The qualifying competition for the Northern Ireland Open continues on Friday when another 16 players head up to Wigan looking to come out on top in their match which would send them into the opening Home Nations event of the season.
There are a couple of household names on show over the course of the day on Friday but in the main it is a chance for those lower down the rankings to earn a few quid and set themselves up for more in Belfast.
Morning Session
We’ve been used to Chinese players playing in the morning session of these qualifying events but actually the only Chinese player who was due to be on show in this one has withdrawn so there are none left. What we do have is Dave Gilbert looking to book his spot in Belfast when he takes on Ross Muir who has a chance to play in the event after Bal Langning withdrew. The other match in this morning session sees Sam Craigie going up against the Australian player Ryan Thomerson.
Early Afternoon Session
The second session sees a couple of players from Asia looking to make progress though when Noppon Saengkham from Thailand is the highest ranked player on show. He will go up against the Belgian youngster Ben Mertens for a place in the main draw. The pick of the matches here though is the one which sees Jamie Clarke taking on a player in Marco Fu who is ranked way down the rankings but at his best is good enough to be skipping the qualifying altogether.
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Later Afternoon Session
This will be a session where four players way down the rankings get the chance to make progress to the main draw and potentially beyond. We see all the time in these Home Nations events that players can set themselves up for the rest of the season and Gerard Greene will certainly be wanting to do that when he takes on Barry Pinches. The other match sees the former World Seniors champion David Lilley going up against the Estonian player Andres Petrov.
Evening Session
Two more matches round off the day in the evening session with the reigning Gibraltar Open champion Robert Milkins looking to make progress through to the main draw. He has had an up and down start to the season but will be expected to beat Jenson Kendrick. The other match sees the Irish youngster Aaron Hill looking to make it through to what I guess is as good as a home event as he’s going to get. He takes on the Chinese player Zhao Jianbo who has replaced Stephen Hendry in the qualifying draw.
Betting
Aaron Hill was due to be playing Stephen Hendry in his evening session match but now he takes on the man who he beat to regain his tour card at Q-School earlier in the year in the form of Zhao Jianbo. There are some amateur top ups in these draws that you can have a bit of an advantage over but Jianbo has made it into all the tournaments so far so he isn’t one of them. His form in those events hasn’t been too bad but I actually think we might see that Q-School final form franked.
Hill started the season very well and although it has gone a little bit south since then it should be noted that the four matches he has lost this term have been to Mark Williams, Stephen Maguire, Dave Gilbert and Barry Hawkins. They are all top players in their own right and you wouldn’t necessarily expect Hill to beat them. The fact Jianbo didn’t get his tour card back highlights that he isn’t anywhere near that level although we knew that anyway. Zhao lost a 4-0 lead to Jimmy Robertson in European Masters qualifying which has to hurt so if Hill can bring the level he had at the beginning of the season he looks good value for this one.
Tips
Back A.Hill to beat Z.Jianbo for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with William Hill
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