The first round of the European Masters concludes and the second round gets underway on the third day of action inside the bio-secure bubble at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes as the season continues to get up and running.
We were due to see both Mark Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan on Tuesday but with their opponents being withdrawn due to Covid we will have to wait until later in the week to see them. World number one Judd Trump and Masters champion Stuart Bingham are among the players on show on Wednesday though.
Morning Session
It is first round action in the morning session as Stuart Bingham is the headline act on show on the TV table. The Masters winner will go up against the rising star Louis Heathcote for a place in the second round. Over on the streamed table Joe Perry will meet Robbie Williams in what is a tougher clash for the newest member of the top 16 than he would have liked, with Williams more than capable of upsetting the big guns.
Six other matches take place over the course of Wednesday morning with two newcomers to the tour meeting when Ben Hancorn faces Pang Junxu. Former world finalist Barry Hawkins is also on show when he goes up against Fan Zhengyi while two Northern Irishmen meet as Gerard Greene hosts Jordan Brown. Fraser Patrick takes on Tian Pengfei and the other two matches sees Thepchaiya Un-Nooh meeting Liam Highfield and Chen Zifan going up against Eden Sharav.
Afternoon Session
Ding Junhui is the centre of attention in the afternoon session which is the final session of the opening round of the tournament. He meets his fellow Chinese player Yuan Sijun on what should be the match on the TV table. The streamed table will also be in operation on Wednesday afternoon when the former Masters champion Mark Allen meets Florian Nuessle for a place in the second round of the opening tournament of the season for both men.
Ken Doherty is in action in one of the matches on the outside tables. He plays tour newbie Farakh Ajaib while champion of this event two years ago, Jimmy Robertson, takes on Ashley Carty. Simon Lichtenberg will get his season up and running with a meeting with Jamie Wilson while Hossein Vafaei meets Brandon Sargeant. Graeme Dott looked ok in spells in his Championship League group and he meets Xu Si while Lyu Haotian takes on Alex Borg.
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Evening Session
We move into the second round in the evening session when the world number one Judd Trump is back on show on the TV table. He will go up against the German player Lukas Kleckers for a place in the third round of the tournament. The streamed table sees the Riga Masters winner Yan Bingtao taking on Ryan Day in a really good looking contest between two men who might feel they are title contenders if they come through this one.
The other matches on show in this session sees Allan Taylor taking on Ben Woollaston, Michael Holt meeting Jamie Jones and David Grace going up against Martin O’Donnell. There is also a tasty little clash between the Masters finalist Ali Carter and the man who won the Championship League immediately after lockdown in Luca Brecel in what should be a great match with the other two matches seeing Matt Selt meeting Jamie Clarke and Scott Donaldson facing Joe O’Connor. The remaining match sees World Championship finalist Kyren Wilson looking to make progress in his first tournament of the new campaign. He faces the competent Chris Wakelin.
Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets in the evening session with Luca Brecel to beat Ali Carter at even money the first of them. Brecel should come into this tournament pretty confident as he came out of lockdown by winning the Championship League and looked pretty good in doing so it has to be said. He then won his opening match here 5-0 where he played pretty well in the main. Carter hasn’t seemed to hit top form since losing the final of The Masters and not qualifying for the World Championship isn’t likely to have done his confidence much good. He beat Rory McLeod in the first round but you’d have expected him to do that. I just think the more progressive Brecel is the one to be on here.
I’m a little surprised that Jamie Jones is the outsider to beat Michael Holt just based on activity as much as anything else. Jones was at Q-School recently getting his tour card back and playing well and looks to have picked up where he left off before his suspension. Jones had a couple of good wins in his Championship League group and then thrashed Dominic Dale in the first round. Holt on the other hand struggled in his Championship League group and although he came through against Anthony Hamilton rust played a part in that match on the part of the Sheriff. I’m not convinced the Shootout champion is at full pelt at the minute so I like Jones to keep his revival going.
Tips
WON – Back L.Brecel to beat A.Carter for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
Back J.Jones to beat M.Holt for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with Betfair
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