The World Grand Prix continues apace on Friday when the last two of the quarter finals take place as well as the opening semi-final of the tournament across the two sessions of play inside the famous Guild Hall in Preston.
We saw Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Maguire make it through to the semi-finals on Thursday and they will do battle on Friday evening while in the afternoon the likes of Mark Selby and Ding Junhui will be looking to join them.
Mark Selby vs Michael White
The quarter final on the TV table in the afternoon session sees the world champion Mark Selby taking on Michael White in what should be a tasty battle over the best of nine frames.
We’ve seen both sides of Selby in this tournament. He was terrible against Jimmy Robertson in the opening round but when brilliant against Neil Robertson in the second round. Michael White has been very strong himself. He has thrashed both Judd Trump and Joe Perry on his way to this quarter final.
White beat Selby earlier in the season on his way to winning the Paul Hunter Classic and that will give him confidence here but I find it hard to oppose Selby on the form he showed on Thursday. This feels like a trappy one so I’ll leave it alone.
Ding Junhui vs Anthony McGill
The quarter final on the other table actually looks like the pick of the two matches when Ding Junhui takes on Anthony McGill over the best of nine for a place in the semi-final on Saturday evening.
Both these men have gone very well in the tournament thus far. Ding has conceded just two frames with McGill conceding the same number and both men have slammed in a century in each of their matches to show they are hitting the ball well.
I think we are set for a really close quarter final here given how both look to be playing and scoring. I get the feeling that any chances that come along here will be gobbled up in one visit which should make for an entertaining match. I like over 7.5 frames here.
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Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Stephen Maguire
The first semi-final of the tournament takes place in the evening session which will be over the best of 11 frames and it is a repeat of the match at the same stage of the UK Championship when Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on Stephen Maguire.
O’Sullivan laid the gauntlet down to the rest of them on Thursday evening when he banged in four centuries and a 50 in a 5-0 win over Xiao Guodong but Maguire looked strong in defeating Shaun Murphy 5-2 which bodes well for him.
Both these men are heavy scorers and listening to Maguire in his post-match interview in the quarter final he is going to get the balls open in this match and go on the attack. That might play into O’Sullivan’s hands but it might be Maguire’s best chance at the same time.
I’m basically on Maguire at 25/1 for this match having backed him outright before the off so I’ll hope he can win but given the tactics he is set to adopt over 1.5 centuries looks a pretty obvious punt given how well both score.
Tips
WON – Back D.Junhui vs A.McGill – Over 7.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
Back it here:
WON – Back R.O’Sullivan vs S.Maguire – Over 1.5 centuries for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Bet365
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