There are 20 matches in the Indian Open on Wednesday as the first round concludes in Hyderabad and the tournament begins to pick up the pace. With so many matches going ahead there are some big names involved throughout the course of the two sessions on the second day of action out in India.
Morning Session
12 of the matches are in the morning session with three matches scheduled on each of the four tables. The pick of the matches is the one between Ricky Walden and Nigel Bond while Mark Williams is sure to get plenty of attention when he takes on Zhang Yong.
Among the other recognisable names on show in the morning session are Dominic Dale who faces Fraser Patrick, Ryan Day who takes on John Astley and the biggest name on show in the morning Shaun Murphy who has a testing one against the talented Welshman, Daniel Wells.
Sam Baird, Jack Lisowski, Mark Davis and Matthew Selt are all in action at various times in the morning too as is Anthony Hamilton who took out the defending champion in a qualifying match which was held over to the main venue on Tuesday.
Afternoon Session
Just the eight matches are scheduled for the afternoon on Wednesday but there is no shortage of big names. The biggest of them all is Peter Ebdon. He takes on the Chinese talent Zhou Yuelong while Marco Fu and Stephen Maguire are in action in the second set of afternoon games.
Fu has a clash with the Pakistan player Hamza Akbar while Maguire has a real banana skin match against the very capable Alfie Burden. Barry Hawkins is another top 16 player on show in the afternoon session when he faces Ashley Hugill. Our other outright Anthony McGill is also on show.
Betting
There is one match I’m interested in from a betting point of view in the morning which is the battle of the talented young guns Sam Baird and Jack Lisowski. Lisowski is a real talent but he is very inconsistent as we’ve seen throughout his career. I guess you could say the same about Baird but the penny looked to have dropped with him at Sheffield and I expect a decent campaign from him this year.
Bookmakers have this 50/50 in places with some heavily leaning towards Lisowski but I have it the other way. I make Baird the favourite in this match. Both can score really well but I just give Baird the edge in the tactical department and having been left wanting more from the World Championship that motivation could be crucial here.
Another match the bookies have at 50/50 is the one between Peter Ebdon and Zhou Yuelong in the afternoon but I don’t see it like that. These two met twice last season and Ebdon won on both occasions and that doesn’t surprise me.
Yuelong, as with all young guns, likes to get into a rhythm and get the balls open and make big breaks but Ebdon forces you into the opposite. He grinds away, makes the balls go scrappy and lures you into his sort of match and that is exactly what I expect him to do here.
I’m firmly on the side of experience here with the canny Ebdon the pick to prevail at a price much bigger than I would personally have him and that he should be based on their two previous meetings which were both recent enough to be significant.
Tips
WON – Back S.Baird to beat J.Lisowski for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with 888sport
Back him here:
WON – Back P.Ebdon to beat Z.Yuelong for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back him here:
