There are three sessions of play to begin the China Open with on Monday as we get through the ridiculously annoying wildcard round and into the main tournament throughout the day in Beijing.
Mixed in with the rookies are a host of big names including Stuart Bingham, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Mark Selby and Liang Wenbo among others so there is a decent enough cast list to enjoy on Monday.
Morning Session
The two main matches in this session see former world champions in action as Stuart Bingham faces a tricky test against the Welsh Open semi-finalist Scott Donaldson and Shaun Murphy takes on Allan Taylor.
There is plenty of action on the outside tables with Jimmy White facing Li Yuan, Li Hang taking on Luo Honghao and Alex Borg playing Niu Zhuang in the wildcard round while in the main tournament Anthony McGill takes on Tian Pengfei and Eden Sharav goes up against Ross Muir.
Afternoon Session
The two matches on the main table in this session come from the held over games from qualifying and they see Judd Trump and Liang Wenbo playing. Trump faces the lowly ranked Jason Weston while Wenbo has the Brazilian player Itaro Santos.
Elsewhere in this session we have Mike Dunn playing Andy Hicks, Kurt Maflin meeting Ben Woollaston, Hossein Vafaei Ayouri going up against Joe Perry, Graeme Dott facing the 2015 finalist Gary Wilson, Michael White playing Yu Delu and Rhys Clark against Mark Davis.
Evening Session
The crowds will be out in force in this session for the local hero Ding Junhui who faces Sean O’Sullivan in a qualifying match which was held over from earlier in the season. Mark Selby faces Adam Stefanow in the same round.
On the other tables Ali Carter takes on Stuart Carrington, Mark Williams plays Zhang Anda, Welsh Open semi-finalist Rob Milkins goes up against Noppon Saengkham while Northern Ireland champion Mark King plays Sanderson Lam. In the other two matches Mark Joyce plays Fraser Patrick and Zhou Yuelong meets Matt Selt.
Betting
It is a busy opening day but there is only one bet that I like for it but with a couple of snooker marathons on the horizon we’ve no need to push the boat out this week so I’m happy to stick with the one I like.
That is Zhou Yuelong who certainly won’t be lacking for motivation in his home tournament. I’m surprised he is even money to see off Matt Selt who hasn’t had the best recent run whereas Yuelong made the quarter final of the Welsh Open and is playing in conditions he has grown up in.
I like Selt but I think he is up against it a little here so I’m with the Chinese youngster at even money to make it into the last 32.
Tips
WON – Back Z.Yuelong to beat M.Selt for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
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