China’s Xiao Guodong will be hoping to climb off the bottom of the Championship League Group 6 table on Thursday as he prepares to play three matches in Coventry.

The 29-year-old has endured a miserable start to the tournament after losing his first three games. He opened the event with a 3-0 defeat to Martin Gould, with Gould firing home a 135 break.

Xiao then lost by the same scoreline to David B Gilbert before eventually showing some fight in his 3-2 loss to Mark Davis.

Consistency has proved a real problem for the world No.25, with Xiao struggling to progress in recent tournaments.

Reaching the quarter-finals of the World Open in August is his best result of the season but Thursday will give him a chance to respond.

He opens up the day with a match against Barry Hawkins, with the Englishman 1.53 favourite. Xiao is 2.40 to pull off a shock win, while a scoreline of 3-2 is available at odds of 5.50.

In the afternoon session, Xiao is the underdog again when he faces Stephen Maguire, priced at 2.30 to secure the victory. Maguire remains a 1.61 favourite due to his recent form, while a closer match is expected in the evening session.

Seventh-placed Xiao is 2.20 to overcome Allister Carter, who sits just one place above him in sixth. Carter has also lost his first four matches but he still remains a 1.67 favourite to beat his Chinese opponent after some decent results in previous tournaments in the last few months.