The first round of the Players Championship concludes inside the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes on Wednesday and the quarter finals get underway on what looks like being another wonderful day of snooker in the new temporary home of the sport.
We saw some excellent snooker on Tuesday, particularly in the evening session when Ronnie O’Sullivan and Barry Hawkins impressed in coming through. The latter is part of a decent card that is on show on Wednesday.
Afternoon Session
Jordan Brown vs John Higgins
The match on the main table on Wednesday afternoon is a surprise choice as the newly crowned Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown takes on our outright bet for this tournament in the legend John Higgins, for the right to compete in the quarter final on Friday afternoon.
Brown will be riding the crest of a wave going into this tournament. I would imagine this will be a complete bonus for him given that he wasn’t in the field until he did so well last week but when a player records an emotional win for the first time it can take a lot out of them and the tank can be quite empty, especially when you consider he played five deciding frames which will have used up a lot of mental reserves. Higgins went out early last week but Ali Carter played well to beat him and the Scot is likely to improve here just because of the longer format. I thought he’d go well at the start and I’m not opposing him now but he’s plenty short enough here.
Mark Selby vs Mark Williams
The match that I thought would be on the main table on Wednesday afternoon is actually on table two as Mark Selby goes up against the Welsh Open semi-finalist Mark Williams in what was one of the standout first round ties.
Selby has shown his class throughout the season, winning the European Masters and Scottish Open in fine fashion but he was one of the Jordan Brown victims last week. Williams rode his luck a little bit last week but made it through to the semi-final where he had no answer to Ronnie O’Sullivan but there is no need to hold that against him. You get the feeling Williams might just be coming into a bit of form so I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins this one but you can’t really take Selby on in this format so I’m happy to sit this one out.
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Evening Session
Stuart Bingham vs Barry Hawkins
The first quarter final takes place as the only match in the evening session as Stuart Bingham goes up against Barry Hawkins in a match which won’t just have big implications in this tournament but also in the qualifying picture for the World Championship.
Hawkins cemented his place in the top 16 in the provisional rankings with his win over Zhou Yuelong on Tuesday evening and although Bingham bettered his position with victory over Judd Trump on Monday night, he is still well outside the elite band and needs to keep on winning if he is to avoid the qualifying competition for Sheffield. Clearly this is a big match for both men so that is likely to add to the pressure that both are under which could make for some compelling snooker.
Bingham beat Trump on Monday and that is a good win which can’t be taken away from him but he hasn’t convinced me for a while. Even when he made the semis of The Masters there was nothing convincing about it. Hawkins isn’t getting spoken about in terms of form but he has played pretty well this season without that standout run to his name. Importantly he looks to have put that collapse in the German Masters behind him and looks to be playing much better snooker than the man he is facing here. I’ll go with Hawkins in this one.
Tips
WON – Back B.Hawkins to beat S.Bingham for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
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