The second day of the European Masters out in Austria sees the first round of the main draw conclude and the entire second round played on another day of three sessions as we finalise the quarter final line up in the first of the new BetVictor Series events.
We saw our first shock on Wednesday when Kyren Wilson was downed and on Thursday the likes of Mark Williams and Luca Brecel will firstly be looking to make it into the second round, and then the quarter final as they play potentially two matches on Thursday.
Morning Session
There was meant to be four matches in the morning session to conclude the first round, but the withdrawal of Yan Bingtao means we are left with three with Mark Williams now the headline attraction in the session. He faces Zhou Yuelong in a tasty looking match on one of the live tables while on the other live table the World Championship semi-final Gary Wilson takes on the competent Luca Brecel in another good looking match.
There is just the one match away from the cameras in the morning session and that comes in the form of two very good players who both have the capabilities to go deep in this competition with the way the draw has worked out for them. Michael White will be looking to follow up a good run in the UK Championship earlier in the season when he faces Zhao Xintong of whom it can only be a matter of time before he makes a significant breakthrough.
Afternoon Session
We are into the second round in the afternoon session with the first four matches taking place. Two matches will be on the main tables with Neil Robertson playing on one of them when he meets Graeme Dott in a battle of the world champions. There is another winner at the Crucible Theatre on the other main table when John Higgins goes up against the Shootout champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
Such is the quality on show in this session that the UK Championship winner Ding Junhui can only get a game on one of the outside tables. He meets the man who dumped out Kyren Wilson on the opening day in Scott Donaldson. There is one other match in the session as The Masters finalist Ali Carter is back in action. He takes on one of our pre-tournament picks in the outright market in Michael Holt.
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Evening Session
We know the line up of half of the evening session with the big match being the one which sees Mark Selby taking on Barry Hawkins in what is surprisingly the only game in the entire last 16 which will feature two members of the top 16 in the rankings. The other match that has been confirmed is the one involving our other tournament outright pick in Marco Fu. He meets Xiao Guodong who had a controversial win over Alfie Burden in the first round.
The other two matches will be finalised after the morning session and we will see Jackson Page taking on the winner of the game between Mark Williams and Zhou Yuelong while the other game of the night pits whoever comes out on top between Gary Wilson and Luca Brecel, up against the man who progresses out of the first round clash between Michael White and Zhao Xintong.
Betting
I’ll go with a one bet over the course of the day in the matches we know are taking place. Although John Higgins saw off Fergal O’Brien in the opening round on Wednesday, there wasn’t much to like about his performance at all and as a result I think he is worth taking on against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, arguably the most improved player on the tour this season and who is clearly in excellent touch after banging in a 146 in his win over Robbie Willians on Wednesday and then following that up with another ton to round out a 5-2 win.
Un-Nooh is a powerful scorer and unless Higgins has his best game with him, I think the Scot could be very vulnerable in this one. It has been a while since we have seen Higgins at his very best and with Un-Nooh much improved in the safety game and now having the patience to wait for his chances a little more I think he’s ready to knock off the Scot.
Tips
WON – Back T.Un-Nooh to beat J.Higgins for a 4/10 stake at 2.63 with Coral
Back him here:
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