It is the middle day of qualifying in the Northern Ireland Open on Wednesday when another 20 players take to the baize inside the Morningside Arena with the aim of winning the one match they need to secure their spot in the main draw.
We’ve seen some very good, tense and exciting snooker so far this week and as the bigger names of those who have to start their campaign here come along we should see a real lift in the quality on show as well.
Morning Session
Once again the format is the same as it has been all week which means that we have two sets of matches in the morning session with Ricky Walden taking on Fraser Patrick in the main one of them first up. The other table will originally be occupied by the amateur Michael Georgiou. He goes up against the Chinese player Xu Si who to date is probably best known for ending the hopes of Stephen Hendry at the World Championship qualifiers last season.
Matthew Selt will headline the second set of matches in the morning session on Wednesday. He will be on show over on the main table and faces a tricky little test against the Chinese player Yuan Sijun who is certainly capable of causing an upset if given a chance. Two veterans of the circuit will battle it out on the other table in this session when Robert Milkins takes on the former world finalist Nigel Bond in what could be something of a clash in styles.
Afternoon Session
Four men who will all be looking to make progress in their careers meet across the two tables to open up the afternoon session. The main table will see Alfie Burden looking to pick up his first points since returning to the tour when he takes on Chen Zifan in an even looking contest while over on the other table Zhang Jiankang will take on Duane Jones in a match which is big for both as they both need to work on their ranking over the course of the campaign.
Joe Perry is the star act in the second part of the afternoon. He has a fairly awkward task on his hands though as he goes up against an Oliver Lines who has started the season in fine form and who isn’t one to fear anyone either. Lukas Kleckers is another who has begun the season fairly well after reaching the last 16 of the British Open last week. He now takes on Ben Woollaston, the local lad who will be looking to make it through to the final stages.
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Evening Session
It is largely a session for the Chinese in the evening, where once again there is just the one set of matches on show. Two of those Chinese players meet on the outside table of the two when Zhao Jianbo takes on Lu Haotian while on the main table two very solid campaigners do battle when Li Hang takes on the former winner of this tournament in Mark King, a man who will be eager for a return to where he had the biggest night of his career.
Betting
I like the look of a couple of bets on Wednesday with the first of them coming in that headline afternoon match between Joe Perry and Oliver Lines where the higher ranked player could be a little vulnerable. Lines has started the season well, coming out of his Championship League first group and then making the last 32 of the British Open last week where he lost to Ali Carter in a match in which he didn’t do a whole lot wrong. Perry failed to come out of his Championship League group and then lost to Ben Hancorn in the first round last week so he might be a little bit low on confidence and potentially underprepared for this encounter. Lines certainly isn’t and he should be feeling pretty good about his game. I’ll back him to come through this one at a big price.
The other bet I like comes in the all-Chinese clash in the evening session where I’m a little surprised that Zhao Jianbo is odds against to beat Lu Haotian. Jianbo announced himself on the scene with some good wins last season. He enjoyed wins over Ricky Walden, Stuart Bingham, Zhao Xintong and Noppon Saengkham among others and has already beaten Anthony McGill this term. Haotian looks to have stalled on the promise he had earlier in his career. He made it to the World Championship last season where he was thumped in the first round but it was a season of disappointment around that. He started this season with a 3-2 loss to Jak Jones in the British Open last week so he looks in a bit of a rut. I’ll take the more progressive Jianbo in this one.
Tips
Back O.Lines to beat J.Perry for a 3/10 stake at 2.88 with Betfair
Back him here:
Back Z.Jianbo to beat L.Haotian for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with William Hill
Back him here:
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