Adam Williams presents his prediction for the World Masters of Snooker match.
Ding Junhui
Ding Junhui comes into the tournament on the back of an impressive run of convincing wins: 6:1, 6:0 and 6:4 against mid-ranked opponents. His break-building is stable: in recent matches he has regularly produced half-century breaks and has been confidently closing out frames in one or two visits. However, he has a characteristic trait: he does not always start matches aggressively. In his meetings with Shaun Murphy he failed in the opening exchanges and at times made mistakes on long reds, which resulted in a 2:6 defeat. Opponents at top-16 level make use of this, but even players from a lower level can sometimes take a frame against the backdrop of his slow start.
Ayman Alamri
Ayman Alamri is effectively an amateur. His official statistics are minimal: two 0:4 defeats in recent years, a lack of tournament practice, weak positional control and unstable transitions from reds to colours. But in matches of this type the first-frame effect often works: the wildcard comes out as motivated as possible, while Ding Junhui is cautious until he has worked out the quality of the table and the behaviour of his opponent. Under these conditions even a player at regional championship level can get one chance over a short distance.
Ding Junhui vs Ayman Alamri Prediction
The gap in class is huge, but in a race to four frames Ayman Alamri can take one frame. Ding Junhui sometimes has careless episodes in his initial visits, and a first appearance at a home tournament as a wildcard is a strong emotional stimulus for the local player. He is not capable of winning the match, but taking a single frame is entirely realistic.
