The opening semi-final of The Masters takes place on Saturday afternoon and it sees the defending champion Stuart Bingham looking to make it back to the final when he takes on the tournament debutant Yan Bingtao inside the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
Bingham has overcome a couple of tests which were not as tough as they might have been to make it to this stage whereas Bingtao has battled through a couple of deciding frames. Whichever way you look at it we’re in for a tasty opener on Saturday.
Stuart Bingham
To say that Bingham has convinced in his title defence would be wrong but he has been in control of both of his matches. I don’t think anyone can say his opponents turned up against him to be fair. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh was always a good opponent in the way he plays and Shaun Murphy forgot to bring his long game to the party but none of that is a concern of Bingham, who has gone about his work nicely and will have the confidence of knowing there is a lot more to come from him.
To be fair to Bingham he has made a ton in each of his matches but he only added one more break of 50 or more in the win over Murphy and you don’t tend to win Masters semi-finals when you’re not scoring, so he really needs to find his scoring boots. There is a bit of needle between Bingham and Murphy which might have attributed to the struggles both men had. Either way I think it is fair to assume he’ll need more here.
Yan Bingtao
It is hard not to be impressed by Yan Bingtao, not just in this tournament but overall. Given the way he plays it is easy to forget that he is only a 20-year-old because his knowledge of the table and ability to deliver under pressure is so good. When you hear his interviews you can clearly tell he’s still working on his English so I give a lot of credit to a player who is showing this week that he isn’t going anywhere in terms of falling down the rankings anytime soon. In fact his star is on the up.
Moving forward Bingtao needs to improve his scoring consistency to mix it with the elite but when you can pot from distance like he has done this week and you have the tactical nous he does he isn’t too far behind. He showed with that majestic 141 in the deciding frame against Maguire that he can score big and if he starts putting it all together big titles are going to flow. I wondered if inexperience would cost him in that quarter final but he is actually relishing the opportunity.
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Head to Head
There have been seven previous meetings between these two players with Bingtao being the one who has come out on top in four of them to the three of Bingham. Their first meeting was in an Asian Tour event back in the day which Bingtao won but after Bingham went on a run of three wins in a row, Bingtao has now won their last two meetings and heads the frame tally 24-22. This is the first time they have met in a tournament at this stage and obviously with it being the Chinese star’s debut in the event it is the first meeting between the two at The Masters.
Betting
I think if we go by what we’ve seen so far this week we have to take Yan Bingtao in this match. Fair play to Stuart Bingham for making it through to this stage but his opponents have given him a huge helping hand and I’m not sure he is going to get that from this Chinese star. Admittedly Bingham is more used to the latter stages of these Triple Crown events but while we’re behind closed doors I think I’ve been guilty of making too much of that.
Bingtao has overcome strong challenges by Neil Robertson and Stephen Maguire and he has had to deal with a lot of mental questions in terms of playing his best from 5-3 down to Robertson and then putting an outrageous fluke from Maguire in the penultimate frame behind him to deliver the best break of his career in the decider. Every time I watch him on the big stage Bingtao impresses me more and more. I’m not convinced Bingham is on top form so I’ll take the value on the youngster here.
Tips
WON – Back Y.Bingtao to beat S.Bingham for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Betfair
Back him here:
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