We have reached the fourth day of action in the Northern Ireland Open, which means that we are set for two rounds of matches on the one day inside the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, as the second Home Nations event heads towards the business end of the competition.
It also means that we have got to the last day of the best of seven matches. We go into the day with 32 players remaining including the majority of the huge names who entered the tournament so we’re set for a great day. You’ll know by now that time restrictions can deny us the chance to preview the last 16 in the evening session but we’ll get stuck into the last 32 here.
Morning Session
Eight matches make up the morning session which means that both the main tables will be occupied by class acts. One of them will see the former World Championship finalist Barry Hawkins taking on Fergal O’Brien but it might be that the pick of them sees the German Masters winner Kyren Wilson, going up against a Chinese player who should have done more than he has for the talent available to him in Tian Pengfei.
The outside tables are loaded up in the morning session as well with the match between Ali Carter and Yan Bingtao without a doubt the pick of them. That probably deserves a bigger stage than it has. Two veterans meet on another table when Andrew Higginson faces Anthony Hamilton while Thepchaiya Un-Nooh meets the former world champion Ken Doherty. Stephen Maguire will look to make progress against Harvey Chandler with the other two matches in the session seeing Mark Joyce facing Robbie Williams and Alexander Ursenbacher facing off with Stuart Bingham.
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Afternoon Session
Six matches open up the afternoon session with the world champion and man looking to defend the title here in Judd Trump going up against the man whose reputation is rising by the match in Si Jiahui. That is on the main table while on the streamed offering we have a competitive looking match between the home star Mark Allen and Scott Donaldson who has made the semi-finals of a Home Nations event in the past.
There are four matches on the outside tables in the afternoon session and some big players on them. John Higgins is the biggest of them and he’ll take on Billy Joe Castle while another former world champion Shaun Murphy is in action. He takes on Ricky Walden with Yuan Sijun playing Ben Woollaston and Joe Perry taking on Graeme Dott in what looks like a really competitive affair.
As ever two matches are saved for second games on the main table and after Judd Trump is done on the TV table, Ronnie O’Sullivan will be on it when he goes up against Stuart Carrington while on the streamed table Mark Selby will look to pick up win number 10 in the quest for £1 million when he faces a Luca Brecel who was in scintillating form in his win over Matt Selt on Wednesday.
Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets over the course of the day and they both come in the morning as it happens. On the streamed table Tian Pengfei takes on Kyren Wilson and I’m happy to take the Chinese player here. He has made something daft like nine half century breaks in the eight frames he has won this week so that is decent scoring. Wilson has taken on a couple of tough opponents in terms of their style but he hasn’t looked great and in truth he hasn’t looked fantastic for a while. I’ve heard him mention a few times that he is trying new things with his cue action in striving for perfection and I’m not sure it is working. I’ve been waiting for the right time to oppose Wilson and this is the time.
The other bet I like is for Mark Joyce to see off Robbie Williams. It wasn’t the best performance ever from Joyce in his over Jackson Page on Wednesday but given how late he finished against Neil Robertson on Tuesday night plus the magnitude of that victory and not having long to get over it, I’m going to give him credit for seeing off the youngster, regardless of how he plays. Williams has done pretty well to make it this far but I think the ceiling is higher for Joyce this week. You don’t make tons in two of the last three frames to see off the man who won a huge event two days prior if you’re not hitting well and confident under pressure. That is the difference for me here.
Tips
Back T.Pengfei to beat K.Wilson for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with Betfred
Back M.Joyce to beat R.Williams for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Coral
Back him here:
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