We move into the last 16 of the UK Championship on Wednesday when the first half of the matches take place across the two sessions of action over the course of what should be a decent day of snooker inside the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
The shocks have been regular in this tournament but with the remainder of the event taking place on the two main tables it will be interesting to see if that trend continues or if the big names come to the fore from here on in.
Afternoon Session
Anthony McGill vs Neil Robertson
The first last 16 clash on the main TV table sees the former champion of this event in Neil Robertson going up against the man who so nearly made the world final earlier in the year in the form of Anthony McGill in what is actually a big match for the Scot.
Robertson has flown through the draw so far and has only dropped three frames on his way to this stage whereas McGill was made to work hard earlier in the competition before powering past Chen Zifan in the previous round. That was the sort of performance that we saw from him at the Crucible back in August and he goes into this one knowing that if he wins the match he moves into the top 16 in the race for The Masters ahead of Jack Lisowski playing on Thursday. This has the making of a competitive outing but at 2.5 frames the handicap line is probably right and there isn’t as much wiggle room as I would like there to be.
Zhou Yuelong vs John Higgins
The match on the second table looks like being another great encounter as one of the better Chinese players in Zhou Yuelong takes on a legend of the game who has won this title numerous times in the past in John Higgins.
Yuelong has been in great form this season and is scoring fantastically well. I’m convinced it won’t be long before he wins a tournament but I get the impression this is a big match in his progression. He often performs brilliantly well up to the point he runs into one of the greats of the game and then he gets found out. If he can win this match it will do him the world of good. That won’t be easy though because Higgins hasn’t been in bad touch himself this season and it won’t have been lost on him how his section of the draw has opened up and that he has the chance of a deep run here. Higgins is another who has cruised through to this stage but this is another match where the odds and lines feel about right so I’ll sit this one out too.
Special Offer
OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH 888SPORT AND BET £10 TO GET £30 IN FREE BETS PLUS A £10 CASINO BONUS! PERFECT OFFER TO USE ON THIS TOURNAMENT! CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO JOIN. USE CODE 30F. NEW ACCOUNTS ONLY. 18+ T&Cs apply (See image for significant terms). Gamble Aware.
Evening Session
Mark Selby vs Barry Hawkins
The main match in the evening session sees two men who are regulars at the business stages of the big events colliding when Mark Selby takes on Barry Hawkins in a clash which probably comes around a little earlier in the tournament than it should do. This wouldn’t be out of place if it was a final.
We should be in for a great match here. Selby is pushing for another major title while Hawkins is fighting hard to get his place in the top 16 back ahead of The Masters so both men are clearly playing for something here. Selby had a battle with Michael White in the first round but he has cruised through since then, although he didn’t look overly fluent in beating Hossein Vafaei in the previous round. Just quietly Hawkins has been playing well in this tournament. He has only dropped five frames and has beaten a couple of tricky campaigners in Robbie Williams and Robert Milkins.
This has all the hallmarks of being a close match throughout between two players who are competitive and pretty closely matched. The last two ranking event matches between these two men went the distance and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we end up watching an eleventh frame here but whether it goes all the way or falls a frame short I like over 9.5 frames in this one.
Joe Perry vs Jamie Jones
Over on the second table in the evening session Joe Perry continues his battle to qualify for The Masters at the last opportunity when he takes on a Jamie Jones who can take a load of pressure off himself for the next season and a half if he wins this match.
Jones is new onto the tour again having fallen off it and you generally need around £65k over the two years to keep your card. He can get almost half of that total just by winning this match so this is a big night for Jones, just like it is for Perry who needs to make it to the semi-final if he is to have a chance of walking out at Ally Pally next month. Perry might well feel he is playing with the house money having survived the previous round despite being 5-2 down to Joe O’Connor at one point and while I would expect him to win this, the fact he fell down that big suggests he isn’t on top form so I can leave that one alone.
Tips
Back M.Selby vs B.Hawkins – Over 9.5 frames for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Betfair
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020
