Things are getting serious at the World Grand Prix and that will continue on Friday when the opening Coral Series event of the campaign continues with the final two quarter finals and the first semi-final taking place across the two sessions at the Cheltenham Racecourse.
We lost the world champion Judd Trump and the crowd favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan on Thursday so all eyes will be on the baize to see if the shocks continue or whether a bit of normality is restored. The last two quarter finals make up the afternoon session with the first semi in the evening.
Afternoon Session
Neil Robertson vs Joe Perry
The quarter final on the main table sees the new tournament favourite Neil Robertson in action as he takes on his great mate Joe Perry, for whom this is a pretty big match as they both bid for another semi-final place.
Perry began the week ranked 13 on the one-year list and so a good couple of days from here on in would not only solidify his appearance in Southport for the Players Championship, but would give him every chance of making it to the Tour Championship. Robertson has no such worries in those regards so he can just focus on winning a snooker match, something he is a warm order to do, and with his form it is hard to argue with that. These two are good friends though which puts me off backing the Aussie at a short price even though I expect him to win.
Kyren Wilson vs John Higgins
On paper at least, it looks like the pick of the World Grand Prix quarter finals is the one on table two in this session as Kyren Wilson takes on John Higgins in a repeat of what was a semi-final at the World Championship two seasons ago.
Wilson had an excellent win over Judd Trump on Thursday, a victory in which he eventually held his nerve after failing to do so. That showed what a win over the world champion meant to him, but it also highlighted that he hasn’t had a great season and is finding winning difficult at the minute. Higgins is having no such problem in that regard. He isn’t at his very best but he’s going along decently enough.
I’m not convinced Wilson is scoring well enough to win this match, and if he doesn’t score I don’t see how he can win because he isn’t going to get a whole lot of joy out of Higgins in the tactical department. That makes me think that the 17/20 on Higgins to win this match is a price that is worth taking.
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Evening Session
Graeme Dott vs Tom Ford
The opening semi-final of the World Grand Prix sees the former world champion Graeme Dott taking on a man who has undoubtedly underachieved in his career so far in Tom Ford, with the latter looking for a place in a first major final of his career.
Ford has made the Paul Hunter Classic final in the past, which although carried full ranking points could hardly be called a major with a final being the best of seven. This semi-final alone is the best of 11. I think he might have to wait to make that final though because Graeme Dott has been in good form for a while now and looks likely to come through here.
I highlighted how well Dott was playing in Germany last week and his win over Ronnie O’Sullivan on Thursday only further emphasised that. It has taken Judd Trump or Neil Robertson to beat Dott in the last three tournaments and Ford is neither of those. Ford has come through the draw nicely enough this week but he hasn’t made a century break and I think that tells us he isn’t quite on top of his game. I think he’ll need to be there to win this match and when you factor in this is his first match on table one, there is too much to ignore. I’ll take Dott to win with a bit in hand.
Tips
Back J.Higgins to beat K.Wilson for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with Betfair
WON – Back G.Dott (-1.5 frames) to beat T.Ford for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
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