The World Championship snooker continues on Monday with three more sessions of drama and tension filled action as the first round goes beyond the half way mark. Some big names are in action over the course of the day including no fewer than five former champions.
Sunday review
It was another good day for our bets on Sunday as Dave Gilbert landed a century in the first session of his match with Ronnie O’Sullivan to make it three wins from three settled bets in the tournament for us so far.
That frame was one of three Gilbert won on the day but he deserved much more than that. For seven frames he outplayed O’Sullivan but it is hard to see him winning from 6-3 down when the two resume on Monday morning.
Seeds are biting the dust quite regularly in this tournament. Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy both followed Stuart Bingham out of the event on Sunday and two more, Ricky Walden and Michael White, will have to come from behind in their second sessions on Monday if they are to progress to the second round.
Both trail Robbie Williams and Sam Baird 5-4 respectively but neither played badly so there is every chance of a couple of turnarounds but both are still favourites and of little value in truth so I’ll keep my powder dry.
The other match carried over from Sunday to finish on Monday sees Mark Williams 7-2 up on Graeme Dott. The concern for Dott was that Williams wasn’t at his best but you could tell quite early on that 7-2 was on the cards. Dott didn’t score heavily enough and Williams picked him off. I give Dott no chance of a comeback on Monday afternoon.
John Higgins vs Ryan Day
The first of the two matches to set off on its journey on Monday is a potential cracker in the morning session when John Higgins takes on the extremely dangerous Ryan Day for the right to face either Ricky Walden or Robbie Williams.
Day has surprisingly won the last three meetings between these two although two of them were in a deciding frame which highlights that there isn’t a huge amount between these two. One thing there is between the two is World Championship winning experience and Higgins can ride off that but I think this will be a close match.
I also think there will be some centuries scored in this match. The two men met at the World Grand Prix in Llandudno last month and Day won 4-3 but they made three centuries between them in that match. Both men are heavy scorers who are proficient in clearing up the table and in a close match they should get plenty of frames to score big in. I’m loving over 1.5 tons here.
Mark Selby vs Robert Milkins
If there was one match in this draw which was clouded in unknowns it was this one. Mark Selby has pulled out of his last couple of tournaments and everything seemed a little strange around that while Milkins has had an awful season but can take some comfort from putting together three wins to qualify for this tournament.
With everything going on with the two players I’m reluctant to guess how this one is going to go. Instead I will have a watch of the first session in the afternoon and assess things after that and see if there is betting potential ahead of the second session.
Tips
WON – Back J.Higgins vs R.Day – Over 1.5 centuries for a 5/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back it here:
