The second week of the World Championship begins with a plethora of former winners, previous finalists and the reigning champion on show inside the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on what should be a wonderful day of snooker on Saturday.
We have seen stacks of drama so far in the competition and more is expected on Saturday with three more quarter final spots to be decided across the three sessions of play inside the iconic venue that hosts this event.
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Friday Recap
Neil Robertson was our first quarter finalist. He powered past Shaun Murphy who had a golden chance to move within one when he trailed 8-6 but a loose safety cost him dearly and the blow was too hard to recover from as he went down 13-6. Elsewhere Gary Wilson took a 9-7 stranglehold on his match with Mark Selby while Stephen Maguire leads James Cahill by the same score. Dave Gilbert moved 5-3 up on the defending champion Mark Williams in the early stages of their encounter.
In Play Betting
There are three matches for us to have a go at in terms of ones that have already started but I’m not having a bet in any of them as it goes. I was lining up a punt in the Mark Williams vs Dave Gilbert match but the fact that the defending champion has been in hospital in between sessions getting chest pains looked at is enough to see me running for the hills there. I’ve already won a bet with Gary Wilson covering his handicap. I’d have taken him to win if he was a shade bigger but the odds are about right while I need three frames from James Cahill for him to bring in his handicap so I’ll stick with that rather than risk anything else.
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John Higgins vs Stuart Bingham (Saturday 2.30pm, Sunday 2.30pm & Monday 7pm)
Two former champions collide for a place in the quarter final over the next three days where Neil Robertson will be waiting for the winner as John Higgins, beaten finalist in the last two renewals, takes on Stuart Bingham, the winner here in 2015.
Both men played some good snooker in their opening match. Higgins was expected to be given a few scares from Mark Davis but he kept him at a comfortable distance winning 10-7 with three tons and a few other breaks. Bingham was given an almighty scare against Graeme Dott. After leading 8-1, Bingham saw himself taken to a deciding frame which he fell over the line in. He’ll need the first session performance and not the second one.
I think John Higgins will win this match but the odds are about right. I might look to get involved in the outcome as we go along but the bet I like before the off is over 3.5 centuries. They covered this between them in their first round matches with Bingham only really scoring in one session. The scoring should be a lot cleaner here. These two have played one multi-session match which Higgins won 10-7 in the final of the 2016 China Championship. There were five tons in that and I’m expecting good scoring here. Over 3.5 tons looks good to me.
Judd Trump vs Ding Junhui (Saturday 7pm, Sunday 2.30pm & Monday 7pm)
The most mouth-watering match of the second round sees Judd Trump taking on Ding Junhui in a three day affair where the quality should be extremely high as arguably the two best players never to win this title look to go a step closer to putting that right this year.
Trump overcame a very tough opponent in Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the first round despite having nothing like his best snooker with him. He will be hoping that he settles down and lets his top form come out. Nobody really knew what to expect from Ding in the first round but he saw off Anthony McGill quite comfortably and confidently and a repeat of that effort would certainly give him a very good chance of progressing through this match at the very least.
I was tempted by some of the breaks markets but the prices are on the skinny side and in truth the lines are quite tight but this isn’t a match that as snooker fans we need a bet on. We can comfortably sit and watch this one without but watch it is what I’ll do in case a punt develops over the three days.
Tips
Back J.Higgins vs S.Bingham – Over 3.5 centuries for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Boylesports
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