The quarter finals of the Scottish Open will be played out on Friday when all four matches will take place on a day where we will find out which four men will progress to the one-table setup to compete for the Stephen Hendry Trophy over the weekend.
We’ve seen some huge shocks throughout the tournament and that has left us with few top 16 players which means that there is a chance for someone lower down the rankings to make a real name for themselves on Friday.
Afternoon Session
Wu Yize vs Chris Wakelin
Two of the better performers on the circuit this season meet in the opening quarter final on Friday when Wu Yize, the English Open finalist, meets the man who was second in the International Championship in Chris Wakelin.
Wu Yize is certainly enjoying the Home Nations events this season having made the final of the English Open earlier in the campaign and the way he held himself together to get the better of Barry Hawkins in a deciding frame in the last round bodes very well for him moving forward. I wasn’t sure he had that in him at this stage of his career so that was impressive. Wakelin has been in decent touch for most of the campaign though and has only dropped three frames in making it to this stage so he will feel like he is the favourite in this contest. The big problem I have with Wakelin is that he hasn’t made a break over 78 in the tournament to date. He also hasn’t played on the match table this week either so he has a couple of negatives to overcome. I don’t see those in Wu Yize who seems destined for big things in the game and I think he can progress to a second Home Nations semi-final of the year here.
Luca Brecel vs Xiao Guodong
The second quarter final of the afternoon sees the former world champion Luca Brecel looking to make it back to the semi-final of this tournament when he takes on the Wuhan Open winner Xiao Guodong in what should be another cracking clash.
Brecel has made a welcome return to form in a tournament he has already won previously and he will know that getting this far is good but if he wants to take the pressure off his shoulders for the remainder of the season in terms of being assured of his place on tour then he could really do with maximising this weekend so he is under pressure here. Guodong has coped with pressure well this season. He has made won the Wuhan Open, made the semi-final of the International Championship and the final of the Champion of Champions and they have all been in the last two months so this is a real tough assignment for the Belgian. It takes a lot to crack Guodong but Brecel has the scoring power to do it if everything goes in but if he misses one or two the Chinese star will take advantage. This should be a cracking match but for me it is one to watch rather than bet on.
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Evening Session
Noppon Saengkham vs Mark Allen
There is one quarter final in the evening session on the main table and it sees the highest ranked player left in the competition in Mark Allen taking on the beaten finalist of a year ago in Noppon Saengkham in another decent looking match.
Allen has been much improved this week in terms of his style. He has scored strongly and looked a lot more fluent in beating Ryan Day and Jack Lisowski in the last two rounds and if he can maintain that structure to his game he is going to be hard to beat but Saengkham will fancy he can beat him because in the last two rounds he has taken care of Mark Selby and Ali Carter. He has done it with a barrage of big breaks and aggressive snooker. He made the final here last year so there is something about this venue that gets his juices flowing and he certainly isn’t without a chance here, although he does have to put a couple of massive beatings from Allen behind him. My gut tells me Saengkham has a chance here but the head to head record puts me off getting involved in it.
Tom Ford vs Lei Peifan
There will be one match on the other table on Friday and that one sees the recently crowned Shootout winner Tom Ford looking to move to within two wins of successive tournament titles when he faces Lei Peifan who will be competing in his maiden tour level quarter final.
Ford is clearly using the momentum gained from his win in Leicester last week to propel him to bigger things and he has already seen off Neil Robertson in this tournament. You get the feeling that if he plays close to his best here he will win but we shouldn’t make the mistake of writing Peifan off because it is his first quarter final. He has beaten Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham in the last two rounds. He is playing some nice stuff and scoring heavily and if Ford isn’t on his game or takes his opponent lightly he could easily come unstuck. I hope that doesn’t happen because this tournament is there to be won and he is my outright pick at a monster price so I’m hoping he can come through here and set up some payout potential.
Tips
Back W.Yize to beat C.Wakelin for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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