The snooker World Championship really came to life on Saturday when we saw two of the great matches in the history of the tournament and three huge players progressing to the quarter final and on Sunday the two remaining last 16 games get underway on another packed day of action inside the Crucible Theatre.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Day 8 Recap
Ronnie O’Sullivan was the first man through to the quarter finals on Saturday when he took care of Shaun Murphy 13-7. Ding Junhui then made it through when he came from 12-11 down to see off Liang Wenbo 13-12 in a classic and then finally John Higgins saw off Mark Allen 13-9 to book his quarter final spot and bring in our biggest bet of the tournament to date.
In the two matches which got underway on Saturday Stephen Maguire and Mark Selby opened up decent leads. Maguire leads Rory McLeod 6-2 while Selby has the same advantage over Xiao Guodong. I’ve a feeling there is a little life left in Guodong in that match though. I don’t think he can win from 2-6 but the handicaps are now +7.5 on his side which means he needs four more frames and I think he can get them.
He was unlucky in a couple of the frames on Saturday evening and could easily have come out of the session 5-3. If he loses Sunday’s session 5-3 he would need one of the first two frames when they return on Monday and if he avoids defeat in the session on Sunday he’ll bring the bet in. Xiao has played well in qualifying and in this tournament so far and I fancy he has at least four more frames left in him here.
Neil Robertson vs Marco Fu
We’ve had two sensational matches in this round so far and this one has all the hallmarks of being another one as the former champion Neil Robertson takes on last year’s beaten semi-finalist and one of the players of the season in Marco Fu.
Robertson enjoyed a simple enough win in the first round and then revealed the impact that gaming products have had on his life and I still don’t think he’s in perfect shape on the table. Marco Fu came from the dead to see off Luca Brecel and in a way he could feel he is freerolling now which is a dangerous position for his opponents.
Marco Fu’s transformation this season has been immense and he now looks one of the best players in the world. We saw in that second session against Brecel that he maintains all of his poise and heavy scoring and he is way too big for me to ignore here at 13/10. I also expect to see some centuries here too. Both men score for fun so I’ll have a small go on them too.
Barry Hawkins vs Graeme Dott
Two men who seem to save their best for this venue collide in what has all the makings of being a tight tussle as Barry Hawkins, a former finalist, takes on the former champion Graeme Dott who has been to three finals in total.
Barry Hawkins had it quite easy in his first round match with Tom Ford not really turning up while Graeme Dott had to be at his best to see off Ali Carter. Whichever way I look at this I expect it to be tight. Both men are real battlers who always play well here and I fully expect it to go close. I’m surprised over 21.5 frames is at odds against but given that we only need 13-9 or closer for that to land I’m happy to oblige.
Tips
WON – Back X.Guodong (+7.5 frames) to beat M.Selby for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with Coral
Back him here:
WON – Back M.Fu to beat N.Robertson for a 5/10 stake at 2.30 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back N.Robertson vs M.Fu – Over 3.5 centuries for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Bet365
Back it here:
Back B.Hawkins vs G.Dott – Over 21.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017
