It is quarter final day at the China Championship on Friday where we have a unique line up featuring some big names who are established at this stage of a tournament, and some newcomers who line up in the last eight on a rare occasion.
It was carnage for the bigger names on Thursday with the world champion Mark Williams the latest star attraction to drop out of the tournament. Liang Wenbo was another casualty on a dramatic day of action.
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Morning Session
Judd Trump vs John Higgins
The pick of the quarter finals comes up first in the morning when Judd Trump takes on John Higgins in a last eight clash in which the winner will strongly fancy their chances of going all the way to the final at the very least.
Trump has powered his way through the draw so far this week, looking back to his best at times, while Higgins has struggled to make it to this stage but this is usually the part of the tournament where he ups his game and makes a genuine impression on winning the title.
He will need to up his game though because there is no doubt in my mind that it is Trump who is playing the better snooker so far this week and I think he will come through this one. Generally when Trump gets hot he stays hot for a while. Higgins looks to me to be in his warming up for the season stage. I’ll go with the Englishman here.
Martin O’Donnell vs Lu Haotian
The other quarter final in the morning session sees the inexperienced pair of Martin O’Donnell and Lu Haotian doing battle for a place in the semi-final and what would be comfortably the biggest pay day of their careers so far.
O’Donnell has seen off some huge name challengers this week so far with Luca Brecel and Liang Wenbo among his victims so far in the tournament while Haotian has largely taken advantage of a weak draw which opened right up for him, with the exception of him seeing off Shaun Murphy in the last 16.
O’Donnell has played the better snooker so far this week and there is no doubt in my mind that he is the value but this has the look of a nervy contest about it to me so I’d want to be on a handicap if I take him and the odds diminish then. It might be one that gets away from me but so be it.
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Afternoon Session
Mark Selby vs Yuan Sijun
The former world champion and world number one Mark Selby will look to take another step towards another title in China when he faces the youngster Yuan Sijun who will be competing in the biggest match of his life.
Selby is a regular at this stage of the tournament and like so many of the great players he tends to produce his best when we get to the business stage of tournaments. He has let a couple get away from him recently though so he’ll be keen to hammer this one down. Sijun has already taken the scalp of Ding Junhui this week and has come through nicely but you get the feeling this is a real level above.
Everything points to Selby winning this match but the odds completely reflect that and there is enough in Sijun’s game to warrant respect at the very least so I’m happy to sit this one out given the lack of betting potential in it.
Barry Hawkins v Zhao Xintong
The other quarter final in the afternoon session sees the Shanghai Masters finalist Barry Hawkins looking to progress to a third Chinese semi-final of the season when he goes up against yet another Chinese youngster in Zhao Xintong.
Hawkins is another who fits the mould of playing his best snooker the longer the tournaments go on. Although a lot of that is to do with experience I would imagine a good deal of it is also about a lack of practice time so they improve with matches being their practice. That is not the case for Xintong. He’ll be pounding the practice table between tournaments. He is a seasoned winner in waiting and the question is whether he has it in him for that to be now or if he need this experience to learn from before hitting the big time.
I’m not sure whether Zhao can win this match but I don’t see any reason why he can’t nail the highest break. Hawkins is yet to make an 80 break this week. That might be down to the conditions on the outside tables but even so it isn’t great. Zhao covered that twice in his win over Mark Williams in the last 16 and win or lose the Chinese youngster will score here. It is worth having a bit of the 7/4 on Zhao making the highest break given the scoring of the two so far this week.
Tips
Back J.Trump to beat J.Higgins for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
WON – Back Z.Xintong Highest Break vs B.Hawkins for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with Betfair
Back him here:
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