Round 1 play (2pts):
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano to beat Richard Bland -110 @ Stan James
Bland may have been in the better form over the last couple of months, but now that the Tour has reached mainland Europe I'm expecting GFC's form to improve. This is an event that he has jointly promoted with Miguel Angel Jimenez since 2007 and that responsibility has not harmed his performances in this event: he finished 7th in 2007 and 14th last year. Similarly, when in Spain he tends play better as shown by his 11-4 h2h record against Bland in Spanish events and across all events, he has been beaten by Bland just twice in the first round since the start of last season (15 common events). So Bland may have better current form, but it should not be enough to give him the advantage tomorrow.
[unofficial rd1 system plays: Orr tb Whitnell -120; Rock tb Martin P -120; Dougherty tb Ilonen -111; Levet tb Aiken -120; Velasco tb Parry -120; McGinley tb Goya -120; Erlandsson tb McEvoy -120; Molinari tb Quiros A -110; Garrido tb Aiken -111; Fernandez-Castano tb Clarke -111]
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano to beat Richard Bland -110 @ Stan James
Bland may have been in the better form over the last couple of months, but now that the Tour has reached mainland Europe I'm expecting GFC's form to improve. This is an event that he has jointly promoted with Miguel Angel Jimenez since 2007 and that responsibility has not harmed his performances in this event: he finished 7th in 2007 and 14th last year. Similarly, when in Spain he tends play better as shown by his 11-4 h2h record against Bland in Spanish events and across all events, he has been beaten by Bland just twice in the first round since the start of last season (15 common events). So Bland may have better current form, but it should not be enough to give him the advantage tomorrow.
[unofficial rd1 system plays: Orr tb Whitnell -120; Rock tb Martin P -120; Dougherty tb Ilonen -111; Levet tb Aiken -120; Velasco tb Parry -120; McGinley tb Goya -120; Erlandsson tb McEvoy -120; Molinari tb Quiros A -110; Garrido tb Aiken -111; Fernandez-Castano tb Clarke -111]