The qualifying competition for the World Open gets underway on Friday when a bunch of players head to Sheffield looking to win the one match they need to do to qualify for the main event in China in 2025.
Only the truly standout stars have had their qualifying match held over to the main venue so we have plenty of household names taking to the baize right from the start of the qualifying event which should guarantee us some decent snooker on Friday.
Morning Session
Two top 16 players will be on show in the morning session. The UK Championship finalist Barry Hawkins is the highest ranked player looking to make it through to the main event. He will go up against Ka Wai Cheung while the home star Si Jiahui will also be looking to qualify for a home event when he meets Zak Surety in what could be a banana skin for the Wuhan Open runner up. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is another leading light who will be looking to progress. He meets Andrew Higginson while in the other matches Long Zehuang takes on Mitchell Mann, Yuan Sijun faces Haydon Pinhey, the twice Home Nations event finalist Wu Yize plays Robbie McGuigan and Aaron Hill faces Mink Nutcharut.
Afternoon Session
Just the one player from the top 16 will grace the stage in the afternoon session. That is Gary Wilson who will be looking to set up a big run the other side of Christmas. He takes on Gong Chenzhi. The Shootout champion Tom Ford is another player who could catch the eye here. He meets Ahmed Aly Elsayed in what should be a routine win for the Leicester man. Hossein Vafaei is another recognised name competing. He will meet Ben Mertens while the other games see Stephen Maguire taking on Alfie Burden, Joe O’Connor meeting Alexander Ursenbacher, Joe Perry facing off against Kreishh Gurbaxani and Jordan Brown playing Liam Graham.
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Evening Session
There isn’t a single top 16 player on show in the evening session which means that Stuart Bingham is the highest ranked player on show. He will look to make it out to China at the expense of Chris Totten. Jackson Page is another player who is good on the eye and he’ll meet Ashley Carty while two men who are under threat for their tour place at the end of the season meet when Matthew Stevens faces David Grace. The other matches see Elliot Slessor playing the Brazilian player Jonas Luz, Jamie Clarke going up against Louis Heathcote, Jimmy Robertson facing Haris Tahir and Mark Davis meeting Liam Davies.
Betting
There isn’t a huge amount that I like on the opening day of the event but Jamie Clarke has barely picked up a result all season and he must be feeling low on confidence going into his match with Louis Heathcote. Heathcote will have been disappointed not to make the latter stages of the German Masters earlier in the week but he has a chance to put that behind him against a player who also didn’t make it through to Berlin.
Heathcote probably hasn’t had the consistency that he would have wanted this term but he did reach the quarter final of the Northern Ireland Open which shows that when he plays well he is more than good enough for this level. In that run, Heathcote took care of Mark Selby and Jimmy Robertson, players who are playing much better than Clarke. This is a huge match for both players with their tour cards under threat but Heathcote has been there before and might well handle it better. I think he comes through here.
Tips
Back L.Heathcote to beat J.Clarke for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
Back him here: