The penultimate event of the 2022-23 snooker season is upon us, as the best eight players in the world converge on Hull, England, for the 2023 Tour Championship next week. In what is also the final event in the 2023 Players Series, the Tour Championship sees the top eight players from the one-year snooker rankings invited to the Bonus Arena in Hull to compete for their share of £380,000. We bring all of the best 2023 Tour Championship predictions ahead of the first break on Monday.
The fifth edition of the Tour Championship 2023 will see some big names missing from the field, courtesy of its unique structure. Two-time winner Neil Robertson will be unable to return to defend his title in 2022, while Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump will also be missing. However, expect plenty of fireworks still as the in-form Mark Selby looks to stave off Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen, and Kyren Wilson to claim his first title here.
| Tournament: | World Snooker Tour 2022-23, The 2023 Duelbits Tour Championship |
| Venue: | Bonus Arena, Hull, England |
| Dates: | Monday 27 March to Sunday 2 April |
Can’t wait any longer to bet on snooker? Here are your latest 2023 Tour Championship snooker odds, so you can jump right in and bet on the Tour Championship 2023:
Looking at these World Snooker Tour 2023 odds, it’s a relatively tight field, according to the bookies at the 2023 Duelbits Tour Championship. Only two players are considered genuine long shots, with Robert Milkins and Ryan Day both paying more than 21.00 (20/1).
Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy are the two favorites on 3.50 (5/2) and 4.50 (7/2), with Mark Allen, Kyren Wilson, and Ding Junhui all nipping at their heels on odds between 6.00 and 8.00 (5/1 to 7/1).
First played in 2019, the Tour Championship will see its fifth edition contested in 2023. As one of the final events of the season, it collates the best eight players based on the season’s results and pits them against each other in a seeded sudden-death format. All matches will be best of 19 frames, with the winner walking away £150,000 richer.
One thing is for sure: A new Tour Championship winner will be crowned in 2023. With no Neil Robertson, Stephen Maguire, or Ronnie O’Sullivan, the field is wide open for a new champion to push their way to the top. Who will it be? Read on for our Tour Championship snooker predictions 2023.
The moment you’ve been waiting for – our expert picks. We’ve crunched the numbers, consulted snooker gurus from Tirau to Timbuktu, and determined what the best three bets to place ahead of the 2023 Tour Championship are. Here’s what you want to be wagering on at your UK online bookmakers:
This is Mark Selby’s tournament to lose, and we don’t think he will. The Englishman is the No.3 seed but the bookies’ favorite at the Tour Championship 2023, and for good reason. He’s simply been in fantastic form – just days ago, he won the WST Classic in front of a hugely supportive home crowd with a comprehensive 6-2 victory over Pang Junxu.
While the past few months had been quiet for Selby prior to his win at the WST Classic, he’s generally in a rich vein of form, winning the English Open in December 2022 as well. Simply put, he’s the most in-form player heading into next week’s tournament and is a strong bet as a result.
A player that is not in form is Mark Allen. Since winning the World Grand Prix in January, Allen has failed to find his best snooker, stuttering his way to some underwhelming results. Most recently, he suffered a third-round exit from the WST Classic at the hands of Noppon Saengkham and a first-round defeat at the Players Championship courtesy of Joe O’Connor.
Ding Junhui will be counting his lucky stars that he gets such a match-up to open his Tour Championship campaign and will back himself to navigate the out-of-form veteran. While Junhui also fell early at the WST Classic, he entered that tournament off the back of a win at the 6 Red World Championship, where he beat Ronnie O’Sullivan en route to the title.
The most likely candidate to join Mark Selby in the final is Ali Carter. It helps that Carter is in the top half of the draw, and will avoid playing Selby or even Shaun Murphy in the semifinals or quarterfinals. Instead, Carter will need to navigate a first-round encounter with Kyren Wilson before a likely semifinal against Ding Junhui.
Ali Carter has been consistently strong this season, most recently losing to eventual winner Mark Selby in the semifinals of the WST Classic. Before that, he lost in the final of the Players Championship to Shaun Murphy and won the Germans Masters in February. Carter’s consistency makes him a great bet to win the top half of the draw, and come up against, let’s say, Mark Selby in the final.
As the 2022-23 snooker season heads towards its finale shortly, the penultimate ranking event of the season sees eight in-form players thrown together for a week of action. We say that Mark Selby is the hottest of them all and should come out on top, given his excellent form at the WST Classic last week. Tune in on Monday to see, and get your real money bets in before then.
