The German Masters continues on Thursday as the first round comes to a close and the second round begins on a busy day of snooker in Berlin. The opening day saw some excellent snooker and some shocks and I’m sure we are in for more on the second day of action.
There are three sessions of play on Thursday with some big names still on show. Some begin their campaigns and others continue theirs.
Morning Session
Three matches get us going on Thursday. The TV match sees Stuart Bingham taking on Zhang Yong while away from the cameras Barry Hawkins faces Michael White and Dominic Dale plays the talented youngster Yan Bingtao.
Afternoon Session
The first round concludes in this session as the final five matches take place. The TV treatment is given to Mark Selby. The world and UK champion takes on Thepchaiya Un-Nooh while the other tables will see Marco Fu facing Dave Gilbert, Michael Holt playing Stuart Carrington, Neil Robertson plays Ben Woollaston and Anthony Hamilton faces Mark Williams.
Evening Session
The second round begins in this session with the top half of the draw being played down to the quarter finals. On the TV we will see Ali Carter taking on Zhao Xintong with the other three matches seeing the maximum man Tom Ford facing Mark King, Ryan Day playing Robin Hull and the defending champion Martin Gould going up against Ricky Walden.
Betting
I’m going to go with three bets for Thursday’s matches and as luck would have it there is one in each session. In the morning I like Dominic Dale to see off Yan Bingtao. Bingtao is an extremely talented youngster who will have a huge future but he has taken a couple of beatings by seasoned campaigners in the last two events and he could take another here.
Dominic Dale lost in China Open qualifying last week but that was a scrappy game which doesn’t suit him. I think this will be a more open match in which the quality of Dale’s safety play will shine through and he will come through this one. He was playing good snooker in Scotland until he ran into John Higgins. Bingtao is no Higgins yet so I’m with the Welshman here.
In the afternoon I really like Ben Woollaston on the handicap against Neil Robertson. Robertson skipped the China Open which means his last match was his Masters quarter final defeat to Ronnie O’Sullivan. I was in the crowd for that and I’ve never seen Robertson so defensive both on the table and in his body language around it. That was a clear sign the Australian is unhappy with his game. Woollaston is a solid player who doesn’t always get the credit he deserves. He qualified for China in style and can win at least three frames here if not all five.
In the evening I’m going to take on Ali Carter again. I took Carter on against Maguire when Carter won 5-1 but really he should have been 4-1 down in that match but Maguire kept missing awkward balls late in frames to cough the frames up for Carter. If Zhao Xintong gets those chances I fancy he’ll snap them up so there is value in the heavy scoring Chinese youngster who has already shown a huge liking for the bright lights and the big stage.
Tips
Back D.Dale to beat Y.Bingtao for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with 888sport
Back him here:
WON – Back B.Woollaston (+2.5 frames) to beat N.Robertson for a 4/10 stake at 2.25 with William Hill
Back Z.Xintong to beat A.Carter for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with William Hill
Back them here:
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