Coral Tour Championship 2019: Tips, Best Odds and Analysis

Joe Short

March 15th, 2019

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Quick Tips:

• Back Ronnie O’Sullivan to win the Tour Championship with Coral

The Coral Tour Championship gets underway in Llandudno next week and all eyes are on Ronnie O’Sullivan heading into the tournament.

This is the first edition of the Tour Championship, which accompanies the World Grand Prix and Players Championship to form the Coral Cup.

O’Sullivan and Judd Trump have each won one of the tournaments in the Coral Cup this year and will potentially duke it out for the Coral Tour Championship too!

Yet it is Mark Allen who enters the tournament as top seed, following his strong run of form of late.

The Coral Tour Championship takes place between March 19-24 and will showcase long-form snooker at its best. Here are some of the best bets the bookies have to offer…

Ronnie O’Sullivan For The Win

Ronnie O’Sullivan is not competing in the Championship League or Gibraltar Open in the week leading up to the Coral Tour Championship.

It means he will almost certainly be fresh for the challenge of winning that Coral Cup. O’Sullivan has been on top form this season, winning the UK Championship and Players Championship this season.

O’Sullivan heads into the Coral Tour Championship having clinched his Players Championship crown earlier this month by beating Neil Robertson 10-4.

The victory was a masterclass in composed snooker from the iconic O’Sullivan. He also secured a 1000th century en route to glory.

O’Sullivan will be the heavy favourite with Coral to win the Tour Championship. After all, the World Number 2 has been on excellent form in 2019.

O’Sullivan has a reputation of sometimes not showing up for big tournaments but has proved willing to fight for the Coral Cup.

Neil Robertson Worth Eyeing

Australian Robertson has endured a mixed time of it playing the Coral Cup events this year.

He bombed at the World Grand Prix, losing to Xiao Guodong in the first round 4-3. Yet Robertson has found form in recent weeks — just look at his stunning Welsh Open triumph in February for evidence of that!

Unfortunately, Robertson arrives in Llandudno having lost the Players Championship final to O’Sullivan earlier this month.

And the 37-year-old was also out of sorts in the Championship League last week. Having topped the table in that event, he then bombed 3-0 to Jack Lisowski in the semi-finals.

That upset plenty of snooker betting odds, with Robertson expected to win the tournament from that stage.

Does this hint at another trophy disappointment this week? Well, Robertson has the unwelcome challenge of facing current World Number 1 Mark Selby in the Tour Championship quarters.

Selby boasts a W18 D1 L11 record against Australian Robertson, and the smart money may well lie with the Englishman. BetHard will be offering live odds throughout their match.

Trump The Steady Bet

Judd Trump has already won the World Grand Prix this year and the Masters. The 29-year-old is seeded third for this week’s Tour Championship and starts off against Welshman Mark Williams.

Now, Trump has a 15-6 winning record over Williams, from their 21 previous meetings. WIlliams did beat Trump 6-1 in their last meeting at the 2018 German Masters — but before then Trump had won his last 10 match-ups against the Welshman.

Trump’s draw means he could well meet O’Sullivan in the Coral Tour Championship semi-finals this week, which would be a tantalising contest.

Trump is a better short-form player, who can grasp matches quickly and get them won. But over 19 frames this is definitely a match O’Sullivan would be favourite for.

Indeed, the best snooker betting sites, including new bookmakers such as MoPlay, have O’Sullivan down as the favourite to clinch the title in Llandudno.

Coral Tour Championship Winner Odds

BetVictor will be showcasing the latest Tour Championship winner odds over the weekend, with O’Sullivan almost certain to be favourite.

Betting on the Tour Championship winner could well be tricky this week, as several players have World Championship title pedigree and a host of others boast wins at other majors.

Yet there are players who may well be worth avoiding. Mark Williams - the 2018 World Snooker Champion - has struggled in the two other Coral Cup events this year.

As has Stuart Bingham, who is probably not worth backing for the title despite his long odds with BetVictor.