The opening day of the UK Championship is a quiet day as there are only two sessions of play over the course of it inside the Barbican Centre in York. 32 players will grace the green baize looking to make it through to the second round and the TV stages.
Although this is the opening day of the competition we are not devoid of big names on the tables. The likes of Ding Junhui, John Higgins and Kyren Wilson will be on the streamed tables and household names will be on show on the outside areas too.
Afternoon Session
The two streamed matches in this session see Ding Junhui taking on Leo Fernandez and Marco Fu playing the former World Championship finalist Nigel Bond with both the Asian men heavy favourites to make it through to the next stage.
The outside tables are well populated here. Anda Zhang faces Noppon Saengkham, Ryan Day meets Jamie Curtis-Barrett, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh plays Elliot Slessor, Rory McLeod meets Zhao Xintong, Mike Dunn plays Fang Xiongman and Mark King takes on Boonyarit Kaettikun.
Evening Session
There are two streamed matches in this session too. They see Kyren Wilson taking on Sean O’Sullivan and John Higgins meeting Chris Totten again with the big names short odds to make it into the second round.
Away from the main tables there are a number of Chinese players in action. Yu Delu is the first of those when he plays Ian Preece while two meet each other as Yan Bingtao takes on Zhang Yong. Ben Woollaston meets Li Yuan and there is another battle of the Chinese when Tian Pengfeo takes on Cao Yupeng. Stephen Maguire plays the highly-rated Yuan Sijun and David Grace will face Jak Jones.
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Betting
I like two bets in this opening day. In the earlier session Anda Zhang looks a fair bet to see off a Noppon Saengkham who won his first 15 red match since the Paul Hunter Classic last week. Zhang hasn’t always been the luckiest player this season but generally when he has faced lower ranked opposition he has got the job done. I expect him to do that here.
Tian Pengfei had a really good week in Northern Ireland last week but he might not be so fortunate this week as I think Cao Yupeng could take care of him in the opening round in the evening session. Yupeng is playing some really nice snooker this season and has an excellent all-round game. In fairness this should be a decent match but at the prices it is one I prefer Yupeng in.
Tips
Back A.Zhang to beat N.Saengkham for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
WON – Back C.Yupeng to beat T.Pengfei for a 4/10 stake at 2.30 with Bet365
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