The first round of the UK Championship draws to a close on Tuesday when the opening games in the tasty looking third quarter of the draw take place inside the Barbican Centre in York as the maiden Triple Crown event of the season continues.
This is the part of the draw where Judd Trump and Mark Williams are the standout players but the schedule on Tuesday might just be the best of the week so far with no fewer than 10 world titles owned by the eight players on show.
Afternoon Session
Judd Trump vs Neil Robertson
The match on the main table in the afternoon session is the tie of the first round between two former winners of the event when the world number one Judd Trump takes on the English Open winner Neil Robertson in a potential cracker.
Trump has already won the Shanghai Masters and Saudi Masters this season and will generally be seen as being bang up for the big events and he has made the final in Northern Ireland since winning those tournaments but he did look a little weary at the Champion of Champions a couple of weeks ago where his campaign was ended by a certain Robertson. Robertson is another who has gone a little quiet since he won the English Open so it will be interesting to see how these two perform here. The one huge positive for Robertson is that he came through qualifying. He fell over the line against Oliver Lines in the first of the two matches he won there but then dominated Matthew Stevens in the second of them. The pressure is all on Trump here but his record in these major events still isn’t what it should be for someone of his class. There is no doubt that Robertson is getting closer to his best and at 6/4 I think the value is with the Australian in a match which is much harder to call than that.
John Higgins vs He Guoqiang
The match over on table two will see the former winner of this tournament in John Higgins looking to make it through to the last 16 when he goes up against the Chinese qualifier He Guoqiang for the right to face the winner of the match on the main table in the next round.
Higgins has been having a decent enough season but he’ll know that his top 16 place isn’t secure so he will want to win a couple of matches and ensure that he does enough to make it into The Masters at the beginning of 2025. Guoqiang has won three matches to make it into this event and the second and third of those was in a deciding frame so he has shown plenty of character to make it to this stage. You sense he’ll need to improve on what he showed in Leicester last week but like every qualifier we have seen this week he will be sharp and has little to no pressure on him. I wasn’t really going to consider Guoqiang strongly in this match but if I was I would want more than 2/1 so I’ll leave this one alone.
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Evening Session
Mark Williams vs Stuart Bingham
The last first round match on the main table sees the former champion and recently crowned Champion of Champions winner Mark Williams looking to continue his good form when he goes up against a Stuart Bingham who will hope this is the year he wins this event to complete his personal Triple Crown.
Williams looked really good at the Champion of Champions and if he has that form with him here then he is entitled to be a major runner, especially with the draw already opening up nicely, but Bingham has come through qualifying and when he did that at the World Championship earlier in the year he made the semi-finals and he’ll be looking for a similar run here in York. I must admit, I wasn’t enamoured to hear Bingham in the commentary box on Monday afternoon and I wonder if that will impact his chances in this match. I still think Williams would have won anyway and the fact that when they met in the Saudi Masters the Welshman won 6-2 would confirm that but the prices on this one is about right so I’ll leave it alone.
Zhang Anda vs Lei Peifan
The match over on the other table in the evening session is another Chinese battle where Zhang Anda will be looking to kick start what has been a quiet campaign so far when he faces the qualifier Lei Peifan with the winner meeting whoever comes out on top on the other table.
Zhang Anda is much the higher ranked player of the two but you wouldn’t really say he is established at this level. He needs some results soon to suggest that his lofty ranking isn’t just down to a memorable month of form at the right time last season. He did make the quarter final of the Wuhan Open but that was the only time he has won two matches in the same venue this term which suggests he isn’t quite as good as his ranking. The question here is how good is Peifan? He has a decent run in qualifying, entering it in the first round before winning four matches to make it here, the highlight being the win over Tom Ford. He made three tons in the last two games and if he has that form with him here he is entitled to be a threat. You don’t really know what Zhang is going to turn up but he is very much the one with the pressure on him here and his record in the elite events since he won that International Championship last year isn’t good with first round exits in the Champion of Champions, The Masters, the Tour Championship, the World Championship and the Shanghai Masters. That gives Peifan a chance here but given that he is new to the scene I’ll take the odds against on him forcing a decider, as two of the six seeds who have won have won 6-5, rather than winning the match.
Tips
Back N.Robertson to beat J.Trump for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Bet365
Back L.Peifan (+1.5 frames) to beat Z.Anda for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Unibet
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