Saturday is semi-final day at the China Open snooker in Beijing with both the matches being played over the course of two sessions to determine which two men will progress to Sunday’s final for the right to play for the final trophy before the World Championship and the first prize of £85,000.
The opening semi-final sees former world champion John Higgins taking on Ricky Walden with the later semi seeing Stephen Maguire clashing with Judd Trump in a battle of the former champions. Both matches will be played over the best of 11 frames.
John Higgins vs Ricky Walden
Higgins looked like he was going to cruise into the semi-final when he led Noppon Saengkham 4-0 at the interval in their quarter final but his foot came off the gas after the break and in the end he was relieved to get the job done 5-3.
Of the two Walden was much the more impressive in the previous round. He battered the reigning world champion Stuart Bingham 5-1 with a barrage of frame winning breaks, the sort of breaks he has been putting together for the last two weeks. If the exertions of the last 10 or so days don’t catch up with him the Englishman should fancy his chances here.
Walden doesn’t have the best of records against Higgins and that puts me off taking him in this semi-final. I accept he’s playing really well at the minute though and I think he can keep this tighter than most of the previous meetings between these two but I’m not convinced he can actually get over the line.
It is hard to see Higgins being overwhelmed the way he is playing and the all-round game he possesses so the best bet in this match would appear to be over 9.5 frames especially at odds against.
Stephen Maguire vs Judd Trump
The Scot is pretty much freerolling from here on in now. He arrived in China looking to secure his automatic qualification for the Crucible later in the month and his win over Alfie Burden in the quarter final achieved that goal. That could make him very dangerous from here on in.
Judd Trump cruised into the quarter final but he won’t have been pleased with his performance in the last eight. He saw off Mark King 5-3 but he blew a stack of chances along the way and generally made life much harder for himself than he needed to. He’ll be looking to get back to the form which saw him blitz the field in the early rounds.
Maguire has a pretty good record against Trump down the years although Judd did beat him over this distance at The Masters earlier in the year. I’m not sure Maguire is playing as well as he needs to in order to win this game but I must admit Judd’s performance in the last round is a worry for taking a handicap on him.
In the end I’ve decided to go with Trump to make a century at an attractive looking 5/6. Generally when Trump performs well against Maguire he slams in a ton en route. I don’t think that is a surprise because when Maguire misses he is so aggressive he often leaves the table exposed for his opponent.
Trump has made a couple of centuries this week and in the matches he didn’t make a ton he has made a 90+ break both times and even when he’s not at full pelt he still scores well. Over this distance 5/6 on the Juddernaut to nail a ton looks a shade too big.
Semi-final Tips
WON – Back J.Higgins vs R.Walden – Over 9.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Paddy Power
Back it here:
WON – Back J.Trump Over 0.5 centuries for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back it here:
