Just three players from Top-32 lost their matches on the first day of the tournament and Stuart Bingham, 2nd in rating, was among them. But in general, it was a calm day for the top players. So the storm may come on the second day. I’d like to bet on underdogs because I trust my inner voice.
Ronnie O’Sullivan was nervous yesterday and after the game, many of his colleagues and fans had criticised him for the refusal to win a prize for maximum century break. And Tian Pengfei is the only one player who won all face to face matches against O’Sullivan (5:3, 4:2). We can go for total match frames over 5.5 here.
There is one more interesting bet: Martin O’Donnell to defeat Matthew Stevens. O’Donnell was stronger than Mark Williams and Stephen Maguire in his last matches. Matthew can’t stand him, so Martin has a good chance to win.
Robin Hull is fine after the winning of the Shoot-out tournament. And Mark Allen can surely make some mistakes. I wouldn’t back Hull to win, but this game should be tight. We can go for total match frames over 5.5.