Sunday is the last day of the Gibraltar Open but the winner will have to win three matches over a busy finale to the event inside the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes before they get to walk away with the silverware.
With the whole week being the best of seven frames there have understandably been plenty of shocks to get to the quarter final stage but there are still some big names left in. The quarter finals take place in the morning session before the semis in the afternoon and the final in the evening. Time restrictions will deny us the chance to cover the last four and final but we’ll get stuck into the quarter finals.
Jack Lisowski vs Lu Ning
The first quarter final on the main table sees one of our two remaining outright bets in action as Jack Lisowski takes on one of the last two Chinese players left in the draw in the form of the UK Championship semi-finalist Lu Ning.
Ning is competent and could give Lisowski a tough time of it here but to be fair to the Englishman, he has looked in decent enough form this week and has already made two finals in the last three months or so, so he knows exactly what is needed from here on in. Lisowski has won both their previous meetings and he’ll want to keep on winning here to strengthen his world ranking heading to the World Championship. I’m happy to let my outright bet ride in this one.
Stuart Carrington vs Xiao Guodong
On the streamed table two outsiders going into the week will battle it out for a place in the last four and some decent money when Stuart Carrington goes up against Xiao Guodong in a clash which could be a little nervy given what is on offer for the winner.
Carrington has actually gone about his work quite well so far and his 4-0 win over Dave Gilbert in the last 16 on Saturday evening really caught the eye. He has only dropped three frames in his four matches and that is a very good record. Guodong has only dropped five frames to this stage but after beating Martin O’Donnell in the first round, he hasn’t played anyone in the top 85 in the world rankings since then so the draw has been quite kind to him.
I wonder if the calibre of opposition that Carrington has seen off means that his form is much stronger than that of his opponent here. It isn’t just Gilbert who Carrington has caught the eye by beating. Wins over Andrew Higginson and Lei Peifan do likewise. Guodong has only really done what I would have expected him to do and faces his toughest test here. I’m not so sure the prices reflect that though so I’ll side with Carrington as the value here.
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Judd Trump vs Mark Allen
The pick of the quarter finals is the second one on the main table on Sunday morning when the world number one Judd Trump continues his title defence against the classy and dangerous Mark Allen, who is the second remaining outright bet for us.
Trump has been near enough flawless in this tournament and doesn’t lose many best of seven matches as a rule but he faces an elite challenge here in Allen who is warming to the task after a quiet start to the week where he probably needed to get rid of a bit of rust that would have formed after he missed the Players Championship last week. I’m hoping Allen wins this as this half of the draw opens right up for him if he does and that can form my interest in this one.
Matthew Selt vs Chris Wakelin
The second of the quarter finals over on table two sees the two legend slayers battling it out for a place in the last four when Matthew Selt takes on Chris Wakelin for the right to meet Trump or Allen in the last four in the afternoon.
Selt was the man who ended the hopes of Stephen Hendry on his return to the sport this week while Wakelin put paid to Jimmy White in the last 16 so neither of these men will be particularly popular with the viewing public. I think Selt has been the better player of the two and I expect him to win this but I’ve been burned taking on Wakelin twice this week already and I’m in no rush to take him on again, especially after he merits respect having beaten Mark Selby earlier in the event. I’ll leave this one alone.
Tips
WON – Back S.Carrington to beat X.Guodong for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with William Hill
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