Coral Tour Championship outright betting preview & free tips

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

When to watch

ITV4, 1pm & 7pm Tuesday

Best bets

Neil Robertson to win title
1pt 10-3 general

Yan Bingtao to win title
1pt each-way 28-1 bet365, BoyleSports

Tournament preview

In the inaugural Coral Tour Championship Neil Robertson had to give second-best to the genius of Ronnie O'Sullivan, but 12 months on the Australian can have his day in the Llandudno sun.

The all-conquering Judd Trump is unsurprisingly the hot favourite to go all the way at the Venue Cymru arena in the final tournament remaining on the tour before the Betfred World Championship is due to start next month.

But after title triumphs in recent weeks in the German Masters, Coral Players Championship and, on Sunday, the Gibraltar Open, a victory which saw the Ace in the Pack become the first player to win six ranking events in a single season, there is a possibility that the world number one may soon suffer the effects of a busy schedule.

It looked like that may be the case on the rock on Sunday, when Trump had to fight tooth and nail to prevent Kyren Wilson taking the title and dashing the Bristolian's hopes of snaffling the bonus prize of £150,000 for earning most prize money in the European Series.

Trump summoned all his might to deny Wilson, but repeating the dose against John Higgins and then possibly Robertson could prove beyond him.

There has been early support for Higgins to capture a first title of the campaign in this behind-closed doors tournament and that's not surprising considering the veteran remains a major force.

Higgins is playing well enough and could be a danger with time running out in his bid to claim some silverware this season. But the key task for the Scot will be upsetting Trump in their opener, which is the last of the four quarter-finals to start in Llandudno.

Robertson, who, like many players, will be fresh after giving Gibraltar a miss, has also produced some top-notch snooker this season and Higgins would have to perform well to stop either of his younger rivals.

But while Trump and Higgins could dish up another close tussle, Robertson has what looks a more winnable curtain-raiser against Ding Junhui, who has been struggling for much of the season despite his victory in the Betway UK Championship in early December.

In the bottom half of the draw, Mark Selby is edging Shaun Murphy for favouritism in the race to progress to the final, but the section is truly up for grabs with Mark Allen and Yan Bingtao completing the field.

Selby is no longer the world's best player and, notwithstanding title triumphs in the English and Scottish Opens, he looks considerably more vulnerable than was once the case, whereas Murphy has worked hard to step up his game and that has brought deserved rewards with victories in the China Championship and Welsh Open.

Allen has had a quieter time of things this season but the heavy scorer from Northern Ireland remains a powerhouse at his best, while Yan has improved so much that he thrashed Murphy 6-1 in the Players Championship semi-finals last month.

And if the Chinese 20-year-old can do that to Murphy, then it's just possible he could do likewise to Selby or Allen, so Yan looks worth an each-way punt at decent odds.

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