Thursday November 28th 2024
Judd Trump V John Higgins 13:00
A repeat of the 2019 World Championship final. The pair have played against each other a huge 51 times with the Scotsman holding a slight advantage over his younger opponent (26-24 Higgins 1 draw).
That said, Trump is on a four-match winning streak against Higgins as he hopes to make it 5 in a row in today's last 16 tie.
He started his UK Championship campaign with a 6-3 victory over Australian Neil Robertson, but it wasn't until the latter stages of the match where he began to show his real class. After trailing 3-1 at the interval, the world number 1 came out fighting and won 5 frames in a row including a break of 126 that emphatically sealed his place in the next round.
Higgins had a much more comfortable first-round match as he comfortably defeated He Guoqiang 6-0. He looked composed from the outset with his Chinese opponent unable to land a blow on the 4-time World Champion.
I have no doubt Trump will have to play better from the beginning today as Higgins will take advantage of any opportunity given but I do feel the recent record between the players will be playing on the mind of Higgins.
I expect a close match with plenty of high breaks but Trump to pull away when he gets sight on the finish line.
Prediction: 6-4 Trump
Zhang Anda V Stuart Bingham 13:00
Maximum man Zhang Anda comes into this afternoon's last 16 tie with Stuart Bingham full of confidence.
Despite losing the opening 2 frames to fellow countryman Lei Peifan, Anda controlled the rest of the match and looked the likely winner from early on. His 147 in the 4th frame oozed class and was an illustration of how comfortable he is on the big stage.
He went on to win 4 of the following 5 frames as he closed out the match with relative ease.
His opponent today Stuart Bingham came through a final frame decider with recent Champion of Champions winner Mark Williams. Despite trailing 4-1 and staring elimination in the face, Bingham battled hard and showed real quality to get himself back in contention to win the match.
The victory will no doubt boost his confidence but he has very little success in this event in recent years. He leads the head-to-head with Anda 3-1 but I feel the form the Chinese player showed throughout his first-round match may be too much for Ballrun to handle today.
Prediction: 6-4 Anda
Jak Jones V Michael Holt 19:00
Can Michael Holt continue his incredible run? He has impressively won 5 matches and now faces World Championship runner-up Jak Jones for a place in the last 8.
After having a quiet season on tour, this inspired run has come out of the blue for the former shoot-out winner.
A convincing 6-1 defeat over an off-colour Gary Wilson in the previous round was a sign that the Hitman is feeling good about his game.
On the other hand, Jak Jones came through a deciding frame with former world champion Luca Brecel. From 5-3 down, the Welshman rallied to win the final 3 frames and even made a match-winning break of 66 in the decider to book his place in the last 16.
He hasn't had the ideal season on tour with wins hard to come by but will see tonight as a huge opportunity to make another triple crown quarter-final.
As remarkable Holt's run has been, I feel tonight's match might be a step too far with Jones to progress.
Prediction: 6-3 Jones
Chris Wakelin V Kyren Wilson 19:00
Wakelin will have to improve significantly from his 6-4 victory over Matthew Selt if he is to compete with the World Champion tonight. With only two 50+ breaks between the pair in the 10 frames played, the standard left a lot to be desired.
Since winning his first ranking title in 2023, Wakelin's career has been on the up and reaching this month's International Championship final only confirmed that.
Since winning the World Championship, Kyren Wilson seems like a different animal. He has added a clinical edge to his game that makes him very hard to beat.
He showed how sharp he was coming through the first-round 6-0 with relative ease against Stephen Maguire.
He will have identified tonight's match as a huge opportunity to reach the quarter-final. With the possibility of a match-up with Jak Jones or Michael Holt to reach the final 4, the Warrior will have his sights set on another deep Triple Crown run.
Prediction: 6-2 Wilson
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