Mark Selby vs Alfie Burden

Selby begins his defence of the Champion of Champions title, which he won a year ago by beating Judd Trump 10-5 in the final. The four-time world champion reached the British Open final this season, although his recent results have been mixed: after beating Jimmy White 6-2, he lost 6-2 to Hossein Vafaei at the International Championship. Burden earned his invitation by winning last year's Shoot Out, but he is now on a three-match losing streak. The Englishman has lost in succession to Stuart Bingham 6-1, Steven Hallworth 4-2 and Pang Junxu 4-2.

Despite the occasional setback, Selby still has a considerable edge in class. He is much stronger in positional play and can limit his opponent's attacking opportunities with well-judged safety play. Their head-to-head record is also entirely in his favour: Mark has won all three previous meetings, including 5-0 and 4-1 victories. Burden is capable of making sizeable breaks, but he regularly struggles for consistency against more organised opponents. In this short, first-to-four format, Selby has a good chance of taking the initiative early and winning by a clear margin.