International Championship snooker outright predictions and betting tips: Former champions Allen and Higgins set to go well

Where to watch International Championship

Live on Eurosport 1 & Discovery+, from 6.30am Sunday

Best bets for International Championship

John Higgins to win International Championship
0.5pt each-way 14-1 general

Mark Allen to win International Championship
0.5pt each-way 12-1 Coral, Ladbrokes, Hills

International Championship predictions

The final ranking event before the UK Championship takes the players to Nanjing, China, for the International Championship and the season’s form player Judd Trump again dominates the betting.

Trump was no match for Kyren Wilson in the Northern Ireland Open last time out - he lost 9-3 in a one-way final. But the Ace in the Pack had earlier lifted trophies in the Shanghai Masters and Saudi Arabia Masters and tends to perform whatever the circumstances.

However, with Zhang Anda the defending champion this week - and therefore the top seed - there is a lopsided look to the draw with Trump, world champion Wilson, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson all housed in the bottom half.

That means it could pay to focus on the top half, where Ronnie O’Sullivan is the shortest-priced runner as he threatens to make his first competitive appearance since suffering a first-round exit at the English Open in the middle of September.

The Rocket withdrew from the latest event in Belfast and, with his well-being unknown, there could be each-way potential to be had with Anda also not in the same vein as last season.

John Higgins, champion in 2015, may be the first port of call given that he has had a solid enough start to the season, highlighted by a runner-up effort behind Selby at the British Open.

The Scot has lost only four of his last 16 matches, with his three other defeats coming against Allen, Trump and Barry Hawkins.

But the Wizard of Wishaw has a decent early draw to work with, opening with his toughest test against Ben Woollaston before a potential quarter-final clash with Anda.

Allen, who used his victory in this tournament in 2018 as a springboard for finishing runner-up at the UK Championship, is another who merits a mention.

The Pistol has made the last eight of the British Open and last four of the English Open this season. He starts out against Aaron Hill with Ricky Walden or Xiao Guodong waiting in the last 32, suggesting a deep run could be within his capabilities.

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