There are five matches remaining in the qualifying event for the Northern Ireland Open apart from those which are being held over to the main venue and they all take place on a select day of action inside the Morningside Arena in Leicester on Friday.
The majority of the big names have come and gone this week but there are a couple of high profile players who will be in action on Friday even though we only have half the number of matches of the other four days.
Morning Session
The five matches aren’t spread very well throughout the day so we have the same morning session schedule that we’ve had all week. That means there are two sets of matches in the morning session with the Championship League winner Dave Gilbert the main man on the main table. He has a date with Ian Burns while over on the other table Craig Steadman will go up against the home boy Louis Heathcote for a place in the main draw.
Reanne Evans is probably the most high profile player in the second set of matches in the morning session. The last time we saw her she was in a real grudge match but tensions shouldn’t be running quite as high when she takes on Liam Highfield on the main table. The other table sees Dominic Dale looking to make it through to the main venue when he goes up against Rory McLeod in what might be a clash of styles.
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Afternoon Session
There is one match left in the qualifying competition so the two players involves will have the arena to themselves. There might well be plenty of attention on the match too as it will contain the ever popular Jimmy White. He goes up against the former semi-finalist in the UK Championship in the form of David Grace, a player who needs a big season because the ranking points he won in that tournament comes off later in the season.
Betting
I like one bet on Friday which comes first up in the morning session over on the outside table of the two where Craig Steadman takes on Louis Heathcote. Heathcote was very much at home in this arena last week when he was able to have an army of fans cheering him on in the British Open but he still suffered an unfortunate second round exit at the hands of Lukas Kleckers which has to be considered a surprise result. He wasn’t much better in the Championship League either.
Craig Steadman didn’t suffer the best fate last week but he went pretty well in the Championship League so at least he has some sort of winning momentum behind him. He is a real battler too which often isn’t a bad thing against a player who might be low on confidence. Often when that is the case you find that particular player isn’t up for the fight. I don’t expect that to be the case with Heathcote but even were he confident he wouldn’t be a massive favourite for this. At the prices I like Steadman in this one.
Tips
Back C.Steadman to beat L.Heathcote for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betway
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