The first round of the World Grand Prix concludes and the last 16 of the competition begins at the Preston Guild Hall on Wednesday and as a result we are set for yet more star matches taking to the table to either begin or continue their campaigns.
We saw a couple of big shocks on Tuesday when The Masters champion Mark Allen lost from 3-0 up while Judd Trump was emphatically beaten. On Wednesday we will see the likes of Ding Junhui, Mark Selby, Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins all in action on a high quality day of snooker.
Afternoon Session
The main table should see some fantastic snooker and it is the world champion Mark Selby who will get the action underway. He takes on Jimmy Robertson before arguably the match of the first round which is second up on the TV table. That sees the Northern Ireland and German Masters champion Mark Williams taking on Stuart Bingham who will be looking to make up for lost time after his three month enforced break.
The second table should not be too bad a watch for those on that side of the arena in the afternoon either. You will be able to watch Ding Junhui in action when he takes on Mark King and then The Masters finalist Kyren Wilson will be looking to build on that week when he faces the capable but potentially inexperienced at this sort of tournament Mark Joyce.
Evening Session
The last 16 of the tournament begins in the evening session and the main table will see the UK Championship winner Ronnie O’Sullivan taking to the green baize first up. He faces the exciting Chinese talent Yan Bingtao. Bingtao has already beaten him this season to add to the intrigue. John Higgins will then go up against Xiao Guodong to round off the day on the TV table.
The other table has a good schedule on it too. Stephen Maguire, who can move ever closer to the top 16 the deeper he goes this week takes on the Shootout champion Michael Georgiou first up before two very attacking players take to the table when the Champion of Champions winner Shaun Murphy faces Jack Lisowski for a place in the quarter final.
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Betting
In the afternoon session I’m going to take Stuart Bingham in the big match. I feel this is a bigger match and indeed week for him than it is for Mark Williams. Williams is clearly playing well having won three tournaments this season he deserves to be respected but Bingham has been forced to miss three months of the campaign and his ranking has been hit as a result. He’ll want to be in the bigger tournaments that are coming up and if that is to happen he will have to go deep here. This should be a cracking match but with motivation with Bingham I’ll side with him.
Moving into the evening I expect John Higgins to come through against Xiao Guodong and to do so with a fair bit in hand. Guodong did very well to come back from 3-0 down to take Mark Allen out 4-3 on Tuesday but Allen completely fell apart and there is no chance of Higgins doing that. Higgins is unlikely to give his Chinese opponent many chances and if Xiao is as negative with the ones that do come along as he was in the opening round he will struggle to get close to the Scot. Higgins looked very good against Carter on Tuesday and a repeat of that will see him through with a bit to spare.
Tips
WON – Back S.Bingham to beat M.Williams for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
Back J.Higgins (-1.5 frames) to beat X.Guodong for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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