The last 32 of the UK Championship begins on Monday and the tournament really starts to get serious from here on in as there is no more action in the Sports Hall. Everyone is inside the main Barbican Centre which gives the event an extra element to it.
The TV cameras are firmly ensconced in the arena but that hasn’t stopped the likes of Barry Hawkins, Mark Williams, Ricky Walden and Joe Perry biting the dust in the second round. Ding aside the pre-event favourites have all made it safely through.
The afternoon session on Monday is full of quality and sees the current world champion Stuart Bingham in action. He takes on the former world title holder Peter Ebdon.
Usually matches between these two are quite tight. Their last three in proper competitions have gone to a deciding frame but whether Ebdon has much left in him to keep this one close remains to be seen. He only came past Dominic Dale in something of a marathon at gone 1am on Monday morning and he’s back on less than 12hrs later – not ideal.
That said Bingham hasn’t been playing brilliantly coming into the tournament so I’m reluctant to back him on a handicap so the match might be best left alone in the end.
The match on the other TV table is certainly one to get involved in though. It sees John Higgins taking on Ali Carter and it has all the makings of being a cracking match.
Higgins has looked in good form all season but Carter has shown he’s here with his best game in the opening two rounds so I’m expecting a high quality confrontation between these two experienced players.
I’d be surprised if Higgins isn’t too strong for Carter but the Englishman is getting in from distance and his safety play has been good and I fancy him to take this beyond the 9.5 frames.
The other two matches in the afternoon sees Jamie Burnett taking on Li Hang in a match between two men who have played well in the tournament so far while Matt Selt faces Robbie Williams in one where neither have looked great. Both offer little interest from a betting point of view.
Moving into the evening and the main event is the match between Mark Selby and Jamie Jones. These two met in Australia earlier in the season when Jones was an emphatic winner but I would be surprised if Selby doesn’t get his own back this time.
Selby hasn’t lost a frame in this tournament yet and while Jones is a major step up on what he’s faced so far the world number one has looked good in the tournament. Even so I respect Jones enough not to go against him on a handicap.
I nearly took Luca Brecel on a handicap against Robin Hull but the Finn is someone I rate and I wouldn’t be surprised if he keeps that closer than needed. Brecel is still young too and might not be the most reliable yet but there is one I like in the evening.
Joe Swail has done well to come this far but he was anything but convincing in his win over Adam Duffy in the previous round and I think that he has met his match against Michael Holt here.
Holt showed good composure in the second round on Sunday and mentioned afterwards the positive effect Terry Griffiths is having on his game. That is a confidence I like and while it would be nice to see Swail have another run in a big event I suspect his time is up here with Holt winning with plenty to spare.
Back A.Carter vs J.Higgins – Over 9.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.25 with Paddy Power
Back M.Holt (-1.5 frames) to beat J.Swail for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with Sportingbet
Blog snooker YTD: +114.94pts
