We are getting towards the important stage of the Xi’an Grand Prix and on Thursday the entire round of 16 will be played out with the aim of everyone involved across the two sessions all starting to eye the trophy and the big cash prize over the weekend.
We saw a number of big names exit the competition on Wednesday but there are still plenty of players who have won top tournaments still competing so we are bubbling along nicely as we get to the latter stages of the event.
Afternoon Session
The world number one Mark Allen is back on show on Thursday afternoon. He will be looking to make it into the quarter final at the expense of Barry Hawkins, who is having a good week. Judd Trump is on an insane run of form in Chinese events and he’ll be out to continue that when he goes up against Jak Jones, who is backing up his run to the world final nicely this week. Mark Williams has kind of gone through the draw a little unnoticed this week but we are getting to the stage where he can’t go under the radar for much longer. Xu Si is the latest looking to put him out. The other match sees the lowest ranked player left in the tournament in Gong Chenzhi taking on Matt Selt.
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Evening Session
The world champion Kyren Wilson continues his quest for a first title since his big night in Sheffield back in May. He meets Jimmy Robertson who has done well to reach the last 16 and probably has nothing to lose from here on in. The pick of the matches in this session might well be the repeat of the grudge match between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Hossein Vafaei. The other really appealing match in this session is the one between Mark Selby and Dave Gilbert which could be a cracker. Two outsiders meet in the other match as Dominic Dale, who announced recently that this will be his last season on tour, goes up against Daniel Wells for whom this could be an incredible week.
Betting
There isn’t a huge amount that I like over the course of the day but I can’t ignore the results of Gong Chenzhi so far. He walloped a competent Tom Ford in the first round and then took care of Si Jiahui in the second one and neither of those are poor results by any means. He is still making his way in the professional game but you don’t beat either of those two players if you are not hitting the ball well and I’m not convinced he has run his race yet this week.
Chenzhi has a meeting with Matt Selt on Thursday and it has all been a bit of a grind for the Englishman so far. He edged out Joe O’Connor in a deciding frame in the first round but that was such a tough battle that it was hooked before that decider and then in the second round he beat Hammad Miah, which was a decent enough draw for Selt, but there wasn’t a whole lot that was convincing about that either. Selt could improve. There is definitely improvement in him but at the same time he is perfectly capable of beating himself so the more even keeled Chinese player looks a huge price at 9/5.
Tips
Back G.Chenzhi to beat M.Selt for a 3/10 stake at 2.80 with Boylesports
Back him here:
