Snooker Betting
Surprise Seeds Exit Leaves Saga Masters Wide Open
The draw is opening up in the Saga Insurance Masters at Wembley Arena, as snooker's best look to take advantage of Ronnie O'Sullivan's and Stephen Hendry's surprise exits. Stephen Maguire (7/2)** and Ding Junhui (9/2) are now the frontrunners, but both face tough challenges in order to go all the way.
Ronnie the Rocket had thrashed Maguire 10-2 in the UK Championship final, but was always up against it at Wembley as the plucky Scot cruised to a 3-1 lead, before O'Sullivan rallied and levelled at 5-5, where a key miss on the blue was his undoing. Meanwhile, veteran Hendry was ousted by Mark Selby, who won the last three frames to pip the Scot, in a game that was strewn with errors and only saw three breaks over 50.
The bold comeback makes Selby fifth favourite for the tournament (7/1) as he faces Maguire in the quarter finals, but a lot will depend on key ties over the next few days as the favourites have their mettle tested in an open field.
Tuesday will see a showdown between two of the greats who have graced the snooker circuit over the last decade, as outside Championship bets Ken Doherty and Mark Williams face off on equal odds of 5/6.
But Welshman Williams could have the upper hand, despite a startling loss of form over recent years that has seen him slip outside the top 30 in the world. He leads Doherty 3-1 in head to head meetings over the last five years, although the Irishman stole the show in the last encounter, with a 4-1 Grand Prix victory.
First round defeats in the NI Trophy and the UK Trophy took the shine off that victory for Doherty, while the Welsh wizard at least showed signs on form by defeating Ricky Walden and Mark Allen at the UK Trophy, before falling to Stephen Maguire. A quarter final against tournament third favourite Shaun Murphy (5/1) lies in store for the winner of the second-round showdown at Wembley, shaving Williams' and Doherty's title odds down to 20/1 and 28/1 respectively.
But the biggest challenge to O'Sullivan's slayer Maguire could come from the winner of another tough first-round match to call, a showdown between Ding Junhui (5/6) and John Higgins (5/6). The experienced Scot is 11/2 fourth favourite for the title, but on the day could easily overcome his opponent. At the Maplin UK Championship the Chinese star looked good but then succumbed to Murphy at quarter final stage, while Higgins showed poor form in losing to Jamie Cope at the first hurdle, a weakness at the off that could give Ding plenty of hope.
Another first round tie today between Marco Fu and Neil Robertson sees both players on equal footing (5/6) for a quarter final place, while tomorrow Graeme Dott is favourite (8/11) to dump out Steven Lee (evens) and secure a quarter final clash with Peter Ebdon.
**All prices are taken from
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