The second match in the opening round of The Masters takes place inside Alexandra Palace on Sunday evening and it sees the recently crowned English Open champion Mark Selby going up against Hossein Vafaei.
Vafaei wasn’t due to be in this tournament but when Zhao Xintong was suspended last week the Iranian received an invitation and will make his debut in the event. He takes on a former champion who might be rounding into form here.
Mark Selby
I would imagine Mark Selby is looking forward to his trip to Alexandra Palace this year. It has been highly documented of the problems he was having when he came here 12 months ago but he looks in a much better place and this is a tournament that the great players look forward to. Selby has won this event three times but he will know it is 10 years since he last won this trophy and he’ll be eager to put that lengthy void to bed.
Selby is enjoying a much better season. He won the English Open and might well have had more silverware on his mantelpiece had it not been for a couple of runs into Neil Robertson who played brilliantly against him. At the English Open there appeared to be an intent to be more aggressive in the balls and I always think that is a sign of the confidence a player has with his game. Selby is someone who thrives in the big venues and atmospheres so he is entitled to be hard to beat.
Hossein Vafaei
You would have to say that Hossein Vafaei has probably been dealt a rough hand here in that he hasn’t had a lot of time to prepare for what could well be called the biggest match of his career. He might have been practicing but with no huge purpose but suddenly he has one. The positive is he is guaranteed a few quid and has absolutely nothing to lose so he can just give this a real good go but it is always a tough ask for debutants in this tournament.
Vafaei is the reigning Shootout champion and he’ll attempt to make a successful defence of that title later this month but he has only been past the last 32 once in a tournament all season. That was at the UK Championship where the earlier rounds were seeded and he was ranked in a position where he was expected to come through. He did beat Selby at that UK Championship though so that might give him a boost in confidence.
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Head-to-head
These two men have met on seven previous occasions and to be fair to Hossein Vafaei he is only 4-3 down so far. He won’t need me to tell him he has won their last two meetings, both of which were over this distance in the last two stagings of the UK Championship. Selby is only two frames ahead in their overall frame count at 29-27 so Vafaei gives as good as he gets against the former world champion. This will obviously be their first meeting at The Masters and their fourth over the best of 11 frames. Vafaei leads 2-1 in the previous three.
Betting
History would suggest that Hossein Vafaei has every chance in this match but I’ve seen many a debutant freeze in this atmosphere and while it could be suggested that the Iranian has little to lose and can give this a right good go, he is sure to be nervous playing in front of a crowd like this for the first time. I would imagine he is going to encounter a fired up and motivated Mark Selby here given their last two meetings.
I’m not a massive fan of backing large looking handicaps at this tournament but I’ve seen much more seasoned players than Vafaei struggle in this environment so I am relatively happy to take Selby to come out on top here. He is having to cover a 2.5 frame start but I don’t think that is beyond him. It would only need him to win 6-3 and if he plays like he did at the English Open then I would think that will be well within his capabilities.
Tips
Back M.Selby (-2.5 frames) to beat H.Vafaei for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with William Hill
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