What a pre Christmas treat we have in store – for the second time in 2023, the BetVictor Snooker Shoot Out returns and it heads for the first time to Wales in the coastal city of Swansea.
Since it’s inception in 2011, there has been 13 different winners and Chris Wakelin is back to do the proverbial impossible and defend the title he won in January. The prize for the winner is £50,000 and an invite to the Champion of Champions next season. It’s safe to say Wakelin has bucked the trend somewhat from previous winners who go on a slight slump from the high. He’s gone from strength to strength, making the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open final in October and sits in the top 16 on the one-year list.
You would be wrong to think this event is for naturally quick players. Former winners including the reigning champion, Nigel Bond, Anthony McGill, Barry Hawkins, Ryan Day and Hossein Vafaei are all from the same copybook as solid types.
George Weyham previews his best bets for the BetVictor Shoot Out.
Dominic Dale – 80/1
Another to add to the list is the 2014 champion, Dominic Dale. Though born in Coventry, and now residing in Stroud (Gloucestershire), Dale will call himself Welsh through and through and has lived near Swansea over the years.
Dale seems to light up when it comes to this event and is an ever present, playing in all 13 previous years. He has a flamboyant personality, a crowd pleaser. He enjoys the big one table stage and has a record better here than most. Dale made the quarters in 2012, won it in 2014, the last 16 in 2019 then in January made the semi-final, losing to Belgium’s Julien Leclercq.
He’s yet to lose in a first round this season and faces Fan Zhengyi in his opener here who in five appearances has won just three matches in the Shoot-Out, compared to Dale who has 23 wins.
Dale is playing well enough this season to have a decent shot of a second Shoot-out.
Noppon Saengkham – 33/1
My second selection plays in the last first round match on Thursday night and it would be bitterly disappointing if Noppon Saengham couldn’t win against the only American on tour, Ahmed Aly Elsayed. There’s no such thing as an easy draw in the Shoot-out but I’m sure Saengkham will be happy with it.
This is the event where Saengkham’s fellow countryman from Thailand, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh won his first and only ranking event in 2019. It’s been a good event for players overseas with Un Nooh, Robin Hull (Finland), Vafaei (Iran) and Michael Georgiou (Cyprus) all being past winners. Hull, Vafaei and Georgiou remind me very much of Saengkham in that they base their game on scoring heavy.
The 31-year-old has the makings of a future winner of this event. He has a lovely mix of big scoring, being a superb long potter and has a wonderful temperament. It’s rare to see the Thai ever panic.
Saengkham has previously made the last 16 on two occasions in 2021 and earlier this year. He qualified for the UK Championship in late November but squandered a 5-1 lead to lose 6-5 to Tom Ford. Neverthless, he impressed greatly with breaks of 127, 126, 100.
Providing he’s over that blip, Saengkham is the best of the shorter outright shots at 33/1.
Jak Jones – 50/1
No one pushed Wakelin closer in January than another Welshman, 50/1 shot Jak Jones. The Cwmbran native lost agonisingly by three points to the eventual winner in the last 16. That was the second time Jones had reached the last 16, having done so on debut in 2017, the first year the Shoot-out was made a ranking event.
In seven appearances, Jones has only been a first round casualty once and accumulated 13 victories. Without ever making the last eight, those statistics make Jones one of the better components of the format on tour.
A pro for over 10 years, his breakthrough season happened last term, where he made the quarter-final of the World Championship after beating Barry Hawkins, Ali Carter and Neil Robertson on route before Mark Allen halted the exceptional run, 13-10. The ‘Silent Assassin’ has become an accomplished performer on tour in the last few seasons, making the semi-final of a ranking event for the first time in March last year at the Gibraltar Open.
Though he hasn’t had the results he would have liked so far this season, he is scoring very consistently with nine centuries so far at a rate of one every 6.6 frames he wins.
Any player who can turn up to the Crucible as a debutant, make five centuries, beat two former finalists and one former winner in a best-of-19+ warrants mountains of respect.
Jones is one of the most dedicated players on tour and is a contender for honours here.
Jamie Jones (50/1) and Steven Hallworth (300/1)
Lastly, I handpicked two players before the draw was made as potential selections: Jamie Jones and Steven Hallworth. Low and behold, they have been drawn against one another in round one. I have no qualms in backing both, however.
Another from the valleys, Jamie Jones lives 20 minutes from the venue in Neath. The 35-year-old has a very similar profile to last years winner Wakelin – a dependable and hardy pro, who is good under pressure as like Wakelin, has a terrific record in qualifying for the World Championship, doing so on five occasions.
The buzzy Welshman comes to Swansea in decent form after yet again qualifying for a main venue. This time, for York’s Barbican Centre in the UK Championship. After two wins in Leicester, he faced Jack Lisowski and beat him 6-4 with two centuries. He played flat in the last 16 against Judd Trump losing 6-0. Yet, an encouraging week collecting £15,000 and moving up 22 places to 28th on the one-year list.
A good week here and he might be close to qualifying for the World Grand Prix in mid January, something he’s done four times previously.
I also like the fact Jones is a former semi-finalist in the Shoot-out back in 2015 and made the last 16 in 2018 so good to know he has previous in the unusual format and surroundings.
He’s one of the more capable 50/1 shots in the field.
Jones’ opponent Hallworth is a former pro and current amateur who looks a bit too big at 300/1 given his exploits in past Shoot-outs.
The talented potter from Lincolnshire is a coach of the game and is more than good enough to be amongst the pro ranks. All his best runs as a professional have come in this event: in 2017 he lost by 7 points in the quarter-final to Andy Hicks, and he made the last 16 in 2019 and 2022. In just five past appearances, he’s won 11 times and only losing in one first round which is very credible indeed.
Hallworth had a successful stint in the commentary box for UK Championship Qualifying where he was a complete natural with a witty sense of humour. He knows his snooker off by heart. It’s certainly a path he should head towards in the future however he’s still a very efficient player on the baize and though it’s a tall order to win a ranking event as an amateur, this is no normal ranker.
His beloved Lincoln City nearly made the FA Cup semi-final as a non league club in 2017 and this wouldn’t be even half as big a shock if Hallworth made the semis here. 75/1 to make the last four looks a good investment.
BetVictor are offering 4 places in the Shoot-out, 1/4 odds 4 places so a run to the semi-final will get an each way return.
BetVictor Shoot Out Preview
*Odds subject to change.
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