The Championship League Snooker tournament continues on Friday when another eight players get their new season underway inside the Morningside Arena in Leicester, each looking for one of the two spots in the next stage of the competition.
We have a couple of Championship League stalwarts on show on Friday with Stuart Bingham and Ryan Day getting their campaigns up and running and it will be interesting to see if they justify favouritism or not.
Day 10 Recap
The two favourites both made it through on Thursday without too many scares. On the main table the defending champion Kyren Wilson picked up where he left off in the two competitions last season when he didn’t just win his group on the main table but won all three matches in it. Graeme Dott was the top seed away from the TV spotlight and he came through his group easily enough as well. He drew his final match but he was already through by that stage anyway.
We ran out of time for a preview of the action on Thursday but that means we have the Wednesday betting to catch up on and really we finished where we started because we took Zhao Jianbo to get the better of Gerard Greene without the draw in play and for the second year in a row they drew 2-2. Jianbo wasn’t at his best in that match so I’m not too disappointed to come away with a draw from it.
Group 21
Fixtures
Stuart Bingham vs Michael White
Elliot Slessor vs Yang Gao
Elliot Slessor vs Michael White
Stuart Bingham vs Yang Gao
Yang Gao vs Michael White
Stuart Bingham vs Elliot Slessor
Preview
Stuart Bingham is the big name in Group 21 which forms the TV action on Friday and he will be expected to come through the group but it has to be said there have been plenty of easier groups than the one he’s landed himself in here. Elliot Slessor is a competent second seed and while he isn’t the most consistent he rarely beats himself. Gao Yang is one of the many Chinese players who could improve this term while Michael White has all but got his tour card back and will be looking to make the most of that straight away.
Group 22
Fixtures
Hossein Vafaei vs Jackson Page
Ryan Day vs Barry Pinches
Ryan Day vs Jackson Page
Hossein Vafaei vs Barry Pinches
Ryan Day vs Hossein Vafaei
Jackson Page vs Barry Pinches
Preview
Ryan Day is a former winner of this tournament in its old guise and format but you wouldn’t think he would be too undermined by the format that is being used now. He won the Shootout last season so the short sprints aren’t a detriment to him. He’ll need to hit the ground running here though you would think because Hossein Vafaei might just be the best of the second seeds and now that he has been to Q-School and got his tour card back you would expect Jackson Page to kick on now. Barry Pinches will be out to show that he isn’t just making up the numbers.
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Group Betting
We have a couple of competitive groups here that have a clear favourite in them but maybe not ones you would put your mortgage on. To be fair there are five or six players across the two groups that if they came out on top you wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised. I think that makes for a good day to watch the action but maybe not quite the easiest to bet on it. That means I’m going to keep my powder dry where the group betting is concerned.
If I was going to get involved in it then I might have chanced Michael White in the group on the TV table but that is a group where you really can make a case for all four men. Over on the other group I quite like Hossein Vafaei because I’m expecting him to really announce himself this season but I respect the two Welsh players enough to think that he is only a fair price if he isn’t a little bit skinny. I’ll leave the group betting alone.
Match Betting
I’ll go with the one bet over the course of the day and that comes in the penultimate match over on table two on Friday where the two start names in the group meet as Ryan Day takes on Hossein Vafaei. I’m a big fan of the Iranian and it is good to see him in the field for this tournament as often he has been disadvantaged early in a season with visa issues and all sorts. The fact they are not crippling him no longer will be a huge benefit to his career.
It is hard to know what to expect from Day in this match. He used to be a really consistent player but now he is anything but that. He showed when he won the Shootout that he still has plenty to offer at this level but he has done nothing since then which highlights my point. I suspect Vafaei would have worked hard ahead of this tournament because this could be a big season for him so I expect a good day from him. He actually plays the match before this one so his cue arm will be nice and warm and I think the even money without the draw in play looks a good bet to me.
Tips
Back H.Vafaei to beat R.Day (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Coral
Back him here:
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