The second day of action in the final stages of the German Masters sees the first round conclude and the entire last 16 played out on a day where some players will be playing twice inside the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
We saw plenty of shocks on the opening day of the competition which is probably only going to focus the minds of the big names who have managed to remain in the tournament heading into Thursday, another day with three sessions of action.
Morning Session
The first round of the tournament concludes in this morning session and it does so with some very tidy matches on show. The televised offering on the main table sees the semi-finalist at The Masters in Stuart Bingham taking on a player who is racing up the rankings in Zhou Yuelong. The streamed table has one of just four top 16 players remaining in the competition on show as Jack Lisowski begins his 2021 ranking action with a clash against the promising Louis Heathcote.
The other two tables will be able to be viewed with the bookmakers rather than through the broadcasters but one in particular could be worth a watch as the former finalist in this event Luca Brecel meets the competent Thai player Noppon Saengkham. The other match in the morning session sees the Chinese star Pang Junxu going up against a Robbie Williams who will be hoping to build on a positive first half of the campaign.
Afternoon Session
The second round begins in the afternoon session and on the main TV table the defending champion and world number one Judd Trump will continue his title defence when he goes up against the veteran player Joe Perry for a spot in the quarter finals. The streamed table sees Ding Junhui looking to build some form for a second day in a row. He was expected to face Stephen Maguire but Dominic Dale didn’t get that script and the Welshman will act as the opponent of the Chinese star instead.
Away from the broadcasting cameras there is a big match for Barry Hawkins as he continues his quest for a place in the top 16 once again. He will have seen his draw open up and having come back from 4-0 down to beat Ryan Day 5-4 in the first round Hawkins could feel he is on something of a free roll here. He takes on Jak Jones while the other match sees two more players who have seen their draw open up and have the opportunity to go deep as Fergal O’Brien meets Joe O’Connor.
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Evening Session
We only know half of the evening session schedule at the minute as the four men who win in the morning will return to complete the line-up. The first thing to note is the winners from earlier are likely to get the main tables but whichever tables the two matches we know will take place go on, there will be a big chance for the four players involved to go deep in the tournament having seen big names tumble from the draw.
Jamie O’Neill accounted for one of them in the first round on Wednesday when he toppled Shaun Murphy in a deciding frame and his reward for that is a clash against the man who impressed at the World Championship at the back end of the last campaign in Jordan Brown. Nobody played better than Tom Ford on Wednesday and the Leicester man will be hoping to make another ranking event quarter final when he meets a Stuart Carrington who had a walkover in the first round after John Higgins was made to withdraw.
Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets over the course of the day on Thursday. The first of them comes along in the morning session where I think Zhou Yuelong is good value to beat Stuart Bingham. Bingham made the last four of The Masters but he didn’t play very well that week and took advantage of below par opponents. To be fair to him, he played well in his WST Pro Series group last week when he won all seven matches without dropping a frame but he’ll still have to be at his best to see off a Zhou Yuelong who has already beaten him twice in the Championship League in 2021 and who also came through his WST Pro Series group. Yuelong seems to be very much on the rise at the minute and has some big scalps on his CV. Even if we ignore the Championship League he has knocked off John Higgins and Jack Lisowski this season. I think he’s ready to add Bingham to the list as he chases a place in the top 16.
Later in the day, heading into the evening session, I like Tom Ford to cover a 1.5 frame handicap against a Stuart Carrington who apart from his two wins to qualify for this tournament hasn’t really done much this season at all. With John Higgins pulling out to give Carrington a bye and him yet to play his WST Pro Series group, the only competitive hit the Grimsby man has had in two months is a 4-0 loss to Barry Hawkins. Ford certainly didn’t look rusty in the first round here where he smacked in a couple of meaty centuries and three other breaks over 50 in a demolition job on a capable Yuan Sijun. Anything close to that and Ford should win this easily but given the rust that is likely to have built up in Carrington, Ford may not need to be that good to win this 5-3 or better.
Tips
Back Z.Yuelong to beat S.Bingham for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Betfair
Back him here:
WON – Back T.Ford (-1.5 frames) to beat S.Carrington for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with William Hill
Back him here:
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