Sunday November 23rd 2024
Mark Allen V Jackson Page 13:00
An intriguing match. Allen will have to play better than he has been recently to compete with the eye-catching Page.
The Welshman has yet to win a game at the UK Championship in 4 attempts, will today be the day he gets his first victory?
He impressively came through qualifiers against Jamie Clarke (6-5) and Hossein Vafaei (6-2) to get here showing some excellent scoring throughout both matches.
Allen on the other hand has been tinkering with his style over the last few months, caught in between the slow, gritty play and the fast, eye-catching way we are used to seeing the Northern Irishman play.
The result of today's match depends on which style of play the world number 3 chooses to play, we know Page will show up with his attacking, high-scoring game but how Allen reacts is the big question.
I have been very impressed with Page throughout qualifying and with the uncertainty surrounding Allen at the moment, I think he could be turned over today.
The winner will play the winner of Si Jiahui & Wu Yize.
Prediction: 6-4 Page
Ali Carter V Ryan Day 13:00
The pair have met over 20 times during their careers with very little to choose between them (12-10 Carter).
Both players have had unconvincing seasons on tour with little to note in regards of deep tournament runs.
Day comes into today's match following qualifying victories over Louis Heathcote (6-3) and Sanderson Lam (6-2).
Carter comes in after an early exit in last week's Champion of Champions, going down 4-3 to Neil Robertson. There is no shame in that and the Australian made a brilliant break of 67 in the decider to progress.
Head-to-head gives very little clues as to who will progress from today's match but I feel like Carter has pushed on over the last few years whereas Day's career may have stagnated.
The winner will take on the winner of Mark Selby & Jack Lisowski.
Prediction: Carter 6-2
Mark Selby V Jack Lisowski 19:00
Lisowski comes into tonight's match on the back of a 4 match-losing streak against Mark Selby. A record that will concern fans ahead of the 2023 semi-finalist’s opening match.
He convincingly came through 6-1 against Women's World Champion Bali Yulu in the final round of qualifying.
He can be very dangerous when he gets momentum reeling off frames in the blink of an eye but the possibility of Selby letting his opponent get ahead of steam in tonight's match is slim.
2-time winner of this event, Selby comes into tonight's match off the back of a decent season. He was narrowly defeated 6-5 in last week's Champion of Champions by eventual winner Xiao Guodong.
But has put in some very impressive performances this year, winning the British Open and reaching the semi-final in Shanghai.
As brilliant as Lisowski can be, he can be equally as careless at times and I feel Selby will have his number especially in safety battles.
The winner will play Ali Carter next.
Prediction: 6-3 Selby
Si Jiahui V Wu Yize 19:00
A rematch of last year's World Championship qualifier with Jiahui coming out a convincing 10-4 winner.
But there has been a considerable improvement in Yize in the last 12 months, as he got to the English Open final in Brentwood only to be narrowly edged out 9-7 by Neil Robertson.
Jiahui's career has been on an upward trajectory since his brilliant run to the Crucible semi-final in 2023.
Making the final in his native Wuhan was a particular highlight this season only to be defeated by in-form Xiao Guodong.
Two up and coming Chinese players, it’s guaranteed to be a close match with possible fireworks throughout.
The winner will play Mark Allen / Jackson Page next.
Prediction: 6-4 Jiahui
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