The first round of the UK Championship concludes on Thursday as the remaining 24 matches are played across three sessions at the Barbican Centre in York.
The second round of the tournament is where the TV cameras begin to show the event so the reward for the winners is a spot in the limelight so there is plenty to play for.
Some of the game’s biggest stars are on show on Thursday and they will all be wary of an upset after seeing Ding Junhui knocked out in sensational style on Tuesday night. Among those looking to get through are Neil Robertson, Mark Selby and Mark Allen.
Mark Allen is the headline attraction in the morning session. He faces a particularly tricky test against the Chinese youngster Zhao Xintong. Xintong is making an impression in the Chinese events and now he gets his chance to do the same in the UK. Despite the youngster’s talent it would be a major surprise if Allen doesn’t triumph. That said as has been the case all week big handicaps are of little interest to me.
There is one bet that I like in the morning session and it comes in the match between Dechawat Poomjaeng and Chris Melling. Poomjaeng will forever be remembered for his exploits at the Crucible a couple of years ago but he is enigmatic and very inconsistent.
Melling may be primarily a pool player but he can still score well on the snooker table. Given that Poomjaeng isn’t the heaviest scorer Melling will get his chances. At 5/2 I think it is worth paying to see how many of those chances he can take.
The big names keep coming in the afternoon as the last two world champions get their campaigns underway. Mark Selby takes on Joe O’Connor whilst Stuart Bingham faces the amateur Jordan Brown. Once again it would be a major surprise if either are beaten but again both have big handicaps to overcome.
Instead better bets come on the outside tables as has been the case all week. Anthony Hamilton is a 50/50 rated chance to beat Peter Lines but I’m not sure that’s the case. At his very best Hamilton is as heavy a scorer as there is but we haven’t seen his best for quite a few months.
Peter Lines is a solid player without being too flashy but he often gets the job done especially in the early stages of a tournament. This is a local event for him so he may well have some support in the crowd and he will want to give that support something to cheer about. At the prices Lines looks the call here.
Neil Robertson has to wait until the final session of the first round to launch his title tilt. Alex Taubman will be opposing him but again the big name has a big handicap to overcome.
While that match is going on plenty of focus will be on the next table as the evergreen Jimmy White attempts to cause a major upset when he takes on Scotland’s Stephen Maguire. Maguire is a warm favourite and whilst White may win a couple of frames anything else is surely beyond him.
In truth there are a lot of short priced favourites in the evening session and nothing stands out from a betting point of view so I will stick with the two bets from earlier in the day to conclude my first round betting.
Back C.Melling to beat D.Poomjaeng for a 3/10 stake at 3.50 with Titanbet
Back P.Lines to beat A.Hamilton for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Sportingbet
