We have reached the quarter final stage of the World Open which means that from here on in the entirety of the remainder of the event will be played out on the TV tables. We have four matches on Friday with spots in the semi-finals up for grabs.
This is also the last day of the best of nine matches and with another £12,500 guaranteed for the four winners there is plenty to play for. We’ve got a good array of star names and underrated players on show.
Morning Session
Kyren Wilson vs Zhou Yuelong
Two men who had decent wins in the previous round of the tournament meet in the quarter final which is likely to get most of the attention s Kyren Wilson takes on the last remaining Chinese player in the event in Zhou Yuelong.
Wilson powered past Jack Lisowski in the previous round while Yuelong took care of Ali Carter to give you the thought that this could be a close match with a spot in a major semi-final up for grabs. I would expect Wilson to win this one but I wouldn’t be completely surprised if Yuelong continues his good week. I can’t say I’m massively interested in betting on this one.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Dave Gilbert
The other quarter final in the morning session sees our outright bet Thepchaiya Un-Nooh looking for a place in the semi-final of the tournament when he goes up against a Dave Gilbert who is eyeing up another last four spot having made that stage of the English Open last time out.
Both these men have been very impressive so far this week. They have scored well and generally come through the draw without too much opposition so you sense whoever starts the best will come out on top here. I’m hoping that Un-Nooh comes out on top here and gets my outright bet to within a win of the place money being secured. This could go either way though so I’ll allow that to be my interest here.
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Afternoon Session
Stuart Bingham vs John Higgins
The pick of the quarter finals is likely to be the one getting the most attention and hype which sees two former world champions meeting when Stuart Bingham takes on John Higgins in a battle of two men who will have their eye firmly on the title this weekend.
Bingham was in amazing form on Thursday, winning his match against Mark Selby no less and doing so from 2-0 down and winning the last five frames with four tons and a 90 break. I don’t care who you are you ain’t beating that sort of form. To be fair to Higgins, having laboured past Lu Ning in an earlier match he has seen off Mark Davis and Graeme Dott with the minimum of fuss.
It is hard to ignore that performance of Bingham on Thursday. While it would be silly to expect him to get to those heights again, it does highlight how well he is hitting the cue ball and with that in mind I’m going to take him here at odds against. Higgins will be a tough nut to crack but so was Selby and Bingham did that. The Englishman looks the value here.
Judd Trump vs Michael Holt
The other quarter final sees the world champion Judd Trump going up against Michael Holt, who doesn’t have the chance to make it into the semi-finals of a big competition like this too often, so he’ll be sure to be looking to maximise his opportunity here.
Trump hasn’t been his vintage best and has had to overcome a couple of deciding frames to make it through to this stage but you would think that he is too good not to show his best form at some point this week. Holt has Barry Hawkins and Ding Junhui among his victims this week which should keep Trump honest. I’m expecting the world champion to progress here but Holt merits a bit of respect so I’ll leave this one alone.
Tips
Back S.Bingham to beat J.Higgins for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfred
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