World number 13 Ali Carter will be one of the headline names competing at the World Games in Wroclaw this week. The two-time World Championship runner-up will be competing in his first tournament of note this season when he takes on Australian Shaun Dalitz in the first round on Wednesday. The 37-year-old has not won a tournament since his triumph over Joe Perry in the final of the World Open 12 months ago, but he will fancy his chances of securing a victory in round one against Dalitz, who reached the quarter-finals of the Oceania Championship earlier this year.
This year’s tournament in Poland is open to both male and female players and should Carter book his place in the quarter-finals then he will face the winner of the first round match between Belgium’s Wendy Jans and Declan Brennan of Northern Ireland. Brennan will fancy his chances of winning in the first round, as he was only narrowly beaten 4-3 by John Astley during qualifying for the recent Riga Masters. Defending champion Aditya Mehta will also be in first round action on Wednesday, as he bids to successfully defend the title he won in Colombia four years ago. Mehta comprehensively beat Liang Wenbo in the 2013 final and he will face Pole Kacper Filipiak in the first round of this year’s event at Wroclaw Congress Center.
Whoever wins the match between Mehta and Filipiak will go on to face either China’s Xu Si or Mohammad Bilal of Pakistan in the last eight. World number 106 Xu Si will fancy his chances of beating amateur player Bilal, particularly as he has already played against quality opposition like Judd Trump and Robbie Williams this season.
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