Adam Williams presents his prediction for the Tour Championship match.
Kyren Wilson and Ding Junhui will play each other in the Tour Championship quarter-finals. It will be the second match between them in the 2024/2025 season.
Kyren Wilson
The World Snooker Champion is having a fantastic season. Since the Crucible final, Wilson has not lost any of his four ranking finals this season. ‘The Warrior’ has beaten Judd Trump in the finals of the Xi’an Grand Prix, Northern Ireland Open and Players Championship, and also beat Barry Hawkins in the final of the German Masters. Kyren now has 10 titles and that number will only increase. Wilson has found the perfect balance between attack and safety, and his confidence has grown exponentially since winning the 2024 World Championship.
Ding Junhui
The Chinese “Dragon” is currently ranked No. 9 in the world, but 10 years ago Ding achieved one of his dreams - he became No. 1 in the world rankings for a few months. Ding has not yet been able to realise his second dream - to become world snooker champion. Junhui lost his only final so far in 2016 to Mark Selby (18-14). One of the most technically equipped players with 693 centuries and 7 maximums became the champion of the 2024 International Championship, defeating Chris Wakelin (10-7) in the final. In the first match of the Tour Championship, Ding defeated Mark Williams (10-3) with 2 centuries and 6 half-centuries. It was a confident victory over Williams, who has serious problems with his eyesight. Now Ding will have his most serious opponent.
Wilson vs Junhui Prediction
Both players are great at managing open positions and are good at break building. Ding Junhui made 30 centuries, and Kyren Wilson 59, but Wilson has played many more matches. Now the season is entering the home stretch, and it is very important to approach the World Championship in the best shape. Kyren and Ding played each other in the quarterfinals of the International Championship this season, and Ding won (6-4). In head-to-head matches, Ding has a minimal advantage of 8-7, but now Kyren is a big favourite in the upcoming game. We expect a lot of fighting, equal frames and a tense ending to the match, so we will offer a bet on the total frames over 16.5.
