The Championship League Snooker tournament continues on Saturday as we reach the midway point of the second stage of the competition with seven players returning to the Mattioli Arena in Leicester looking to book a place at the final day.
Two of the eight spots on the final day of the tournament have been filled and two more will be taken on Saturday on what should be a high quality day of snooker across both tables given the stars who are on show.
Day 17 Recap
Group E
Fixtures
Ali Carter vs Wu Yize
Jack Lisowski vs Wu Yize
Ali Carter vs Jack Lisowski
Ali Carter vs Wu Yize
Jack Lisowski vs Wu Yize
Ali Carter vs Jack Lisowski
Preview
Things are going to be a little different on the main table on Saturday as we are down to three players after Neil Robertson had a clash of dates with an appearance in China and pulled out of the competition. That means that the three players will play each other twice so they get four matches each. Ali Carter is the top seed in the group and he’ll be expected to come through but having to face second seed Jack Lisowski twice certainly feels like a short straw that he has claimed there. Wu Yize is the other player in this esteemed company.
Group A
Fixtures
Chris Wakelin vs Scott Donaldson
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Fan Zhengyi
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Scott Donaldson
Chris Wakelin vs Fan Zhengyi
Fan Zhengyi vs Scott Donaldson
Chris Wakelin vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Preview
Over on table two it will be Group A which is on show as the former Shootout winner Chris Wakelin is the top seed in the section and looking to make it through to the final day of another tournament. He will have to get the better of another former winner of the Shootout in the second seed Thepchaiya Un-Nooh while the third seed is Fan Zhengyi who performed well in his opening group a couple of days ago. Scott Donaldson was another who made it through pretty nicely and he’ll be the fourth seed in a very competitive looking section.
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Group Betting
I was kind of hoping that Neil Robertson would have been around in the main group on Saturday because he would have added to the price of the other players. I wouldn’t have been on him anyway because he played his first round group on the opening day of the event so has gone three weeks almost without playing whereas Ali Carter played on Wednesday which has to be an advantage. This group just has a weird feeling about it now with players playing four times instead of three so I’ll leave this one alone.
The other group offers up some potential though, not least because Chris Wakelin, the top seed, played his first group on the second day of the tournament which feels like an age ago now. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh also played in the first week while Scott Donaldson played last Thursday whereas Fan Zhengyi came through on Wednesday and might be the sharpest of the quartet as a result. Fan and Un-Nooh both made two centuries in their initial group and scored well but there was an extra edge to the level of the Chinese player and given that he was the most recent qualifier of the four I like him in this group.
Match Betting
It is hard to get involved in the match betting in the group on the main table, not just because the three players on show are very good but also because the fixtures take place twice and there is just a different dynamic on them. I don’t think I’d want to oppose Jack Lisowski but Ali Carter only came through on Wednesday, while Wu Yize is an improving player who would have practiced a lot since his first group. Ignoring that group is the best philosophy in my eyes.
The other group should offer up more betting potential but I don’t really want to double down on Fan Zhengyi matches having backed him for the group already and the other three players are all much of a muchness. My hunch is that Scott Donaldson could be value in the opening match against Chris Wakelin because Wakelin wasn’t that fluent in the opening round but then he was in a group with Rory McLeod and Ian Burns and it isn’t easy to be fluent against them. I’m happy enough to leave the match betting.
Tips
Back F.Zhengyi to win Group A for a 2/10 stake at 3.50 with William Hill
Back him here:
