Zak Surety vs Ben Mertens Prediction: Surety to secure a win in this game

The final day of the British Open snooker qualification encounters is here. On day 4, Zak Surety will play Ben Mertens at Mattioli Arena in Leicester. 

Zak Surety has been decent in his recent qualifying tournaments, and he will hope for a positive outcome in this one, too. The last match he played was against Scot Donaldson in the Wuhan Open, and he easily dispatched him. In the meantime, Surety took on Sanderson Lam in the China World Grand Prix in a prior game and secured a 2-5 win. Looking at the Englishman's last five games, Zak Surety has three wins accumulated while losing to Si Jiahui and Peter Lines in other encounters. 

19-year-old Ben Mertens comes into this game as an underdog, losing two of his last three matches. Ben Mertens played John Higgins in the Wuhan Open and Artemis Zizins in the Championship League in his defeats. However, other encounters in his last five matches saw the Belgian defeat Simon Blackwell in the China Grand Prix and John Higgins in the Championship League First stage. Yet, his encounter against Ma Hailong ended in a 2-2 draw. While he will have his sights on playing in the British Open, Ben Mertens is expected to be at the top level, display character, and go all out for victory. 

We have a split win in the first two matches between these sides, with their last encounter being in 2022. However, the two teams' recent performances suggest Zak Surety is the better player. However, Ben Mertens was a tough player in this matchup, and while he could be a threat to deal with here, I am backing him in closing the odds.