It is semi-final day at the UK Championship on Saturday as the four remaining men take to the baize inside the Barbican Centre in York to play for a place in the first Triple Crown final of the season on Sunday.
We have two qualifiers competing in the opening semi-final of the day and then the second clash will be between two members of the top 16 who are among the most watchable players in the game, so we are nicely teed up for an exciting day of snooker.
Afternoon Session
Tom Ford vs Ding Junhui
Two qualifiers meet in the first semi-final in what is a huge opportunity for both players to do the world of good to their world ranking when Tom Ford looks for a place in a first Triple Crown final as he takes on the three-time winner of this tournament in Ding Junhui.
Ding has played incredibly well in this tournament and while a 6-0 score against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter final flattered him a bit because the world champion gave up at 3-0, he scored very well and that has been a feature of his campaign. Ford hasn’t scored as well but when he has been in the balls he has shown good signs himself and you sense he is finally ready to take the next step in his career so we should be in for a really good semi-final here. My instinct tells me that we might well go deep in this semi-final but I’m a little wary that Ford isn’t a regular at this stage and that might see Ding through a little more comfortable than expected. I’m happy to take a watching brief here.
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Evening Session
Mark Allen vs Jack Lisowski
The second semi-final looks like it could be an absolute pearler of a clash between two real class acts as the Northern Ireland Open champion Mark Allen takes on one of the most talented players in the game in Jack Lisowski.
Lisowski played well prior to his quarter final against Shaun Murphy but he took his form to a whole new level in that match when he made four straight centuries in one of the best performances for quite some time in a 6-1 demolition of the Magician. Allen probably played his best match of the tournament in defeating Sam Craigie in the quarter final. He made a couple of centuries and could have made a third so we are all set up for a really high quality semi-final here. Interestingly, Lisowski leads 5-1 on the head to head but three of their last four meetings have gone to a deciding frame and one of their earlier matches finished 4-2 so as you would expect with two heavy scorers on show matches between the pair are generally tight. I don’t see anything changing here so I like the 10/11 on over 9.5 frames.
Tips
Back M.Allen vs J.Lisowski – Over 9.5 frames for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
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