Welsh Open day three preview: Mark Williams hopes to feel at home

It's day three in Llandudno as the action from the Welsh Open continues and home hope Mark Williams is amongst those cuemen aiming to impress.

It’s the final Home Nations Series event of the season and we have already seen some major upsets, with last year’s runner-up Shaun Murphy failing to make it out of the qualifiers and Ding Junhui falling to Robbie Williams in round one. 

The baize is set for another day of thrilling snooker entertainment and we take a look at how things may play out in Wales. 

Selby setting sights on another Welsh Open title

There is no Ronnie O’Sullivan or Judd Trump in the Welsh Open field and with those two potters winning eight titles between them this season, the final Home Nations Series event of the season marks an opportunity for the rest of the tour to pick up a trophy.

Mark Selby lifted the Welsh Open crown way back in 2008, but more recently the Jester has had an excellent record in Home Nations competitions.

The Leicester potter won the 2019 and 2020 Scottish Open and the four-time world champion also lifted the 2019 and 2022 English Open crowns.

The short best-of-seven-frame format may not appear best suited to the determination of Selby, but that impressive record suggests otherwise.

The Jester takes on Aaron Hill at the last-64 stage and the 40-year-old is 1/7 to reach the next round. A tie against Fan Zhengyi awaits the winner of this contest.

Home hero faces a tough test

Cwm cueman Mark Williams will have a home Welsh crowd in support of him this afternoon and that may well be needed in what looks a tricky last-32 tie.

The Welsh Potting Machine was taken to a final frame against Sanderson Lam in the first-round proper and next up in Llandudno is a clash with Anthony McGill.

Williams is a two-time winner of the Welsh Open and hopes of a hattrick may rest on a victory over the Scot.

It has been a quiet season for McGill, but the Glaswegian is a four-time World Championship quarter-finalist, a Crucible semi-finalist and a former ranking event winner.

Williams is 8/15, with McGill available at 6/4 and it will be interesting to see how tricky the Scot can make it for the home hero.

Evening session serves up high-class action

There are four cracking Welsh Open matches getting underway at this evening. 

Gary Wilson made it back-to-back Scottish Open crowns earlier this season and the Wallsend cueman will be looking to shine in Llandudno. The Tyneside Terror is a 13/10 shot when he takes on the excellent Jack Lisowski.

Neil Robertson appeared to find something like his best form in the Championship League last week and the Australian will take on Ricky Walden this evening. 

It’s been a tough term for the Thunder from Down Under, but Robertson is the 6/1 second-favourite to lift the Welsh Open crown and the prices clearly expect a big performance from the Aussie.

Defending Welsh Open champion Robert Milkins beat Allan Taylor 4-1 in round one, but things appear a little more difficult at the last-32 stage.

Dave Gilbert stands in the way of last season’s Llandudno hero and the Tamworth man is the 4/6 favourite after starting his Welsh Open campaign with a 4-2 victory over Oliver Lines. 

Five-time Welsh Open king John Higgins takes on Ryan Day in what could be one of the standout matches. The Wizard of Wishaw cruised past Tian Pengfei in round one, while Day got the better of David Lilley.

Dynamite doesn’t have the best record in his home event, with two runs to the quarter-finals the best Day has on his record, and the Welshman is 2/1 to beat Higgins this evening.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.