bwin Betting

The 2000 Masters and currently the 26th placer in the world, Matthew Stevens, hopes to break back into the world’s top 16 through the Welsh Open. He plans of moving back into the top by winning the Newport Centre tournament.

On Monday, Stevens meets Englishman Barry Pinches in a qualifier for a first round place. While on Tuesday, Ronnie O’Sullivan starts against Stuart Bingham. And on Wednesday, Jimmy Set is set to try own luck against Judd Trump.

“That’s the big goal for me this season, to get back into the top 16”, said Stevens. He seems serious with his objective this season.

And the 32-year-old player said in addition, “I’m a fair bit behind at the moment, but all it takes is one good week. I’ve won all of my qualifying matches so far this season but in the last two tournaments I’ve played Ding Junhui and Ronnie O’Sullivan in the first round. That shows how tough it is when you are outside the top 16 and why it’s important for me to get back there”.

The two-time World Championship runner-up will face the 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy if he defeated Pinches on Monday. Stevens knew that he should win the tournament so to boost his chances of breaking back into the world’s top 16. If he wins the tournament, he doesn’t need anymore to qualify for the major events.

Stevens realized the need for him to get back into the world’s top 16 and so he will surely do everything just to win this game against Pinches. He will play at his best just to win it against the Englishman. But of course, his opponent might also be chasing for a win to also improve his rankings so he must be so prepared.