It is a busy Thursday in the Shanghai Masters when the last 16 and the quarter finals are played out in a hectic day in the latest ranking event. We will get rid of 75% of the remaining players on Thursday and with two best of 9s in a day stamina will be very important.
We’ve already had two rounds of matches in the tournament and in the main all the leading players have made it through so we have a stellar last 16 line up. That last 16 takes place across one morning session in Shanghai which we will preview. The quarter finals will be played in the afternoon session but time restrictions will mean we have no chance of covering those.
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TV/Streamed Last 16 Matches
Two of the eight matches will be on the main table once again. World champion Mark Selby will be on one of them when he goes up against the evergreen Mark Williams while the other TV table will be occupied by Ronnie O’Sullivan and Barry Hawkins in the latest instalment of their head to head which has seen many big match battles in the past.
Other Last 16 Matches
There are some really good players and good matches on the outside tables too. John Higgins faces Liang Wenbo in one such match while Mark Allen against Jack Lisowski could be the tie of the round the way they are both playing. Martin Gould plays Marco Fu in another good match while Graeme Dott takes on Luca Brecel. The other two matches sees Mei Xiwen playing Kurt Maflin and Stephen Maguire going up against Judd Trump in another tasty looking encounter.
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Betting
I’m going with two bets in this session. Kurt Maflin has been in great form so far this week. He has knocked in three tons and seven more breaks over 50 in coming through his first two rounds and you get the feeling there is more to come. Mei Xiwen has done well to make it this far but it has been much more of a battle for him. If he hasn’t got much left he could get blown away here but even if he has Maflin is scoring so well I fancy him to come through.
Another man who is playing well this week is John Higgins. He has made two centuries and another seven breaks over 50 with one of his centuries looking like being a 147 until he went in off potting the brown. He now faces Liang Wenbo against whom he has a wonderful record. He has won all eight meetings against Liang and only once has the Chinese player made it to a deciding frame. With how well Higgins is playing this week I don’t see this going the distance either. I think Higgins wins before then.
Tips
WON – Back K.Maflin to beat M.Xiwen for a 4/10 stake at 1.75 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back J.Higgins (-1.5 frames) to beat L.Wenbo for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with NetBet
Back him here:
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