The last 16 of the Shanghai Masters was very dramatic but at the end of it we are left with four decent looking quarter finals, all of which will be played across two sessions of action on Friday.
The big names continued to fall on Thursday with John Higgins and Shaun Murphy two world champions to have headed for the exit door. They were beaten by Martin Gould and Mark Davis respectively.
The likes of Judd Trump, Mark Williams, Ding Junhui and the reigning world champion Stuart Bingham all managed to come through unscathed and they take their place in the quarter finals on Friday.
The early session sees Stuart Bingham taking on Martin Gould while on the other table Trump faces Mark Williams in two appealing matches. I fancy Trump and Williams to be quite a close match and I wouldn’t be surprised if a deciding frame is needed.
Three of their last five have gone the distance and there was a 4-2 in there as well so everything suggests this should be close so I’ll take over 7.5 frames there.
In the other match of the session I’ve a liking for Martin Gould these days. Gould has always been a solid player but sometimes lacked a bit of consistency and his shot selection sometimes didn’t help him but he’s found that consistency now and he reins himself in a little bit more and the results have been there for all to see.
He has made the final of the Australian Open where he lost in a deciding frame to John Higgins but he’s got his revenge against him this week already and will be full of confidence here.
Bingham is the current world champion and the defending champion here but he hasn’t been at his best so far this season. This is probably the best he’s looked this week but I’m not sure he’s done much other than take advantage of a weak part of the draw. He’ll need to play better to win here but Gould looks in great nick right now and I’ll take him to get it done in that one.
In the later session Ding Junhui continues his quest to land another Chinese title when he takes on the improving youngster Kyren Wilson and on the other table Mark Davis takes on Mark Allen.
I’m already effectively on Allen at 5/1 in that match having taken him to win the quarter and I’m happy to let that ride. I would think Ding will see off Wilson but I don’t like taking handicaps on him in China because of the pressure he is always under so I’ll stick with a couple of bets on the early matches and hope Allen comes through later on.
Back J.Trump vs M.Williams – Over 7.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Paddy Power
Back M.Gould to beat S.Bingham for a 4/10 stake at 2.50 with Stan James
Blog snooker YTD: +45.49pts
