Talented teenager Yan ready to lift his first title of note

Quarter-finals
Eurosport 1, from midday Friday

Anyone still holding live outright vouchers on the Northern Ireland Open will be on hugely good terms with themselves with 40-1, 50-1, 150-1, 250-1, three 1,000-1 and a 1,500-1 shot still standing.

Experience and past success means dual world champion Mark Williams, 40-1 ante-post, is now just 6-4 favourite but it's 5-2 Yan Bingtao, a 50-1 chance before the action started at the Waterfront Arena, who is likely to ditch his maiden main-tour title before long.

Yan, who is just 17 years old, is producing snooker that belies his youth and the Chinese starlet is learning so quickly that it may not be long before he wins a World Championship let alone a regular crown such as that on offer in Belfast this weekend.

Yan looks the man in Northern Ireland, but if any outsider could cause a surprise it may be Li Yuan. Yan's compatriot, who will be a new name to many observers, is making rapid progress and he could make life tough for his last-eight opponent Elliot Slessor.

Best outright prices: 6-4 M Williams, 5-2 Yan Bingtao, 10 R Milkins, 12 Tian Pengfei, 16 E Slessor, 28 Lyu Haotian, Li Yuan, 33 M Dunn. Each-way 1/3 odds 1,2.

Recommendations
Yan Bingtao to win title
1pt 5-2 Paddy Power
Yan Bingtao to beat R Milkins
2pts 8-13 Hills
Li Yuan to beat E Slessor
1pt 11-10 general

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