Matthew Stevens vs Stan Moody Prediction: A thrilling first meeting is expected in this game

On the second day of the Wuhan Open Qualification games, Matthew Stevens will take on Stan Moody at the Leicester Arena in Leicester. This game will be the first-ever meeting between these sides. Who qualifies for the next round?

Matthew Stevens is on a run of unbeaten games, and the Welsh snooker player will look to keep things rolling. In that run of games, Matthew Stevens won three times, while the four other encounters ended in draws. In his wins, Matthew Stevens defeated Haydon Pinhey, Robbie Williams, and Andrew Higginson in games that ended 3-0, 1-3, and 5-0, respectively. Despite those strong outcomes, he was held to identical 2-2 draws with Farakh Ajaib, Martin O’Donnell, Ma Hailong, and Jak Jones, all in the World Championship League.

Stan Moody faces a tough test in this encounter as he comes in as a huge underdog. In his last matches into this, the Englishman has struggled heavily with just one win to record in six matches, coming against Dylan Emery, which ended 3-1. However, other games in that run saw him lose to Dominic Dale 4-1, Mohammed Mustafa Shebab 6-10, and Tom Ford 5-3, while he was held to 2-2 identical draws with Dominic Dale and Ben Woollaston in other encounters. 

I will go for experience and level of play in this game, and Matthew Stevens is ahead in both aspects. Looking at how much Stan Moody has struggled in recent games, I do not see him competing well enough here, and while Matthew Stevens is coming off a run of unbeaten stretch, I am backing him to win with a good margin.