The penultimate day of the qualifying competition for the Welsh Open takes place on Saturday when another 16 players take to the baize inside the Aldersley Arena in Wolverhampton looking for the four frames they need to qualify for the main event.
The top 16 in the world rankings when the cut off for this event came about are all saved for the main venue but we have a couple of big names on show on Saturday as the competition comes alive a little.
Morning Session
The former UK Championship semi-finalist David Grace is the highest ranked player in the first session of the day. He hasn’t had the best season with Covid getting in the way at times but he can still finish it well. He’ll be looking for a spot in the Welsh Open when he goes up against Zhao Jianbo. The other match sees Chris Wakelin looking to make it through to the main draw. He takes on the dangerous youngster Aaron Hill.
Early Afternoon Session
The second session of the day is an all-Asian one with four stars from that part of the world on show. Ding Junhui is dropping down the rankings like a stone so he’ll be looking to show his class when he takes on the competent youngster Gao Yang in what is probably a big clash for the underdog. The other match sees the Thai star Noppon Saengkham on show when he takes on the slightly less entertaining Chinese player Tian Pengfei.
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Later Afternoon Session
Matt Selt is a former ranking event winner and he will get his quest for another title underway in the second of the afternoon sessions. Selt has had a decent enough season so far without really going deep in an event and he’ll look to make it into the main draw at the expense of the Chinese player Xu Si. It is another Chinese player who will be favoured to come through in the other match in this session as Li Hang takes to the baize. He meets Louis Heathcote in one of the better matches of the earlier part of the day.
Evening Session
Some standout performers are on show in the evening session on Saturday. The highest ranked player is the former ranking event finalist Jack Lisowski. He is in a bit of a battle to avoid having to qualify for the World Championship so his match with Stuart Carrington could have a big impact on the remainder of the season. The other match sees the Championship League winner Dave Gilbert taking on a Joe Perry whose best days are probably behind him but who can still deliver some decent snooker when the mood takes him.
Betting
Louis Heathcote was built up of someone with a lot of promise a couple of seasons ago but I think it is fair to suggest that he hasn’t lived up to that billing since then and only kept his tour card on the basis that he was one of the better players outside the top 64 in the one year rankings last year. He has only won four matches since the Championship League this season however and hasn’t beaten anyone ranked higher than Lee Walker who was ranked 84 in the world at the time they met.
He goes up against someone a lot better than that in Li Hang, a player who himself isn’t having a brilliant season but I’m sure he will have seen what Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao are doing this term and draw inspiration from that. We saw at the Scottish Open that Li Hang hasn’t lost any of his ability and with the exception of the Turkish Masters where rust might have been a thing against an opponent who had played a fair bit prior to the match, it has generally taken a good player to beat the man from China. Heathcote isn’t fitting the bill in that regard so I expect Li Hang to win this with a bit to spare.
Tips
WON – Back L.Hang (-1.5 frames) to beat L.Heathcote for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
Back him here:
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