Monday may not be the traditional day for a snooker tournament to have its semi-finals but that is what lies in store for us in the China Championship over the course of the day out in Guangzhou.
It looked like we were going to have four heavyweights left in the last four but two amazing turnarounds in the quarter finals on Sunday have left us with a strong semi-final and one which few could have predicted.
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Shaun Murphy vs Ali Carter
The opening semi-final looks like it could be an absolute cracker as Shaun Murphy takes on Ali Carter. Generally when these two men meet they deliver really tight matches and I don’t think we will be disappointed here either.
Shaun Murphy has looked in very good form in this tournament and the way he held his composure when 2-0 down to Zhou Yuelong in the quarter final before winning 5-2 will have boosted his confidence but Carter should fancy his chances too given that he brushed aside a dangerous and tricky foe in Fergal O’Brien in his last eight match.
I’m expecting a close match here and generally when Carter is in a close match he sees it out so I think the 7/5 on him to come through here is decent value. We know Carter can mix it in the tactical front and he is scoring well enough too so I’m with him in this first semi-final.
Luca Brecel vs Li Hang
At half-time in the quarter finals this looked like being a semi-final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams with both men 3-1 up at the interval but neither could come through and we are left with Luca Brecel against Li Hang instead.
The Belgian actually came back from 4-1 behind to O’Sullivan with a couple of centuries in a brutal blitz to turnaround a match that looked dead while Hang came from 3-0 down to see off Williams 5-3 and reach his first ever semi-final at this level.
Credit to Hang for finally getting this far in a tournament but I suspect his run could come to an end here. The confidence Brecel should get from his recovery in the quarter final should be huge and with Hang likely to be nervous and potentially giving his opponent a few more chances than usual I’m expecting the former German Masters finalist to reach another final with a bit to spare.
Tips
Back A.Carter to beat S.Murphy for a 4/10 stake at 2.40 with Bwin
Back him here:
Back L.Brecel (-1.5 frames) to beat L.Hang for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
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