Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the 2024 Players Championship snooker match.
Judd Trump
It's useless to dispute Judd's favourite status in this encounter, just look at the players' head-to-head matches. The tournament is ranked, and the prize money for the 1st place is £125,000 and it is, by the way, the largest prize money for 1 game week in the season. Trump decided to take a pause after winning the Masters in Berlin and skipped further events. Hopefully this pause will be good for him. Either way, Judd's playing potential is huge and the motivation is always there until Ronnie O'Sullivan's career is over.
Chris Wakelin
Chris Wakelin is in the top 16 of the annual rankings, which puts him in this tournament. But I wrote not so long ago that when Chris plays with top-level players, he has a psychological barrier, and as a rule, he is defeated in such a match. Wakelin plays classic snooker, where there is no room for aggression and risk, and if he manages to draw in and impose such a game on his opponent, then the outcome for him is almost a foregone conclusion. But for top-level players, who usually play their own snooker, it is almost impossible to impose their own rules.
Judd Trump - Chris Wakelin prediction
Judd Trump is the sole leader in head-to-head meetings, and this trend will continue. I see no reason for the favourite to lose, but the odds for victory are quite small. Therefore, the bet will be on the number of frames Chris Wakelin - he played in the last 10 of 12 face-to-face meetings.
