It is the penultimate day of the qualifying competition for the German Masters on Monday when another four players will look to secure their places at the Tempodrom for the main event and 16 more looking to move to within a win of joining them.
We have already seen a number of big names on show over the course of the week but two of the biggest in the game who boast 10 world titles between them will be taking to the baize on what does look like a good day of action on Monday.
Morning Session
The Masters champion Yan Bingtao made it to the semi-finals of the Northern Ireland Open recently and he’ll be looking to take the first step towards the main draw of the German Masters in the morning session on Monday. He meets his fellow Chinese player Chen Zifan on one of the main tables, while over on the other one the Championship League winner Dave Gilbert will start his quest for a second title on the season. He faces David Grace in the first round.
Two other matches take place in the morning session. Elliot Slessor is on show in one of those. The British Open semi-finalist will look to start another deep tournament run when he clashes with the Chinese player Zhao Jianbo. The other table also has a Chinese player in competition on it when the relatively unknown Lei Peifan takes on a Sohail Vahedi who is no longer on the tour but did enough at Q-School to get an invite into this event.
Afternoon Session
This is the session in which four players will get their passage booked to the main draw in Berlin as the second round action takes place. The world champion Mark Selby is the biggest name looking to make it through. He meets Ashley Carty for a place at the Tempodrom on one of the main tables while on the other we have two former world finalists battling it out for a place in Berlin when Matthew Stevens takes on Ken Doherty.
There is a good looking match on one of the outside tables in this session when Mark Davis looks to build on his win over Ding Junhui in the first round when he faces the classy and competent Sam Craigie who is always dangerous on his day. The other match presents a wonderful opportunity for two men to make it through to the third round and book a rare outing at a venue as iconic as the Tempodrom when Barry Pinches takes on John Astley.
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Evening Session
Arguably the biggest name of them all gets his campaign underway on Monday evening when the great Ronnie O’Sullivan takes to the green baize. He has a pretty awkward test for a first round match too as he meets the Iranian number one Hossein Vafaei, who could cause O’Sullivan problems if Ronnie doesn’t fancy the job. Over on the other main table the relentless women’s world champion Reanne Evans will look to move closer to booking her place on the plane to Berlin. She meets Liang Wenbo for a spot in the second round.
Two other matches will take place on the outside tables in this session as well with the fast improving Steven Hallworth on show on one of them. He meets the bang out of form Andrew Higginson, who will be looking to kick his season into life here. The other match sees the evergreen Fergal O’Brien in action. He meets the competent Ben Hancorn in what might be a sneaky good match here.
Betting
I like two bets over the course of the day with the first one coming in the afternoon where I think Mark Davis might be a bit of value to see off Sam Craigie. I wouldn’t normally go against Craigie as I really rate him but Davis beat Ding Junhui on Sunday and he should be bouncing after that. It wasn’t the fact Davis beat Ding that caught my eye because it was Ding’s seasonal debut and he was entitled to be rusty, but he won the deciding frame with a ton having already notched breaks of 56 and 70 so Davis scored well in that match to continue his good start to the season. The veteran has won all three meetings against Craigie which will give him extra confidence for this one and at odds against he looks fair value to see off the good but inconsistent Craigie.
The other bet I like is for Steven Hallworth to beat Andrew Higginson. Higginson is right off the boil at the minute. He has played six matches this season and the only one he won was against an amateur in the Championship League where his opponent was caught out by the conditions. Hallworth is going along nicely this season. Hallworth has beaten Sam Craigie and Ricky Walden in qualifying events this season and while the former is a fair result, the way Walden is playing that was a great result. Hallworth smashed in four breaks over 50 in that match so he’s in good touch and can see off Higginson here.
Tips
Back M.Davis to beat S.Craigie for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with Betway
Back S.Hallworth to beat A.Higginson for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back him here:
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