There are two rounds of matches to be played at the Welsh Open on Thursday as the last 32 remaining men will be whittled down to just eight on a brutal fourth day of the event at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.
Speaking of brutal that is exactly what it was for the big names on Wednesday as Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Marco Fu all catapulted out of the competition on what was a day full of upsets.
The afternoon session on Thursday has the last 32 while the evening session will see the last 16 being played. As ever in these events time restrictions will deny us the chance to preview the last 16 but we’ll cover the last 32 here.
Opening Matches
We begin with all eight tables in action on Thursday. On the TV table Thepchaiya Un-Nooh takes on Barry Hawkins in what should be a great match while Lee Walker plays Graeme Dott on the streamed table.
Elsewhere we have Mark Davis looking to build on his win over Ronnie O’Sullivan when he takes on Fergal O’Brien, Jimmy Robertson takes on Scott Donaldson, Zhou Yuelong plays Ross Muir, Anthony Hamilton will face Craig Steadman, Dominic Dale meets Igor Figueiredo and Stuart Carrington battles with Robin Hull.
Second Matches
Six matches follow them in the second round of games in the last 32. The TV table will have Judd Trump taking on the Welsh kid Jackson Page while the streamed table match will see Stuart Bingham taking on Ian Burns.
On the outside tables Ali Carter will play Hossein Vafaei Ayouri, Michael White faces Robbie Williams, Mark Allen goes up against Mei Xiwen and Josh Boileau plays Robert Milkins.
Final Matches
The third and final game on the TV table in the afternoon will see Mark Selby going up against Yan Bingtao who will be playing on his 17th birthday. On the streamed table Kurt Maflin faces Mitchell Mann.
Betting
After a successful day on Wednesday I’m going with two on Thursday. The first one comes in the opening set of matches as Jimmy Robertson takes on Scott Donaldson. Donaldson has done us a few good turns this season but it is hard to ignore that in just eight winning frames so far this week Robertson has made three centuries. That is good going whoever you are and that is the sort of scoring that can send him into the last 16.
The story of Jackson Page is a really good one and we are sure to see a lot more of him in the future but his run ends here. Although I love a fairy tale story we have to get realistic here. He has made one 50 break in his two matches so far and you simply get no joy against Judd Trump if you don’t score.
Trump laboured through the second round on Wednesday night but we’ll forgive him that against an opponent who took an age on each shot and given that it was late at night too. This should be more fluent and I’m expecting Trump to fly through. 4-0 looks an automatic pick but the Asian line means we can win half with a 4-1 Trump win and there is enough insurance there to take that option up.
Tips
Back J.Robertson to beat S.Donaldson for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Coral
Back him here:
WON – Back J.Trump (-2.75 frames) to beat J.Page for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with Bet365
Back him here:
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