The opening night of the World Grand Prix sees four matches taking place on the two tables at the Cheltenham Racecourse as the first event of the 2020 Coral Series gets up and running in style at the Gloucestershire venue.
It might be the first evening of the tournament but the big names are out to play right from the off, with two of the biggest of them all on show as Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby look to book their spots in the last 16.
Main Table
We begin with arguably the best match of the first round on the main table when the legendary Ronnie O’Sullivan takes to the stage to take on a man playing some of the best snooker of his life at the minute in the form of the World Championship and The Masters semi-finalist Dave Gilbert and then once they are done it will be the turn of Mark Selby to begin his quest for another title. He has the more comfortable looking challenge of Xiao Guodong although that could easily be a banana skin as well.
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Table Two
The action on Table Two should be decent enough on Monday evening as well where we have some aggressive players and high scorers on show. The opening match sees two very attacking players battling it out when Stephen Maguire takes on Tom Ford before the second game sees Zhou Yuelong facing Gary Wilson in what will be a repeat of the European Masters semi-final last month, which Yuelong won but then famously got whitewashed by Neil Robertson in the final.
Betting
There hasn’t been a huge amount that has been convincing about Mark Selby since he won the Scottish Open. He failed to qualify for the German Masters last week, lost in the opening round of The Masters and then in the last 16 of the European Masters where he fell 4-0 down to Barry Hawkins before threatening a trademark comeback. In all that time, and even when he was winning in Glasgow, he has said he isn’t completely comfortable with his game.
Xiao Guodong is one of those players who should do better than he does but generally he has a good go against the better players. He already has a win over Jack Lisowski this season which is no bad thing, and I think he’ll take it to Selby here and take advantage if Selby isn’t at his best and coughs up chances. The Chinese player doesn’t have a lot to lose here and the freedom that he can play with can see him go well. Guodong was a semi-finalist here last year so he’ll have good memories of this venue and I think he can take Selby to a decider if not beat him.
Tips
WON – Back X.Guodong (+1.5 frames) to beat M.Selby for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Betfair
Back him here:
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