Scott Donaldson vs Jimmy Robertson

🔥 Donaldson is enjoying a strong run at the Shenzhen Open, but his two key victories have both come by the narrowest of margins—he edged out Zhao Xintong and Pang Junxu 5-4 apiece. Robertson, on the other hand, cruised through his last round with a comfortable 5-1 win over Ben Mertens, after previously dispatching Steven Hallworth 4-2. Their most recent head-to-head clash also went decisively in Jimmy’s favor—a 5-0 whitewash.

That’s why I like the handicap in Robertson’s favor here. Donaldson is playing well, but he’s needed all nine frames in back-to-back matches, suggesting he hasn’t been able to pull away from top-tier opponents. For Robertson to cover a +1.5 frame handicap, he just needs to either win the match or lose narrowly 4-5. Given his current form and that emphatic 5-0 result in their latest H2H, he looks more than capable of keeping things close. My pick: Robertson with a +1.5 frame handicap.