The Masters might be getting the majority of the snooker attention this week but those not fortunate enough to be competing at Alexandra Palace will head to Barnsley for Welsh Open qualifying which begins on Wednesday.
As with all of the other Home Nations tournaments the players involved will have to win one match to make it through to the main draw next month. While the big names are absent, some recognisable players are still on show.
Morning Session
One of those is Jimmy White who takes time away from the Eurosport studio to look to book his spot in the main draw when he takes on Craig Steadman in the morning session. The highest ranked player on show first up on the day is the Scottish Open finalist Joe O’Connor. He has a meeting with Muhammad Asif to overcome. The other two matches in the morning sees Thepchaiya Un-Nooh looking to make another main draw when he meets Ken Doherty while Daniel Wells will be hoping to qualify for his home tournament when he faces Dechawat Poomjaeng.
Early Afternoon Session
Four matches form the early part of the afternoon schedule with Anthony McGill comfortably the biggest name on show. The Scot will have been wanting to be at Alexandra Palace but has to make do with a match in Barnsley which comes against Lukas Kleckers. Yuan Sijun is the next highest ranked player on show in the early part of the afternoon. He meets Peter Lines while we also have a battle between Ryan Thomerson and Andrew Pagett, the latter of whom will be looking to qualify for his home event. Dean Young meets Gerard Greene in the other game.
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Late Afternoon Session
Jimmy Robertson is a ranking event winner in the past and he bids to set up the chance for a tilt at another title when he goes up against Mohamed Ibrahim in a clash he is a very warm favourite to come through in. He is the highest ranked player on show in the third session of the day with the home player Jamie Jones not far behind him. He’ll be extra motivated to get the better of Rod Lawler while elsewhere in this part of the day Mark Joyce meets Himanshu Jain and Mark Davis faces Chris Wakelin.
Evening Session
There is a really juicy match in the evening session to enjoy. That sees the Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson looking to continue what has been a good season for himself when he meets the former world champion Graeme Dott who will be looking to spark his into life. Tom Ford is also on show in the evening session when he takes on Aaron Hill. The other two matches sees Zak Surety playing Hammad Miah and Jenson Kendrick plays Andy Lee.
Betting
Chris Wakelin had a good start to his week when he qualified for the 6 Red World Championship in Thailand and I think he can reach the final stages of another tournament at the expense of Mark Davis on Wednesday afternoon. Qualifying for the 6 Red tournament won’t just have given Wakelin some needed confidence but also plenty of time on the table and he beat Gary Wilson along the way to further boost his morale heading into this one.
Wakelin has also qualified for the German Masters next month so he is getting used to coming through these matches. That is not the case with Davis who has only made it through to the English Open this season and he lost in the first round of that tournament so his form is not where he would like it to be even allowing for the fact he beat Judd Trump before being knocked out in the German Masters qualifying earlier in the season. There aren’t many match wins on the Davis CV this term and I don’t think he’ll get one against a rejuvenated Wakelin either.
Tips
Back C.Wakelin to beat M.Davis for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Coral
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