The Welsh Open 2019

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As quick as we finish the Grand Prix on Sunday night, we have the Welsh Open kicking off tomorrow. Matches start at 10 am so let's take a look at the draw: 

The bold is the matches tomorrow. The rest is the draw for Round 1 :

L.Yuan Vs D.Dale
S.Vahedi Vs C.Feilong
A.Burden Vs C.Steadman
S.O'Sullivan Vs K.Doherty
S.Craigie Vs M.King
C.Wakelin Vs H.Miah
S.Maguire Vs Z.Yuelong
R.Day Vs T.Un-Nooh
J.Higgins Vs G.Dott
T.Pengfei Vs M.Fu
J.Jones Vs M.Stevens
R.Williams Vs R.Lawler
A.Hamilton Vs S.Baird
J.Clarke Vs M.Selt
M.O'Donnell Vs H.Akbar
L.Highfield Vs L.Wenbo
Z.Jiankang Vs F.Zhengyi
A.Ursenbacher Vs Y.Bingtao
A.Taylor Vs Y.Sijun
S.Murphy Vs A.Stefanow
M.Williams Vs K.Hirani
M.White Vs P.Lines
J.Lisowski Vs N.Zhuang
J.Trump Vs H.Chandler
A.Duffy Vs Z.Yong
E.Sharav Vs X.Si
S.Carrington Vs N.Saengkham
L.Kleckers Vs P.Ebdon
A.Hugill Vs H.Vafaei
R.Muir Vs D.Wells
D.Gilbert Vs J.Robertson
M.Allen Vs M.Joyce
F.O'Brien Vs O.Lines
D.Junhui Vs C.Totten
X.Guodong Vs D.Jones
R.Walden Vs L.Walker
N.Bond Vs A.McManus
S.Donaldson Vs J.Astley
J.Swail Vs L.Hang
J.Cahill Vs G.Greene
J.O'Connor Vs R.Clark
R.O'Sullivan Vs S.Lam
L.Hongao Vs I.Burns
M.Wen Vs M.Holt
B.Hawkins Vs S.Akani
L.Ning Vs B.Woolaston
M.Georgiou Vs D.Lilley
J.White Vs A.Higginson
K.Wilson Vs A.Lee
S.Bingham Vs A.Carter
G.Wilson Vs R.Hull
R.McLeod Vs T.Leong
L.Haotian Vs P.Davison
Z.Xintong Vs J.Page
M.Selby Vs A.McGill
R.Milkins Vs M.Dunn
J.Wattana Vs C.Zifan
B.Castle Vs S.Lichtenberg
L.Brecel Vs K.Maflin
A.Taubman Vs E.Slessor
A.Carty Vs T.Ford
M.Gould Vs Z.Anda
M.Davis Vs J.Perry
N.Robertson Vs J.Brown

Many games to be played over the next couple of days. This is the 5th year this event has been held at the Motorpoint Arena. Current holder last year is John Higgins but this year, despite Ronnie being in town, it looks wide open. Looking at the outright bets Ronnie is in the top half but doesn't tend to do well in this event over the years, well not by Ronnie's standard. He won it back in 2016 but has been dumped out in round 2 the year after and got to the Quarter-Finals last year. I like the look of Bingham in the top half. Bingham is starting to find abit of form and has a good record here winning it in 2017 and finds a nice draw other than Ronnie of course. As an outsider, I will also keep an eye on Sijun. 

In the bottom half, there are much more options. Players in form, and playing against eachother I am going to give Robertson one more chance. I like his chances this week and really, only a cold held him back last week or I feel he would have made the final. I am also giving Hawkins another chance and Martin Gould. Gould looked good when I watched him in the Champions League (which he won in that group) and despite only getting to Round 4 here last year, I feel the winner of him and Robertson has a chance to go deep here.

2pts N.Robertson to win the Welsh Open 14/1 bet365
1.5pts B.Hawkins to win the Welsh Open 20/1 bet365
1pt S.Bingham to win the Welsh Open 33/1 bet365
0.5pts E/W M.Gould to win the Welsh Open 150/1 Paddypower

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Day 1 Preview :

Far too many matches to do a full preview of Day 1. Looking at some value for day 1 I will take on Mark King, who looked pretty ordinary when he played Maguire and lost 4-1 in the Grand Prix. He also went out early, in the 2nd round of the German against Peter Ebdon. I think Craigie can give him some problems this morning. Craigie beat King back in 2016 6-2 and although King has beat him since 5-3 last year, King doesn't seem to be in that kind of form right now.

I will also go with Steadman to beat Burden. h2h shows 2 wins each here with Steadman winning the last. You wouldn't say Steadmans recent form is all that good but he was beat by a deciding frame against Gilbert in the German Masters which is no awful result with Gilberts form and he beat Hawkins 4-0 in the European Masters so I think it's time he gets a result here

Next up I'm taking Baird to beat Hamilton in the 1pm sessions. Hamilton got beat easily 5-1 by Honghao and even last year he had some shockers losing to Lawler 6-1 and losing to Wattana so Baird looks a good pick.

3pts C.Steadman to beat A.Burden 5/6 betway
2.5pts S.Craigie to beat M.King 11/10 bet365
3pts S.Baird to beat A.Hamilton 5/6 betway