The first week of the Championship League Snooker tournament concludes inside the Mattioli Arena in Leicester on Saturday when eight more players get their new season underway as another two groups get completed.
This is another of those days where we are looking at competitive groups rather than ones with a standout name in them and that might just mean that we get some excellent action to enjoy throughout the day.
Day 5 Recap
We had a favourite winning and another getting turned over on Friday. The one that got turned over was on the main table where Rob Milkins was seen off with Jackson Page coming through. Milkins actually ended up finishing bottom of the group having failed to win any of his three matches. Page won the section courtesy of the highest break. There was no such problems for Thepchaiya Un-Nooh on the other table as a couple of wins and a draw was enough him to make it through to the second stage.
That was good for us from a betting point of view because one of those wins for Un-Nooh was the one we wanted as he saw off Mark Joyce 3-1 in the opening match of the day despite needing a snooker in the first frame which he got when Joyce inadvertently potted the green before clearing up. He lost the third frame from 2-0 up but dominated the last one to give us an even money winner to take into Saturday.
Group 29
Fixtures
Dominic Dale vs Dylan Emery
Ben Woollaston vs Stan Moody
Ben Woollaston vs Dylan Emery
Dominic Dale vs Stan Moody
Stan Moody vs Dylan Emery
Dominic Dale vs Ben Woollaston
Preview
The group being played out on table one on Saturday might well be the most competitive of the competition so far. Dominic Dale had such a good season last term that he has positioned himself as the top seed in this section and when you consider that Ben Woollaston is something of a fading force as a second seed, the Welsh veteran should like his chances. Stan Moody is a dangerous customer though and he is the third seed while Dylan Emery has to be one of the better bottom seeds so this group looks tough.
Group 30
Fixtures
Jamie Jones vs Chris Totten
Liu Hongyu vs Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Liu Hongyu vs Chris Totten
Jamie Jones vs Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Ishpreet Singh Chadha vs Chris Totten
Jamie Jones vs Liu Hongyu
Preview
The other group on Saturday doesn’t look a lot easier to decipher as Group 30 gets played out on table two where Jamie Jones is the leading light and the top seed who will be looking to make it through to the next round. The Chinese player Liu Hongyu is the second seed in this group and while he is competent he is still fairly new to the tour, as is the third seed in Ishpreet Singh Chadha. The group is made up by Chris Totten who is returning to the tour after he successfully navigated his way through Q-School.
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Group Betting
I kind of feel like I should get involved in the group on the main table but the problem is that you can make a case for all of the four players on show and that is never a good thing. My gut feeling is that Ben Woollaston is an uneasy favourite for the group but he actually has a decent record in this event, whether that is because it is on home soil or not I’m not sure but it has to be respected. I expect Stan Moody to kick on this season and he could go well but the Welsh pair of Dominic Dale and Dylan Emery aren’t without a chance so the best thing to do is not get involved.
I will take on the Welsh player in the other group though because Jamie Jones feels like he is there to be taken on. He finished last season well with a run to the Crucible which included beating Neil Robertson in qualifying so he would be justified in having had a break since then and I think the second season Liu Hongyu might be the one to be on here. He came through his opening group last year and made it to the English Open semi-final where Mark Williams, Joe O’Connor, Shaun Murphy, Chris Wakelin and Ding Junhui were among his victims. That tells us that he can play and in a slightly weaker group of the two he feels value here.
Match Betting
Given the competitive nature of the day I am finding it hard to find a way in on the match betting front on Saturday. I suspect we are going to see a number of draws over the course of the day, especially on the main table where there really isn’t a lot between all four players and unless someone has a stinker or someone is on fire I would imagine we’ll see a fourth frame in plenty of games. There isn’t much value around.
I don’t like much more on table two either. I do think those who went to Q-School might have some short of early advantage but I’m not sure Chris Totten is quite good enough to upset Jamie Jones first up and by the time the others have had a match on the table any advantage from playing earlier in the month would have gone. Everything looks fairly closely matched on this table as well so I’ll give the match betting a swerve on Saturday.
Tips
Back L.Hongyu to win Group 30 for a 2/10 stake at 2.75 with William Hill
Back him here:
