The final round of qualifying for the World Championship begins on Tuesday with all 16 matches starting over the course of the two sessions before they finish on Wednesday. World Snooker are showcasing all of them in their special programmes on their Facebook and YouTube channels so we can keep up to date with all the action.
This is the round where the pressure really cranks up. The players who are expected to get to the Crucible are under pressure to complete the job while those who were not meant to qualify are just a win away from doing so. Drama, tension and excitement are guaranteed.
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Monday Recap
It was an up and down day for us on Monday with winning bets coming in the form of Liang Wenbo, Michael Holt and John Astley but unfortunately Noppon Saengkham and Ben Woollaston could not get the job done despite being in touch at various times.
Elsewhere there were higher profile exits for Martin Gould and Tom Ford while Li Hang and Zhou Yuelong were also upset by lower ranked opponents. Jack Lisowski and Stephen Maguire cruised through as did Ryan Day.
Morning Session
All of the matches will be covered on the World Snooker production but the two main tables will be occupied by Graeme Dott and Joe Perry in this first session. Dott will qualify for the Crucible if he can see off Mike Dunn while Perry needs to see off Mark Davis if he is going to make it into the main stages.
There are six matches on the outside tables with Stuart Carrington facing Zhang Anda, Michael Holt takes on Robert Milkins, Matthew Stevens meets Ken Doherty, Andrew Higginson faces Ricky Walden with the other two matches seeing Tian Pengfei facing Chris Wakelin and Alfie Burden playing Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
Afternoon Session
As with the earlier session all of these matches will be covered with the two live tables being played on by the two leading seeds Ryan Day and Stephen Maguire. Day faces a bit of a cliffhanger against Peter Ebdon while Maguire faces off with the Iranian player Hossein Vafaei in a match which could contain lots of aggressive snooker.
Elsewhere we have Daniel Wells taking on Liam Highfield, Adam Duffy bids to complete the dream qualification for Sheffield when he meets Xiao Guodong while Rory McLeod takes on Lu Haotian. Liang Wenbo will be a danger for any seeded player at the Crucible but before he gets there he needs to defeat Jamie Jones while Jack Lisowski will look to cap off a fine season when he battles with Alan McManus. The other match sees Jimmy Robertson taking on Michael White.
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Betting
I’m already on Graeme Dott and Jamie Jones having backed them outright before the qualifying campaign began but there are a series of bets that I do like in this final round of the competition.
In the morning session I like the look of Zhang Anda and Robert Milkins at odds against. Zhang banged in three tons in getting rid of Martin Gould in the previous round and if he can score like that I expect him to have too much for Stuart Carrington. Carrington came past Ben Woollaston in what was a scrappy match but I fancy he is going to need to up his game to win this. Zhang is cueing well this week having banged in four tons and a 90 and if he keeps that up he has every chance of coming through.
Milkins goes up against a Michael Holt who has laboured his way through the draw so far which is less than ideal given that the pressure cranks up significantly from here on in. There generally isn’t much between these two but the fact Milkins has used up less emotional energy in getting to this stage gives him the edge for me.
In the later session I like Daniel Wells to see off Liam Highfield. Wells scored really well in beating Zhou Yuelong on Monday and if he can continue that then I fancy him to make it through. Highfield saw off Tom Ford in the previous round but in truth Ford didn’t play his best stuff and I fancy Highfield will need to up his game. That could happen of course but the value is definitely with the Welshman for me.
Speaking of Welshmen, one who I think might not make it through is Michael White. He has struggled so far and now comes up against a Jimmy Robertson who seems to be enjoying himself this week. Robertson beat White in Northern Ireland earlier in the season and looks decent enough value to dispose of him again here. The Englishman has nailed three tons and nine other breaks over 50 and if he keeps that scoring power up he can come through.
Talking of scoring power, Rory McLeod scored like a dream in his win over Li Hang in the previous round and he has to be good value to see off the Chinese youngster Lu Haotian who hasn’t been under the pressure this set of matches provide very often. To be fair to Haotian he has done well to even be here having trailed Martin O’Donnell 9-5 only to reel off five straight frames to win 10-9. McLeod banged in a ton, a 99 and six other breaks over 50 against Hang. If this goes close I fancy he’ll handle the pressure better than the youngster so I’ll take McLeod at a massive price.
Tips
Back Z.Anda to beat S.Carrington for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back R.Milkins to beat M.Holt for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Coral
Back him here:
Back D.Wells to beat L.Highfield for a 3/10 stake at 2.88 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
WON – Back J.Robertson to beat M.White for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfred
Back R.McLeod to beat L.Haotian for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with Betfred
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