Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the 2023 Snooker UK Championship match.
Hossein Vafaei
The Iranian player beat Shaun Murphy (6:4) in the first round, which was unexpected for local fans. In this round he has not the strongest opponent from all possible options. Hossein Vafaei is very motivated now as he can qualify for Masters. And rating is important too. The Iranian player is one step away from the top 16. Everything depends on him. This is why bookmakers and I believe that Vafaei is the favourite.
Matthew Selt
Matthew Selt beat Ali Carter in the previous round. However, his opponent obviously wasn’t in his best form. He made some mistakes and wasn’t focused. Carter was disappointing even compared to unstable Selt. Being eliminated from a tournament at an early stage is a usual thing for Matthew Selt. Or he can go far enough just to be definitely defeated by a player from the top 16. Yes, Selt is motivated in the same way as Vafaei. However, Selt has never been in the top 16 for all his career and he’s only taken 1 title.
Hossein Vafaei – Matthew Selt prediction
There’s another interesting thing behind this match. These opponents have had only one head-to-head game. It was in 2017 at the World Championship. Vafaei won that match 10:6. I would bet on the favourite, who has been very confident at this tournament. He even managed to make Shaun Murphy nervous!
