Preview of the 2021-2022 Snooker Season Beginning This Weekend
Slated to consist of 17 or possibly 18 ranking tournaments, the 2021-2022 snooker season gets underway on Sunday. The first competition of the ten-month season is the 17th edition of the Championship League. It features an unusual format beginning with 32 groups of four players competing in a round-robin format.
– Kyren Wilson will attempt to win his third consecutive BetVictor Championship League. The competition starts this weekend. ©Rigour
Three Results One Outcome
With the exception of the final match, all Championship League games are played as best-of-four frame contests. Here three points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. The potential of three outcomes in any game readily excites bookmakers.
Judd Trump is likely to enjoy the fast nature of the BetVictor Championship League. ©Rigour
It is generally accepted that draws, in games like football, darts and snooker, attract far fewer bets than wagers on a competitor, team or side, to win. When this competition was last staged, in the spring of 2021, 59 of the 192 stage one matches ended as 2-2 draws.
Nevertheless, the round-robin group format is clearly favorable for the top players. The last time the Championship League final, promoted by Matchroom Sport, was staged three-time world champion Mark Williams was defeated by world number six, Kyren Wilson. Wilson was the defending champion having taken the title in October 2020 at the expense of world number one Judd Trump.
A Third For Kyren Wilson?
Can Wilson complete a hattrick of Championship League victories? Leading bookmakers make him their 11/1 third-favorite in a market headed by Judd Trump at 9/2 and followed by the legendary Ronnie O’Sullivan at 7/1.
We asked ITV and Eurosport commentator Neal Foulds – once world ranked number three as a player – his opinion on the season’s curtain-raising competition. He said: “Mark Selby is one of very few big-name players who is not in the Championship League. He has clearly decided to take a long break after winning the World Championship.
“That is understandable. But, with ranking points on the line and the possibility of a place in the Champion of Champions event later in the season, all of those who are competing will be taking this very seriously.
Dedicated Bingham and Wilson
“The forthcoming season has a very different look than normal,” Foulds’ continues. “There will be no visit to China this year for example. The British Open returns to the calendar, it begins next month. It is broadcast on ITV and it has a big first prize. Staged at the same venue – Leicester’s Morningside Arena – the Championship League is a fully-fledged dress rehearsal of things to come.”
“Naturally, a few players will turn up with a sun-tan and a good golf handicap having relaxed during the offseason. You should be able to spot them quite quickly. But I’m not expecting Kyren Wilson or Stuart Bingham to be ring rusty. They both constantly practice hard and live to play snooker.
“There is some guesswork involved but this pair should make a good fist of things, particularly Wilson who is on a hattrick. Elsewhere John Higgins has a great record in this competition and Judd Trump likes the short format games played here.
Hossein Vafaei – A Player to Follow
Online-casinos.com also asked Neal Foulds for a player to follow during the year ahead. He told us: “We are yet to see the best of Hossein Vafaei. He is only in his mid-twenties and has played some excellent stuff in qualifiers.
“His appearances on TV tables have been disappointing but once he overcomes that he will be a force to be reckoned with. Behind the scenes, he has had all sorts of problems with visas and travel documents which cannot help his game. I really think he is good enough to become the first Iranian player to breach the world’s top-16.”
