It is quarter finals day at the Northern Ireland Open on Friday with all four matches taking place across two sessions of play on what should be a wonderful day of snooker action inside the Watefront Hall in Belfast.
We have two very juicy quarter finals to enjoy over the course of the day and then two where there is an opportunity for a class act to fulfil their potential as we start to move towards the business end of the first Home Nations event of the season.
Afternoon Session
Dave Gilbert vs Zhou Yuelong
The opening quarter final will see two men who probably should have won more than they have done doing battle when the former Championship League winner Dave Gilbert takes on a Zhou Yuelong who hopes this week will be the one where he wins his first ranking title.
Both these men have been in good nick this week. Gilbert has taken care of Noppon Saengkham and Tom Ford while Yuelong has taken out Shaun Murphy and Robert Milkins so both will be feeling good about things. I would imagine the winner of this one will be the one who settles on the main table the quickest so it might be an advantage for Zhou that he played on it on Thursday evening. This one could go either way though especially if one doesn’t settle so I’ll watch on without a bet on this one.
Neil Robertson vs Mark Selby
It doesn’t happen very often but the second quarter final sees the two men who were seeded to meet at this stage battling it out when Neil Robertson takes on Mark Selby in the pick of the quarter finals in the competition.
It goes without saying that these two are class acts and that we should expect a tough tussle. You would say Robertson is in the better place with his game overall over the last year or two but he has a terrible record in this event. Selby has a chance to show here that all his issues on the baize are a thing of the past. If he wins this match then he should get a real confidence boost. Both men have come through without really being tested yet and I’ll be interested to see how this one goes but this is a match that is easy to enjoy without a bet.
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Evening Session
Mark Allen vs Mark Williams
The main action in the evening session sees another quarter final which was seeded to happen when the draw was made taking place. That sees Mark Allen continuing his title defence when he takes on the former champion Mark Williams.
This could very easily be the pick of the matches on the day. Both men have shown good form at times this week and at other times not so good form but that is the nature of the beast. We know though that in matches of this magnitude both will bring their best form and I don’t see either going down without making a significant impression on the contest. Allen will have great support on a Friday night but Williams isn’t someone you can root against too strongly. Allen has been one of the best players of the season so far while Williams has beaten three decent players in the main draw in good style. I don’t see this one being won easily so the 17/20 on there being over 7.5 frames looks very good. This one looks to have 5-3 or 5-4 written all over it.
Lyu Haotian vs Anthony McGill
There will be one quarter final on table two on Friday evening and it sees one of the players of the season so far in action when Lyu Haotian meets Anthony McGill for the right to face the winner of the opening game of the day in the semi-final.
Haotian made the quarter final of the British Open and the final day of the Championship League so he has shown good form this term. He didn’t really show up in the last eight in Milton Keynes though which would be a concern, especially as he is facing a seasoned campaigner who isn’t shy in making the latter stages of bigger tournaments than this one. McGill has played well this week. His match with Yan Bingtao in the last 32 was probably the pick of the contests in the tournament so far and he followed that up in emphatic nature. I wouldn’t be surprised if Haotian wins this if he turns up with the form he has had for most of the season but I do make McGill a solid favourite as the odds suggest. I’ll sit this one out.
Tips
Back M.Allen vs M.Williams – Over 7.5 frames for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Betway
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