The qualifying event for the German Masters continues on Wednesday with another couple of sessions of first round action either side of four more players booking their date at the Tempodrom in the second round.
The format for Wednesday is the same as Tuesday with the morning and the evening containing first round action and the second round matches coming in the afternoon session where four players will confirm their places in Berlin for the main draw.
Morning Session
We have some big names on show over the course of the day on Wednesday and we don’t have to wait too long for them to start out as Barry Hawkins is on the main table in the morning session. He takes on Matt Selt in a match which is pretty big for this stage of the event. Joe Perry is the other leading light up in the morning session and as a result he’ll be on the other main table. He will face off against Zhang Jiankang for a place in the second round.
Scott Donaldson hasn’t had the start to the season that he would have desired but the lure of the Tempodrom might kick him into life. He’ll be hoping that is the case anyway and he’ll hope to overcome the amateur Michael Georgiou on one of the outside tables. The other one has a bit of intrigue to it as Craig Steadman meets one of the women players who have a tour card this season in Ng On Yee for whom travel restrictions have denied her the chance of competing this season until now.
Afternoon Session
Spots at the Tempodrom are up for grabs in this second session of the day and one man who will be looking to secure his place there is the former champion Mark Williams. He knows all about that great atmosphere and will be looking to taste it again. If he is going to book his seat on the plane he needs to overcome the Chinese youngster Chang Bingyu. Kyren Wilson is another former champion looking to book his spot in the main draw in Berlin. To do that he needs to beat Li Hang.
The beauty about the second round is that most of the matches have a tasty feel about them and it is no different in this session as we have a battle of two men who had excellent runs in the British Open battling it out when Gary Wilson takes on Jimmy Robertson while two of the brightest young talents China has to offer will meet on the other table when Pang Junxu takes on a Zhao Xintong who smashed in four centuries and an 85 in his first round win on Tuesday.
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Evening Session
The winner of this event for the last two seasons gets his title defence underway when Judd Trump looks to make up for his defeat in the last eight in Belfast last week when he meets Tian Pengfei in what could be an awkward match if he allows it to be. That will be on one of the main tables while on the other Stephen Hendry will be looking to go within one win of a first visit to the Tempodrom. The legend of the game takes on Gao Yang in a tricky test for the Scot.
Two other matches take place in the evening session, which are both first round games too. Anthony Hamilton had the greatest night of his career inside the Tempodrom when he won this event a few years ago. He’ll be deeply inspired to make it through again and begins his campaign to so that when he meets Aaron Hill. Xiao Guodong is kind of a forgotten man with all these talented Chinese players coming through. He gets the chance to remind everyone what he can do when he takes on Duane Jones.
Betting
I can’t believe the price Gao Yang is to beat Stephen Hendry. As I’ve said before, I really hope this Hendry comeback amounts to something and doesn’t tarnish his legacy in the sport but the signs are he has a lot of work to do to be competitive at this level. His safety ever since he returned has not been to the desired standard and as good a break-builder as he is he isn’t going to outscore many of these Chinese hotshots if he can’t create chances with his safety play.
In the past Hendry might have beaten youngsters based on his reputation but players like Gao Yang are more likely to have looked up to Ronnie O’Sullivan, Ding Junhui and Judd Trump than Stephen Hendry so I doubt the Scot will hold much fear for the Chinese youngster. I suspect Yang is 13/10 because he didn’t score a point against Judd Trump in Belfast last week. He isn’t playing Trump here though and while Hendry can still score if he gets in unless his safety has improved since we last saw him I expect Gao to beat him to the punch over this distance.
Tips
Back G.Yang to beat S.Hendry for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with Betway
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