Peter Lines will be hoping to continue his decent start to the year when he takes on Kurt Maflin in qualifying for the Shanghai Masters on Thursday. The Leeds-born star has been on the circuit for some time now, so much so that his son Oliver is also a regular and has started to outshine his father. However, Lines senior remains a fine player in his own right and has shown some decent form so far this season, reaching the fourth round of the Paul Hunter Classic and making it to the third round of the European Masters.
Maflin has also shown some encouraging signs without setting the world alight this season, reaching the second stage of his first four tournaments. Failing to qualify for his last two will have harmed his confidence though and he will be keen to stop the rot in Wigan. The 34-year-old’s quarter-final appearance at last year’s Welsh Open showed his quality and with two competitive 147s to his name, Maflin clearly knows way around the table.
His form is a worry though, but despite this he remains the 1/2 favourite heading into Thursday’s match. Lines is 7/5 and has the historical advantage in their duels, winning two out of three, most recently in the last 64 of the 2016 Snooker Shootout. A tight affair is likely as these two battle it out for a place in next month’s event in Shanghai so punters may also look at the on offer for exactly eight frames, or the 12/5 for over eight.
Shanghai Masters Qualifiers odds available at Dafabet.