The first round of the World Championship concludes and the second round begins on a truncated day on the green baize at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Thursday.
With the tables being recovered the morning session is taken out of play on Thursday but the two sessions that do go ahead are full of quality and in terms of the two outstanding first round matches at least, should be full of drama too.
Wednesday recap
As we suspected, Wednesday was one of the best days in the tournament so far. The match between Martin Gould and Ding Junhui was a great match. Gould duly nailed a first session century to bring in our bet on that match but it was Ding who moved on to the second round with a 10-8 win.
Elsewhere there were good wins for Barry Hawkins, a 10-5 winner against Anda Zhang, and Mark Allen who never lost a single frame he played on Wednesday. He saw off Mitchell Mann 10-3 and is into the second round.
Two matches began which never ended. Liang Wenbo flew out of the traps with two centuries in the first two frames against Judd Trump and he pushed on from there too, finishing the session 6-3 up. He is now a warm favourite to progress on Thursday and the way the first session went I couldn’t disagree with that but if Judd has a response in him that game could come to a wonderful conclusion.
Joe Perry and Kyren Wilson played out an excellent first nine frames where there was one of the two centuries we were looking for in the match and eight other 50+ breaks. The scoring was great there and Wilson will resume on Thursday night with a 5-4 lead.
Everything we saw on Wednesday evening suggests this is going to be a real battle to the line on Thursday night. Both players looked in great form and this promises to be a great match from here on in. Wilson has the edge but Perry didn’t do a whole lot wrong.
You can get 10/11 on this one going over 17.5 frames from here and I must admit I don’t see how it doesn’t based on the first session. Both are filling their boots when they get the chance while both are creating their chances too so I’m expecting this match to continue in the same vein as it began. Assuming it does this will finish 10-8 or even 10-9 either way.
Anthony McGill vs Marco Fu
The second round begins with a clash between Anthony McGill and Marco Fu. For me these were two of the better performers in the first round and if they haven’t lost any of their form over the few days off then this best of 25 frame clash should be both tight and full of quality.
Both men produced a raft of breaks in their opening wins. Anthony McGill powered away from a classy Shaun Murphy in their second session and the fact he held himself together at the end bodes well while Peter Ebdon said Marco Fu played the best anyone has ever played against him in their match which also bodes well.
I’m going to see how the first session plays out and reassess later in terms of betting on the match but one bet I am happy to go at from the off is the centuries where a 2.5 line doesn’t look nearly high enough to me.
Both men made two centuries in their first round wins and there were plenty more breaks there that should have been centuries too. Although some of these frames could get tactical their safety games are so good they can play with the reds open. I’m expecting an average of a century a session here.
Ali Carter vs Alan McManus
If there are such a thing as giant killers in this year’s World Championship then these two are two of them and they meet for a place in the quarter final.
The two set off on Thursday evening and will finish on Saturday so both will have to sustain their form for quite a while. This is one of the harder matches of the entire week to play but they are experienced enough to overcome that.
Ali Carter had a great win over Stuart Bingham in the first round. Everyone mentions the curse of the champion but in doing that they forget just how well Carter played in the match. He had a century and five more breaks over 50 in what was a good win.
Alan McManus generally scored well against Stephen Maguire but he admitted himself that he was feeling it when his opponent was coming back at him. In the end he didn’t need to worry because Maguire was his own worst enemy and gifted McManus with the chances he needed. I’m not sure Carter will be so friendly.
These two met here last year and Carter won 10-5 and while McManus might be able to stay a little closer I’m not sure he’ll be able to get really close. Carter has a really good all round game and I sensed a real bit between his teeth in the first round. He’s in this to win and I don’t expect the foot to come off the gas here. McManus might stay close early on but I don’t see him winning more than 10 frames come the end.
Tips
WON – Back J.Perry vs K.Wilson – Over 17.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Paddy Power
Back it here:
Back A.McGill vs M.Fu – Over 2.5 centuries for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Bwin
Back it here:
Back A.Carter (-2.5 frames) to beat A.McManus for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back it here:
