analysis for the Coral Tour Championship.

When to watch

ITV4, from 1pm Tuesday

Best bets

Shaun Murphy v Mark Allen over 14.5 frames
1pt 10-11 Hills

Neil Robertson -1.5 frames v Ding Junhui
1pt 4-7 general

Yan Bingtao +2.5 frames v Mark Selby
2pts 10-11 BoyleSports

Day one preview

Shaun Murphy v Mark Allen
1pm & 7pm Tuesday

Shaun Murphy has already been supported to open his Coral Tour Championship campaign with a victory over Mark Allen over the best of 17 frames in Llandudno, but it's difficult to be confident picking a winner.

The Magician has won more than two-thirds of his meetings with his friend the Pistol, leading 15-7 in their personal series.

But while punters snapped up early odds of 8-11 about the favourite obliging, the fact that the odds are competitive suggests the oddsmakers are anticipating a decent effort from Allen.

They may be right to think so too, but rather than backing the Northern Irish outsider at a short-looking 4-7 with a handicap start of 2.5 frames, getting with over 14.5 frames to be contested may be a wiser punt.

Neil Robertson v Ding Junhui
1pm Tuesday & 1pm Wednesday

The head-to-heads between Neil Robertson and Ding Junhui might suggest we should expect a close encounter between the best that China and Australia has to offer.

It could turn out that way, but given the way Ding has been performing for much of the season it may be prudent to expect Robertson, who has been in red-hot form, to put some space in between himself and his opponent.

That said, Ding is one of the most naturally talented players in snooker history, so he is not opposed easily.

But if Robertson, runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan in last year's Tour Championship, has carried over his form after skipping a trip to Gibraltar then the market leader should progress with reasonable comfort.

The total frames markets make less appeal in this one and so punters may have to accept taking a shorter price about Robertson successfully conceding Ding a start of 1.5 frames.

Mark Selby v Yan Bingtao
7pm Tuesday & 7pm Wednesday

Mark Selby is still capable of turning on the style on occasions, but those days have been fewer and further between in recent times.

The Jester from Leicester opens up against 20-year-old Yan Bingtao, who has improved greatly this season.

Yan looks best placed of the chasing pack to seriously trouble the big names and armed with an impressive amount of self-belief, there is no reason why he should not give Selby a tough test and possibly even upset him.

Punters can consider backing Yan to cause a surprise, but there may extra insurance in supporting the outsider with a handicap start of 2.5 frames.

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