The final two matches of the second round of the World Championship get underway inside the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Sunday on the first day of the tournament where no match draws to a close.
The two games that start out on Sunday play the morning and the evening sessions while the two games carried over from Saturday’s play have their second session in the afternoon and with quarter final spots on the line we should get some tasty action.
Bet on the snooker with sponsors Betfred. New customers can get £30 in free bets + 30 FREE SPINS when you bet £10. Ideal for the Sheffield extravaganza! Click the image above to take up this promotion. 18+ T&Cs apply
Saturday Recap
What a dramatic day it was inside the Crucible Theatre on Saturday. It started with Gary Wilson getting the better of the former champion Mark Selby 13-10 before Stephen Maguire ended the run of the amateur James Cahill but not before the Blackpool man took the match to a deciding frame. We then lost the defending champion Mark Williams in the evening session when Dave Gilbert beat him 13-9. Two matches started on Saturday. John Higgins came from 4-1 down to level with Stuart Bingham while Judd Trump seized an early 5-3 lead over Ding Junhui.
In Play Betting
I’m a little surprised that John Higgins has drifted to 20/23 for his match with Stuart Bingham now. If anything you would fancy that the longer this match goes the more the gritty determined nous of Higgins will come to the fore and if this gets tight and edgy we only need to look back to the last round to see Bingham could fall in something of a heap. Bingham only had one 50 break in the first session so that now is 18 frames of filth he has offered up in succession. Higgins was there for the taking in the first session, especially at 4-1 but Bingham didn’t take his chance. I’m not convinced he will get another. I expect Higgins to win from here.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Barry Hawkins vs Kyren Wilson (Sunday 10am, Sunday 7pm & Monday 1pm)
The eighth and ninth seeds meet for a place in the quarter final when the two men who were beaten in the semi-finals last year meet as Barry Hawkins takes on Kyren Wilson for the right to face Dave Gilbert in the last eight.
There isn’t a whole lot between these two in the world rankings and I’m not convinced there is a lot between them on the form book either. Both played pretty well in the first round without ever being at their best but both have shown they like it here and I expect them to build into the tournament from here on in.
This looks the closest of the matches in this round of the competition and so the natural bet is to take over 22.5 frames. That means we need this one to end 13-10 either way or closer and you’ve got to think this has going deep into Monday afternoon’s session written all over it. Both these men can play under pressure which means neither is likely to pull away from the other. I’ll take the over on the frames with that in mind.
Ali Carter vs Zhou Yuelong (Sunday 10am, Sunday 7pm & Monday 1pm)
The last of the second round matches to get underway over on Table 2 sees the twice former finalist Ali Carter taking on Zhou Yuelong for the right to take on Gary Wilson in the quarter final of the competition so already there is a major chance for the winner here.
Carter has all the experience in the world while Zhou has more of the flair, although Carter has already taken care of a flair player in the opening round in Jack Lisowski so he knows what to expect here I would imagine. The one thing we don’t know about Zhou is whether he played wonderfully well in that opening round or whether Mark Allen was that bad in that match that anyone would have won on that occasion.
This doesn’t feel like a match I want to bet on in truth, not at the outset of the contest at the very least, so I’m going to take a watching brief of the first session and see if anything develops as the match wears on. Just the two bets for me for Sunday to begin with.
Tips
WON – Back J.Higgins to beat S.Bingham for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with Coral
Back him here:
WON – Back B.Hawkins vs K.Wilson – Over 22.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
