MODUS Super Series Week 7 Preview: A Field Full of Form

The MODUS Super Series returns for Week 7, and this might be one of those weeks where simply looking at the names – or indeed the early bookmaker prices – doesn't tell the whole story.

The 12-player field contains plenty of experience, with the likes of David Evans, Benito van de Pas, Keegan Brown, Richie Howson and Fallon Sherrock, but when I look through the latest Q4QS data there are some fascinating form stories elsewhere in the field.

In fact, several players arrive in Portsmouth having been almost impossible to beat in recent weeks.

And that could make Week 7 considerably more open than it initially appears.

Cooper arrives on a remarkable run

If I'm looking purely at recent form, Henry Cooper is impossible to ignore.

Cooper is currently Q4QS ranked No.516 with an 83.68 Q4QS Average, but it's his recent tournament record that really catches the eye.

His last five recorded events read:

Finalist – Winner – Winner – Winner – Winner.

Two of those victories came with extraordinary tournament averages of 92.33 and 93.95, while he has subsequently started Vault 19 by winning twice at The Newtown in Poole.

There are some huge individual performances in there too – including 109.98 and 104.86 match averages.

Cooper arrives in Portsmouth 10–0 across his latest ten recorded matches.

That's some way to enter a MODUS week.

Spivey leads the Q4QS rankings

While Cooper has the eye-catching recent results, Sam Spivey is actually the highest Q4QS-ranked player in the Week 7 field.

Spivey sits at Q4QS No.159 with an 85.42 Q4QS Average.

His recent win/loss record isn't as spectacular at 5–5, but the scoring numbers show the threat. His recent Challenge Tour event averages include 84.55, 87.99 and 81.00, while an ADC Championship South run included a 93.43 match average.

In a week containing plenty of players in excellent winning form, Spivey's underlying scoring numbers make him one of the obvious benchmarks.

Keegan Brown keeps winning

Keegan Brown provides a very different form line.

The former PDC Tour Card holder is 9–1 across his latest ten recorded matches, and there have been plenty of trophies along the way.

Brown won a Vault 18 event at Hotshots with an 86.14 tournament average, including individual performances of 95.94 and 93.90.

More recently, he won a Vault 19 event on the Isle of Wight before going 9–0 to win the Isle of Wight Grand Prix 3.

He's clearly arriving knowing how to get tournaments won.

One of the most interesting players could be 26.00

Perhaps my favourite storyline of the entire Week 7 field belongs to Ben Flanagan-McClelland.

There isn't quite enough data yet for a full Q4QS Average – he's currently at five of the six qualifying events required – but what is there is extremely interesting.

His recent results include a MODUS Super Series Qualifier quarter-final, a Midlands Vault Series 17 MODUS Super Series Qualifier victory, a final and then another tournament win.

That latest victory came in Vault 19 at The Cue Club in South Wigston.

Flanagan-McClelland went 8–0 and averaged 86.72, with individual performances including 83.76, 83.50, 80.93 and 91.09.

He's currently 10–0.

We'll come back to him when we look at the bookmaker market.

Steve Green's consistency stands out

Steve Green doesn't have quite the same string of titles, but his numbers might be among the most consistent in the field.

Green has an 84.04 Q4QS Average and is 8–2 across his latest ten.

His recent ADC Championship South tournament averages include:

85.16 – 87.22 – 82.74 – 84.21.

He's also produced a 91.50 individual match average.

Those aren't isolated peaks. Green has repeatedly been operating in roughly the same scoring territory, and that consistency could be important across a MODUS week.

Sherrock arrives with plenty of deep runs

Fallon Sherrock brings another strong recent record.

Sherrock is 8–2 across her latest ten and recently won PDC Women's Series Event 18, going 7–0 with an 83.51 tournament average.

Since then, the deep runs have continued.

Her latest five recorded events include a Last 32, quarter-final, two finals and another quarter-final. Her latest tournament was one of those finals, where she averaged 82.67 before losing to Deta Hedman.

She therefore arrives with both scoring form and plenty of experience of playing important matches late in tournaments.

Don't overlook Pete Hughes

It's difficult to find many players anywhere with a recent tournament record much better than Pete Hughes.

His latest five read:

Winner – Winner – Winner – Finalist – Winner.

He's 9–1 across his latest ten recorded matches and has already started Vault 19 with victories at Bridley Moor and The Cue Corner, either side of a final at Bengeworth.

His recent tournament averages include 82.02, 82.64 and 80.02, while he's also produced a remarkable 104.86 individual average in a win over Shaun Vernall.

Hughes doesn't make my Six to Follow – which probably demonstrates the problem I had choosing only six this week.

What about the favourite?

The bookmakers have installed David Evans as the early 4.50 favourite.

There is certainly enough in the Q4QS data to show why Evans commands respect. He's ranked No.281 with an 82.65 Q4QS Average, and recent Challenge Tour performances include tournament averages of 91.73, 86.01 and 84.09.

However, his latest ten recorded matches stand at 4–6, and his most recent Challenge Tour appearance ended at 72.53.

So there is certainly some contrast between the market position and the most recent results.

That doesn't mean the market is necessarily wrong – but it does make the comparison interesting.

Do the odds tell the whole story?

I'm not turning Q4QS into a tipping site, but the early bookmaker market is worth mentioning this week because it looks rather different from some of the patterns in my database.

The early prices have David Evans at 4.50, followed by Benito van de Pas at 6.00 and Sam Spivey at 6.50.

Further down come Richie Howson at 8.00, Henry Cooper at 9.50, Keegan Brown at 11.00, Pete Hughes at 12.00 and Steve Green at 13.00.

But then things become particularly interesting.

Fallon Sherrock is 21.00 despite arriving 8–2 with a recent Women's Series victory.

And Ben Flanagan-McClelland is 26.00 despite being 10–0 and coming straight from an unbeaten tournament victory averaging 86.72.

Perhaps the bookmakers have priced this one correctly. Perhaps they haven't.

But the Q4QS numbers certainly suggest Week 7 could be considerably more competitive than the prices at the top of the market imply.

There is an important caveat. Q4QS currently has no matching data in this export for Benito van de Pas or Kai Fan Leung, so I can't make the same data comparison for those two players.

Six Players to Follow

🎯 Henry Cooper

Four wins in his latest five tournaments

The form player of the field. Cooper has won four consecutive recorded tournaments, has recently produced event averages of 92.33 and 93.95 and arrives 10–0.

🎯 Sam Spivey

The highest-ranked Q4QS player in Week 7

Q4QS No.159 with an 85.42 Average. The recent results have been mixed, but the scoring ceiling remains extremely high.

🎯 Keegan Brown

Titles are becoming a habit

Brown arrives 9–1 with multiple recent tournament victories, including an 86.14-average Vault win.

🎯 Steve Green

Perhaps the most consistent scorer in the field

An 84.04 Q4QS Average and a sequence of recent ADC tournament averages consistently sitting in the 82–87 range.

🎯 Ben Flanagan-McClelland

The fascinating outsider

Currently 10–0 and fresh from an unbeaten Vault 19 victory with an 86.72 tournament average. One of the most interesting stories of Week 7.

🎯 Fallon Sherrock

Winning and going deep

A recent Women's Series champion who has continued reaching finals and quarter-finals since. Sherrock arrives 8–2 and in strong scoring form.

A difficult week to call

There are still unknowns here.

Q4QS doesn't currently have sufficient data to properly assess Benito van de Pas or Kai Fan Leung, while Richie Howson's available sample is also extremely limited – just one qualifying event in this particular dataset.

Panagiotis Chrysospathis is another with a relatively small Q4QS sample, although the database does contain recent international competition from Romania and Cyprus.

That's why I wouldn't simply rearrange the bookmaker market according to Q4QS ranking and declare that the answer.

What the database does show is just how much winning form there is among several players sitting outside the favourites.

Cooper: 10–0.
Flanagan-McClelland: 10–0.
Brown: 9–1.
Hughes: 9–1.
Green: 8–2.
Sherrock: 8–2.

That's an awful lot of confidence arriving in Portsmouth at the same time.

The bookmakers may have their favourites.

The recent results suggest MODUS Super Series Week 7 might not be quite that simple.