Selby conqueror James Cahill capable of kicking on in open draw

Second round
1pm & 7pm Saturday, BBC1, BBC2 & Eurosport 1

James Cahill achieved the best result of his career when defeating Mark Selby 6-3 in his Betway UK Championship opener and it will be disappointing if the Blackpool cueman fails to trouble second-round opponent Akani Songsermsawad in York.

Cahill has always been a promising sort but has lost his place on the main tour in recent seasons. He's clearly still a force to be reckoned with, however, and Akani may need to step up on his opening 6-5 victory over Eden Sharav.

Punters can consider backing Cahill to upset his Thai opponent, but the safer option could be to back the outsider at evens with a start of 2.5 frames on the handicap.

Mark Davis is back playing somewhere near his best after a slower start to the campaign and oddsmakers are full of respect for his chance of seeing off Zhou Yuelong.

However, Zhou is one of the brighter, more proactive performers on the baize. He sounds happy with life - he has recently joined Twitter - and the 22-year-old from Chengdu is such an attacking sort that Davis may struggle to slow down his opponent.

It's a slight surprise to see Zhou as big as 6-4 to progress to the last 32 so the chance to support him to add to his 6-1 victory over Soheil Vahedi at the Barbican Centre can be taken.

Joe Perry should beat Michael Holt and backing the Gentleman to successfully concede his opponent a start of 1.5 frames can be considered. But the Hitman is looking a bit more solid on the baize and if that's the case there may not be much of a margin for victory on the handicaps.

Recommendations
J Cahill +2.5 frames
1pt Evs Coral, Ladbrokes
Zhou Yuelong
1pt 6-4 Coral, Ladbrokes

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