The first round of the World Open draws to a close on the second day of the tournament out in China on Tuesday and there are a host of big names looking to seal their spot in the last 32.
They include the Chinese duo Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo along with the world number one Mark Selby so we are assured of plenty of quality to keep us interested throughout the two sessions which cover the day.
Morning Session
Marco Fu gets the chance to shine on a TV table on Tuesday morning. He takes on Ian Burns for a place in the second round while on the other table the new Indian Open champion John Higgins meets Alexander Ursenbacher on the other one.
On the outside tables we should get some close matches. One in particularly that could be close is the one between Stephen Maguire and Ken Doherty while Alfie Burden and Stuart Bingham could be tight too. There will be a potting fest when Jack Lisowski takes on Martin Gould. Yu Delu plays Joe Perry and then there are two Chinese battles as Cao Yupeng plays Ma Chunmao and Liang Wenbo plays Yu Delu.
Afternoon Session
The world number one Mark Selby is in action on one of the TV tables while the other table will see the Chinese hero Ding Junhui playing on it. He meets his fellow Chinese player Zhang Anda for a place in the next round.
The non-televised tables see Anthony McGill taking on Duane Jones while Shaun Murphy meets Daniel Wells. Tom Ford plays Jimmy Robertson while Northern Ireland champion Mark King takes on Chen Zhe. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh goes up against Hu Hao with the other match seeing Mark Allen meeting Oliver Lines.
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Betting
I’m going with two bets to get my betting for the week underway after a void bet on Monday. In the morning session I expect Liang Wenbo to have a bit in hand in seeing off Li Hang. He has won their previous two meetings 5-1 and 6-1 and already has a match on the tables this week where he saw off Akani Songsermsawad despite the Thai banging in back-to-back centuries. Hang went well in the China Championship but was well beaten by Gerard Greene in India last week. Wenbo should have too much here.
In the later session I fancy Mark Selby might be tested just a little more than the odds suggest when he takes on Lee Walker on Tuesday. Walker has little to lose in the match but we saw at times last season when he beat Neil Robertson and Barry Hawkins among others that he can compete with the very best. He might not win this but I don’t think we have seen the best of Selby yet this season so the Welshman should be able to cover a large looking handicap before he goes down, if he goes down.
Tips
Back L.Wenbo (-1.5 frames) to beat L.Hang for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
WON – Back L.Walker (+3.5 frames) to beat M.Selby for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with Coral
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