George Weyham previews the 2026 Tour Championship and picks out his best betting tips and predictions.
I have to admit. I’m not a fan of the Tour Championship.
For me, this event is a hindrance to the players involved. The best-of-19 format, over multiple rounds and rewarding the best 12 performers of the season (used to be eight), nearly all of which have had hard seasons. Is it necessary just before the World Championship? Isn’t there enough reward qualifying for the World Grand Prix and Players Championship?
It was so much better when the event prior to the World Championship was the shorter format China Open, which was the case from 2005 to 2019. Every player on tour was involved (or whoever qualified for it). If you failed to qualify for the World and Welsh Open’s, you haven’t played for months (granted it’s largely your own fault) - that’s a bad look in my opinion.
11 of the 12 competitors are guaranteed to be seeded at the Crucible and this is their last event to get their eye in prior to the start in mid April. There’s benefits to some degree.
However, this event is a bit of a graveyard for the Worlds. No player has done the Tour Championship/World Championship double. No one has come close. Since 2019, the winners loss of round in the Worlds after read: R1, R1, QF, R2, R1, R1, QF. John Higgins made the final of ‘the TC’ in 2022 and got to the Crucible semis. Does anyone really want it this coming week?!
Out of the 12, I suppose the freshest is recent World Open winner, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
He needs to win this to be a first time seed at the Worlds. After a season of mediocrity, something you get accustomed to with the Thai, he comes in flying after a mesmerising final victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan in Yushan. One thing you can never predict is what Un-Nooh will do next and he faces Welsh Open winner Barry Hawkins in his opener who has never lost to Un-Nooh in seven past meetings.
Zhao Xintong is the only multiple winner of the season in the event, and I can’t imagine he’s totally thrilled to be in the North West with his Worlds defence firmly in his mind. He’ll be glad to be back in these shores mind as his record in China remains poor, with no victory still in his homeland following a loss to Gary Wilson in the World Open.
He faces the winner of Wu Yize and Chris Wakelin and it’s the latter that I feel is the man to be on in Manchester.
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Wu Yize
Wu is more reliable than Zhao and has been quite fabulous this season, coming of age - he is here to stay for a very long time. In terms of dangerous, he is armed head to toe with deadly artillery.
He won the first of what is sure to be many ranking events in November in his homeland at the International Championship. He beat four players on route who are in this event; Judd Trump, Hawkins, Zhao and Higgins. After disappointing at the UK, on debut at the Masters he lost 6-5 to eventual winner Kyren Wilson in the semis.
Since then he lost in the Championship league final to Mark Selby, the semis of the Welsh to Hawkins then in Yushan lost a thriller semi-final decider to O’Sullivan when looking all out the winner. It’s incredible consistency and on any given day he can pulverise any folk.
I don’t envisage Wu running out of gas either and this format for me is his prime conditions. He is so hungry for success and rates one of the big contenders for a first world crown in May.
In the meantime, he looks a fair price at 12/1 to conquer next week in his first appearance in the Tour Championship and double his ranking tally.
Wu Yize Outright Winner - 12/1 Unibet 0.25pt
Wu Yize To Reach The Final - 5/1 William Hill/Betfred/Unibet/Ladbrokes/Coral 0.50pt
Dabble
Mark Williams
My next outright pick is a bit chancey - Mark Williams has been easily dismissed in the market for this event but do so at your peril I say.
His form coming here is nothing to write home about. In fact, since he won the Xi’an Grand Prix in October where he became the oldest ranking event winner in history, he’s struggled.
But I’m not concerned and you can bet your bottom dollar Willo definitely won’t be.
Williams came into the 2024 edition of this tournament in a very similar state to now. In fact, it’s uncanny. He won a ranker - the British Open in the October of that season. After he made a few quarter-finals (like he’s done since the Xi’an), lost in four openers (again, just like he’s done since Xi’an) then rocked up to the Tour Championship and hit the jackpot beating Trump, Allen and O’Sullivan all convincingly.
This is the type of thing Williams can do - just suddenly click and everything becomes so easy to him. That event was like prime early 2000s Williams.
Williams faces old foe Higgins in his opener and has a very decent record against the Scot in recent years. Excluding best-of-5s or sevens which can go either way, Williams has won the last five meetings of bo9+. He is definitely the fresher of the pair too.
Selby will await in the quarters, and Williams beat the Jester in that aforementioned British Open final 10-7, which puts him 5-3 up in matches of bo17+ (this match will be best-of-19). Their encounters are usually close and Selby is yet to capture this title in six previous tournaments.
Williams still has a great knack of pulling rabbits out of hats in the big events; early last season he made the final of the lucrative Saudi Masters (lost in a decider to Trump), won the Champion of Champions and made the final of the World Championship last May.
He’s ranked number six on the one-year list, still world ranked number four and this titan of the green baize is not going anywhere. I can see him surprising yet again at 28/1.
Mark Williams Outright Winner - 28/1 Betfred/Unibet 0.25pt
Mark Williams To Reach The Final - 12/1 Betfred/Unibet 0.25pt
