The second round of the World Championship continues with two more matches getting underway as we go back to a day of three sessions inside the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield over the course of Friday.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is one of those players starting out their second round journey and while he is the main attraction the support cast is not bad by any means. The Masters champion Mark Allen and the man he beat in the final in Kyren Wilson are among them.
Thursday Recap
It was one of the most dramatic days that the Crucible has ever seen even though there were only two sessions of action on Thursday. We saw an absolute epic involving Judd Trump and Chris Wakelin which went right down to the final frame while Anthony McGill dumped out Ryan Day 10-8.
Those two were first round matches and we also had the first session of two second round matches too. Mark Allen and Barry Hawkins both lead overnight. Allen is 5-3 up on Joe Perry while Hawkins leads Lyu Haotian by the same scoreline.
In Play Betting
I’ve already got bets on the two matches that are in play and both are perfectly in the mix so I’m happy to let them ride although I must admit I am tempted to go in again on Perry. Allen had a lot of run of the ball in the first session and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Perry turn things around but I’ll settle with the bet I have on him. I’m hoping Hawkins pulls away in the other match as we’re on him outright.
Ali Carter vs Ronnie O’Sullivan (Friday 10am, Friday 7pm & Saturday 2.30pm)
Two men who have met in two previous World Championship finals meet in the second round this year when Ali Carter takes on Ronnie O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan won both their finals and he has also dumped Carter out at this stage in the past too so Carter will be desperate for revenge here.
I think it is fair to say that neither man were at their best throughout their first round wins but when they did play well they both looked very good so I expect this to be competitive enough early on before I would imagine O’Sullivan will begin to pull away and assert his dominance on things.
To be fair I think the match odds and handicaps and things are about right here but I do think there is mileage in the over 3.5 centuries the way these tables are playing and the competitiveness both are going to give this match. Both men made two tons in the first round and if they do that again here we’ll be fine. I would imagine O’Sullivan will be targeting more than two as he goes in search of the magical 1,000 mark so I like over 3.5 tons here.
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Kyren Wilson vs Jamie Jones (Friday 2.30pm, Saturday 10am & Saturday 7pm)
Two men who have seen their part of the draw open up after the exits of Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy from their quarter meet in the second round when Kyren Wilson takes on Jamie Jones over the best of 25 frames.
I thought both men played very well in the first round and if they find that form again here we should be in for a decent game, especially with both having reputations for loving a bit of a scrap. Ultimately I think Wilson will come through purely because he is the better player who is playing to a really good standard in the big events this season. The odds look about right at this stage though so I’ll sit this out for now but may get involved as we move into Saturday.
Tips
Back A.Carter vs R.O’Sullivan – Over 3.5 centuries for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Betfair
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