1st July 2012
Six Red World Championship Betting: Martin Gould and Barry Hawkins can carry on good form in different formats
Less than 24hrs after the climax of the first full ranking event of the snooker season, the Wuxi Classic in China, another tournament begins in Thailand. This week’s tournament in Thailand is the Six reds World Championship where 48 players will look to be crowned 6 red world champion. Such is the packed schedule these days the players are going to have to get used to playing different tournaments in different countries with little preparation time.
Mark Selby will be defending the title he won two years ago over the next week and he goes into the tournament as a 15/2 shot with Boylesports. He beat Ricky Walden in the final in Bangkok two years ago. The format for this tournament is very unique. Obviously as it says in the title there are only six reds to begin with rather than the mandatory 15 reds but the 48 players are split into eight groups of six. Four men qualify from each group where the tournament becomes a knockout event.
Ideally this week we are looking for someone who has an easy group or an easier group because with the round robin format being the best of nine frames you would expect more often than not for the cream to rise to the top. Those with a tricky group will use up more mental energy than those with an easier group and I’d rather preserve the mental energy for the knockout stages, especially if that player competed deep in the Wuxi Classic and therefore arrived in Bangkok at the last minute.
The first player I like this week is Martin Gould. He is in Group H which looks quite a weak group with only Graeme Dott and Marco Fu in it who are ranked in the top 50 in the world rankings. Martin Gould has shown in the past that he plays well in the different formats having won Power Snooker and performed well in the Shootout down the years. Six reds is probably a better game for him as it rewards attacking snooker which is his forte and he looks a solid bet this week.
Barry Hawkins has an excellent record in six red snooker. In three tournaments in this format he has made two semi finals and a final and it can’t be a co-incidence. He’s another who likes the quirkier formats having won the Shootout last year and his group, with the exception of Judd Trump couldn’t be any easier if it had tried. The other four players in his group are all amateurs and with his record in this format I think Hawkins is a very good each way bet this week at 28/1.
Back M.Gould to win Six Red World Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Paddy Power (1/4 1-4)
Back B.Hawkins to win Six Red World Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 23.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-4)
- Register at Paddy Power
Author: 'Arry Allsports
