The World Grand Prix got underway in a fairly quiet manner on Monday evening but the opening Duelbits Series event of the season is likely to go up a notch on Tuesday when the first round continues over two sessions of action.
We actually saw a major shock on the opening night when Neil Robertson bit the dust and that will keep the many big names that are in action on Tuesday on their toes as they hope to avoid following him out of the tournament.
Afternoon Session
We have a brilliant schedule on the main table throughout the day and we get started with The Masters finalist Mark Williams. He will begin his quest for a first title of the season after going so close at Alexandra Palace when he takes on his fellow Welsh player Jamie Jones. When they are done we will see the English Open champion Mark Selby on show. He might be glad he isn’t playing Hossein Vafaei having lost to him in the two Triple Crown events so far, but Noppon Saengkham is no mug so Selby will need to be on his toes there.
It is a sign of how good the schedule is on the day that the number two seed Ryan Day can only get a place on table two. He will be looking to bounce back from that horror loss to Judd Trump at The Masters last week when he takes on Ricky Walden. The other match on table two in the afternoon deserves a much bigger billing as the UK Championship finalist Ding Junhui goes up against the man who reached the last four in London last week in Stuart Bingham.
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Evening Session
The real big stars come out to play in the evening session on Tuesday. We begin with the world champion on the main table when Ronnie O’Sullivan begins the defence of his title when he takes on a Barry Hawkins who might still be wondering how he let Judd Trump escape his grasp last week. When they are done it will be The Masters winner Trump on show. He goes up against the popular Hossein Vafaei who will be looking to build on a good debut at Alexandra Palace last week.
Two men who certainly won’t mind their draw meet in the opening match on table two in the evening on Tuesday when the Scottish Open finalist Joe O’Connor takes on a Lyu Haotian who will hope to draw inspiration from Xiao Guodong’s win over Neil Robertson on the opening night. The action on table two concludes with the European Masters champion Kyren Wilson on show. He goes up against one of the surprise qualifiers for the event in Robbie Williams.
Betting
There are a few players on show who could very easily suffer from a Masters hangover who I certainly wouldn’t want to be on but at the same time don’t really want to oppose in case they turn up in decent enough form. Mark Williams and Judd Trump are the obvious two candidates and it isn’t like they have easy matches but that might just focus their attention. I’ll leave them alone as if both go out it helps my outright bets and side with a bet in one of the lesser matches.
That comes in the form of the Scottish Open finalist Joe O’Connor who I think will beat Lyu Haotian. Haotian has done well to make it into this tournament but his form was largely at the beginning of the season where he made the quarter finals of the British Open and in Northern Ireland. He comes in here having lost his last four matches. That isn’t the case with O’Connor. It was only last month he competed in the Scottish Open final and I’m sure that run will have motivated him to keep performing. Since then he has won a couple of matches in the 6 Red qualifying event and made it through to the Welsh Open and I think the 5/6 that he continues his progression is a more than fair price.
Tips
Back J.O’Connor to beat L.Haotian for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfred
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