The second day of action in the qualifying competition for the British Open takes place in Wigan on Wednesday as another 16 players take to the baize looking for the four frames they need to reach the final stages in Milton Keynes next month.
The majority of the top 16 have had their qualifying matches held over to the main venue so the truly big names are few and far between this week but there is one on show over the course of Wednesday in the form of Ding Junhui.
Morning Session
As is often the case with the morning session of these qualifying competitions we have two Chinese players on show first up in what is actually a really good pair of matches to get the day started. The pick of the matches sees the Turkish Masters finalist of last season, Matthew Selt, taking on the man who made the Championship League final last month in Lu Ning. That will be the centre of attention but the other match between Tian Pengfei and Sam Craigie is not bad as a second option.
Early Afternoon Session
This is the session in which the big name of Ding Junhui headlines the action. The Chinese star showed signs of returning to something like his best last season and he opens up his new campaign here with a clash against Oliver Lines, which is another good quality match on the day. The other game in this session doesn’t rate too badly either as Lyu Haotian, who had a good campaign in the Championship League, takes on the experienced Mark King.
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Later Afternoon Session
Although there are no star names in the third session of the day there is a competitive feel to proceedings. The former UK Championship semi-finalist David Grace is the highest ranked player on show. He goes up against the talented but frustratingly inconsistent Jamie O’Neill for a place in the main draw while the other match sees Gerard Greene looking for a spot in at the main venue. In order for him to get there he will need to get the better of Sanderson Lam.
Evening Session
Four of the lower ranked players on the tour are in action in the evening session on what is a big night for those involved as there is a good chance for each to progress and potentially earn nicely at the start of the season. Ian Burns is the highest ranked of those on show here but he has an awkward clash with Adam Duffy to negotiate to make it to Milton Keynes. The other match sees Allan Taylor taking on a Lukas Kleckers who showed some potential last term.
Betting
I’m very surprised to see Lu Ning as an outsider against Matt Selt. Maybe if we were a good way into the season I wouldn’t be so shocked that Ning is an outsider but the way the two men have started the campaign I think the odds should be the other way around. Selt has played three matches in the Championship League and one in the British Open qualifiers and he hasn’t won any of them whereas although Ning had a mare in European Masters qualifying he excelled in the Championship League.
Ning won all three of his groups in that competition and then gave Luca Brecel a good game in the final. The impressive thing with Ning was his scoring throughout that competition, which is interesting because the last time these two met the Chinese player won 6-0 at the UK Championship in 2020 and made four centuries in the match. He was scoring big at the Championship League and that tends to be a guide of when he is playing well. Selt has drawn with Daniel Wells, Dominic Dale and Duane Jones this season and lost to Haydon Pinhey, none of which are good results. Lu Ning beat the likes of Stuart Bingham, Mark Williams, Stephen Maguire and Oliver Lines in the Championship League and looks a big price to take this one.
Tips
Back L.Ning to beat M.Selt for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with BetVictor
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