It is second round day at the World Open on Wednesday with all 16 matches in the last 32 being played over two sessions of action on another busy day in the Chinese venue. By the end of the day we will have the 16 men progressing and eyeing up the title come the weekend.
Tuesday Recap
It was another up and down day for us on Tuesday as we had a winner and a loser from the two bets we put up. The winner saw Liang Wenbo cruise into the second round when he saw off James Cahill 5-2 to cover the handicap but Matthew Stevens could offer little against Matthew Selt so that was the loser.
For the big names it was another good day. Shocks in this tournament have been few and far between so far which bodes well for a decent conclusion to the competition. Peter Ebdon was one big name who went on Tuesday though. He lost out to Anda Zhang but the likes of Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson, John Higgins and Shaun Murphy all breezed through while Judd Trump had a walkover after Yu Delu was sick.
Morning Session
With the lack of surprises so far the big names come right from the off on Wednesday as the current world champion and the one before him are both in action in this session. Mark Selby takes on the talented Thepchaiya Un-Nooh while Stuart Bingham faces his nemesis Ali Carter in what could be the match of the round.
Another appealing match in the morning is the one between John Higgins and the Riga Masters runner up Michael Holt with the other five matches being Alan McManus vs Liang Wenbo, Xiao Guodong vs Kurt Maflin, Tom Ford vs Joe Perry, Barry Hawkins against Ryan Day and Dave Gilbert vs Zhou Yuelong. This really should be a great session of snooker.
I’m going to begin betting with the big match and I can’t go against Ali Carter. He has an insanely good record against Stuart Bingham, a record he built on at the World Championship earlier in the year when he dumped Bingham out in the first round of his title defence.
In all the two men have met 19 times with Carter having 14 wins to Bingham’s four and there has been a draw as well but Carter has won their last seven matches in major tournaments and has a number of Championship League wins over Bingham too for those who believe they are relevant. That record suggests we need to be on Carter here.
Another match which appeals to me is the one between Alan McManus and Liang Wenbo where the Chinese star is just a shade too big at 5/6. Alan McManus has been in decent enough nick and has all the belief in the world from his run in the World Championship but that extra explosive scoring power which is needed on these fast tables is with Liang.
Wenbo did me a turn on Tuesday and I’m not going to desert him here. I would have him priced up much shorter than this so the 5/6 is particularly appealing to me.
Finally I was interested to see that seven of the eight professional meetings between Xiao Guodong and Kurt Maflin have gone the distance so I’m interested in over 7.5 frames there. Both men had really good wins in the first round over seeded players and they both played well in coming through.
There isn’t much between the two as their seedings of 48 and 49 suggest and their record certainly highlights that. I don’t think there will be much between them here so over 7.5 frames at odds against looks attractive enough to me.
In the other matches I was tempted by Michael Holt given his good recent form but John Higgins banged in a couple of tons on Tuesday and is a big time player so I’ll sit the rest of the games out in what is already a busy enough morning for us.
Afternoon Session
The big names just keep on coming for this session and indeed four of the biggest names in the world are on show here as Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui and Shaun Murphy are all back on show. It is a sign of the quality on show in this session that Robertson and Murphy aren’t on the TV tables. Ding takes on Ben Woollaston while Trump faces Anda Zhang.
Robertson goes up against Thor Chuan Leong away from the television while Shaun Murphy plays Jimmy Robertson. In the other four matches there is a battle of former world champions as Mark Williams faces Graeme Dott while Ricky Walden vs Anthony McGill looks like being a great match. Matthew Selt faces Sam Craigie and Kyren Wilson goes up against Daniel Wells in the other game.
There is only one bet we fancy here which comes away from the TV where the big two should come through. It is in the Walden vs McGill match which I like. Both men looked in extremely good form in the first round and their styles should make for a cracking match here.
They both scored well in their first round matches, each banging in a century and we know they have the table nous to force their own chances so I’m expecting a really tight match here. Over 7.5 frames is 10/11 and that looks a shade too big to me.
Tips
WON – Back A.Carter to beat S.Bingham for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back L.Wenbo to beat A.McManus for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
Back X.Guodong vs K.Maflin – Over 7.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with Coral
Back it here:
Back R.Walden vs A.McGill – Over 7.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back it here:
