The qualifying tournament for the World Championship begins on Wednesday as 42 men and women look to take a step nearer the Crucible when they get their campaigns underway.
There are three sessions of action on the opening day at Ponds Forge with 10 matches commencing in the morning and concluding in the evening with 11 more starting out in the afternoon session and finishing off on Thursday.
Morning matches
The beauty of these qualifiers is the standard that is on show in them and that is highlighted right from the off as the former champion Peter Ebdon is in action right from the start. He takes on the Thai player James Wattana over the best of 19 frames and it would be hard to see Ebdon not winning that match but the odds reflect the chances.
There aren’t too many in the way of even looking matches in this session with the odds suggesting only the Ross Muir vs Sean O’Sullivan match looking remotely close. I don’t see it that way. I think Muir can come through there, certainly form would suggest he can but he does tend to take his time over things which is a concern over a day where he could have to play 19 frames so I’ll leave that alone.
The other match to Ebdon on the streamed table sees Ben Woollaston taking on Chris Wakelin. This is another match where the odds suggest the favourite, Woollaston, will have things his own way but I’m not so sure that is going to be the case.
These two have only met once which came in a European Tour event earlier in the season and that went to a deciding frame and I think Wakelin can keep this one tight. You don’t see Woollaston going through matches without a few wobbles and I’ve regularly said I see him much better over the shorter distances.
I think Wakelin is good enough to keep this close as he showed earlier in the season. You never really know which one to sway when these lengthy matches get tight especially with the pressure these qualifiers have on them but I think Wakelin can make it to seven frames before the nerves kick in.
Afternoon matches
There are more decent names in the afternoon matches but all eyes will surely be on just one match and that is the one between Jimmy White and Gerard Greene. Bookmakers make Greene a slight favourite but he hasn’t beaten a professional since the UK Championship so Jimmy might not have a better chance to progress.
That said Jimmy hasn’t been playing his best for a while so I can’t really justify a bet on him but the beauty of these afternoon matches is that they don’t finish until Thursday so we can take a watching brief on the first sessions of these games and assess them and see about a bet going into the final session.
That is the way I’m going to play most of the matches in this session especially with many of them expected to be one sided. There is every chance we’ll be able to nick a few quid on some of the handicaps when we’ve seen how a session has been played but there is one match I can’t avoid a bet on before the off.
That comes in the Rod Lawler match. He takes on the Chinese youngster Zhao Xintong who while is very talented is lacking in form this season. Apart from a couple of wins in a European Tour event the youngster has done little of any note and you would think Lawler is the wrong sort of opponent for him.
Lawler will bore him for the want of a better word. He will slow him down and tie him up and if the Liverpool man can open up an early lead Xintong might get more and more ragged and desperate as he tries to come back into proceedings. At that stage Lawler will have him right where he wants him and I don’t think there will be a way back.
Tips
WON – Back C.Wakelin (+3.5 frames) to beat B.Woollaston for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with Coral
Back it here:
Back R.Lawler (-1.5 frames) to beat Z.Xintong for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Paddy Power
Back it here:
