Premier League snooker preview
Tomorrow night is week three of the Premier League, and reigning world champion Neil Robertson plays his first game in one of three matches at the Guild Hall in Preston.
The Premier League returns after taking a brief break because of the World Open, with Robertson taking on current Masters champion Mark Selby, Marco Fu playing reigning Premier League champion Shaun Murphy and Mark Williams taking on Ding Junhui.
Robertson claimed the sixth ranking title of his career by beating Ronnie O’Sullivan in last week’s World Open final. His 5-1 demolition of the Rocket confirmed him as the new world No.1, and the player to beat for the rest of the season. The Thunder from Down Under is not short on confidence at the moment and will be raring to begin his campaign in the league format.
Selby will have to be on top of his game as Robertson is in fine form. The last time Selby played in the league, he surrendered a 2-0 lead to Williams, who ran out a superb 4-2 winner on his return to the competition after five years. If there were any positives for Selby to take from the defeat, the fact he made breaks of 101 and 84 in around 20 minutes would have pleased him. As the reigning Masters champion, the Jester from Leicester suffered a shock exit from the World Open, losing 3-2 to Barry Hawkins. Selby has a lot to prove, and he always produces his best when there are questions asked of him.
Fu began the Premier League with a high-quality encounter against O’Sullivan. Although he drew 3-3, he played great snooker and was unfortunate not to win the game. A match against Murphy is a repeat of the 2008 UK Championship final, where Murphy was victorious in the deciding frame. Fu is considered the weakest opponent in this year’s competition, but he showed against O’Sullivan that he will be no pushover.
Murphy began the defence of his Premier League title in dominant fashion, winning 5-1 over Ding in week one. Like Selby, Murphy also suffered a shock early exit at the World Open last week, losing 3-0 to Dave Harold. Murphy will be keen to get back to winning ways, and Fu will have to play like he did against O’Sullivan to keep him at bay.
Williams enjoyed a great run in the World Open, reaching the semi-finals, but lost to Robertson 3-2 after having been 2-0 in front. Before playing Robertson, Williams beat Ding 3-2 after coming back from 2-0 down, and once again, they will do battle. In his second game in the Premier League, UK champion Ding shared the spoils with O’Sullivan in a 3-3 draw and put behind him the 5-1 drumming by Murphy.
If Williams and Ding play at their best, this could be the closest game of the night.
Predictions: Fu 2 Murphy 4, Ding 3 Williams 3, Robertson 4 Selby 2
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