Welsh Open Snooker Betting: Robertson warms up for Newport

Snooker / David Hendon / 23 January 2010 / Leave a Comment

"O’Sullivan is not a certainty to beat Stuart Bingham, who has practised many times with the world number one and will not fear playing him."

Laid back on the outside, fiercely competitive on the inside, Neil Robertson is a classic Aussie sportsmen. These qualities, combined with his new found happiness, mean that he is a serious contender in Newport, says David Hendon.

Neil Robertson is playing some of the most attractive snooker on the circuit this season and is worth supporting at [10.5] to win the Welsh Open title in Newport this week, a trophy he collected three years ago.

The Australian won the fourth ranking title of his career by capturing the Grand Prix title last October. Since then he was has continued to play well and has only been beaten by top drawer performances from world class players. At the UK Championship, Robertson got a kick when in early on in the decider against John Higgins and was beaten 9-8. At the Masters earlier this month, he made two centuries but lost 6-4 to Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Snooker, as with any sport, comes easier when a player is happy off the table, as Robertson appears to be. The 27 year-old is as laidback as they come but has a fierce competitive streak - as so many Aussie sportsmen do - once he gets out into the arena. Robertson is now settled in the UK. When he first moved to Cambridge, where he lives full time during the snooker season, five years ago, he found it so cold that he struggled to get out of bed. However, when he went back home to Melbourne for Christmas last month he felt it was almost unbearably hot, so used had he become to the British climate.

After a consistent 2009, which included a run to the World Championship semi-finals, Robertson is up to third in the provisional rankings and will be one of the main men to beat at the Crucible this year. His draw in Newport looks favourable as he is in the opposite half to this season's other form horses: O'Sullivan, Higgins, UK champion Ding Junhui and recent Wembley Masters winner Mark Selby.

Another of snooker's international brigade, Hong Kong's Marco Fu, may be worth a small investment at [50.0]. Fu, whose only ranking title came at the 2007 Grand Prix, played some outstanding snooker to win the latest group of the Championship League last week. However, punters will no doubt be aware of his wild inconsistency. He can play superbly at times but can equally look pretty average, which perhaps accounts for why he hasn't won more titles.

Robertson and Fu are in the same half - the easier one - but who will fight it through from the other section? Selby is obviously on a high after last week but faces a tricky first round tie in the shape of 20-year-old Judd Trump, a frighteningly good potter who hasn't quite yet broken through to be a regular TV face. The dependable choice would be Higgins, although he quite openly loathes Newport and will not be as motivated in this tournament as in most of the others. One player who always seems to approach every tournament the same is Shaun Murphy, rated at [6.0] to reach the final and usually a good bet to be involved in the business end of tournaments.

In the first round, the seeded players who should be safe are Robertson against China's Liu Song, Higgins against Michael Judge and defending champion Ali Carter against Mark Davis. But there is plenty of scope for some shock results, with veteran Maltese potter Tony Drago back in form and capable of taking out world number six Ryan Day, who is having a poor season and is low on confidence. Drago can be backed at [2.52] to win that one having just come through four qualifying rounds to reach Newport.

O'Sullivan, understandably so disappointed to have lost 10-9 from 9-6 up to Selby in the Masters final, is not a certainty to beat Stuart Bingham, who has practised many times with the world number one and will not fear playing him. The Welsh Open is not high on O'Sullivan's list of priorities - even though he's won it twice - and Bingham is more than capable of exploiting any weaknesses of an under performing Rocket.

Similarly, Dominic Dale, a Welshman who lives in Austria, has the experience and poise to knock out Stephen Maguire, who reached the Masters semi-finals despite not playing anywhere near his best. Dale has just started playing with an old Rex Williams Powerglide cue, the sort favoured by Stephen Hendry in the 1990s. That may be the only similarity between the two players but it should be remembered that the experienced Dale has won two ranking titles in his career - only two fewer than Maguire.