With the big tournaments around the corner we’re getting into the stage of the season where some important qualifying events take place and one such competition begins on Wednesday when the International Championship qualifiers take up four days of playing time.
The next four days will see 60 matches take place in Barnsley with the winner of each best of 11 frames booking a seat on the plane to China for the final stages of probably the biggest overseas tournament that there is on the snooker calendar.
Some big names are in action on the opening day on Wednesday as the former world champion Mark Selby looks to book his place to China. Mark Allen, Mark Williams and Michael White also bid to qualify in Wednesday’s play.
In normal circumstances Mark Selby would cruise past Eden Sharav but he’s had a few personal issues going on which saw him pull out of the Shanghai Masters recently. Mark Allen and Mark Williams should also enjoy easy passages through.
There are a couple of closer looking matches on the Wednesday schedule. Sam Baird takes on Zhou Yuelong, Joe Swail goes up against Allan Taylor and Cao Yupeng plays Liam Highfield in matches which could go either way.
I’m going to go with a couple of bets on Wednesday, both on players who should come through routine missions involving the recent Shanghai Masters winner Kyren Wilson and last year’s Indian Open winner Michael White.
Kyren Wilson plays Malaysia’s Thor Chuan Leong and that is a match which should be relatively comfortable for the Englishman. Leong is making his way in the game but he was second best in almost all of his group matches in the Six Red World Championship recently and that isn’t the best form guide.
Wilson showed in Shanghai that his all round game is in excellent nick and this is a big game for him because a big result in this tournament could seal a Masters berth in the New Year. I don’t expect Wilson to slip up. In fact I expect him to coast into the final stages.
White plays Alfie Burden for the right to qualify for the final event. Burden has been going through some tough times on the table at the minute and has vented his frustrations on twitter recently so he might struggle in this game.
White is improving all the time these days and as a tournament winner he is established in the game now. He is teetering on the edge of the top 16 so needs a couple of decent results to ensure he stays there ahead of The Masters. That can start with a comfortable win here.
Back K.Wilson (-2.5 frames) to beat T.Chuan Leong for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with Coral
Back M.White (-2.5 frames) to beat A.Burden for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Coral
Blog snooker YTD: +39.49pts
