The Welsh Open starts on Monday with a bumper five games scheduled for day one, including a qualifier held over from Prestatyn, with Matthew Stevens taking on Barry Pinches for the right to meet Shaun Murphy.
Of those quintet of games, the tie involving ANDREW HIGGINSON and Marco Fu looks the one to get most involved in, with the qualifier a great bet at 7-4 with Coral.
Fu has been dismal this season, winning just the one game so far and that was a struggle, beating Nigel Bond 5-4 in the first round of the Shanghai Masters. He's going to struggle to stay in the top 16 at this rate and needs a seriously good run here to boost his chances.
He's not cueing well, is missing easy pots and looks shorn of confidence and Higginson could not have been paired with a man more out of form (well, possibly Joe Perry). Higginson defeated Stephen Lee in the final round of qualifying and the Widnes man has form in Wales having reached the 2007 final and looks a seriously good bet to cause an upset.
I fancy PETER EBDON to see off Barry Hawkins at 8-13 (various), while Mark Davis is no forlorn hope at 5-2 to send defending champion Ali Carter crashing at the first hurdle. Carter is struggling with his game at the moment and Davis has been doing okay on the qualifying circuit and edged past last year's finalist Joe Swail to book his place in south Wales. Carter should win, but don't be surprised to see him narrowly miss out.
