The last quarter final and the opening semi-final forms the menu at the Cazoo Players Championship inside the behind closed doors setup at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes on Friday as we head towards the conclusion of this big event.
We already know that Barry Hawkins and Ronnie O’Sullivan will meet each other in one of the two semi-finals and on Friday afternoon we will find out who it is that Kyren Wilson will come up against in the last four.
Afternoon Session
John Higgins vs Mark Selby
The last of the quarter finals might very well turn out to be the best of them after three pretty one-sided contests thus far, as Masters finalist John Higgins goes up against a Mark Selby who will be eyeing up a third title of the campaign over the weekend.
Higgins played very well in his opening match in this tournament, whitewashing a Jordan Brown who had won the Welsh Open last week. He was ruthless and almost started the match with four centuries but it should be said that as was expected Brown wasn’t at the races as he suffered a comedown after his win in Wales. Selby wasn’t quite as impressive in his win over Mark Williams in the first round but when he had to deliver the goods he did which will be encouraging for him.
I’m already on Higgins outright for this tournament and with Kyren Wilson waiting for the winner in the last four, if the Scot can come out on top in this match there is a good chance that he will make it through to the final, so rather than bet on this match I’m happy to let my outright bet ride in the hope that Higgins does come through and then deliver the goods over the weekend.
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Evening Session
Barry Hawkins vs Ronnie O’Sullivan
The first semi-final of the tournament is a repeat of the 2013 World Championship final as the returning to form Barry Hawkins takes on the reigning world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, who will be hoping to win a first title since then on Sunday evening.
Hawkins has steadily been returning to form over the last few months and in doing so has increased his chances of returning to the Crucible by right later in the campaign. This is his second semi-final in as many months after he made it to this stage of the German Masters. That contest didn’t go to plan as he led Judd Trump 5-1 only to lose 6-5 so he’ll be hoping for a different outcome this time. O’Sullivan is in his second semi-final in as many weeks and given that he demolished Tom Ford in the last four in Wales last week he will be looking for much more of the same here.
I was a little concerned about the energy levels of O’Sullivan going into his quarter final, and he referenced that himself after thrashing Jack Lisowski, but there were clearly no issues in that regard as he produced an elite performance. Hawkins has done well to make it this far but an outrageous fluke turned his match with Zhou Yuelong in his favour and a crazy missed red from Bingham got Hawkins out of jail in that game. I don’t see O’Sullivan being as lax though and while Hawkins can take it to the bigger players, I think this might be a step too far for him.
Tips
Back R.O’Sullivan (-2.5 frames) to beat B.Hawkins for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Coral
Back him here:
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