Whirlwind does the business in Shanghai

Well the wildcards didnt last long in the Shanghai Masters, blink and you would have missed them, Ah Bulajiang was closest to causing an upset as he took Judd Trump into a final frame shootout before going down 5-4.
Jimmy White and Andy Hicks both did the business for me to justify their position as 4/6 jollies, the White-Guodong match was featured on Eurosport and the youngster looked very nervous in front of the TV cameras for possibly the first time, which coupled with a steady performance from the Whirlwind, ensured a comfortable passage for the old stager.
He now meets Mark King tomorrow and no reason why if he shows that kind of consistency he couldnt spring a surprise so took the early offer of 6/4 there, admittedly his long game was still a bit suspect but he looked much more confident in amongst the balls than he has been in the last year or two, probably thanks to some decent results down at Prestatyn.
In fact tomorrow I will mostly playing the underdogs, also hovering around the 6/4 mark too are Steve Davis and Fergal O Brien and I've snapped up those prices too.
Davis plays last years winner Dominic Dale but neither player for me justifies any great faith on current form, Dale didnt appear in so many summer pro-am tournaments this time around so is unlikely to have the same kind of advantage as last year when he largely caught everyone cold.
Fergal O Brien hasn't set the world alight either so far this year, with a tepid performance against Michael Holt on TV in Northern Ireland and a defeat to Andrew Higginson in the Grand Prix last week but Robbo has been a traditionally slow starter to the season himself of late. He lost early doors to Ian McCulloch in Belfast and also got turned over by Michael Judge and Ricky Walden well before the business end of minor events in Leeds and Antwerp.
Following on from my large odds bet on Walden in the outrights, I've had to take him at 6/5 to upset Stephen Hendry in the match odds too, Hendry has had very little table time so far this year and will surely be very rusty, winning only one frame in each of his matches with Stephen Lee in Belfast and Mark Selby in last week's Premier League. Walden meanwhile has been appearing in practically everything that's going and as I said elsewhere has already lifted minor trophies in Thailand and Belgium.
The one favourite I'll play is Joe Perry, taken the early 8/11 to beat Matthew Stevens; Perry has been very good at punishing mistakes in the last year or two and Stevens still seems a good way off the form that took him to the higher echelons of the game a few years ago, he was beaten 5-2 by Dave Gilbert on his last outing in Prestatyn.
Going back to the Irish Greyhound Laurels event I mentioned at the weekend, I've decided to add an each way bet on 100/1 shot Good Boy Errol, he stayed on strongly into second place behind one of my other selections Cabra Cool in one of heats on Saturday night. With the track favouring front runners, he seems an unlikely winner but with a quarter the odds the first four in the final if he could sneak through it looks a good value bet. Certainly he put up a good show a couple of days ago, being buffeted out of his stride early on but still closing on the winner into the straight so who's to say what would have happened with a clear run.
Have also topped up a bit on favourite Slip The Lark, he has a bit of nightmare draw with the nearest two in the betting also in the same heat next week but this means his odds have in places remained largely unchanged so its now or never as regards backing him for a decent profit or to remain a marginal winner on the book.
He was impressive enough for me on Saturday, slightly missing the break but showing searing pace to take it up by the second bend, if he gets it right at the traps this track should suit him, the one worry being that he got a few bumps from Tyrur Laurel in the first round and they are both drawn in the same traps this time around.
With early paced Kryptonite on the inside too theres not much room for error in this one.
All the best,
Rick