23rd June 2012

Wuxi Classic Betting: Judd Trump 5/1 favourite to land the season's first full ranking tournament next week

The snooker season begins on Monday with the Wuxi Classic and Judd Trump is the 5/1 favourite with Boylesports to be the first person to get his hands on silverware in a full ranking event this season. However the UK champion was having visa problems earlier in the week so there may not be a lot of value in that price.

Those who don’t want to touch Trump in a tournament in which he isn’t guaranteed to turn up in might want to look at Mark Selby who is the second favourite at 7/1 with Paddy Power. Selby is the defending champion in this tournament but he has been dogged with a neck injury for the last few months and you would be taking a leap of faith with his health and fitness if you back him for the tournament outright.

The rest of the field are all double figure prices on the best odds and that starts with local hero Ding Junhui who is 10/1 with Stan James. Ding’s record in China isn’t as good as I’m sure he would like it to be but he has won tournaments in China before so he is sure to attract lots of takers at that price. Neil Robertson is the same price with the same firm and he too will attract plenty of interest.

Mark Williams is often someone who plays well in China and he can be backed at 14/1 to win the tournament with Bet365 while Stuart Bingham, the Australian Open champion last year and already in the winners circle this year having claimed the first Asian PTC title on Friday, is a 50/1 shot for a second full ranking title in the space of 12 months. All the players will be looking to take advantage of the absence of the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins.