Day two of the German Masters sees the first round of the tournament come to a close and the second round of it getting underway on the only day with three sessions of action inside the Tempodrom in Berlin on Thursday.
We saw the two big stars on show on Wednesday make it into the second round and they will be back on Thursday looking to sew up a quarter final spot, while two other star names make their entry into the event earlier in the day.
Morning Session
The first round continues in the morning session where we once again have just three matches to enjoy. The pick of those will be on the TV table and it will see the former finalist Luca Brecel beginning his main draw campaign when he takes on a Matthew Stevens who still has plenty of class on his day. The Shootout winner Chris Wakelin is in action for the first time since lifting that trophy. He will be on one of the outside tables against Si Jiahui while on the other table Cao Yupeng will look to make it through at the expense of Louis Heathcote.
Afternoon Session
The first round concludes in the afternoon session and it does so with three more matches. There is a real standout clash which will be on the main table when for the third time in as many months Neil Robertson will meet his good friend Joe Perry. They met at the UK Championship and the Scottish Open and have a win apiece so this trilogy clash could determine their bragging rights. The Gibraltar Open champion Robert Milkins is also on show in this session. He meets the amateur who reached the semi-final at the Shootout last week in Daniel Wells, while Pang Junxu meets Ross Muir in the other match.
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Evening Session
The second round gets underway in the evening session when the top half of the draw play down to the quarter final stage. The main table would usually be occupied by the highest ranked player on show but on this occasion it is the second highest ranked player who will get top billing as Jack Lisowski meets Jimmy White, who has reached the last 16 of a ranking event in his 60s. Kyren Wilson is the man who will have to make way for that one but his clash with Jimmy Robertson will get the proper treatment on Discovery Plus. The other two matches sees Tom Ford going up against Tian Pengfei and Xiao Guodong facing off against Elliot Slessor.
Betting
I’ll go with one bet on Thursday and I’ll wait until the evening session as we have players who have played a match on the tables and know a little more about the sort of form that they are in. The bet I like is for Elliot Slessor to beat Xiao Guodong. I took on Guodong on Wednesday evening and when Fan Zhengyi was 4-3 up against him I liked my chances but he bungled a promising opening in the final frame which cost me. If Slessor gets similar chances I’m not convinced he will pass them up based on show he is playing recently.
Slessor is working with Peter Ebdon and he seems to be getting the best out of all of his players at the minute. Slessor qualified for the Welsh Open next week with an emphatic 4-0 win over Dylan Emery, which might not be the best form guide in the world but in that win he ran in breaks of 142, 68, 65 and 91 which was impressive. He was no less appealing in the scoring department in a much better looking 5-2 win over Scottish Open finalist Joe O’Connor on Wednesday. His 5-2 victory included runs of 78, 86, 115 and 120 so he is clearly in a rich vein of form at the minute. Guodong missed some really easy balls against Zhengyi on Wednesday and if Slessor punishes his misses here they could come along more regularly and I fancy the Englishman is value to qualify for a first quarter final of the season.
Tips
Back E.Slessor to beat X.Guodong for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Bet365
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