The first day of the World Grand Prix has some really big names on the green baize right from the start of the tournament in Llandudno and with the opening round over the best of seven frames everyone is under pressure from the first break off.
There might only be eight matches on the two tables on Tuesday but that doesn’t mean we miss out on the big names. Ronnie O’Sullivan, Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Stephen Maguire and Ding Junhui are all in action on the TV table while the other table sees former world finalist Barry Hawkins, German Masters champion Martin Gould and the reigning Players champion Joe Perry all playing.
The afternoon kicks off with Neil Robertson taking on Peter Ebdon on the main table with Barry Hawkins against Joe Perry on the other one. I’ve already taken Hawkins outright so I won’t go into his match where the odds are about right and in truth I can’t get a feeling for the Robertson game so I’m going with nothing in the first pair of matches.
After Robertson has played on the main table Ben Woollaston will meet Ding Junhui. These two have met five times and Ding has won four of them but three of those five matches have gone the distance and we’ve seen enough from Woollaston lately to prove he can push the Chinese star close again here.
Ding looked much more like the player we would expect at the Welsh Open but he still wasn’t perfect. He still needed deciding frames to come past Joe Swail and Matt Selt so that gives us further encouragement that Woollaston can test him again. The Leicester man made the quarter final in the Welsh Open and emulated that in Poland the week after so he’s in good form and can win at least three frames here.
On the other table Martin Gould begins his quest to banish the memories of losing a 5-1 lead to Judd Trump in the semi-final last year when he faces Tian Pengfei in the first round. I’d expect Gould to win that one but the mind can play the nastiest tricks at times and I’ll just let him win if he’s mentally good enough to I think.
The evening session is so very tasty. On the main table John Higgins plays Stephen Maguire before Ronnie O’Sullivan faces Michael Holt. On Table 2 Ryan Day meets Matt Selt after Mark Allen has faced UK Championship semi-finalist David Grace.
Selt and Day look evenly matched so I don’t fancy anything there. I expect Allen to win and I think he will probably cover a 2.5 frame handicap but I’m not sure I can be taken such a handicap in a best of seven on the opening day of a tournament.
I am going to play both matches on the main table though. Stephen Maguire really needs to win some matches this week. He is desperate for points to make it back into the top 16 but he won’t have it easy against John Higgins.
He’ll know that though and he’ll also know that he’s won nine of the last 10 meetings between the two players and the one he lost in that time was in the Welsh Open last year which Higgins went on to win so he was playing very well that week.
I just sensed in the Welsh Open and the Polish tournament that the top level form was just coming off of Higgins and while I’m sure it will come back he’s had a heavy season which could just be catching up with him.
Maguire is the opposite. He’s done little this season so he’s fresh and we saw glimpses that he is coming good again in Poland. Whether he raises his game against Higgins or has a masterplan I’m not sure but that record can’t be ignored and I’ll tentatively back Maguire in that match.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has looked unstoppable in recent times and I’m not sure Michael Holt is going to be the man to end the Rocket’s great run. This is amazingly the first time they’ve met in professional competition so at least Holt goes into this match without the mental scarring Ronnie has etched onto some many of his rivals.
That leaves us with one simple question. Does Holt have the technique, the form and the mental strength to give it to Ronnie. Truth be told I’m not so sure he does. Holt has done little in the ranked events since a run to the semi-final of a European Tour event in August and you don’t need to be out of form when you play O’Sullivan.
Ronnie is showing crazy form on the green baize at the minute and I suspect he’ll relish being here having only qualified for the tournament two weeks ago. He looks to be enjoying his snooker at the minute and I’ll take the chance he blows the Hitman away in this one which is perfectly possible.
WON – Back B.Woollaston (+1.5 frames) to beat D.Junhui for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Netbet
Back him here:
Back S.Maguire to beat J.Higgins for a 3/10 stake at 2.35 with 888sport
Back him here:
Back R.O’Sullivan to beat M.Holt 4-0 for a 2/10 stake at 4.50 with Betfred
