We have reached the last 16 stage of the World Open out in China where the entire round will be played out over two sessions on Thursday. We are now down to just the four tables inside the venue which means each match will gain in profile not just the ones on the main tables.
We have seen some big names catapulted out of the tournament already this week but there are plenty left in leaving us with some tasty tussles to enjoy over the course of the day.
Morning Session
The big match of the round takes place in the morning session when Neil Robertson takes on Mark Allen in a real heavyweight contest. That is inevitably on one of the TV tables with Mark Williams playing Jimmy Robertson on the other one.
Two matches take place on the outside tables. They see the highly rated duo of Kyren Wilson and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh going up against each other while John Higgins takes on David Gilbert in the other match.
Afternoon Session
All eyes will be on the main table once again when Ding Junhui faces Joe Perry in the big match of the afternoon session. On the other televised table Cao Yupeng will look to continue his good form when he meets Luca Brecel who is on a wonderful Chinese run.
There is a Chinese player on the outside tables too as Li Hang looks to make another major quarter final. He faces a stiff task in the form of Peter Ebdon while the other outside table will see Anthony McGill going up against the surprise package thus far in Lee Walker.
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Betting
I’m going with three bets over the course of the day. Two of them come in the morning session where I think Mark Williams is a good thing against Jimmy Robertson. In their previous three meetings Robertson has only won one frame out of 15 and has lost their last two 6-0 and 4-0. They were a little while ago but I don’t see how much has changed. I’m expecting another comfortable Williams win here.
At the end of Neil Robertson’s win over Ben Woollaston on Wednesday he was clearly having tip issues. That could play into the hands of Mark Allen who has been going along nicely this week so far and who can always raise it for the big matches. If Robertson has had to replace his tip he may be out of touch in this match but even if he isn’t he hasn’t been playing brilliantly here. I think in light of the issues Robertson could have Allen is the favourite here.
Moving into the later session I like the look of Li Hang. He was seen as a plodder prior to this season but he has made the semi-final of the China Championship and he has knocked off two seasoned campaigners here in Ricky Walden and Liang Wenbo. He now takes on Peter Ebdon who had a good win over Marco Fu in the previous round. We know Ebdon is hugely capable but we’ve now seen that Hang can win scrappily and win open matches and that makes me side with him in this one.
Tips
WON – Back M.Williams (-1.5 frames) to beat J.Robertson for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with LeoVegas
Back him here:
WON – Back M.Allen to beat N.Robertson for a 4/10 stake at 2.38 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back L.Hang to beat P.Ebdon for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
Back him here:
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