The first round of the China Open draws to a close on Tuesday when the remaining 16 matches take place ahead of the second round on Wednesday. We saw some big names progress on Monday and some depart the tournament and on Tuesday plenty more will look to begin their campaigns with a win.
We only have the two sessions of play on Tuesday but the cast list is strong with the likes of John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Ding Junhui and Judd Trump all in action to entertain the usually packed crowds in Beijing.
Early Session
John Higgins and Mark Selby get the gigs on the main tables in this early session on Tuesday. Higgins will go up against Ian Burns while Selby will play his second match of the week when he takes on Alfie Burden.
The outside tables will be full with six matches. They include Martin Gould taking on Fan Zhengyi, Rory McLeod meeting Liang Wenbo, Jimmy White faces Michael Holt, Kyren Wilson plays Xiao Guodong, Daniel Wells goes up against Jamie Cope and two veterans meet when Alan McManus faces Matthew Stevens.
Late Session
This session is so strong that Judd Trump can’t even get on a main table. The TV tables will be occupied by Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui. O’Sullivan takes on Gareth Allen while Ding Junhui faces Paul Davison.
Trump will be on the outside table when he takes on Ashley Hugill while Aditya Mehta faces Li Hang in an all-Asian battle. Stephen Maguire plays Fergal O’Brien and Andrew Higginson meets Dave Gilbert. The other two matches see Ricky Walden taking on Niu Zhuang and Jimmy Robertson playing Martin O’Donnell.
Betting
There are three bets for me on Tuesday. The first one comes in the form of Jimmy White who takes on Michael Holt. I suspect White has a bit of an advantage in this match as he has already played a match on the tables this week and put some decent scores together. In fairness White has been playing well for much of the season and while Michael Holt is a solid campaigner and will probably win the match I think the Whirlwind can definitely make it to three frames before he does.
Kyren Wilson’s form has been in the slammer since the turn of the year and I think he has to be taken on with Xiao Guodong. It was only the Shootout but Guodong did make the final of that last month and he is playing at home here in conditions which should serve him well. He looks overpriced at 6/4 to come through that one.
In the later session I’m surprised Li Hang isn’t a much shorter favourite to see off Aditya Mehta. Mehta is another one who isn’t having a great time of it at the minute whereas Li Hang has had quite a good season. On top of that he has already played and won this week which should give him an advantage and 4/5 is a very acceptable price on him.
Tips
WON – Back J.White (+2.5 frames) to beat M.Holt for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back X.Guodong to beat K.Wilson for a 4/10 stake at 2.50 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
WON – Back L.Hang to beat A.Mehta for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Coral
Back him here:
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