The penultimate day of qualifying for the China Championship takes place on Saturday with another host of matches full of players who will be looking for the one win which will book their spot in the main draw next month.
We’ve seen a few big names already this week and there are a number of them on show on Saturday too. Things look to be pretty competitive so far and that may well be a trend that continues on the third day of the event.
Morning Session
Graeme Dott is the big name on show in the first session on Saturday. He will be on one of the main tables when he takes on the extremely talented youngster Jackson Page for a spot in the main draw while over on the other streamed table we will get to see Noppon Saengkham. He will take on the former world finalist Nigel Bond over the best-of-nine frames for a place out in China.
Three other matches will take place in this session with Li Hang facing his countryman Bai Langning for a place in their home tournament. Sunni Akani meets Simon Lichtenberg in one of the other two games while Robbie Williams goes up against Fraser Patrick to conclude the first of the three sessions on the day.
Afternoon Session
Two of the bigger names in the game take to the baize in the second session of the day with Shaun Murphy looking to follow up his run to the final of the International Championship last week when he takes on Fan Zhengyi on one of the main tables. The other table with the cameras rolling will see Luca Brecel going up against Zhang Anda in what could be a tricky encounter for the Belgian if he isn’t careful.
There are three other matches on show in this second session as well. Two of the three have Chinese players in them as Yuan Sijun faces Craig Steadman for a place in his home tournament while Zhang Jiankang faces a tricky assignment against Ben Woollaston if he is to compete on home soil. The other match in the session could be the most competitive of the lot as Fergal O’Brien takes on the Welsh player Kishan Hirani.
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Evening Session
Plenty more big players are on show in the final session of the day with the former world champion Neil Robertson the main man in action. He will be on one of the streamed tables and faces a competitive challenge from Gerard Greene while over on the other table Stephen Maguire will look to make it through to the main event when he meets Ian Burns in their qualifying round.
Indian Open champion Matthew Selt is in action on one of the outside tables. He faces Kacper Filipiak while two other ranking event winners are also on show out in the external part of the arena when Matthew Stevens meets Jamie O’Neill and Ricky Walden takes on the Chinese player Xu Si who will be aiming for an appearance in a tournament in his home nation.
Betting
I like one bet over the course of the day on Saturday and that comes in the form of Yuan Sijun, who I’m expecting to be too good for Craig Steadman. I say it a lot but I prefer the scorers in these qualifying matches. There isn’t the intense pressure that occurs in the main draw stuff and so generally the better scorers come out on top a lot more here.
Sijun lost in a deciding frame to Shaun Murphy in the International Championship last week but despite losing 6-5 he made seven 50s and a ton. That is top scoring no matter who you are and while Steadman is a steady player he doesn’t have that level of scoring in him so if Sijun can repeat his feat of last week he should be able to power clear of his opponent and cover a 1.5 frame handicap when this one is settled.
Tips
Back Y.Sijun (-1.5 frames) to beat C.Steadman for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
Back him here:
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