The second round of the World Championship qualifying continues on Thursday with another eight players getting their quest to get to the Crucible Theatre underway on a day which is going to see disappointment for 16 players.
Those who come through on Thursday will be just two wins away from a place in the main draw so things are getting serious now. We’ve seen plenty of tension and drama so far and there is no need to think we’ll get any different on Thursday.
Wednesday Recap
The big match on Wednesday was won by James Cahill when he overcame Stephen Hendry 10-4 in a match where Hendry couldn’t buy a decent safety shot. Ben Mertens was our outright pick on show on the day and he saw off Victor Sarkis 10-3. Zak Surety overcame Farakh Ajaib 10-6 while it was a frame easier for Ken Doherty against Reanne Evans. Liam Davies was one amateur who came through on Wednesday when he beat Fergal O’Brien 10-8 while Michael Holt overcame Ng On Yee by the same score. Ian Martin took care of Ryan Thomerson and Ashley Hugill saw off George Pragnell by the same 10-8 margin.
Morning Session
Eight more matches begin in the morning session and then they will conclude in the evening. As has been the case all week, four of those matches will be on the live streamed tables with Jak Jones on the main one of those. He meets Adam Duffy for a spot in the third round. His fellow Welsh player Dominic Dale will look to go a step closer to the Crucible when he meets Asjad Iqbal while on the other two streamed tables Alexander Ursenbacher faces Alfie Burden and Stuart Carrington meets Iulian Boiko.
The other four matches take place on the tables without the streamed cameras on them. Si Jiahui meets the Austrian player Florian Nuessle while Michael White is in an appealing match against the Irish player Aaron Hill. The other two matches sees Wu Yize going up against an Allan Taylor who was on easy street in the opening round of the competition. Two veterans meet elsewhere when Gerard Greene begins his tournament against David Lilley.
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Afternoon Session
There was a lot of hope and expectation around Jimmy White heading into the first session of his match with Martin O’Donnell on Wednesday afternoon but things didn’t go to plan and he’ll come back trailing 7-2 when they resume on Thursday afternoon. Elsewhere on the streamed tables Ben Woollaston and Daniel Wells are locked at 4-4, Zhang Anda is cruising against Stan Moody leading 8-1 overnight while Mark Joyce will resume leading 7-2 over Anton Kazakov.
Three of the four matches away from the streamed cameras are very tight with 5-4 scores in each. Andy Hicks had the advantage over Jamie O’Neill in one of those matches while Haydon Pinhey takes on Peter Lines in another. The other one sees the impressive Dylan Emery 5-4 up on Ian Burns in what is turning into a good match. The other game will see Craig Steadman coming back for the final session against John Astley trailing 6-3.
Betting
There is a mixture of odds available for the match which concludes in the afternoon session between Peter Lines and Haydon Pinhey with most bookmakers having Pinhey as a favourite to convert his 5-4 lead while some still have Lines as the favourite even though he has to come from a frame down. I suspect those who have Lines as a favourite are taking that stance because he is the professional and Pinhey is the amateur.
That is a fair call but Lines has won two matches all season and now has to chase a game from behind. Pinhey has already seem off Dean Young in this campaign and a couple of weeks ago he beat Luca Brecel and Elliot Slessor at the WST Classic so he came in here in good form. He might feel he didn’t maximise the opportunity he had on Wednesday afternoon having led 5-4 only to be pulled back to 5-4 but Pinhey is the only man with a break over 50 in the opening session and I’ve got to think if he can start well on Thursday afternoon he’ll grow in confidence as Lines weakens and so the even money on Pinhey is too good to refuse.
Tips
Back H.Pinhey to beat P.Lines for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfred
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