Another day of Championship League Snooker action takes place in the Morningside Arena on Tuesday when two more first stage groups are played out as eight players get a new season up and running.
We saw some competitive snooker on Monday, as we did for much of last week, and on Tuesday we have a star taking to the tables looking to make it through on a day where we should see plenty more good action.
Group 15
Fixtures
Stuart Bingham vs Duane Jones
Matthew Stevens vs Allan Taylor
Stuart Bingham vs Allan Taylor
Matthew Stevens vs Duane Jones
Allan Taylor vs Duane Jones
Stuart Bingham vs Matthew Stevens
Preview
Stuart Bingham is the big star on show on Tuesday and that means that Group 15 will be the one getting the televised treatment. He will be expected to come through and reach the second stage and given that he was doing commentary on the play on Monday, we know he has prepared right for this event which I always think is half of the battle. Matthew Stevens is the second seed in this group and he needs a big season so he could do with getting off to a good start. Allan Taylor is another who needs a big 2023/24 campaign so he too will want to profit from Tuesday. Duane Jones gets in the field as an amateur and will be out to make the most of his opportunity.
Group 28
Fixtures
Anthony Hamilton vs Zihao Xing
Ben Mertens vs Ryan Thomerson
Anthony Hamilton vs Ryan Thomerson
Ben Mertens vs Zihao Xing
Ryan Thomerson vs Zihao Xing
Anthony Hamilton vs Ben Mertens
Preview
The action on Table Two sees one of the lower ranked top seeds heading up the group as Anthony Hamilton gets his season started. I call him one of the traditional players in the game which means that I think he favours the longer formats and that will certainly be what the second seed of Ben Mertens will be hoping is the case. As a second seed he probably hasn’t come out in too bad a group as the third seed is Ryan Thomerson who didn’t really offer much on his debut season on the tour. Xing Zihao starts live as a professional over the course of the day.
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Group Betting
I think Stuart Bingham has to be favoured in the TV group on Tuesday. He doesn’t just look the standout player of the quartet but the format suits him perfectly and he has a pretty good record in this competition. It is always mentioned how he goes and plays pro-ams and everything and the formats of those are short course events. I couldn’t back Bingham at the prices but in truth I don’t really like any of the others to take him on with.
The other group is more of a betting potential because unlike Bingham I’m not convinced that Anthony Hamilton is as suited to this format. I think he is one who will look to compete in the bigger events rather than this one so the lesser experienced trio of Ben Mertens, Ryan Thomerson and Xing Zihao look to have a good chance here. Thomerson did nothing last season to convince me that he will win this group while Xing is very much an unknown quantity and is making his debut on the tour and in these conditions. That leaves me with Mertens who has shown plenty of talent on the tour already and who I would expect to take motivation from Luca Brecel winning the world title. He is my alternative to Hamilton in that group.
Match Betting
As ever in this tournament my strategy is to look for vulnerable favourites up early in the day where we can get a bit of value for taking them on and while we have been short in supply for this event so far I do think we have one of those on Tuesday. Matthew Stevens is certainly on the downtrend in his career and while he can still hold a cue and at times hold his own, he has never been the greatest practicer and it is hard to believe he would have been pounding the table so far this summer.
Allan Taylor knows he needs a big season and I would have expected him to put a bit of preparation in for this as a result of that. He hasn’t delivered on the talent that he has but he can be a very good scorer and if he has been putting the work in that scoring potential could serve him well here. I suspect he’ll be more motivated than Stevens who is another who is probably operating to have a crack at a big event so at 5/2 without the draw in play I’ll pay to see if Taylor can repeat the success of their last meeting and get a result here.
Tips
Back B.Mertens to win Group 28 for a 2/10 stake at 2.75 with Coral
Back A.Taylor to beat M.Stevens for a 2/10 stake at 3.50 with Coral
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