The Scottish Open has reached the quarter final stage, and as with all Home Nations events the format increases to the best of nine frames and the four matches are played in the one day over the course of the regular two sessions.
It hasn’t always been the case, but it has been one of the trends of the Home Nations events this season that the big names have made it to the latter stages, and that is certainly the case heading into the last eight here.
Afternoon Session
Mark Allen vs Scott Donaldson
The opening quarter final of the competition gives the defending champion Mark Allen a chance to move to within two wins of a successful title defence when he takes on a Scott Donaldson who has been pretty under the radar this week.
The Northern Irishman has a wonderful record against his Scottish opponent and I would expect him to win this one too, but I never like taking players on in their home tournament because they are clearly motivated to get the job done, and to be fair to Donaldson, he has played very well this week. I’m pretty happy to leave this opening match of the lot alone I have to say.
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Mark Selby
The pick of the quarter finals of the tournament is without a doubt the second one in the afternoon session when two of the best there has ever been meet for a semi-final spot as Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on Mark Selby in what should be a great contest.
It will be interesting to see how O’Sullivan plays in this match. He has claimed all season that he has no intention of grinding matches out and he has made it that clear that surely that is what Selby will force him to do. Selby has been bubbling under the water this week but you get the feeling his game is in good order and I expect him to really lay it down to the Northern Ireland finalist from earlier in the season. I am tempted to back Selby here but I haven’t lost a bet in this tournament yet this week so I don’t need to push the boat out. I can just enjoy this one without a bet.
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Evening Session
Dave Gilbert vs Judd Trump
The quarter final on the main table on Friday evening sees the world champion Judd Trump looking to make it into a second successive Home Nations semi-final when he goes up against a man who has already been to the last four in the English Open this season in Dave Gilbert.
Gilbert is a much improved player these days but Trump has won the last five meetings between the two and in that time Gilbert has only won six frames which is not ideal. I’m not convinced that Trump is on top form this week but Gilbert has never really given me the impression that he believes he can beat the really top players on the big stage. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gilbert is more competitive than he has been against Trump recently, but again I’m in no rush at all to get involved in him.
Jack Lisowski vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
There is always one match on the second table in the quarter finals of these events and this time it should be a really good watch because the exciting left-handed pair of Jack Lisowski and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh meet for a spot in the last four on Saturday.
There isn’t going to be a huge amount of safety played in this match I think it is fair to say. Both men like to get the balls open and score and that is exactly what both have done so far this week. I suspect the draw has opened up a little for Lisowski. His only tough clash on paper was against John Higgins in the previous round but he hasn’t been anything like his best for a while. In contrast, Un-Nooh has beaten Marco Fu and Neil Robertson in the last two rounds, winning six frames in a row so he is clearly in good form.
I see this as a 50:50 match and if anything I would have Un-Nooh the favourite both on what we’ve seen this week and indeed what we have seen for much of the season. The Thai has already made a ranking final this term in the World Open and he won the Haining Open as well. I think he can come through here.
Tips
Back T.Un-Nooh to beat J.Lisowski for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
Back him here:
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