The opening semi-final of the International Championship takes place out in China on Friday when two outsiders do battle when Chris Wakelin meets Xiao Guodong over the best of 17 frames for a place in the final on Sunday.
Guodong starts the day two wins away from successive Chinese ranking titles while Wakelin will be looking for a place in the biggest final of his career to date so we should be guaranteed some decent snooker across the day.
Chris Wakelin
The draw has opened up in the top half of the bracket but that is mostly the doing of Chris Wakelin. He has run the gauntlet of former world champions this week and lived to tell the tale. He has seen off Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams and John Higgins in successive rounds, the latter in a deciding frame after they were hauled off at 5-5, to be just two wins away from a second ranking title and comfortably the biggest tournament win of his career.
While Wakelin is playing for a spot in the biggest final he will have been involved in, he is also battling for a spot in the top 16 for the first time in his career too and would secure that with a win here, one which would come at a good time as it would mean he gets to avoid the qualifying competition for the upcoming UK Championship and would only need to stay upright to keep in there to guarantee a first appearance at The Masters. This is a huge game for Wakelin so the fact he has shown he can outbattle one of the toughest in the business in Higgins in the quarter final bodes well. He has every chance here and would have even more of one should he have his scoring boots with him.
Xiao Guodong
Guodong has already achieved the things that Wakelin is playing for here and he has done it in the last few weeks. He has won his first major title when he took down the Wuhan Open last month, a win which secured him a debut at the Champion of Champions next week, and already this week he has entered the top 16 in the world rankings for the first time and he is guaranteed automatic entry into the UK Championship later in the month as a result of that.
Guodong has played some really good snooker in recent times. His win in Wuhan was no real fluke and already this week he has seen off the likes of Ricky Walden, Mark Allen and Jack Lisowski. In the main he has done it through being tight and keep the opponent at long range but when the chances have been presented to him he has more than filled his boots. With the confidence he carries from Wuhan he is more than entitled to believe he is the favourite for this semi-final as he bids for successive finals in his homeland.
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Head-to-Head
These two men have only met four times in their career so far even though both have been professionals for quite a while. It is not good news for Xiao Guodong as he has lost all four matches, the most recent of which was last season when the pair met in the Championship League. In terms of frame counts the lead Wakelin has is 21-11 so those wins have been fairly comfortable. This will be the first time they have met in a semi-final and it is also the first time they will have faced each other in China. They have faced off in a two-session match before though. That was in the World Championship qualifying in 2021 so how much we can take from history remains to be seen but it is on the side of Wakelin.
Betting
While Chris Wakelin has never lost to Xiao Guodong, he has never played his Chinese opponent in the form that he is in here and I think this will be the time for Xiao to get the better of the Englishman. Wakelin is playing for a lot here in terms of his career. A top 16 spot is massive for any player who has never been in that bracket in the world rankings, especially this close to the UK Championship and The Masters, while a win here would set up a shot at the first big ranking title in the Wakelin career and a spot at the Champion of Champions should be then win it.
That is a lot of external pressure on his shoulders whereas Guodong can play with a lot more freedom here. He is in the top 16 whatever happens here and with that he is in the UK Championship automatically and it will take something big for him not to be at The Masters and he has already earned his place at the Champion of Champions. He also knows that he can win big tournaments so he has more than enough in his favour here and I think he’s the one to be on.
Tips
Back X.Guodong to beat C.Wakelin for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Spreadex
