Players Championship Predictions: Allen and Higgins can eclipse market leaders

The top-16 cuemen on the one-year ranking list head to the Telford International Centre for the Players Championship.

Established as the Players Tour Championship Finals in 2011, the event brings together this year’s top performing players and there have been 10 different champions crowned, with Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy the only dual winners of the event.

This season’s renewal fields six former winners of the tournament, but there is no room for 2011 and last year’s winner Murphy or 2022 Players Championship king Neil Robertson.

Player Championship Betting Tips

Mark Allen @ 10/1

Trump heads the Players Championship market at 9/4, with O’Sullivan second in at 13/5. It’s hard not to respect the chances of that pair of potters, who have won eight titles between them this season, but that hasn’t been missed by the prices and there isn’t much juice at the front of the betting.

Trump won this event in 2017 and 2020 and the Ace will get his hattrick bid underway against Chris Wakelin in Telford. That should be a pretty routine first-round contest, and although the Bristol cueman declined the invitation to last week’s Welsh Open, he did reach the final of last month’s World Grand Prix and took down the German Masters crown at the start of February.

That suggests that the Ace is in good form and there is certainly a lot to like about Trump’s chances, all except the offer of 9/4, and, at 10/1, better value can be found with Mark Allen.

There is potential for a semi-final clash between Allen and Trump, should they both win their opening two matches, and while the Pistol looks to have the tougher route to the last four, it may not prove as difficult as the prices suggest.

The Northern Irishman has picked up the Champion of Champions and Shoot Out trophies this season and it has generally been a progressive time for the Antrim ace.

Allen has won five titles across the last two seasons of competition and the 37-year-old has developed into one of snooker’s most frequent winners. There has certainly been a more patient and pragmatic approach from the Pistol in recent times and that has reaped its rewards over the last 18 months.

Allen takes on Mark Williams in the first round of the Players Championship and the Welshman wasn’t at his best when losing 4-1 to Anthony McGill in the second round of the Welsh Open last week.

The Antrim ace made the quarter-finals in Llandudno, suggesting his game is in good shape, and the Northern Irishman looks capable of winning this event and outrunning odds of 10/1.

John Higgins @ 12/1

John Higgins looks the best option from the bottom half of the draw. O’Sullivan is the big name in the section and the Rocket does look to hold a strong claim on the trophy. However, this is not a triple crown event, it doesn’t carry the prestige or prize money of the Masters, UK Championship or World Championship and we have seen before that lesser competitions can quickly drop down O'Sullivan's list of priorities.

Higgins has the challenge of Ding Junhui in round one, but the Chinese cueman failed to qualify for the recent German Masters and he was then beaten in the opening round of the Welsh Open.

The Chinese sensation doesn’t appear to be playing anywhere near his best at the moment and that should allow Higgins to negotiate his first assignment.

The Wizard of Wishaw would then move on to play either Zhang Anda or Noppon Saengkham and the Scot could have certainly been handed a tougher quarter-final route.

Higgins looked in good nick in the Welsh Open last week, only losing to the eventual winner Gary Wilson 6-4 in the semi-finals and clearly the four-time world champion has enough ability to take down a Players Championship crown.

The 48-year-old has made some alterations to his cue and technique and that appears to have a positive impact on his performances in Llandudno. That aside, the Scot has made four ranking event semi-finals this term, so it hasn’t exactly been a lean period for the four-time Crucible king and the Wizard of Wishaw looks excellent value to cast a spell on his rivals in Telford.