It is second round day at the Welsh Open on Wednesday with all 32 matches in the round taking place on what is another frenetic day of snooker at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.
At the end of the three sessions of play we will know the 32 men who will go on and compete for the final Home Nations event of the season and among the stars on show are Ronnie O’Sullivan, Neil Robertson and Marco Fu.
Morning Session
The two matches on the main tables in the morning session will see the World Grand Prix finalist Ryan Day taking on the talented Thai player Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and an all-Welsh battle between Jamie Jones and Dominic Dale.
There is plenty of talent on the outside tables too as Stephen Maguire takes on Ian Burns while Fergal O’Brien meets Chris Wakelin. Zhou Yuelong plays Paul Davison and Graeme Dott meets Adam Stefanow. The other matches see Jamie Cope playing Anthony Hamilton and Craig Steadman facing Sam Baird.
Afternoon Session
The first set of three rounds of matches in the afternoon session begin on the main table with Lee Walker playing Neil Robertson with Jackson Page possibly on the other table when he takes on John Astley.
Elsewhere in the arena Mark King continues his quest for a second title on the season when he faces Scott Donaldson while Ross Muir takes on Marco Fu. Hossein Vafaei Ayouri playing Christopher Keogan and Igor Figueiredo meets Anthony McGill. The other matches see Stuart Carrington playing Wang Yuchen and Andy Hicks facing Robbie Williams.
The second set of matches begin on the TV table with Michael White facing Liang Wenbo in one of the games of the round with Shaun Murphy taking on Josh Boileau on the streamed table. Elsewhere Elliot Slessor goes up against Jimmy Robertson and Robert Milkins faces Eden Sharav.
The final match on the main table in the afternoon sees Barry Hawkins taking on Tian Pengfei while beside it Ali Carter will go up against Darryl Hill. Allan Taylor meets Robin Hull and Mitchell Mann faces Sean O’Sullivan to round off the session.
Evening Session
Ronnie O’Sullivan is back on the main table to open up the evening session. He takes on the capable Mark Davis while the streamed table will see Mark Selby playing Mike Dunn. Stuart Bingham goes up against Rory McLeod and Kurt Maflin meets James Wattana on the other tables.
Finally on the match table Judd Trump will face Alex Borg with Mark Allen on the streamed table again when he meets Boonyarit Keattikun. Peter Ebdon and Mei Xi Wen face each other away from the cameras as do Thor Chuan Leong and Yan Bingtao.
Betting
There is just the one bet which interests me on Wednesday. The early signs in this tournament are that it could be a week of carnage so I’m going to avoid the big names until later in the week especially those who are having to cover large handicaps.
One man who doesn’t have to do that is Mei Xi Wen and he is a player I like on Wednesday. He did a job on Peter Ebdon in the last Home Nations event in Glasgow and there is nothing to suggest a repeat isn’t on the horizon here.
The Chinese player is on the rise and judging by the scoring in his first round win is playing well whereas Ebdon is in a bit of a slump even allowing for his first round win. You have to score to win these days and Xi Wen is doing that whereas Ebdon isn’t so I’m on the youngster here.
Tips
WON – Back M.Xi Wen to beat P.Ebdon for a 4/10 stake at 2.25 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
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