International Championship: snooker betting preview, free tip & TV details

Starts 2.30am Sunday (live on Eurosport 1 from 7.30am)

Judd Trump could prove a value favourite for the International Championship on his first appear­ance since his Betfred World Championship triumph in May.

The world number two, seeded second in Daqing to defending champion Mark Allen, is in the easier bottom half of the draw.

Kyren Wilson and Mark Selby look his biggest dangers on paper. But there's no guarantee, after his workmanlike effort at the Crucible in the spring, that former world number one Selby will have rediscovered peak form for this lucrative tournament, the early rounds of which are played over the best of 11 frames.

Dave Gilbert, International Championship runner-up in 2015, has already been nibbled at and that's no surprise given his run to the Crucible semi-finals.

If Selby is found wanting, Gilbert, the third favourite to win the third quarter, could reach the semis at least.

Wilson is scheduled to meet Jack Lisowski in the last 16 and that could be a humdinger, especially as Lisowski leads the Warrior 7-2 in their series.

But this being a high-quality event, the cream tends to rise to the top and with none of the other bottom-half seeds looking totally safe in Daqing, Trump, winner of this title in 2012 and the subject of a price boost from 4-1 to 5-1 with Sky Bet, has a big chance.

The market looks to have got it right because Neil Robertson, the second favourite and no better than 13-8 to win the second quarter of the draw, should take plenty of stopping in that section.

John Higgins, half of the Scotland team that lifted the World Cup in Wuxi in June, looks the biggest danger to Robertson in their quarter. But the Wizard of Wishaw faces a potentially trappy opener against 15-year-old wildcard Wu Yize, who was world Under-21 champion last year.

The first quarter of the draw looks seriously competitive, especially the bottom half of that section, and if Ding Junhui has not stepped up on his lacklustre effort at the Crucible there may be a chance for 150-1 shot Zhao Xintong, who will have been buoyed by Yan Bingtao's recent Riga Masters triumph, to prosper.

Recommendation
J Trump
2pts 5-1 Sky Bet

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