The second match of a top class day of snooker action at The Masters on Tuesday sees the former finalist Barry Hawkins taking on a man making just his second appearance in the tournament in Kyren Wilson. The two meet in the evening session at the Alexandra Palace.
The reward for the winner of this match is a quarter final clash with Mark Williams later in the week so both will see this as a chance to go deep in the competition.
Barry Hawkins
The recent record of Barry Hawkins in this tournament is very good. He has been beaten in the final here two years ago and then last year he made the semi-final before Joe Perry was too good for him but he appears settled in the daunting surroundings and that will bode well for him. As the higher seed he is expected to win.
It has not been a good season for Hawkins so far. He is yet to win more than two matches in any tournament which for someone of his class is blatantly not good enough so he will be looking for a good run here to spark a decent second half of the campaign. He has been playing in the Championship League in the build up to this so he should be sharp.
Kyren Wilson
This is the second visit to Alexandra Palace for Kyren Wilson from a playing perspective. His first ended in defeat to Ding Junhui last year but I won’t hold that against him because this is different to any other tournament in the calendar. Packed crowds and playing the best players from the first round in a one table set up takes a bit of getting used to.
One positive for Wilson when he makes the trip to Muswell Hill is that he is in the middle of a decent season. He hasn’t crowned it with a trophy as yet but he has made the final of the World Open and the English Open where he was beaten by special performances both times. He has also warmed up for this in the Championship League which should bode well.
Head to Head
These two men have met on 14 previous occasions although most of them have come in the Championship League so how much we can read into many of them is open to debate. Hawkins has won 10 times to the four that Wilson has been successful in. The longest format they have played in is the best of seven frames so this will be new territory for their personal battle.
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Betting
I fancy we are going to get a pretty tight encounter here. If you was betting on the season so far you would back Kyren Wilson but if you took experience at this level then Barry Hawkins would be your man.
When matches go close, and I think this will do, then very little either way will decide it so rather than picking a player I’m going to take over 9.5 frames. We usually see close matches in this competition and this has the look of another. I’m also going to take over 1.5 centuries. Only the opening match has not had two centuries in it. This table is playing lovely and while they may not be the highest profile scorers in the game they can both clear the table. The price is wrong given the quality on show.
Tips
WON – Back Over 9.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
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WON – Back Over 1.5 centuries for a 3/10 stake at 2.88 with Paddy Power
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