The first round of the German Masters concludes on Thursday with the second round of the tournament also beginning on the busiest day of the event at the Tempodrom out in Berlin.
We saw shocks and surprises on the first day of action and those yet to play, and the players who won on Wednesday, will be looking to avoid falling foul of the same thing when they take to the table on Thursday.
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Morning Session
We have three matches in the morning session with the world number one Mark Selby being the man up on the TV table in this set of matches. He faces the former ranking event winner Ricky Walden for a place in the second round. The other two games dotted around the venue sees Ryan Day taking on Xiao Guodong and Dave Gilbert facing Ben Woollaston so there is quality everywhere you look first up.
Afternoon Session
The first round finishes in the afternoon when John Higgins gets to occupy the main table. He takes on the Chinese player Yuan Sijun in a match which has banana skin stamped all over it. Ding Junhui is also in action in this session when he meets Fergal O’Brien while Neil Robertson will be out in the venue somewhere when he takes on the dangerous Kurt Maflin. Stuart Bingham meets European Masters winner Jimmy Robertson while Jack Lisowski is the other leading light on show in this session. He should come through against Duane Jones.
Evening Session
Four tasty matches begin the second round of the tournament in this session when Judd Trump occupies the main table. He plays the talented Chinese star Yan Bingtao while the world champion and title defender here Mark Williams meets good friend Joe Perry. Practice partners collide when Peter Ebdon and Kyren Wilson do battle while Robert Milkins and Stephen Maguire also face off against each other.
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Betting
I’ll go with a couple of outsiders across the card on Thursday with Yuan Sijun being the first of them. John Higgins’ sloppy form is well known so Sijun has a genuine chance against him. Many are calling Sijun the best of the new Chinese brigade. I’m not sure I agree with that but he certainly has the class to earn a decent living on the tour. Sijun has wins over Kyren Wilson, Mark Allen and Ding Junhui on his CV this season and it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world if Higgins is the latest scalp on it. Even when Higgins played alright at The Masters he lost so nothing is going right for him. The Chinese player is the value.
There is also value in Joe Perry to end Mark Williams’ title defence too. Perry may well feel he has a free shot at this tournament now having come from 4-1 down to beat Sam Baird 5-4 on Wednesday afternoon. I think Williams will have to up his game to win this. He beat Zhou Yuelong on Wednesday but he gave the Chinese ace far too many chances and Perry might well make him pay if he gets similar goes. Williams’ season has been a write off to this stage anyway. Perry might nail another hammer into it.
Tips
WON – Back Y.Sijun to beat J.Higgins for a 3/10 stake at 3.40 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back J.Perry to beat M.Williams for a 4/10 stake at 2.50 with Coral
Back him here:
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