It is quarter final day at the International Championship on Thursday with all four matches taking place across two sessions of play and with every match in this tournament now being played on the main tables we’re ready for some cracking snooker.
We have just four top 16 players left in the draw and two of those play each other so there is a massive chance for someone outside the elite band to come through and make this a big week in their career.
Afternoon Session
The big match in the afternoon session sees the European Masters winner Barry Hawkins on show. He might feel like he is free rolling in this event from here on in having had to come from 5-1 down to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh to beat him in the previous round on Wednesday. Tom Ford took care of Mark Selby in the last round and he will look to see off Hawkins here. The other match in the earlier session sees Stephen Maguire looking to reach another major semi-final when he goes up against the former Welsh Open winner Jordan Brown, who had a good win over John Higgins in the last round.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for this tournament! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Evening Session
Given that three of the four top 16 players left in the tournament compete in the evening session I think we can say the better snooker has been saved for the later session. The pick of the quarter finals sees Ronnie O’Sullivan going up against Ali Carter in what should be a great match to watch. The other game sees the two remaining Chinese players left in the tournament battling it out when their superstar Ding Junhui goes up against one of their rising stars in Zhang Anda, who has gone under the radar a little this week.
Betting
I’ve already got two of these quarter finals covered in outright bets on Barry Hawkins and Ali Carter so I’m not going to go near those matches and I’m not really sold on anything in the Chinese battle between Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda which leaves the other match where Stephen Maguire takes on Jordan Brown, two players who have taken care of a number of top 16 players so far this week and who won’t want to put all that good work to waste now.
Maguire has played well for a while but when you look at the results and displays of Brown you can say the same about him. He was very impressive in beating Neil Robertson in the Northern Ireland Open and this week he has taken care of Dave Gilbert, Kyren Wilson and John Higgins. Maguire was also good in Belfast and he has ended the run of Judd Trump here and beaten Ryan Day as well. Both men are scoring well and given the opportunity in front of them I expect them both to dig in and not give up their chance without a good fight. My hunch is that Maguire wins this match but I like over 9.5 frames in this one.
Tips
Back S.Maguire vs J.Brown – Over 9.5 frames for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betway
