The World Championship qualifiers got underway with the usual dollop of drama and tension on Wednesday and for those starting out on their quest for a place at the Crucible Theatre on Thursday plenty more is expected.
Wednesday review
The opening day was a good one as far as our bets were concerned with Chris Wakelin comfortably bringing in our first bet of the event when he not only stayed within three frames of Ben Woollaston but he actually beat him in a tense deciding frame.
There was also high profile wins for Nigel Bond against Andrew Higginson and a major shock as Jamie Jones was seen off by Pakistan’s Hamza Akbar. Former champion Peter Ebdon successfully negotiated the potential banana skin that was James Wattana while one of our picks to qualify also safely made it through as Anthony Hamilton beat Sydney Wilson 10-3.
Morning session
There are 11 more matches getting underway on Thursday morning with them all concluding in the evening session and once again some big names are on show. The former world champion Ken Doherty sets out on a mission for another title in this session when he faces Andy Hicks on one of the streamed tables while Ryan Day faces Daniel Wells on the other.
I’ve a nagging feeling that Hicks could cause a few issues for Doherty in that match but I would expect Day to come through fairly comfortably. That is reflected in the prices though sadly and there is a bit too much at stake for me to take a big handicap.
Joe Swail and Matthew Stevens have both had their moments in this tournament in the past and they will be looking at another Crucible tilt. If that is to happen Zhang Yong and Josh Boileau will have to be seen off respectively.
Shanghai Masters champion Kyren Wilson is another key name on show on Thursday. He is 1/33 to beat the amateur Jason Weston. You would think this will be a short night’s work for Wilson but again that is reflected in the price.
One match which does carry betting potential is the one between Stuart Carrington and the amateur Hammad Miah. Carrington could be there for the taking here. He made it all the way to China last week to play Judd Trump in the China Open but had to pull out at the last minute with illness and all the flying and coming and going might not have given him too much time to recover.
He will need to recover though because although Miah is an amateur he’s a perfectly competent one. He has already got a win over Judd Trump this season and he played in the Welsh Open, German Masters and China Open.
He lost in the first round of all three of those events but all three defeats were in a deciding frame and in Marco Fu, Rod Lawler and Kurt Maflin he faced significantly stronger opposition than he is going to face here whether Carrington is fully fit or not.
Given the sizeable odds against quotes chalked up by Miah’s name I can’t resist a small punt on him coming through and progressing to a second round clash with either Jimmy Robertson or Tyler Rees.
Afternoon session
Thursday afternoon sees the matches which began on Wednesday afternoon draw to a conclusion. Already there are some hefty one sided matches with Peter Lines and Michael Holt both 9-0 up on the former ladies world champion Ng On Yee and Michael Wild respectively.
Those games are done and it is hard to see Robert Milkins surrendering a 7-2 lead to Ka Wai Cheung but the rest of them have plenty of interest about them not least the one on the streamed table between Gerard Greene and Jimmy White.
White flew out of the blocks in that match and led 4-1 at one stage but Greene fought back and leads 5-4 going into the final session. It is hard to go against Greene now despite White’s solid start.
We took Rod Lawler to beat Zhao Xintong and he goes into the final session 6-3 up which is a position we’re happy with but I’m going to add to the afternoon betting portfolio by going with Noppon Saengkham to overturn a 5-4 deficit to Michael Georgiou.
Saengkham might be trailing 5-4 but he was 4-1 down at one stage so he was probably the happier of the two coming out of the session even though he lost the final frame of it. I highlighted Saengkham as one to watch in these qualifiers before they began and having seen Wakelin turn his match with Woollaston around from both 4-1 and 5-4 down on Wednesday I’ll take the Thai to repeat the feat.
Tips
Back H.Miah to beat S.Carrington for a 3/10 stake at 3.20 with Sportingbet
WON – Back N.Saengkham to beat M.Georgiou for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Sportingbet
