The qualifying competition for the British Open tournament continues in Wigan on Thursday when another 16 players go in search of the four frames that they need to book their spot in the main draw in Milton Keynes next month.
We were treated to a couple of the bigger names in the qualifying campaign on Wednesday but we are back to a little more normality over the course of Thursday as we head towards the halfway mark of the preliminary stage of the event.
Morning Session
We do start with one of the bigger names on show over the course of the day as Liang Wenbo takes to the baize for the first time since the conclusion of his suspension. Quite what competitive shape he is in remains to be seen but it could be argued he’s lucky to be competing at all. Dean Young is the man who will look to take advantage of any rust in the Chinese player. Yuan Sijun is the other Chinese player out in the morning session. He looks to have a smoother path to the main draw when he faces Anton Kazakov.
Early Afternoon Session
The early afternoon session is one where four lower ranked players can give their rankings a bit of a boost. There is a relatively high profile match on show as two former world champions meet when Ng On Yee takes on Ken Doherty in a match maybe both players will feel they can win. The other match sees Alfie Burden looking to book his spot in the main draw. If he is going to do that he will need to get the better of Fraser Patrick.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account to get up to £25 in free bets! Perfect offer for this event! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Later Afternoon Session
The standout match of the day takes place in the later part of the afternoon as two former ranking event winners who are very appealing to watch meet as Thepchaiya Un-Nooh goes up against Martin Gould. Both men were thumped in qualifying for the European Masters so they will want to make amends here. The other match is a huge opportunity for some ranking points for two men who need them when John Astley takes on Rod Lawler.
Evening Session
The action concludes with two more matches in the evening session where two men in the top 50 in the world rankings meet as Chris Wakelin looks to build on a positive end to the previous campaign when he takes on Joe O’Connor. The other match should be equally as competitive as a couple of veterans of the snooker circuit meet when Michael Judge faces Craig Steadman in another match where both men will be well aware of the opportunity in front of them.
Betting
I’ll go with the one bet over the course of Thursday and it comes from the match between John Astley and Rod Lawler where I fancy the former to come through with something to spare. I was full of admiration for Lawler when he went to Q-School and got back on the tour at his advancing age but he dropped off in the first place because he doesn’t score heavily enough and I’m not convinced anything has changed having seen his start to the season. He has played three matches against men this term and made one 50 break.
That makes me think that if Astley scores like he can do then he’ll come through this one with a little bit in hand. Astley hasn’t hit the ground firing on all cylinders but he did beat Oliver Lines in the Championship League this season and pushed Zhou Yuelong to a deciding frame in the European Masters qualifying where he put in three breaks over 75. We shouldn’t forget that Astley has some appealing results on his CV for all his inconsistency. He dumped Neil Robertson out of the UK Championship last year and having beaten Michael Holt to get his card back at Q-School he’ll be determined to win this and build up his ranking. I think he can cover a 1.5 frame handicap.
Tips
Back J.Astley (-1.5 frames) to beat R.Lawler for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022
