Simon Dalton presents his bet on match of the China Grand Prix Snooker 2024.
Michael Holt played as an amateur for two years after leaving the main tour. He was close to immediately returning through Q-School, but lost in the last round to John Astley. During his first year off the tour, Holt did almost nothing, was eliminated in the second round of the amateur Q-Tour and consecutively lost in the second round of qualifying for the World Championship. But in the second season, Holt learned from his experience and played strongly - he won three Q-Tour events and secured an early return to the main tour. I think Michael will take his chances more seriously than he did a couple of years ago. He played three matches in the Championship League, but we cannot draw conclusions based on this.
Pang Junxu is now in the top 32 at 24 years old. The young Chinese continues to progress. At the recent tournament in Shanghai Pang defeated Gary Wilson 6-5 and Mark Allen 6-5, but lost to Mark Selby 6-3. At the same time, we would like to note that Pang has to improve his break building skill, sometimes, after his mistakes, the opponent gets a good position on the table. And this is where we see Holt's chances - Michael has a decent level of making good breaks, and if he deals with the nerves, then he has a good chance of qualifying for the main draw of the Grand Prix in Xi’an. It is difficult to predict the winner in this match. Pang has already gained tournament experience with serious opponents, and Holt has yet to do this. But in our opinion Michael spent two years getting back on the tour and he has to be more responsible about his game. This match will be at least eight frames, or even all nine.
