The first day of the China Championship snooker tournament is a busy one as the held over matches from the qualifying round take place alongside some first round matches as the biggest event of the season gets going out in Guangzhou.
That means we have some really big names on show right from the start of the competition which should ensure a decent standard over the three sessions especially with every match being the best of nine frames.
Early Morning Session
This session is stacked with big names. In the first round of the tournament Neil Robertson, Barry Hawkins, Stuart Bingham and Anthony McGill are all in action. They go up against Li Hang, Oliver Lines, Yan Bingtao and Mark Joyce respectively while the held over matches see Andrew Higginson, Daniel Wells and Tian Pengfei facing Hu Hao, Ma Chunmao and Fan Zhengyi respectively. The other match sees Peter Ebdon and Anthony Hamilton meeting.
Morning Session
World number one Mark Selby is one of the men in action in this session as he faces Luo Honghao in one of the held over matches while Liang Wenbo plays Ian Burns in the other. In the first round we have Rory McLeod playing Stephen Maguire, in form Ken Doherty going up against Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter playing Aditya Mehta. Ben Woollaston plays Mark Davis and Ian Preece meets David Grace in the other matches.
Afternoon Session
Two huge names play their held over qualifying matches in this session when Ding Junhui plays Niu Zhuang and John Higgins faces Lu Haotian. In the first round matches Mark King takes on Fergal O’Brien while Graeme Dott meets Robert Milkins. Dave Gilbert plays Stuart Carrington and Kurt Maflin faces Michael Georgiou. Elliot Slessor goes up against Alan McManus and Mike Dunn faces Joe Perry in the other matches.
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Betting
There are two bets for me in this opening day and the come in the later two sessions. In the late morning session I think Ken Doherty is overpriced to see off Shaun Murphy but I do respect the Magician enough not to take the Irishman to win the match but I can’t resist a punt on him to get to three frames.
So far this season the only match Doherty has lost was in the semi-final of the Riga Masters. He has wins over Anthony McGill, Ali Carter and Barry Hawkins since the start of the season already and I believe he can get to three frames if not all five against an inconsistent Murphy.
The other bet I like is on another man who is playing some neat stuff this season in Michael Georgiou. He faces Kurt Maflin but there doesn’t appear to be much confidence about the Norwegian’s game right now which is a concern for him. Georgiou should be buzzing. He beat Kyren Wilson to make it this far and took care of Yu Delu and Fergal O’Brien in qualifying tournaments recently. At 11/8 the Cypriot looks decent value to spring a surprise to me.
Tips
WON – Back K.Doherty (+2.5 frames) to beat S.Murphy for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with Coral
Back him here:
Back M.Georgiou to beat K.Maflin for a 4/10 stake at 2.30 with Bwin
Back him here:
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