The first round of the World Grand Prix comes to a close on Wednesday when the remaining eight matches are played out across another two sessions of snooker out in Hong Kong as the snooker season begins to reach the business end.
This tournament always feels designed for shocks with everyone here having had good seasons to make it this far and we saw some on Tuesday, which should keep the bigger names on show on Wednesday on their toes.
Early Session
We have a really tasty early session on Wednesday and as was the case on Tuesday we have two sets of matches to enjoy. The main table will see the British Open and Welsh Open winner Mark Selby looking to make it into the second round when he takes on Jackson Page in a potential clash of styles. While they are doing battle, over on the other table the Wuhan Open winner Xiao Guodong will be looking to make progress in the tournament when he faces the world finalist from last season in Jak Jones.
The English Open winner Neil Robertson will headline the second part of the early session when he takes on a familiar foe in Yuan Sijun who has beaten the Australian twice this season already. The other game could be the more pressurised one though as Lei Peifan, the surprise winner of the Scottish Open, goes up against the incredibly consistent Elliot Slessor with both men knowing they are not yet guaranteed to be at the Players Championship so both need to win this.
Special Offer
OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH 888SPORT AND BET £10 TO GET £30 IN FREE BETS PLUS A £10 CASINO BONUS! PERFECT OFFER TO USE ON THIS TOURNAMENT! CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO JOIN. USE CODE 30F. NEW ACCOUNTS ONLY. 18+ T&Cs apply (See image for significant terms). Gamble Aware.
Later Session
We conclude the first round of the tournament with another two sets of matches in the later session and the main table will be headlined by the International Championship winner Ding Junhui. He will go up against his fellow Chinese player Xu Si, who is having one of the best seasons of his career to date. The other table might well have the better game on it as two fluent scorers battle it out when Barry Hawkins looks to build on a solid 2025 so far when he takes on a Tom Ford who looks to be trending in the right direction.
Mark Allen is the star attraction in the later part of the second session. This is a big few weeks for him as he looks to build up to the World Championship after a relatively quiet season by his high standards. Jimmy Robertson will be the man looking to put a dent in those plans. The other table was expected to be occupied by Ronnie O’Sullivan but his withdrawal has opened up the door for Hossein Vafaei to go up against Si Jiahui in what should be a decent watch too.
Betting
There isn’t a massive amount that I like over the course of Wednesday but I am always happy to subscribe to the ‘beware of the man playing with the house money’ rule and on Wednesday that is very much Hossein Vafaei and as such I’m happy to side with him in his match against Si Jiahui. Si made it into this tournament courtesy of making the final of the Wuhan Open but he has done precious little since then, especially in 2025 so I think he is worth taking on.
You could argue that Vafaei hasn’t done much more in this calendar year but he was unlucky to have visa issues in Germany and since then the two men he has lost to in the two tournaments have been Ali Carter and Ding Junhui so he has had some stinking draws. At his best, Si Jiahui would be another one but in the last four tournaments the only player he has beaten is Ken Doherty and having not qualified for the World Open last week he has gone a few weeks without a competitive match. There has been a real drop off in form of the Chinese player and Vafaei looks value to take advantage of that in a tournament in which he has nothing to lose having only got in when Ronnie O’Sullivan withdrew.
Tips
Back H.Vafaei to beat S.Jiahui for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with Bet365
