BY the end of today the field in the Unibet British Open will be down to just eight players, so those left standing when the last ball goes in tonight must start fancying their chances of landing the trophy.
The action is split between the end of the last 32 and the whole of the last 16, with some players required to play twice. It’s a busy day that will go a long way to deciding the business end of the tournament and follows a dramatic late night on Wednesday where Mark Selby won a black ball thriller against Yuan Sijun but Neil Robertson was beaten 4-3 by Malaysian giantkiller Rory Thor.
World champion Kyren Wilson rolls on, having lost only one frame from his first two matches. He continues to challenge the ‘heavy hangs the head that wears a crown’ theory which should see him feel the pressure of now being a huge scalp.
Wilson meets the Hong Kong veteran Marco Fu, a player whose career looked over a few years ago due to an eye condition. He was given a discretionary wildcard to continue on tour and has become a much quicker player than before, not as attritional as he once was. Wilson, though, is a heavier scorer and should be confident of progressing.
Judd Trump, still stuck on 999, may make his 1,000th career century today, especially if he plays two matches, but the main priority is to reach what would be a maiden British Open quarter-final.
Standing in his way is Mark Davis, who at 52 is one of snooker’s longest serving professionals. Davis has been on tour since 1991, was once as high as 12th in the world and has appeared in various finals. He still plays a very solid game but it’s hard to oppose Trump right now. He’s been travelling over from Bristol and feels at home at the Cheltenham venue.
Mark Allen faces 19 year-old Belgian Ben Mertens, one of the growing list of promising European youngsters making their way on the World Snooker Tour. Allen did not enjoy playing on table 2 on Monday but will return there to take on Mertens, a player who shakes wildly on the shot but can still be deadly.
His more celebrated compatriot, Luca Brecel, played down suggestions he could plummet in the rankings this season after winning his first round match, but this doomsday scenario will only be avoided if he starts getting results.
Brecel has so far won two matches all season and may come a cropper against Liam Davies, a rookie pro from Tredegar, an area of Wales which has produced Ray Reardon and Mark Williams.
Davies, 18, is incredibly focused on his career and is coached by Lee Walker, who also works with Williams. It’s a step up in terms of the stage he is playing on but the match feels winnable for Davies if Brecel’s attacking game isn’t working.
Yesterday’s tips Ricky Walden and Sunny Akani were both successful, but who is worth supporting today?
John Higgins to beat Graeme Dott
These two Glaswegians actually played in the final of the British Open back in 2001 and renew a long rivalry at a time when they are each hoping to emerge from the doldrums.
Higgins played well to see off Shaun Murphy on Wednesday and despite dropping out of the top 16 after 29 years is feeling confident with a new cue. In fact, confidence is what Higgins has been lacking for the last two years. It may be that all the chatter about his top 16 place was adding additional pressure, but at least that has now been resolved.
Dott has gone off the radar a bit in recent seasons but nobody doubts his determination and he won’t be in awe of Higgins, an old friend and regular sparring partner in practise.
He beat Higgins the last time they met in Turkey two years ago but overall the four times world champion has the far superior record and seems to be in the right frame of mind to extend it.
Chris Wakelin to beat David Grace
Wakelin is much improved in recent times and clearly more confident after winning the Shootout in early 2023, even though that event bears little resemblance to regular ranking tournaments.
A finalist in last season’s Northern Ireland Open, last weekend he reached the English Open semi-finals and could start pushing for a top 16 place if he can keep up this level of consistency.
David Grace is one of the tallest and most humble players on tour, based at the legendary Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds. He’s been to a couple of ranking semi-finals in his career, including at the UK Championship, but Wakelin looks too strong at the moment.
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