The first round of the World Grand Prix concludes on Wednesday with the final 16 players starting their campaigns with the aim of a big week and a sizeable cheque at the end of it.
The opening day of the tournament was one full of shocks with Neil Robertson and Ronnie O’Sullivan huge name casualties. Robertson was ousted by Peter Ebdon while Michael Holt saw off O’Sullivan. Stephen Maguire and Barry Hawkins also bit the dust on the first day of action.
So two massive names have gone but on Wednesday we will see the world number one, the world champion and the defending champion as Mark Selby, Stuart Bingham and Judd Trump all take to the green baize.
The day begins with Dave Gilbert and Bingham on the main table and all eyes will be on Bingham to see how his form is with the start of his Crucible defence just under six weeks away.
Gilbert is extremely capable as he showed in the previous ITV4 event when he rattled in a century in the shootout and this is probably his optimum format despite him making the final of the International Championship earlier in the season.
I’m not really sure which way this one will go so I’m not going to bet on the match but hopefully it is a good watch to get the day underway.
Following them on the main table are Judd Trump and Mark Williams. This should be a cracker. Trump showed the sort of form we can expect from him in The Masters while Williams is never an easy ride. I’m tempted by a small punt on Williams but not quite enough to pull the trigger I have to say.
Moving into the evening and two Leicester lads begin things on the match table when Mark Selby faces Tom Ford. You would expect Selby to win this with a bit in hand but Ford’s form in Poland looked decent enough recently so there doesn’t look like a betting opportunity in that match.
Shaun Murphy faces Michael White in the final match on the TV table on Wednesday and if the White that played the early rounds of the Welsh Open turns up this one has the potential to be a great match. If he doesn’t he’ll get rolled over.
Murphy might be looking like he’s playing well but his form in terms of results says something else so I can’t quite decide how this one is going to go. There’s too much unpredictability in both to form a solid view.
With that in mind I’ll focus on the other table where Liang Wenbo and Graeme Dott begin proceedings. Dott has a good record against Wenbo down the years and you could make a case for him but in truth the price on him looks about right sadly.
Marco Fu and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh are next on that table. I don’t see Fu losing this one but he’s priced accordingly as well and the final match of the day between Kyren Wilson and Jamie Jones looks well priced up too.
That leaves us with Luca Brecel and Ali Carter and I’m pleased to say a bet does show itself here. This match gives us a clash between a form horse in Brecel and someone not in the best nick in Carter.
At his best we know Carter is a great player, a good score and an excellent tactician but apart from the win in the Paul Hunter Classic his season hasn’t really been a successful one apart from a decent run in the Championship League which I can’t take seriously as a form guide.
Brecel’s in excellent touch. He made the final of the German Masters, the final of the Shootout and the last 16 of the Welsh Open. He is scoring well and he’s stopped pushing the boat out so much which with his scoring power should pay dividends.
In current form the Belgian should probably be the favourite of these two so with that in mind I’ll happily get involved in him at odds against.
Back L.Brecel to beat A.Carter for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Sportingbet
