Kyren Wilson v Jamie Jones (Fri)

The top half of the draw has opened up for these two young players with the winner playing Mark Allen or Joe Perry in the quarter final. Wilson is a solid 4/11 favourite for the match and over the best of 25 frames he should comfortably come out on top.

Wilson leads 5-1 on the head-to-head record, albeit with most of them being over a best-of-seven format, but he is the stronger scorer when in amongst the balls than his Welsh opponent and should get plenty of chances to demonstrate that. Wilson isn’t scared of the big occasion as a multiple ranking event winner and will fancy his chances to go deep into the second week in Sheffield.

Jamie Jones is an exciting young talent and can look very fluent on his day. There have been plenty of question marks against his mental aptitude in the past two or three years but he answered some of those in the first round with an excellent 10-9 win over the 2005 champion, Shaun Murphy. Kyren Wilson’s style doesn’t suit Jones as much as Murphy’s however; Wilson is a more defensive player and Jones will have to earn his chances with his own tactical play, something he is not renowned for.

Given the match up in styles and the stronger scoring and mental game, it’s advised to get on Wilson’s side.

3pts Kyren Wilson -3.5 frames at Evs

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