The Northern Ireland Open begins with one session of play on Saturday evening as the first three matches inside the main venue take place at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast as six men push for a place in the first round proper of the event.
The three matches on show are all qualifying round matches which were held over to the main venue, two because they have top 16 players in them and the other because a local player will be on show so spots in the main draw will be the reward for the winners.
Anthony McGill vs Lee Walker
Two experienced campaigners meet in one of the matches on Saturday evening when the former world semi-finalist Anthony McGill looks to cement his place in the top 16 of the rankings when he takes on the Welsh veteran Lee Walker.
McGill has been consistent this season but perhaps not in the way he would have wanted. He has played four matches and lost the lot so he’ll be looking to fire up his campaign here. Walker won a couple of matches at the British Open and has already made the main draw of one of the Home Nations events but he might be disadvantaged by the fact this one will be in the main venue where you would expect McGill to thrive and be motivated more than he might have been in the earlier events in the season. That needs to be seen to be believed though so I’ll sit this one out.
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Zhou Yuelong vs Jimmy Robertson
The match of the evening comes in the form of the one between Zhou Yuelong, who is just outside the top 16 heading into the week so heads to Belfast knowing that a big week could be huge for his career, taking on Jimmy Robertson who was a semi-finalist at the British Open a couple of months ago.
This should be a cracking contest. If you was to back a new ranking tournament winner this season then Zhou would be high up on the list but Robertson isn’t even on the list as he already has one of those to his name and looks to be heading back towards the form which saw him claim that European Masters. Robertson has had good runs in the Championship League and the British Open already this season and he has won both his qualifying matches for the other two Home Nations events, so he should be feeling very good about his game. There is a chance Zhou might be just a little rusty here having not played since the British Open so at odds against I like Robertson to continue his good form against an opponent he has beaten four times out of four.
Christopher Clifford vs Gao Yang
Two youngsters meet in the other match on Saturday evening when the home amateur Christopher Clifford takes on the world amateur champion Gao Yang in a clash which could see the winner meeting Judd Trump in the first round of the main draw.
Clifford has been away in Portugal this week playing in the European U21 Championship, although he didn’t fare as well as he would have wanted to, and now he faces Gao who had a solid first season on the tour but hasn’t begun this one as well as he would like. A familiarity in these conditions will be a major advantage for the Chinese player here though so I would expect him to dominate the majority of the match but there is a lot for having had match practice on arrival this week so Clifford might start well enough to make the handicap line look about right. I’m not really interested in this one.
Tips
Back J.Robertson to beat Z.Yuelong for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Betfair
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