The opening day of the International Championship in China sees the held over matches from the qualifying played along with the wildcard matches and the beginning of the first round games in what is a busy day in the lucrative event.
It might be the first day of competition out in China but the big names take to the baize right from the start which should make for a great day. Another thing that will make for an exciting day is the fact all the matches are the best of 11 frames.
Morning Session
Eight matches kick us off on the opening day with the two televised matches being the first round games between Akani Songsermsawad and Marco Fu and the Robin Hull vs Shaun Murphy clash.
On the outside tables there are two wildcard matches as Ian Burns faces Yuan Sijun while Ross Muir takes on Zhang Jiankang. The other first round matches in this session sees Jak Jones face Jimmy Robertson, Martin Gould plays Mark Joyce, Anthony McGill goes up against Zhou Yuelong and Matthew Stevens faces Chris Wakelin.
Afternoon Session
Two of the held over matches from the qualifying round dictate terms on the TV tables in this session as the defending champion John Higgins begins his title defence against Sydney Wilson while the world champion Mark Selby meets Paul Davison.
On the other tables there are a couple of decent looking matches for this stage in the tournament. Kurt Maflin takes on Matt Selt who won a tournament in China last week while Zhao Xintong against Tom Ford should see plenty of attacking snooker played. Last year’s beaten finalist Dave Gilbert takes on James Wattana while Michael White faces Sam Baird. There is a wildcard match between Tian Pengfei and Chen Zifan while back in the first round Fergal O’Brien takes on Graeme Dott.
Evening Session
The first round is the centre of attention on the televised tables in this session too as Neil Robertson takes on Oliver Lines on one and Ding Junhui playing Mitchell Mann in a held over match on the other table.
Away from the cameras Stephen Maguire plays Rod Lawler while Jamie Jones meets Michael Holt. Luca Brecel and Dominic Dale face off in the first round and Ali Carter plays Robbie Williams. In the other held over game Liang Wenbo takes on Mei Xiwen in an all-Chinese battle while the last wildcard match sees Wang Yuchen taking on Xu Si.
Betting
There are three bets I like in this session. None of them are on the TV tables so we’ll be reduced to the live scoring service to follow these bets for those who are up in the early hours.
Matthew Stevens remains a capable snooker player but he no longer has anything that scares opponents and when he isn’t completely on song he is vulnerable to most players these days. He is particularly vulnerable against form players and there’s no doubt he faces one of those in Chris Wakelin.
Wakelin’s English Open campaign might have ended in heartache with a good beating in the quarter final against Stuart Bingham but he should have taken a lot from his run to that stage where he saw off Ronnie O’Sullivan and Anthony McGill and you don’t beat either of those if you can’t play the game. I’m expecting him to build on that and at odds against he looks a solid bet here.
The last two bets are on handicaps and the first of them is on a man who impressed me in Manchester a couple of weeks ago in Matt Selt. He faces a Kurt Maflin who hasn’t done a huge amount since the World Open in July.
Selt looks like he is finding his form and with the big tournaments coming I don’t think that is a surprise. Selt’s performance against Joe Perry in the English Open caught the eye and having won a low key event in China last week he’s clearly in a good place right now. Over this distance I think Selt will have a bit too much for Maflin.
Finally I like Stephen Maguire in his match against Rod Lawler. The last time Maguire was in China he made the semi-final of the Shanghai Masters, that comes just a few months after he made the semi-finals of the China Open so he clearly enjoys it out in China.
Rod Lawler is one of those annoying players who is effective as a spoiler but is rarely going to win an open match and with the way Stephen Maguire is playing I feel for the Scouser here. Maguire might have gone out in the second round in Manchester but his clash with Ryan Day was top quality. If he attacks the table and scores like he did in that match here he should cruise through.
Tips
Back C.Wakelin to beat M.Stevens for a 4/10 stake at 2.30 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back M.Selt (-1.5 frames) to beat K.Maflin for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfred
WON – Back S.Maguire (-2.5 frames) to beat R.Lawler for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfred
Back them here:
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