British Open: Prediction, Tips and Odds

The British Open is a tough tournament to predict as a random draw after each round opens up opportunities for all to shine, but Mark Williams can repeat his success of 12 months ago.

The fifth ranking tournament of the snooker season takes place in Cheltenham and Racing Post's Joe Casey has picked out his best bets.

British Open betting tips and predictions

Mark Williams - 12/1

With question marks over many of those at the front of the market, it may pay to side with a player further back in the betting who has pedigree in this tournament and who has made a good start to the season.

Mark Williams is the defending champion , beating Mark Selby 10-7 in last year’s final, while he also took home the title in 2021, getting the better of Gary Wilson on that occasion.

The Welsh Potting Machine reached the final of the recent Saudi Arabia Masters, before being pipped by Judd Trump 10-9.

He was beaten by Ben Woollaston in the English Open, but if anyone can bounce back from such a result it is Williams.

The veteran has landed a straightforward first game against Rory Thor and can make a big impact at a tournament he clearly favours.

Pang Junxu - 100/1

Pang Junxu has been one of the unluckiest players on the tour this season, losing a number of close matches in the deciding frame.

The youngster was beaten 4-3 by Chris Wakelin last time out, but before that beat former world champion Luca Brecel.

Junxu was beaten 6-5 by Si Jiahui in the last 16 of the Saudi Arabia Masters and 5-4 by Mark Selby in the Xi’an Grand Prix.

The Chinese star is due a reversal in his fortunes and, despite a tough draw against Selby again, he could produce a major upset and have a big say in this event.

Draw gives chances to all

The English Open produced a number of shocks recently, with a semi-final line-up of Wu Yize, Wakelin, Neil Robertson and Ishpreet Singh Chadha certainly not what was predicted.

The latter was the first Indian player since 2013 to reach the last four of a ranking event and did so in impressive style, beating Jak Jones, Hossein Vafaei, former world champion Graeme Dott and four-time world title winner Mark Selby in the process.

He eventually fell short against the eye-catching youngster Wu, but that performance, along with the other semi-finalists, shows that anyone can have their say in the latter stages of these tournaments if they play to the best of their abilities.

The format of the British Open also opens up all sorts of possibilities for players, with no seeding and a randomised draw after every round.

The randomness of that draw is reflected in some of the qualifiers taking place in Cheltenham, such as two top-ten players facing off when Mark Allen takes on Gary Wilson.

In contrast, the out-of-form Luca Brecel will be taking on world number 117 Mohammed Shehab.

Hard to fancy market leaders

As is usual, 10/3 Judd Trump and 11/2 Ronnie O’Sullivan head the market, just ahead of 6/1 Robertson and 9/1 Selby.

The Rocket was knocked out last week by He Guoqiang and his negative comments following that defeat may be enough to force punters to look elsewhere when it comes to this tournament.

Trump has faced a gruelling schedule recently, going deep in most tournaments and, while he is respected, he looks short enough in a competition of this nature.

Robertson will have a quick turnaround after his deep run at the English Open and Selby faces a tough opening match against impressive youngster Pang.

Read more snooker betting tips and predictions on site

British Open odds

Judd Trump - 10/3
Ronnie O’Sullivan - 11/2
Neil Robertson - 6/1
Mark Selby - 9/1
Kyren Wilson - 11/1

View the full market and more odds for the British Open on site

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.