The qualifying competition for the Xi’an Grand Prix, the first Chinese ranking tournament of the new season, continues inside the Mattioli Arena in Leicester on Friday when another 40 players take to the baize looking to book their spot in the main draw.
We saw some good snooker on the opening day of action on Thursday which included some of the bigger names making it through to the final venue. Plenty more are on show on Friday looking to join them on the plane to China.
Morning Session
Yuan Sijun is one of a number of Chinese players looking to qualify for their home tournament in this session. He meets the female player Bai Yulu while Xu Si will take on Jiang Jun. The former Shootout winner Chris Wakelin is another in action in the morning. He will face Rory Thor while the other four matches will see Elliot Slessor going up against Manasawin Phetmalaikul, Anthony Hamilton facing Gong Chenzhi, Tian Pengfei looking to make it through at the expense of Farakh Ajaib and Joe Perry will take on the former women’s world champion Mink Nutcharut.
Afternoon Session
A whole bunch of top 16 players join the fray in the afternoon session with the highest ranked of them being the 2023 world champion Luca Brecel. He will go up against Hammad Miah for a place in the main draw while Tom Ford will face off against Stan Moody in a good looking match. Jak Jones will look to make up for an early exit in the Shanghai Masters last week when he faces Robbie McGuigan. The other four matches see lower ranked players having a chance to make it through. Joe O’Connor will meet Duane Jones while Sanderson Lam and Zak Surety have a great chance to progress when they meet each other while in the other two matches Wu Yize and Pang Junxu will look to make their home event at the expense of Stuart Carrington and Michael Holt respectively.
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Evening Session
There are just the six matches in the evening session but we still have another trio of top 16 stars on show with the highest ranked of them being Mark Williams. The Tour Championship winner will go up against Liam Graham while Ali Carter will look to continue his bright start to the season when he faces Daniel Wells in a good looking match. Barry Hawkins is the other top 16 player in action in the evening and he meets Kreishh Gurbaxani. The other matches see David Lilley taking on Louis Heathcote, Matthew Selt looking to progress against Ian Burns and Ricky Walden facing off against Liam Davies.
Betting
We don’t have a huge amount of form to go on this season but the bits and pieces that we do have makes David Lilley a big price at even money to get the better of Louis Heathcote. Lilley made it all the way through to the final day of the Championship League and had wins over Joe O’Connor and Ryan Day in the competition so he should have taken a lot of confidence away from that event with him which hopefully will serve him well here.
Louis Heathcote lost in his first group in the Championship League so he might come into this match a little short of a gallop and that could be an issue for him. Heathcote finished last season with a run to the final qualifying round of the World Championship but there was little else from his first season back on the tour of any note and so he looked vulnerable here anyway but add in that confidence boosting run of Lilley in the Championship League and he looks a good thing in this one.
Tips
Back D.Lilley to beat L.Heathcote for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Coral
