Two more quarter finals take place across two sessions of play at the Players Championship in Wolverhampton on Thursday as we begin to finalise the semi-final line-up at the second Duelbits Series event of the campaign.
We have a quarter final in the afternoon and one in the evening with not just places in the semi-final up for grabs but potentially spots in the Tour Championship also on the line for those who are involved on Thursday.
Afternoon Session
Joe O’Connor vs Luca Brecel
The afternoon match on Thursday sees the man who dethroned the top seed Mark Allen in the opening round in Joe O’Connor going up against a Luca Brecel who himself had a good win to start the tournament when he beat Jack Lisowski.
You have to give O’Connor credit for his win over Allen on Monday night, but we shouldn’t ignore that Allen looks to be fighting his game at the minute, whether that is down to expectation or burn out or something else. O’Connor played well in that match but I still suspect he might need to show more here. Brecel was probably involved in the match of the tournament so far when he took care of Lisowski and the Belgian was very good, arguably as good as we’ve seen him in a tournament of this stature. I heard he has both of his parents over with him this week which might be a tell in itself that he fancies the job as usually only his dad travels with him and then his mum will arrive when he makes a final. Brecel scored very well against Lisowski and will know he has a good record against O’Connor. These two have played 10 frames in their career and Brecel has won nine of them so there is something about playing him which doesn’t agree with the Englishman. I suspect it is the pressure Brecel’s mercurial play puts him under and a good start from Brecel could see him run away with this one once again.
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Evening Session
Shaun Murphy vs Ryan Day
The evening quarter final looks the pick of the two matches on Thursday as the Welsh Open finalist from last week, Shaun Murphy, looks to strengthen his claims for a place in the Tour Championship when he takes on Ryan Day who is already guaranteed his spot there.
Day had a surprisingly easier win over Chris Wakelin in the opening round than many expected him to. He didn’t play overly well though. Wakelin had chances in nearly every frame but kept breaking down between 20 and 40 and paid the price. You suspect that Murphy will gobble up those chances if they come his way with the way he is playing but on the same level, he does have a habit of allowing opponents to stay in matches longer than they deserve to be in them for. Over this distance I expect Murphy to be too good for Day based on their form over the last three months or so but I’m on Murphy outright so I’m happy to let that ride rather than back handicaps or other markets to find some value on this contest.
Tips
Back L.Brecel (-1.5 frames) to beat J.O’Connor for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
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