The second day of action at the Players Championship contains two sessions of play as the middle of the three Cazoo Series events continues inside the Alderley Arena in Wolverhampton on a Tuesday which is one of the highest profile days of the year.
Much will be made of the heavyweight clash in the evening session between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump but there are three other tournament winners this season on show on a brilliant looking card.
Afternoon Session
Zhao Xintong vs Barry Hawkins
The main table action on Tuesday afternoon sees the number one seed Zhao Xintong beginning his quest for an incredible third title on the season when he takes on the man he beat in the semi-final of the UK Championship in Barry Hawkins.
Hawkins has since been to the final of The Masters so he is clearly in a decent groove right now even allowing for the fact he was beaten in the qualifying competition for the Turkish Masters last week. Xintong has also been in excellent form though. Since these two met at the UK Championship he has won the German Masters and continues to ooze class. He fluffed his lines at the World Grand Prix and The Masters when on centre stage but I sense he’ll be ready to get the job done here. The one doubt comes over the conditions which were extremely tough on Monday and that would probably favour Hawkins you would think. That puts me off getting involved in this one.
Dave Gilbert vs Yan Bingtao
There is a huge match over on Table Two on Tuesday afternoon as Dave Gilbert takes on Yan Bingtao not just for the right to take on the winner of the match on the other table in the quarter final but also with Tour Championship qualifying potential in mind too.
Gilbert has won a tournament this season having landed the first of the two Championship League titles whereas the best Bingtao has done in an event is reach the final of the German Masters, an experience he will be eager to forget after he lost to his friend Zhao Xintong 9-0. On the way to that final though Yan beat Gilbert in the last 16 5-3, which was the second time this season the Chinese ace has beaten Gilbert after he won 4-2 at the English Open. I think he’ll complete the hat trick of successes this season too because Gilbert likes to play a flowing game but I’m not convinced that will be possible in these sluggish conditions. Bingtao is happy to grind out his wins and is very competent at it. Coming from China he’ll be accustomed to heavy conditions so I think he can win this one with a bit to spare too.
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Evening Session
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Judd Trump
The headline match in the evening session is the pick of the first round ties as the World Grand Prix champion Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on Judd Trump in what should be a cracking contest with Neil Robertson waiting for the winner in the quarter final.
It goes without saying that this will be the contest on the main table between two men who have competed in every final of this tournament since it was switched to a part of the Cazoo Series. Trump is a favourite to win this match and that will be because he leads the way in the head to head record but he hasn’t been anything like the dominant animal he has been over the last 2-3 seasons this term. O’Sullivan has been the better player of the two and he might find the tougher conditions more to his liking with the way he makes the cue ball talk but this was never going to be a match to bet on. This is one to enjoy and savour.
Mark Allen vs Ricky Walden
The match on the other table on Tuesday evening is a repeat of the semi-final from the Northern Ireland Open as Mark Allen, the eventual winner of that competition, takes on Ricky Walden in what should be another decent contest.
These two men were the losing semi-finalists in the German Masters recently so they are both in good form and that makes me think that we could be in for a very good clash here, one which could even go the distance. The conditions will be interesting here. Allen likes to use a jabby cue action but we saw on the opening night that you have to hit through the ball more in these conditions. That might suit Walden more and he is certainly in decent form without much to lose in this match given where his career was a couple of years ago with all the injuries and everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if Walden wins this but I’m not in a rush to oppose Allen, especially if conditions have improved by this time so I’ll leave this one alone.
Tips
WON – Back Y.Bingtao (-1.5 frames) to beat D.Gilbert for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
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