The busy days at the English Open keep on coming and for those who remain in the tournament throughout the day they will play two matches on Thursday as the tournament goes from the last 32 down to the quarter final stage.
The big names have begun to fall by the wayside now with Mark Selby, Mark Allen and Marco Fu among the high profile casualties on Wednesday while Judd Trump had to survive a deciding frame to make it into the last 32 which will be played in the morning and afternoon sessions. The last 16 is in the evening but time restrictions will deny us the chance to cover that.
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Morning Session
There is one set of matches in the morning session which sees all the tables being used. Neil Robertson is going to be on the main table first up when he takes on the challenge of Alan McManus. On the other high profile table the former world champion Stuart Bingham faces the maximum man Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
The outside tables sees Eden Sharav meeting Craig Steadman, Luo Honghao goes up against Anthony McGill while Mark Davis and Mei Xi Wen meet. Ben Woollaston will be looking to back up his win over Mark Selby when he takes on Ricky Walden with the other two matches seeing Matt Selt meeting Ali Carter and Yuan Sijun taking on Noppon Saengkham.
Afternoon Session
It is all about the defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the first game of the afternoon on the main table. He takes on Matthew Stevens while on the streamed table John Higgins faces the considerable challenge of Martin Gould for a place in the last 16.
Away from the cameras Ryan Day takes on Mark King with Masters places beginning to loom on the horizon for the pair while a former finalist in that tournament, Barry Hawkins, faces Daniel Wells. Shaun Murphy is in action on one of the minor tables in this session when he meets Robert Milkins with the other match seeing Stephen Maguire facing Jordan Brown.
Two matches are held on until later in the afternoon so that there are two games on both TV tables. The main table will see the world champion Mark Williams taking on the Chinese talent Zhou Yuelong while on the streamed table there looks to be a cracking contest between Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski which should be full of fireworks.
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Betting
I’ll take three bets over the course of the last 32. In the morning session I think Luo Honghao is a big price to see off Anthony McGill. These two met in the China Open last year when the Chinese player won 6-4 and since then he has gained his tour place and is making full advantage of it. He already has an emphatic win over Michael White to his name this term and had a good win over Stuart Carrington in the last round. McGill has yet to lose a frame this week but he hasn’t really faced a huge amount. I think he’ll get his toughest test here and at 7/4 the Chinese player is decent value to see off McGill given the way he is scoring having made a ton in both his matches so far.
Yuan Sijun kept up his good recent run when he saw off Mark Allen on Wednesday. That is now Ricky Walden, Ding Junhui, Mark King and Mark Allen who Sijun has seen off this season and he looks like he is getting better all the time. Noppon Saengkham had a good start to the campaign with his run in the World Open but he’s had some pretty ordinary results since then apart from this week although he has only beaten a couple of lower ranked players here. Sijun looks like one to watch from the Chinese brigade and at odds against I’ll happily take him here.
John Higgins has looked a shadow of the player we know he can be this week and I think he could meet his match in Martin Gould. Gould looks to be playing some nice stuff this week and we know he will score well if he is given the chances. Nigel Bond got a lot of chances out of Higgins on Wednesday but wasn’t good enough to take advantage of them. Higgins has spoken this week how he is disillusioned with snooker at the minute and if he is not on top of his game here Gould is more than good enough to take care of him.
Tips
WON – Back L.Honghao to beat A.McGill for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with 888sport
Back him here:
Back Y.Sijun to beat N.Saengkham for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
Back him here:
Back M.Gould to beat J.Higgins for a 3/10 stake at 3.30 with William Hill
Back him here:
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