Zhou should dominate Chen in all-China clash

China Championship
Eurosport 1, from 7.30am Thursday

Zhou Yuelong should be able to successfully concede a start of 1.5 frames to his fellow Chinese Chen Zifan in round one of the China Championship on Thursday morning.

Chen is slowly building confidence thanks to wins this season over Ross Muir, Dominic Dale and Hammad Miah, but losses against Jamie Cope, Stuart Bingham and Oliver Lines suggest Zhou should be good enough to dominate if playing to his usual standard.

Zhou has already seen off Kurt Dunham (twice) and Christopher Keogan but his 4-3 win over Robbie Williams, in which he made breaks of 116 and 72 in the first two frames, suggest he has the scoring power to deny Chen.

Zhou can be backed at 8-13 giving up a frame and a half and that could prove the way to go for backers.

There are plenty of matches on which to punt, but it's still early in the season as regards gauging form so the advice is to tread carefully.

In another home battle, Ding Junhui tackles Niu Zhuang on Wednesday and the Chinese number one is 1-20 to progress.

Niu is 6-5 with Sky Bet with a start of 3.5 frames, but if Ding begins to motor he could quickly erase that deficit.

Recommendation
Zhou Yuelong -1.5 frames
1pt 8-13 Betway, BoyleSports