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Right, snooker week starts tomorrow... :smile:
It's the third major ranking event of the season and the first one to feature pretty much all of the top players, after the slightly weaker fields of the two summer events. This event also has the old tiered format, so the top seeds are all in Shanghai. We do have one major casualty from the qualifiers though - Mark Williams losing to Dave Gilbert in the final qualifying round, just as he was starting to look good again with that win in Rotterdam. Ronnie O'Sullivan is also missing, but that was to be expected.
Let's see what the draw looks like:
Quarter 1:
John Higgins v. Mike Dunn
Mark Davis v. Allister Carter
Matthew Stevens v. Peter Lines
Stephen Maguire v. Xiao G./Yuan S.
Interesting opening quarter, featuring two players who have played very well at the start of the season. John Higgins lost the Wuxi Classic final to Neil Robertson, but has generally looked solid so far, much better than for most of last season. In fact, Shanghai was his only success last season, and quite a few of his recent good performances have come in China, so he will be one of the men to beat here. The biggest obstacle in his part of the draw should be Mark Davis. He knocked Higgins out of the WC last season, and has continued his good form this season as well, winning a couple of minor events just prior to this tournament. His match against Carter should be one of the highlights of the 1st round. Unlike Davis, Carter usually struggles against Higgins, so it's going to be tough for him to go through here, but he's already shown that his short absence from the game in the last couple of months hasn't set him back too much, and I'm sure he will be pushing for a return to the top16.
This will be the first appearance of Stephen Maguire in a major event this season. He played in a couple of the PTCs, and interestingly, he's had wins over Peter Lines and Xiao Guodong, who both find themselves next to him in the draw here. I'm not sure how strong Maguire is likely to be... He finally won another ranking event last season, but ended it on a very low note, with a 1st round defeat at the WC. I think Xiao could be a tricky opponent here, playing in his home country again, just like in Wuxi where he reached the last16. Matthew Stevens was a semi-finalist in Wuxi, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he went through either, and he starts with a Wuxi rematch against Lines, a player who has already beaten the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan this season, so it will be very interesting to see how this quarter plays out.
Quarter 2:
Stuart Bingham v. Kyren Wilson
Marco Fu v. Cao Y./Zhou Y.
Ricky Walden v. M.Gould/Zhao X.
Judd Trump v. Michael Holt
This could perhaps turn out to be the most interesting quarter. First of all, Cao Yupeng has a very tricky wildcard match to overcome, but if he does win, it sets up a great 1st round proper encounter with Marco Fu. Cao was one of the best players in Wuxi, and only lost in the decider against a very strong Robertson in the quarter-finals. This is his first real chance to build on that result, although a couple of months have unfortunately passed, so there is no guarantee that Cao's form has held up. Marco Fu is the winner of the previous major event - the Australian Open, and tradition would suggest an unexpected early exit for him, although it wouldn't really be all that unexpected, considering the quarter he is in here. He did play well in Australia, and it has to be said that his consistency over the past two seasons has been very good compared to previous seasons, so he has to be taken seriously. He hasn't really come close to winning a title in China in the past, but perhaps this is the week. There is also the very solid Stuart Bingham, a player who has very much enjoyed his top16 status in the past two seasons, playing snooker worthy of his ranking and getting to the business end of major tournaments quite regularly. A potential match against Fu or Cao in the 2nd round could certainly provide us with some high-quality snooker.
Judd Trump is the big name in this quarter, but also one of the more underwhelming top players this season, with no appearances at the business end of any tournament. Well, he was one of the very few top players not to completely disappoint at the WC, so perhaps it's understandable that he was not as motivated to get himself in top form right away. He lost to Li Hang in Wuxi, but his opponent here is perhaps less tricky, as Michael Holt himself lost in the 1st round in Australia against Alfie Burden, despite being seeded as a top16 player for that tournament. Ricky Walden is an interesting case as well. Usually very strong early in the season, but this season started slowly for him, with an embarrassing defeat to Jimmy White in Wuxi and another 1st round exit in Australia. He did win the PTC in Doncaster though, so I expect him to play strongly in the next couple of major events. He played Martin Gould in the 1st round of the China Open in 2011 and won 5-4, and this could be a similarly close match. If Gould gets past the very promising Zhao Xintong that is. :wink:
Quarter 3:
Mark Selby v. A.Higginson/Lin S.
Robert Milkins v. Mark Joyce
Mark Allen v. R.Day/Lu N.
Barry Hawkins v. David Grace
I think Mark Selby is a strong favourite to reach the QF from this quarter. He got caught out in the qualifiers for the Wuxi Classic, then lost to a very good Robertson in Australia, and played well in the following PTCs as well, only losing to the likes of Williams and O'Sullivan. Andrew Higginson has not been playing well enough this season to suggest he could beat Selby, so the only real danger to him is Robert Milkins. Now, Milkins has reached the semi-finals of both major ranking events this season, but as I said at the time, his draw was truly remarkable. He won eight matches to reach those two semi-finals, but the toughest players he faced were Hamilton, McLeod and Ford, so you could say he lost as soon as he faced another top player. But to be fair to him, he did play well, and he's had wins against the top players in the past, so Selby is by no means safe here.
Mark Allen and Barry Hawkins are the main contenders for the other QF spot here. Hawkins lost to a very good Cao Yupeng in Wuxi, while Mark Allen lost early to Peter Lines, so they will both be looking to do better here. Allen was probably among the most frustrated players after the WC, having lost in the 1st round for two years in a row, and his season outside of the WC wasn't that brilliant either. He did win the World Open though, defended it in fact, so he must be taken very seriously in the Chinese events. Hawkins must also be considered among the favourites for the title here, after his brilliant last season where he won a ranking title and reached another final. Like Bingham, he too is playing snooker worthy of his ranking, and he has a very solid all-round game that puts him favourite against Allen, unless Allen finds strong form. Ryan Day could possibly be dangerous as well. He's had a series of strong runs in ranking events in the past, including in places like China and Malta, but his strong scoring game doesn't come around as often anymore, and he will certainly need it to have any chance here. Lu Ning will also be interesting to see. He won his match at the Wuxi Classic, and he could be dangerous again.
Quarter 4:
Shaun Murphy v. Yu Delu
Ding Junhui v. D.Gilbert/Fang X.
Graeme Dott v. M.King/Zhu Y.
Neil Robertson v. J.Perry/Wang Y.
A couple of big names in the bottom quarter as well... First off, a potentially interesting match between Ding Junhui and David Gilbert in the 1st round proper. They've already met this season, in the Paul Hunter Classic, where Gilbert surprisingly prevailed. They were also in the same quarter in the Wuxi Classic, but both got knocked out by an in-form Joe Perry. Still, it was a good week for Gilbert, a rare last16 appearance as the highlight of a very solid season so far. Ding has certainly had his share of disappointments in China over the years, going out in much easier quarters than this one, so it will be interesting to see if he is up for it. I don't think anyone would be surprised if Murphy got through. He hasn't won a major title in five years, but he is still very consistent in getting through to the business end of tournaments, although he is still waiting for a decent result this season. He could be in danger of going out early himself, facing a tricky 1st round opponent in Yu Delu, a former wildcard specialist, who is bound to play better at the venue than he does in qualifiers in the UK.
Neil Robertson is arguably the title favourite here, after appearing in both major finals this season, winning one of them. He has also won the last two Chinese events, and only really played one bad tournament in the last 12 months - the WC. He is the most consistent top player in the world at this point in time, along with Mark Selby, and with his China struggles now behind him, it's very hard to see him losing before the quarter-finals. Having said that, Joe Perry is a tough 1st round opponent for him. Not only does he know him very well and has beaten him in the past, he is also one of the players of the season so far, with two ranking quarter-finals and a PTC title to his name. He did lose to Robertson in Australia though. Graeme Dott is a bit suspect at the moment, no real results this season, although the draws haven't been to kind to him, especially in the PTCs. Zhu Yinghui is also one to watch, having already won a wildcard match this season in Wuxi, although Mark King should be a tougher challenge than Reanne Evans. :wink:
Possible QF lineup:
Mark Davis v. Stephen Maguire
Stuart Bingham v. Ricky Walden
Mark Selby v. Barry Hawkins
Shaun Murphy v. Neil Robertson
Should be a great week. Snooker in the morning and afternoon, basketball in the evening. Doesn't get better than that.
It's the third major ranking event of the season and the first one to feature pretty much all of the top players, after the slightly weaker fields of the two summer events. This event also has the old tiered format, so the top seeds are all in Shanghai. We do have one major casualty from the qualifiers though - Mark Williams losing to Dave Gilbert in the final qualifying round, just as he was starting to look good again with that win in Rotterdam. Ronnie O'Sullivan is also missing, but that was to be expected.
Let's see what the draw looks like:
Quarter 1:
John Higgins v. Mike Dunn
Mark Davis v. Allister Carter
Matthew Stevens v. Peter Lines
Stephen Maguire v. Xiao G./Yuan S.
Interesting opening quarter, featuring two players who have played very well at the start of the season. John Higgins lost the Wuxi Classic final to Neil Robertson, but has generally looked solid so far, much better than for most of last season. In fact, Shanghai was his only success last season, and quite a few of his recent good performances have come in China, so he will be one of the men to beat here. The biggest obstacle in his part of the draw should be Mark Davis. He knocked Higgins out of the WC last season, and has continued his good form this season as well, winning a couple of minor events just prior to this tournament. His match against Carter should be one of the highlights of the 1st round. Unlike Davis, Carter usually struggles against Higgins, so it's going to be tough for him to go through here, but he's already shown that his short absence from the game in the last couple of months hasn't set him back too much, and I'm sure he will be pushing for a return to the top16.
This will be the first appearance of Stephen Maguire in a major event this season. He played in a couple of the PTCs, and interestingly, he's had wins over Peter Lines and Xiao Guodong, who both find themselves next to him in the draw here. I'm not sure how strong Maguire is likely to be... He finally won another ranking event last season, but ended it on a very low note, with a 1st round defeat at the WC. I think Xiao could be a tricky opponent here, playing in his home country again, just like in Wuxi where he reached the last16. Matthew Stevens was a semi-finalist in Wuxi, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he went through either, and he starts with a Wuxi rematch against Lines, a player who has already beaten the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan this season, so it will be very interesting to see how this quarter plays out.
Quarter 2:
Stuart Bingham v. Kyren Wilson
Marco Fu v. Cao Y./Zhou Y.
Ricky Walden v. M.Gould/Zhao X.
Judd Trump v. Michael Holt
This could perhaps turn out to be the most interesting quarter. First of all, Cao Yupeng has a very tricky wildcard match to overcome, but if he does win, it sets up a great 1st round proper encounter with Marco Fu. Cao was one of the best players in Wuxi, and only lost in the decider against a very strong Robertson in the quarter-finals. This is his first real chance to build on that result, although a couple of months have unfortunately passed, so there is no guarantee that Cao's form has held up. Marco Fu is the winner of the previous major event - the Australian Open, and tradition would suggest an unexpected early exit for him, although it wouldn't really be all that unexpected, considering the quarter he is in here. He did play well in Australia, and it has to be said that his consistency over the past two seasons has been very good compared to previous seasons, so he has to be taken seriously. He hasn't really come close to winning a title in China in the past, but perhaps this is the week. There is also the very solid Stuart Bingham, a player who has very much enjoyed his top16 status in the past two seasons, playing snooker worthy of his ranking and getting to the business end of major tournaments quite regularly. A potential match against Fu or Cao in the 2nd round could certainly provide us with some high-quality snooker.
Judd Trump is the big name in this quarter, but also one of the more underwhelming top players this season, with no appearances at the business end of any tournament. Well, he was one of the very few top players not to completely disappoint at the WC, so perhaps it's understandable that he was not as motivated to get himself in top form right away. He lost to Li Hang in Wuxi, but his opponent here is perhaps less tricky, as Michael Holt himself lost in the 1st round in Australia against Alfie Burden, despite being seeded as a top16 player for that tournament. Ricky Walden is an interesting case as well. Usually very strong early in the season, but this season started slowly for him, with an embarrassing defeat to Jimmy White in Wuxi and another 1st round exit in Australia. He did win the PTC in Doncaster though, so I expect him to play strongly in the next couple of major events. He played Martin Gould in the 1st round of the China Open in 2011 and won 5-4, and this could be a similarly close match. If Gould gets past the very promising Zhao Xintong that is. :wink:
Quarter 3:
Mark Selby v. A.Higginson/Lin S.
Robert Milkins v. Mark Joyce
Mark Allen v. R.Day/Lu N.
Barry Hawkins v. David Grace
I think Mark Selby is a strong favourite to reach the QF from this quarter. He got caught out in the qualifiers for the Wuxi Classic, then lost to a very good Robertson in Australia, and played well in the following PTCs as well, only losing to the likes of Williams and O'Sullivan. Andrew Higginson has not been playing well enough this season to suggest he could beat Selby, so the only real danger to him is Robert Milkins. Now, Milkins has reached the semi-finals of both major ranking events this season, but as I said at the time, his draw was truly remarkable. He won eight matches to reach those two semi-finals, but the toughest players he faced were Hamilton, McLeod and Ford, so you could say he lost as soon as he faced another top player. But to be fair to him, he did play well, and he's had wins against the top players in the past, so Selby is by no means safe here.
Mark Allen and Barry Hawkins are the main contenders for the other QF spot here. Hawkins lost to a very good Cao Yupeng in Wuxi, while Mark Allen lost early to Peter Lines, so they will both be looking to do better here. Allen was probably among the most frustrated players after the WC, having lost in the 1st round for two years in a row, and his season outside of the WC wasn't that brilliant either. He did win the World Open though, defended it in fact, so he must be taken very seriously in the Chinese events. Hawkins must also be considered among the favourites for the title here, after his brilliant last season where he won a ranking title and reached another final. Like Bingham, he too is playing snooker worthy of his ranking, and he has a very solid all-round game that puts him favourite against Allen, unless Allen finds strong form. Ryan Day could possibly be dangerous as well. He's had a series of strong runs in ranking events in the past, including in places like China and Malta, but his strong scoring game doesn't come around as often anymore, and he will certainly need it to have any chance here. Lu Ning will also be interesting to see. He won his match at the Wuxi Classic, and he could be dangerous again.
Quarter 4:
Shaun Murphy v. Yu Delu
Ding Junhui v. D.Gilbert/Fang X.
Graeme Dott v. M.King/Zhu Y.
Neil Robertson v. J.Perry/Wang Y.
A couple of big names in the bottom quarter as well... First off, a potentially interesting match between Ding Junhui and David Gilbert in the 1st round proper. They've already met this season, in the Paul Hunter Classic, where Gilbert surprisingly prevailed. They were also in the same quarter in the Wuxi Classic, but both got knocked out by an in-form Joe Perry. Still, it was a good week for Gilbert, a rare last16 appearance as the highlight of a very solid season so far. Ding has certainly had his share of disappointments in China over the years, going out in much easier quarters than this one, so it will be interesting to see if he is up for it. I don't think anyone would be surprised if Murphy got through. He hasn't won a major title in five years, but he is still very consistent in getting through to the business end of tournaments, although he is still waiting for a decent result this season. He could be in danger of going out early himself, facing a tricky 1st round opponent in Yu Delu, a former wildcard specialist, who is bound to play better at the venue than he does in qualifiers in the UK.
Neil Robertson is arguably the title favourite here, after appearing in both major finals this season, winning one of them. He has also won the last two Chinese events, and only really played one bad tournament in the last 12 months - the WC. He is the most consistent top player in the world at this point in time, along with Mark Selby, and with his China struggles now behind him, it's very hard to see him losing before the quarter-finals. Having said that, Joe Perry is a tough 1st round opponent for him. Not only does he know him very well and has beaten him in the past, he is also one of the players of the season so far, with two ranking quarter-finals and a PTC title to his name. He did lose to Robertson in Australia though. Graeme Dott is a bit suspect at the moment, no real results this season, although the draws haven't been to kind to him, especially in the PTCs. Zhu Yinghui is also one to watch, having already won a wildcard match this season in Wuxi, although Mark King should be a tougher challenge than Reanne Evans. :wink:
Possible QF lineup:
Mark Davis v. Stephen Maguire
Stuart Bingham v. Ricky Walden
Mark Selby v. Barry Hawkins
Shaun Murphy v. Neil Robertson
Should be a great week. Snooker in the morning and afternoon, basketball in the evening. Doesn't get better than that.
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