The Snookerbacker Blog

The Las Vegas of Wales awaits.

Tonight sees the start of another busy few days of qualifying as the Welsh Open gets underway from Sheffield. This is another event which like the German Masters embraces the flatter structured draw and as such we will see a few higher ranked players and familiar names in action right from the off, including in the two matches played on Wednesday evening. 

The main event itself moves on to Newport and begins on Monday, it is covered by BBC Wales. Bet Victor are the sponsors this time around and have put a bit of extra cash on the winners purse so the prize money reads like this:

Winner: £50,000
Runner-up: £30,000
Semi-finals: £16,000
Quarter-finals: £10,000
Last 16: £4,000
Last 32: £2,000
Last 64: £1,000
High TV break: £1,500
High non-TV break: £500
Total:  £250,000

You can find links to both the qualifying and main event draw at World Snooker here. You can view all match prices at blog partners Apollobet here.

The big downside for me in this is the best of seven frames format in the early rounds including some televised ones which basically makes it little more than a PTC event in the earlier rounds albeit with a bit more prize money. For me the change from best of nine framers for an event with the history of this one and the usually decent crowds that attend was unnecessary and given that we no longer have any events in the UK which play best of nines I can’t see why this can’t be reintroduced.

With best of sevens I urge caution with your bets as I would for any PTC. I’ll have a look at the matches and give some opinions but you’re not going to find me frittering away the record profits from the German Masters on this I’m afraid.

Wednesday 6th February

6pm

Ben Woollaston v Dechawat Poomjaeng
Dave Harold v Aditya Mehta

See Tweets.

RESULTS TO FOLLOW.

Thursday 7th February 

10am

Jamie Jones v Passakorn Suwannawat
Barry Pinches v Simon Bedford
Gerard Greene v David Grace
Luca Brecel v Sam Baird
Michael White v Paul Davison
Liu Chuang v Chen Zhe

Jones: Needs a kick up the……rankings.

Passakorn Suwannawat is now going for his 20th straight defeat of the season against Jamie Jones, the Crucible Quarter Finalist who’s been having a difficult time of things since the World Championship. Even though this is a sprint of a match and Passakorn has won their only meeting to date I can’t expect Jones’s slump to continue all season and this is an ideal match to get him started, amazingly he is 8/15. Simon Bedford who holds the accolade of being the only player to play and beat Ronnie O’Sullivan this season had a great run to the finals of the World Open and has that to look forward to. Of slightly less appeal is a match in a cubicle against Barry Pinches from Norwich, it’s a tough one to call this as Barry tends to hold his own against players in this bracket so I’d marginally side with him. Gerard Greene is a player I am usually happy to take on and given the improvement in the form of David Grace as the season goes on, another such occasion arises here. Luca Brecel faces Sam Baird with Sam having won both their meetings to date. It remains something of a mystery how Luca has qualified for the World and the UK, having a run in the latter but has not really got anywhere near winning any PTC’s, he tends to struggle in the qualifiers but I’d just take his recent improvement as enough evidence that he can beat Sam for the first time here. York’s Paul Davison will use his trademark experience to try and curtail Welshman Michael White who is 20 years his junior and stop him making his home venue, but White may have a bit too much in the locker here and he shouldn’t be opposed. Finally an all-Chinese match up in a best of seven that will possibly be streamed, no bet for me, but if you are don’t bet against a decider.

Selections: Jones, Pinches, Grace, Brecel, White, Zhe.

Best Bet of Session: Jones.

2.30pm

Andy Hicks v Duane Jones
Jack Lisowski v Ian Burns
Yu Delu v Craig Steadman
Matthew Selt v Jordan Brown
Cao Yupeng v Martin O’Donnell
Xiao Guodong v Justin Astley

Xiao doing his porn pose in the middle.

Amateur Duane Jones is a young Welsh player who I have heard plenty of good things about, I’m quite surprised that he hasn’t ever entered the SB Classic actually as he seems a very decent player, he plays the experienced Andy Hicks who you’d expect to come through but over this format you never know and Jones beat him 4-3 on the only other time they met. Jack Lisowski and Ian Burns is one to leave alone between two of the best players on show today, Burns has been very consistent of late and is another headed for the World Open, but Jack is capable of winning matches in the blink of an eye and has beaten Ian on their only meeting to date. Craig Steadman of Leeds faces Yu Delu, Delu hasn’t done that much of late and Stedz will fancy his chances of progressing in that one. Matt Selt is up against Mark Allen’s mate Jordan Brown who could last be seen beating John Higgins in EPTC5, this could be tight but you’d have to favour the higher ranked Selt who though short on wins of late has a little more experience of this environment than his opponent. It’s then the turn of The MO’D who has a stinker of a draw against one of the best players on show today Cao Yupeng, though Martin is winning more now than he was at the beginning of the season and it may be a good time to play Cao who is showing quite the reverse having won only 1 of his last 7 matches. Finally, Xiao Guodong will expect to beat Justin Astley, Guodong has played five deciders in his last five competitive matches, winning just the one, but he’s probably a notch or two up the pecking order from his opponent if truth be told.

Selections: Hicks, Lisowski, Steadman, Selt, Yupeng, Guodong.

Best Bet of Session: Guodong.

7pm

David Gilbert v Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon
Rory McLeod v Gareth Allen
Mike Dunn v Liam Highfield
James Wattana v Daniel Wells
Adam Duffy v Mohamed Khairy
Anthony McGill v Michael Wasley

Gilbert: Now you see him, now you don’t.

Dave Gilbert seems to have been a bit anonymous since his strong run in the World Championship last April but a quick scan of his results reveals he hasn’t actually been doing all that badly, I get the feeling that he is a player that may start improving from this point and he’s one worth siding with against his tough Thai opponent here. Rory McLeod will be going straight for the incisors of Wales’ Gareth Allen and we all know how tough The Dentist is in these rounds, Gaz will have to be fully prepared to battle in this one and his no-nonsense ‘get on with it’ style may be somewhat derailed if Rory has his way. Mike Dunn beat Liam Highfield recently in a China Open qualifier and talk of retirement seems to have disappeared from the North-East mans vocabulary nowadays after a real downslide in form. I can’t really call this one with any confidence but with Dunn’s renewed interest I’d just side with him. James Wattana has a 2-0 head to head lead over Daniel Wells who regulars will know that I do rate, but struggle to understand why he doesn’t win more, I think although Daniel is now posting more wins he may not cope with the more experienced Thai. Adam Duffy should beat Egypt’s Mohamed Khairy easily. MK is yet to win a match in his three attempts so far, winning just two frames in the process, bet of the day for big punters. Finally, Scottish Redbeard Anthony McGill is a player that regulars will also know well from my rants about him, he faces Gloucester’s Michael Wasley in a match that I hope we’ll be able to watch. I like the way they both play the game but McGill for me is still a a little higher up the ladder than his younger opponent at the moment, he’s a name this guy – watch him.

Selections: Gilbert, McLeod, Dunn, Wattana, Duffy, McGill.

Best Bet of Session: Duffy.

Recommended Thursday Bets:

Best Treble: Jamie Jones, Guodong and Duffy pays almost bang on 2/1 at Apollobet so 3 points on that. Add McGill for a 2 point acca which pays over 10/3 also at Apollobet.

Big Acca: Jamie Jones, Michael White, Xiao Guodong, Dave Gilbert, Rory McLeod, Adam Duffy, Anthony McGill 1 point acca pays over 15/1 at Apollobet.

Worth a punt: 1 point on Duane Jones at 11/10 with Corals and 1 point on David Grace at 11/10 with Apollobet.