This tournament is a nightmare for the favourites – just 2 of the 12 players are left after two days are from the Top-16. The similar situation (3 of 16 from Top-16) was just once before in the tournament of a lower level.
The most interesting matches will be held in the evening session. Judd Trump was good yesterday. He defeated Anda Zhang (5:1) and made three centuries. We can expect the same high level of playing from him today. Martin Gould is tough to play with but he can hardly challenge Judd. Stephen Maguire will play against Graeme Dott in another quarterfinal. They both were good in previous matches, but Maguire defeated the most strong opponent – Mark Selby. Maguire was excellent during all the match and he can surely defeat Dott with this level of play. Dott overplayed Penfei and Hawkins with eight half-centuries and one century in his two games. Anyway, Stephen Maguire plays more solid. And there is no serious advantage in face-to-face games between these two. We can go for an accumulator with Maguire and Trump wins.
I also suggest to bet on wins of Mark King and Mark Holt in another quarterfinal. Stuart Bingham should defeat Ryan Day. Kurt Maflin must offer a battle to Luca Brecel. We can’t be 100% sure, but I suggest to bet on Bingham win. And we can complete an accumulator with the bet on total over seven frames in Maflin vs Brecel match.