The penultimate day of qualifying for the British Open takes place inside the Mattioli Arena when another bunch of players take to the baize looking to win the four frames that they need to return to the main draw later in the season.
We have four sessions of action, each with three matches in them so 24 players will step forward looking to secure one of the spots in the final stages of the event which is becoming an important one in the calendar.
Morning Session
There is a real Asian flavour in this session with the highest player in it being Noppon Saengkham. He was an emphatic winner in his Wuhan Open qualifier earlier in the week and will be hoping to dispatch Liu Wenwei on Friday morning. Lyu Haotian is hovering just outside the top 32 and was made to work hard to overcome Bai Yulu earlier in the week. He now meets Robbie McGuigan who was the man who Saengkham beat 5-0 in the Wuhan Open qualifying. The other match in this session sees Matthew Stevens taking on Huang Jiahao.
Early Afternoon Session
We have another session with an Asian feel about it in the early afternoon session. This time it is Zhou Yuelong who is the highest ranked player on show and he’ll be looking to qualify for a second tournament in the space of a week when he takes on Stan Moody. Moody also qualified for Wuhan so he’ll be looking for successive wins. Artemijs Zizins is the next highest ranked player and he’ll battle with the women’s world champion Bai Yulu who pushed Lyu Haotian close earlier in the week. The other match sees Sam Craigie going up against the tour newcomer Yao Pengcheng.
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Later Afternoon Session
One of the standout matches on the third day of qualifying comes along in the later afternoon session when Joe O’Connor, who must be high up on the list of players who could win their first ranking tournament this season, takes on Ricky Walden. Martin O’Donnell is another one who might be on that first title list and he’ll look to make the main draw at the expense of the Canadian player Sahil Nayyar while the other match in this session will pit Oliver Lines against the now amateur player Stuart Carrington in another decent game.
Evening Session
The other appealing match on the third day of the qualifying event comes along in the evening session where Matthew Selt looks to make it into the main draw when he goes up against Dave Gilbert. Both players could be dangerous in a random draw so will be keen to win here and set themselves up for a run. Two newcomers to the tour meet in a big match for both when Connor Benzey faces Iulian Boiko while Leone Crowley faces off against Hatem Yassen in the other match where again there is a huge opportunity for both to pick up a win early in the season.
Betting
Oliver Lines must still be wondering how he didn’t qualify for the Wuhan Open having led Elliot Slessor 4-2 and in the decider he missed a pink which he would get 99 times out of 100 but he has the chance to put that right on Friday when he faces Stuart Carrington. Carrington himself might be cursing his luck as he lost out in both Q-School events in a deciding frame to lose his place on tour. He is in here as a top up and he’ll be in the Championship League but the fact he is no longer on the tour tells us where his game is.
Lines shouldn’t be too cut up after his loss to Slessor. He played well against an opponent who is expected to kick on again this season and if he can replicate that performance, where on his way to going 4-2 up he made breaks of 57, 67 and 68. Something similar to that should have him come out on top here but the price is nothing to write home about, however you can bump it up by taking Lines to cover a 1.5 frame handicap, which is essentially to win 4-0, 4-1 or 4-2 and that feels likely.
Tips
Back O.Lines (-1.5 frames) to beat S.Carrington for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Unibet
