It is quarter final day at the Northern Ireland Open on Friday with all four matches played across what should be two decent sessions of action inside the behind closed doors setup at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
We have left the best of sevens behind now and move up to the best of nine so there is a feeling that the tournament really gets going from here on in. There is one quarter final which jumps off the card and a support act which will hopefully be decent enough.
Afternoon Session
Judd Trump vs Scott Donaldson
The opening quarter final of the tournament sees the defending champion Judd Trump continuing his title defence when he goes up against a Scott Donaldson who seems to be getting to this stage of events more and more often.
Trump has been hit and miss during this tournament. He has either been perfect or ordinary but you sense now the format increases we’ll see more of the former and less of the latter. To be fair to Donaldson he saw off two quality operators in Mark Allen and Noppon Saengkham on Thursday but you sense he’ll need to be at his best if he is to get anything out of this one. That is reflected in the odds though so I’m happy to leave this one alone.
Ali Carter vs Kurt Maflin
The second quarter final of the afternoon is actually the only one which doesn’t involved a member of the top 16 although if one of Ali Carter or Kurt Maflin goes on to win the tournament that person will be in the elite with just one event left before the cut off for The Masters, so both men have plenty of incentive to do well here.
Both these men have made it through to the quarter final without meeting a member of the top 16 so one of them will be a semi-finalist having not played anyone from the elite bracket. There is a good opportunity for someone here and I think Maflin will be the man to take advantage. There are signs that Carter is coming back to form and we shouldn’t be too surprised by that but I’d like to see him before someone of note before I take full notice. I always think whenever Maflin is scoring big he’s a tough nut to crack. We saw that in the World Championship and I fancy we’ll see it here. At odds against he’s the pick for me in this one.
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Evening Session
Ding Junhui vs Ronnie O’Sullivan
The pick of the quarter final matches is the one which will be played on the main table in the evening session when the UK champion Ding Junhui meets the world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in a true heavyweight contest.
Ding has made it to this quarter final having only lost two frames and he has played the likes of Yuan Sijun and John Higgins in that period so he is clearly in good form. O’Sullivan hasn’t been brilliant but when the challenge has been laid down to him he has stepped up to the mark and delivered the goods and you sense he will do that here. You have to respect how well Ding has played this week but he hasn’t gone behind too much so the question will be what he has to offer should he fall behind. There’s an air of calmness about Ronnie this week. I think he wants the title so I can’t go against him but I’m wary of opposing Ding so I’ll happily watch this one instead of bet on it.
David Grace vs Yan Bingtao
The one quarter final which will be played on the second table on Friday sees the former UK Championship semi-finalist David Grace taking on the Riga Masters champion Yan Bingtao for the first to face either Judd Trump or Scott Donaldson in the semi-final on Saturday.
Given the two escapes he pulled off on Thursday, Grace might own the house let alone be playing with the house money and it will be interesting to see if that brings out a dominant performance from him. Grace was 3-1 down to Michael White in the last 32 and then 3-0 down to Michael Holt in the last 16 but came through a deciding frame on both occasions. I suspect he’ll meet his match here because Bingtao is adept in every department and he won’t bottle it if this one goes close. Yan should really have the class to win this and win it well but I’m a bit reluctant to get involved on a handicap with the way Grace seems to be mounting crazy comebacks at the minute. I’ll sit this one out too.
Tips
Back K.Maflin to beat A.Carter for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with Betfair
Back him here:
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