Masters / Paul Krishnamurty / 11 January 2009 / Leave a comment

Paul Krishnamurty sees only one winner in the battle between two of the game's most promising youngsters.

Two of the most exciting prospects around meet in the 'Wildcard round' tomorrow, and I'm confidently taking Mark Allen to beat Judd Trump at [1.78]. Either of these players could very plausibly win a world title in the years ahead, but for now the Northern Irishman looks well ahead in his development.

Trump has carried a huge reputation for a long time now, and viewers got a glimpse of that potential when he reached the semi-finals of the Grand Prix, where he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan along the way. Trump's natural talent was very much on display that week, but I felt the results flattered him a little as some of his opponents played some awful snooker - not least Ronnie. Raw potential will take you so far, but Trump still appears to be very tactically naive.

In contrast, Allen has looked ready to win a title for months, and has shown he is well capable of repeatedly winning frames with one visit to the table; a prerequisite when competing at the highest level.

In the last two events he's been eliminated by the eventual tournament winner, Neil Robertson in the Bahrain semis, and Shaun Murphy in Telford. Furthermore, when this pair met in Bahrain, Allen ran out a convincing 5-1 winner. On that basis, [1.78] looks a steal.