It is the penultimate day in the qualifying tournament for the International Championship in Sheffield on Sunday with another set of players looking for the six frames they need to confirm their place in the main draw of one of the biggest events of the season.
We have seen some competitive action in the first two days of this competition and some stuff that hasn’t been quite so close. All eyes will be on Ponds Forge to see what is in store over the three sessions on Sunday.
Morning Session
The day begins with four matches in the morning session. Li Hang is a player who will be looking to book his place in a tournament which is being held in his own country but he will have to get past Elliot Slessor in order to do that. That will be on one of the streamed tables while the other one will see Ricky Walden taking on Chen Zifan. On the outside tables we have Anthony Hamilton looking to get to the main draw when he faces David Grace while Mark Joyce’s hurdle to a spot on the flight to China is Luo Honghao.
Afternoon Session
There are five matches in the afternoon session on Sunday with the biggest of them being the clash between the two men who made big impressions at the Crucible last season when Dave Gilbert takes on James Cahill in the match of the day. That is on one of the main tables and the other big story from Sheffield, Gary Wilson, will be on the other when he meets the Chinese youngster Lei Peifan. Three matches on the outside tables see Michael Georgiou meeting Chang Bingyu, Zhou Yuelong taking on Mei Xiwen and Mark King facing Adam Stefanow.
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Evening Session
We are back down to four matches for the evening session when Mark Williams is the headline attraction. He goes up against John Astley in a match which will be streamed live while Joe Perry faces the improving Joe O’Connor on the other live table. Michael Holt is in action on the outside tables. He has a match against Hammad Miah with Ben Woollaston going up against Thor Chuan Leong in the other game.
Betting
This isn’t the most appealing card to me I have to admit so as such I’m going to go with just the one bet which comes up in the evening session. It is in the streamed match between Joe Perry and Joe O’Connor where I believe the lesser ranked player could well stay close to Perry, if not actually go on and beat him.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been impressed with O’Connor in 2019 and if anything he has every chance of getting even better. He showed a good temperament to come past Peter Ebdon in Riga Masters qualifying last week and whether he wins this or not I think he can win four frames. Perry is a class act but he didn’t look to be firing on all cylinders in his Riga qualifier. That is understandable at this stage of the season. I fancy this will be competitive so O’Connor with the 2.5 frame start will do me.
Tips
WON – Back J.O’Connor (+2.5 frames) to beat J.Perry for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with BetVictor
Back him here:
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