It is the last 16 day in the China Open on Thursday and as the prize money increases at a decent rate the pressure intensifies so we should be set for a dramatic couple of sessions of action out in Beijing, as the penultimate tournament of the season heads to the business end.
The first three days of this event have been carnage for the big names, to the extent that just four of the top 16 in the world rankings remain in the tournament. Given the prizes on offer here, the next few days could be massive for many.
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Morning Session
Luca Brecel will be the biggest name on one of the televised tables when he goes up against Hossein Vafaei The other televised table will see the form horse and overwhelming favourite for the competition now, Neil Robertson, when he takes on Lu Ning.
There will only be two matches on the outside tables on the final day that they get any use. Liang Wenbo had to come from two down with three to play in his second round match with Craig Steadman but having successfully done so, his reward is a match in the outer part of the hall against Sam Craigie, while Lyu Haotian will be on show on the other one. He looks for a place in the quarter final of his home Open when he meets Ben Woollaston.
Afternoon Session
The maximum man Stuart Bingham is the top player in the second session of play on Thursday. He will be involved in what is something of a clash of styles when he goes up against Rod Lawler while on the other main table Jack Lisowski will look to continue his good campaign when he goes up against the Chinese player Li Hang who will be eyeing up a title in his home country.
Scottish players will be the centre of attention for those who have access to the outside tables as two meet on one of them when good friends and practice partners Alan McManus and Anthony McGill do battle for a quarter final spot. The other match sees the third Scot, Scott Donaldson taking on Ricky Walden in what should be a competitive match up.
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Betting
A couple of punts take my fancy across the series of action on Thursday with the first of them coming in the form of Hossein Vafaei, who looks a little overpriced to beat the erratic and inconsistent Luca Brecel. This hasn’t been a good week for the top 16 players thus far with only four of them remaining and it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world if Vafaei does damage to one of those who are still left in. The Iranian has had a good tournament and doesn’t have a huge amount to lose so he can attempt to knock off a decent scalp to make another quarter final.
Scott Donaldson and Ricky Walden went to a deciding frame in German Masters qualifying earlier in the season and the way both have played in this tournament I fancy there could be a fair amount of mileage in their contest here too. Walden took care of Ken Doherty in fine fashion on Wednesday, triumphing 6-1 against the former world champion while Donaldson has seen off Joe Perry and Dave Gilbert so far this week which is a decent benchmark. With that in mind, the 11/10 on over 9.5 frames, which means 6-4 either way will be enough for us to collect, looks well worth taking, especially when the winner knows the reward is a quarter final with Lu Haotian or Ben Woollaston, offering up a golden chance of a major semi-final spot.
Tips
Back H.Vafaei to beat L.Brecel for a 4/10 stake at 2.38 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back S.Donaldson vs R.Walden – Over 9.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
Back it here:
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