The opening day of World Championship Qualifying is scheduled to be a busy one at Ponds Forge in Sheffield and by the end of the day we will know the identity of the first 11 men to have booked their spot in the next round.
In total 40 men get their campaigns to make it to the Crucible Theatre underway on a crazy day of snooker action with some big names on show not least one of the bigger seeds in Joe Perry.
Morning Session
11 matches get going in the morning session in total with each of them finishing in the evening session too. The two matches on the streamed tables see Robin Hull taking on the former ladies world champion Reanne Evans while Mark King plays Paul Davison in the other.
Elsewhere the matches are thick and fast. Stuart Carrington takes on Alex Borg on one outside table while Andrew Higginson and Michael Georgiou play on another. Tom Ford goes up against Jamie Bodle and Chris Wakelin meets Elliot Slessor while there is an all-Welsh clash between Matthew Stevens and Lee Walker. Li Hang faces Fraser Patrick and Mike Dunn meets Andy Hicks with the other matches in the session being Zhang Anda against Fang Xiongman and Xiao Guodong playing Tyler Rees.
Afternoon Session
We have nine more matches beginning in this session and finishing on Thursday afternoon. On the streamed tables former finalist Nigel Bond faces the women’s world champion Ng On Yee and Joe Perry goes up against Zach Richardson in what should be one-sided matches.
There is plenty of quality on the outside tables too as Sam Baird faces Ross Vallance, Zhou Yuelong meets Christopher Keogan, there is a battle of the Ian’s when Burns plays Preece while Alfie Burden vs Adam Duffy would be worth focusing on for those in the venue. Jamie Jones takes on Jamie Barrett in another match while Rhys Clark plays Wayne Townsend. Mei Xi Wen plays Akani Songsermsawad in the other match.
Betting
I’m going with a couple of handicaps on the opening day of action. In the morning session Stuart Carrington has impressed this season and I think he can take that into his match with Alex Borg and come through with plenty in hand. Borg is solid enough but he doesn’t win many frames in one visit so the added scoring and the nous of Carrington should be too much for the Maltese man. Borg lost to a wildcard in China last week and I sense his season ends here and does so emphatically.
Akani Songsermsawad began the campaign in red hot form but he hasn’t won a match since the turn of the year so I’m expecting him to struggle against Mei Xi Wen. Xi Wen showed his credentials in the Welsh Open where he made the last 16 beating Peter Ebdon and Mark Allen along the way and I fancy he can come through here with a bit to spare too.
Tips
WON – Back S.Carrington (-3.5 frames) to beat A.Borg for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back M.Xi Wen (-1.5 frames) to beat A.Songsermsawad for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
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