Snooker: World Cup 2011

[kevshat]

Although the season begun a couple of weeks ago with the first PTC tournament of the season the proper televised snooker begins on Monday with the newly formed World Cup. There's something like 19 televised snooker events this season so the snooker punters we have will have plenty to get stuck into this season. The World Cup sees 20 nations made up of teams of 2 players taking part in matches which includes singles and doubles similar to the Davis Cup format played in tennis. This just screams as a tournament which is going to have plenty of value with the players and teams involved and the format being used. It all kicks off on Monday and is live all week on Eurosport so there should be some decent cash able to be made :ok.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Couple of outrights for me. 3pts Scotland to win Snooker World Cup 3/1 Blue Square I'm a bit surprised Scotland are this price really. Not only are they the strongest duo in the competition but they have a really really easy opening group which it would defy belief if they fail to get out of. The format for this tournament is exactly the same as the Darts World Cup which Bazza reinstated at the end of last year and one thing I eventually worked out in that tournament is it isn't the strongest player in the side you need to look at when analysing teams either outright or in matches but it's the strength/weakness of the second player because a poor second player can lose matches no matter how strong his partner is. There is no weakness in this Scotland side. Stephen Maguire will compete and probably beat most team captains in this event so Scotland are fine on that score. Quick word about the 4 sides I rate as the dangers - Wales will be there or thereabouts but Stevens' loss to Yu De Lu at the Wuxi Classic puts me off there. Selby and Carter are in the Wuxi Classic final on Sunday so they'll turn up in Thailand at the last minute which isn't ideal. Ding and Liang Wenbo could go very well for China but Liang's a bit up and down for my liking and Northern Ireland - in Mark Allen and Gerard Greene don't look quite strong enough to deal with Scotland on paper. I can't see past the World champ and the former UK champ especialy when you factor in they are good mates and know each others games perfectly (as well as both liking a bit of a flutter - allegedly ;) :lol). Scotland for me at a perfectly acceptable 3/1. 0.5pts ew Malta to win Snooker World Cup 100/1 Boylesports (1/3 1,2) I might be wasting a point here but another thing we learnt in the Darts version of this event is a big priced pairing can come through with the shortfire format. If anyone is better suited to one frame snooker than the Tornado, Tony Drago I haven't met him yet. He can have his frame done and dusted in a couple of minutes without expanding any energy at all. His partner, Alex Borg, has been a tour professional for a good number of years and he knows the game inside out and he'll be able to contribute sufficient back up to Drago when needed. He'll beat some weak top men in some sides in this group and would have most 2nd men covered aside from the elite 4-5 sides. With his pool background Drago will have played a lot of scotch doubles so that format will suit him too and with a group which there's no real standouts behind China if you consider Neil Robertson is partnering a complete unknown for Australia, Malta could surprise a few. If they can get out of the group and into a QF with a favourable draw then who knows. One frame shootouts guarantee one thing - there will be upsets. At 3 figures I'll pay to see if the Maltese men can produce enough of them.

[PerryPFC]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Scotland 10/3 with VCBet for those interested :ok

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Should be really interesting. I think the doubles are alternate shots rather than visits, that'll throw up a few shocks:eek. Anyway, I'm going to take 2 outrights to small stakes. Rep of Ireland to win World Cup, 1pt EW @ 14/1 Stan James I'm not certain this will be a straightforward event to predict but one thing I'm certain of is that you'll need a couple of seasoned professionals to make the final. That's one thing that this Irish team have got in Ken Doherty & Fergal O'Brien. I don't expect them to have many issues in progressing from their group, which includes a strong Welsh team but, otherwise, is weak with Germany, Pakistan and Egypt the opposition. Both these players played in the recent PTC event with Fergal going through a few rounds to reach the last 16. They are capable of beating any of the other teams on their day, especially if they can grind a result out (looking forward to the alternate shots in the doubles:lol) and, at 14/1, I'm happy to be on EW. Thailand A to win World Cup, 0.5pts EW @ 66/1 Stan James Like Kev, I can't go into this event with small stakes on a big outsider. I like the chances of this Thailand team, with the Thaipoon heading the attack but supported by a very capable back up in Dechawat Poomjaeng. I knew nothing about him but he's just beat John Higgins in the first PTC event so that's a good enough recommendation for me. Wattana too is in fine nick, reaching the last 16 of the same event. When the season is just starting, I like to go with those that have been playing a bit of snooker so decent runs in the PTC is a huge bonus. Their group looks very open and if they can get out of it, I think home support will be a factor and may just carry them all the way.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 I'm taking 2 match bets tomorrow. India to beat Northern Ireland, 2pts @ 10/3 Bet365 Admittedly, I know very little about this India team but no way could I take the Irish at around 1/5. What I do know is that there are massive doubts over Mark Allen, with all the problems he's been having and generally he's a slow start. Gerard Greene is not a player I rate so, to me, there's lots of worries for this team. The only bit of recent form is that Greene beat one of the Indian team, Mehta, 4-3 in the recent PTC so that just shows to me that the gap ain't that big. In a format new to everyone, I think there will be a few shocks and I think Northern Ireland are the weakest team of the market leaders so I'll gladly take them on at a backable price. Thailand A to beat Australia, 4pts @ 5/4 Stan James I've backed Thailand outright and fancy them to get off to a winning start tomorrow. They'll have the home support and, to me, should be favourites. I've gone into detail as to the relative merits of the team so what of the Aussies? Well, they will be almost solely reliant on Neil Robertson and I fancy he'll have to win both his singles tomorrow. I don't think we can rely on Mifsud to score many points and I wouldn't be surprised if Robbo isn't 'up' for this. The other thing is that he's been away since the Worlds so, for him, I think it's just a case of getting his cueing arm going on for the bigger events to come. The market is the wrong way around to me so I'll take the home nation to get us off to a flyer.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 One for me. Can't really add a lot more to what Russ has already said. 4pts Thailand 1 to beat Australia 5/4 Stan James These odds are the wrong way round for me as I'd much rather be on the all pro team of Thailand than a pro-am team of Australia even if Neil Robertson is in the opposition. It's by no means a certainty that he turns up at his best. We often see him sneak through early in tournaments but he's got no time for that here. He needs to hit the ground running which won't be easy with this his first competitive snooker of the season. It's open to debate how much help he's going to get from his partner and Thailand could easily win this match by winning the three frames Mifsud plays in. Wattana and Poomjaeng are both in decent touch so far and they look like a solid pick at odds against to me.

[Wanderer89]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Got to say i look at tommorows matches and can't say i know much about some of the nations. So will be very much looking in this thread for input. One i do know about tommorows game is Australia Vs Malta 3 Points Malta to beat Australia 6/4 Stanjames A few people were on Thailand today but Australia winning has no put me off this bet. Malta, in Drago has enough experience to get through his one frame matches in this one. The odds are all because of Robertson who could easily slip up in such a short match. Malta has the stronger 2nd player out of both sides which is why i really fancy them in the doubles match. Juicy price in a game which is closer than the odds suggest.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Disastrous start but taking 2 tomorrow. Malta to beat Australia, 4pts @ 6/4 Stan James Australia let me down today by winning easily but I don't think that will happen again. The poor form of James Wattana was apparently a big contributory factor to the Aussie's win and the 4-1 scoreline probably flatters them. Mifsud is still a player to take on. Malta meanwhile lost narrowly to a very strong China team today and Drago showed he's in top form by beating both Liang & Ding. As Wanderer already states, the Maltese 2nd string is stronger than the Aussie 2nd string and again I feel the market is the wrong way around. I hope I can recoup the losses by sticking to my guns and opposing the Aussies, and 6/4 looks pretty darn generous. India to beat Belgium, 3pts @ 7/4 William Hill Big price here on India. Both teams lost today and, although India lost 4-1, they came up against an in form Mark Allen who hit a ton in his first game. However, both their players are good enough to take Bjorn Haneveer and the youngster Luca Brecel. On paper, these 2 should win but I think the pressure of being favourites may be too much for the inexperienced pair. Today, they lost to 2 unknown Brazilians by 3-2, losing 3 of the 4 singles. These 2 Indians are stronger than todays opponents so, whilst the Europeans are favourites, the 7/4 on offer is a shade too big to ignore.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Shambles by Wattana there. Saving grace for me was Malta got a couple of points out of their hardest game of the group on paper. I'm taking 3 for Tuesday. 4pts Pakistan to beat Germany 11/8 William Hill Pakistan had a brilliant win over Ireland on Monday and I think they can follow that up with a win over a woeful looking Germany. The Germans lost to Egypt on Monday and they looked very poor even though both of their players had previous TV experience. Pakistan beat Ireland 3-2 despite Doherty and O'Brien hitting a ton each in the match so even though their top break was just 25 it was a good win none the less. A repeat of that performance should be enough to get past a weak German outfit who weren't that much more prolific in their first match. 3pts Malta to beat Australia 6/4 Stan James Once again Russ has said it all here really. Malta went down 3-2 to China on Monday but Drago beat both Ding and Liang so he's in good nick while Borg was perhaps a bit unlucky in his frames. A shot here or there and it could've been a different story. Neil Robertson never looked fluent at all on Monday and if James Wattana had brought any sort of game to the table I'm sure Thailand would have won. Malta have both players playing nicely and I expect them to win their two frames against Mifsud which would give us 3 shots at landing the 6/4 shot. 2pts Afghanistan to beat Hong Kong 9/2 Skybet I think Afghanistan are worth a shot at these odds. Marco Fu and partner lost to a very inexperienced Poland side on Monday and the scoreline probably flattered them a bit with Poland easing off when they went 3-0 up. Afghanistan went down 3-2 to the Thailand 2 side but they weren't far off a surprise win. Fu didn't look in particularly good nick in Hong Kong's opening match and I don't think he's going to get much help from his partner from what I saw of him. Even were Fu to win both his singles, which he should do but he's never a certainty at the best of times to do, then I think the Afghanistan players can win the other two singles which would give us a 9/2 shot on the scotch doubles frame. Those odds scream value so I'll have a small tickle on Afghanistan sending the more fancied Hong Kong to a second straight loss.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 That was such an annoying day. All 3 bets lost 3-2, the most annoying of which was Afghanistan who lost their doubles frame despite Hong Kong needing a snooker on the pink. Would've been up for the day if they had closed that frame out. One for Wednesday. 3pts Malta to beat Thailand 1 6/4 Sportingbet I'm going to give Malta one last chance in the match betting because I'm convinced they've been a bit unlucky in their matches so far. It was so frustrating that they didn't beat Australia on Tuesday. Tony Drago beats Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo and Neil Robertson and with a 2-1 lead facing the easiest of his four opponents in Steve Mifsud he loses that and Malta lose the match 3-2. However it does show that Drago is in good nick while Borg is getting edged out rather than battered. With Wattana and Poomjaeng down the lower end of the world rankings scale there's no reason Borg can't compete here. Malta have won both their doubles frames while Thailand have lost both theirs which includes a doubles loss to UAE. With doubles quite likely being the frame that could seperate these two sides I'll side with Malta with the doubles form and at the relatively big price. Malta need a 3-2 win here at least but would prefer a 4-1 win. I think Drago can inspire them to their first match win in this one.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Malta won yesterday to move me back to -8.5pts overall for this tournament but their huge 5-0 win this morning has put them in with a fantastic chance of qualifying. If today's China vs Australia match is anything other than 3-2 either way they'll be as good as through :hope. 2 for me this afternoon. 4pts Australia to beat China 11/8 VC I've been a bit guilty of underestimating Australia in this tournament, either that or Steve Mifsud is having the best week of his life but either way the Aussies have won their opening two matches and Neil Robertson has yet to fire. China have won both their matches so far 3-2 but they have done just enough to win, they've certainly not looked impressive at any stage yet. They were slightly fortunate to beat UAE yesterday and made very hard work of it. Both Chinese players are very hit and miss and if Steve Mifsud keeps up his form of the week so far and Neil Robertson comes to the party then the Aussies are overpriced here. 3pts Germany to beat Republic of Ireland 7/4 Skybet Germany are another who look a big price here. Ireland beat Egypt on Wednesday but it took them just under 4hrs to win a 5 frame match. Doherty said afterwards it's the worse standard match he's ever been involved in and offered to give fans who watched it their money back. Sadly he hasn't offered to give me the 4hrs of my life back but c'est la vie :lol. He could however reward me today because I don't think this German pairing are without a chance this afternoon. They gave a very strong looking Welsh outfit a run for their money yesterday and if Ireland are as poor today as they were yesterday then Germany would become a very attractive price here. I don't think Ireland will have this all their own way so at 7/4 I'm happy to take a value punt on the Kaisers this afternoon.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 That was frustrating. 3-2's have killed me this week. Could easily have had both go my way too with Australia in first in the crucial frames and the German dude missing the final red in the decider :wall. I'm not too far away though so one for the morning. 4pts Thailand 2 to beat Poland 10/11 VC I'm happy to take Thailand 2 here. Realistically it's going to take a weird set of results for either to qualify so we're playing for pride here but I think the exertions of the week could just be starting to take their toll on the Polish side who have been fantastic for much of it. A 4-1 reversal at the hands of Afghanistan isn't pretty though and this Thai pairing could prove equally tough. They went down 3-2 to Scotland on Thursday but that's no mean feat. Interestingly the number 2 in this Thai side beat John Higgins so his confidence must be sky high. Thai number one Thepchaiya-un-Nooh is very much the standout player of the four in this match so with their confidence boost I'll take Thailand 2 to beat a Poland side who may well have reached their peak this week already.

[Spooner]

That was frustrating. 3-2's have killed me this week. Could easily have had both go my way too with Australia in first in the crucial frames and the German dude missing the final red in the decider :wall. I'm not too far away though so one for the morning. 4pts Thailand 2 to beat Poland 10/11 VC I'm happy to take Thailand 2 here. Realistically it's going to take a weird set of results for either to qualify so we're playing for pride here but I think the exertions of the week could just be starting to take their toll on the Polish side who have been fantastic for much of it. A 4-1 reversal at the hands of Afghanistan isn't pretty though and this Thai pairing could prove equally tough. They went down 3-2 to Scotland on Thursday but that's no mean feat. Interestingly the number 2 in this Thai side beat John Higgins so his confidence must be sky high. Thai number one Thepchaiya-un-Nooh is very much the standout player of the four in this match so with their confidence boost I'll take Thailand 2 to beat a Poland side who may well have reached their peak this week already.

:clap Been a horrible tournament for most betting wise with some bad luck in places, nice to finally get a winner!

[kevshat]

Nice start to the day with Thailand 2 winning 4-1. One more for today. 2pts Hong Kong to beat Scotland 10/3 Skybet There's nothing much on this match as both sides are going through so motivation might be a bit low for Scotland who haven't been at their best so far in the tournament yet. John Higgins has been very poor losing singles frames to weaker players than Fu and partner. Hong Kong come into the match with their spirits high and with the pressure off I'll take the Asian nation to play some decent snooker and pull off a bit of an upset at a big price given the close nature of the matches so far in this event.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Going to play in the last 2 quarters. Hong Kong to beat England, 2pts @ 10/3 SportingBet When you get to this stage, no team should be this price. England are favourites and rightly so after topping their group, winning 14 out of their 20 frames. That included 2 easy wins over Brazil and India, but 2 close run things with Belgium and Northern Ireland. Hong Kong, on the other hand, progressed winning just 2 matches and 11 frames. The key to their chances, though, is the doubles. The format has now changed in a first to 4 with an extra singles & doubles. England have really struggled in the pairs area, winning just 1 of their 4 frames which is a poor return. Hong Kong have faired slighly better but look better suited to this format. Ali Carter hasn't been too well either and I'd fancy Fu in a 1-frame shootout against almost anybody. A bit of a longshot but if HK can win the doubles, then they'll need just 2 of the 5 singles matches, a perfectly achievable task. Northern Ireland to beat Scotland, 3pts @ 7/4 Stan James I thought NI would struggle here but they've been completely the opposite, winning 3 of their 4 matches (losing only to England) and racking up 13 frames, the same as their opponents Scotland. Again, the key could be the doubles. NI have won 3 out of 4, Scotland just 2 (losing their last 2). The other key factor is the performance of the so called "1st string", as it's been the lesser players holding the teams together, both Greene & Maguire winning 6 of their 8 singles frames so far. Higgins has lost to a 15yo Pole, an Afghan and the 2nd string from Thailand 2. He's definitely beatable and I'd be interested to see who would take the 7th frames if it gets that far. On all known form & stats, these teams are much more closely matched than the betting implies and I'm happy to be on the outsiders at a big price.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Excellent day with both bets winning for a 12pt profit on the day, taking me to +4.17pts for the event. Semi finals tomorrow, with Wales, China, Northern Ireland & Hong Kong left in.

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Great shouts there mate :clap:clap.

[Mirage]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011

Excellent day with both bets winning for a 12pt profit on the day' date=' taking me to [b']+4.17pts for the event. Semi finals tomorrow, with Wales, China, Northern Ireland & Hong Kong left in.

Awesome stuff mate :ok

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Cheers guys:ok Taking my final 2 bets of the competition tomorrow. Northern Ireland to beat Hong Kong, 5pts @ 8/13 Stan James Northern Ireland to win World Cup, 2pts @ 10/3 Bet365 Eggs and basket spring to mind here but with good reason. Northern Ireland have played some super stuff so far this week, winning all but 1 of their matches, and were mightily impressive today by seeing off the pre tournament favourites in Scotland. They saw off Higgins & Maguire 4-3 after being 2-0 and 3-2 up, and perhaps should have won more comfortably. What I was really impressed with was the fact they won 4 of the 5 singles matches, including an inspired Mark Allen who won all 3 of his and hit a 128 along the way. Hong Kong had an equally impressive win, seeing off England 4-3 after being 3-2 down but were incredibly lucky (not that I'm complaining:lol). By admission of both England & themselves, they had the run of the ball and really shouldn't have won. I think Northern Ireland are in much the better form and they really should make the final. If they do, then there's no way they'll be 10/3 to win that, especially if China upset the favourites in Wales, so I'll take them now at decent looking odds.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Northern Ireland held off a spirited Hong Kong fightback to win their semi and were a best priced 6/4 in the final so I was pleased at getting 10/3. However, it wasn't to be as the Chinese pair proved too strong to win 4-2 in the final. +1.08pts on the day, leaving me in profit for the first event of year with overall stats of +5.25pts, which I'll take after being over 10pts down early doors. No time for any rest though as the Australian Open starts overnight so get your bets on:ok

[kevshat]

Re: Snooker: World Cup 2011 Great recovery mate :clap. -16.86 for me this week. Bit of a shambles but could've been a lot different with a shot here and a shot there. Hopefully Australia is more my scene :hope