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So, the second staging of the International Championship starts tomorrow. I think most would agree that it was one of the best tournaments of last season, with good crowds, good snooker and a format that worked very well. It's held under the new flat system this time, a system I didn't really like that much in the Wuxi Classic, but surely the best-of-11 format will see more of the top players reach the business end.
Should be a good week for the Chinese players as well, considering they have featured heavily in pretty much every tournament this season, with a number of potential contenders emerging.
Anyway, let's see what the draw looks like...
Quarter 1:
Judd Trump v. Alan McManus/Zhou Yuelong
Ryan Day v. Mike Dunn
Ben Woollaston v. Fergal O'Brien
Rod Lawler v. Aditya Mehta
Mark Allen v. Tian Pengfei
Dave Harold v. Pankaj Advani
Joe Perry v. Jamie Jones
Shaun Murphy v. David Gilbert
Judd Trump is by far the biggest name in his part of the draw, looking to defend the title, and also looking for his first notable result this season. It was the same for him last season, he took a while to get going after a couple of quiet months in the summer. I would expect his form to pick up for the next couple of events, and the slightly longer matches should also make him more difficult to knock out. It's hard to say where his biggest danger is coming from here. Aditya Mehta got to the final of the recent Indian Open, and even though it was short-format stuff he still played well to beat three top players. He also had a good win over Ricky Walden in the qualifying for this tournament. Getting past Trump could be difficult for him though, especially as he lost 6-0 to him in this tournament last year. Ryan Day could possibly be dangerous as well. He has been waiting for an appearance at the business end of a major tournament for a while, but he has played some good matches in the early rounds over the last season or two. He has been quite inconsistent, but a good day at the right time could see him come through this quarter. I would also mention Ben Woollaston, one of the few non-Chinese players to play in the recent PTC in Zhengzhou, which could give him an advantage over his opposition here. Zhou Yuelong also shouldn't be underestimated. He reached the last8 of both of the last two PTCs in China, so he should at least be a tough wildcard opponent for McManus, if not for Trump in the 1st round proper.
The second part of this quarter has two big names, Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen potentially meeting in the last16. Allen has struggled in the major events so far this season, going out early in all of them, but then won the title in the Ruhr Open PTC, beating some top players on his way. He isn't among the most consistent players these days, but at his best he is a strong contender for titles, and he has won a couple in China in the past. On the other hand, Murphy is probably the biggest name not to have won a ranking title in China. He too has had a pretty mediocre season so far, even getting caught out in the qualifying a couple of times. His record in reaching the business end of tournaments is quite strong, but at the same time his record against other top players over the last season and a half is dreadful, so I would make him second favourite in the potential clash with Allen. All eight players in this part of the draw are quite strong, but I will only mention three more. Pankaj Advani is an interesting player, a quarter-finalist in the Indian Open, and considering he is missing the billiards World Championship to play in this event, he would probably be quite disappointed to go out early. His two best runs in ranking events so far have both come in the best-of-7 format, so I'm not sure the longer matches here will suit him, but he has just had a win over Mark Allen in India, so it could be a good match in the 2nd round. Joe Perry could also be dangerous if he can reproduce his form from Yixing and Wuxi. I'm not sure he can though, because a lot of these "top32" players in recent times have had some success and then went right back to their usual standard, and I think we could see something like that with Perry as well. And finally, Tian Pengfei is always interesting to see. We've seen quite a few Chinese players have good runs in tournaments recently, but Tian is not really one of them. He has kind of dropped off the radar since that good run of form in 2010, and it's a good thing he had a fairly easy opponent to qualify for this event, because qualifying has proved quite a struggle for him. Still, now that he is here he could find some inspiration and maybe cause some problems for the favourites.
Quarter 2:
Barry Hawkins v. Jimmy White/Yuan Sijun
Steve Davis/Zhao Xintong v. Craig Steadman
Xiao Guodong v. Alfie Burden
Marco Fu v. Adam Duffy
Stuart Bingham v. Robin Hull
Martin Gould v. Matthew Selt
Mark King v. Peter Lines
Mark Selby v. Jamie Burnett
Probably the weakest quarter of the draw. I think there are three realistic contenders for the first QF spot. The first one is obviously Barry Hawkins, the highest-ranked player here and a semi-finalist in the Shanghai Masters last month. He enjoyed his top16 status in the second half of last season, and it looks like he is enjoying his top8 status this season. He has always had a very solid all-round game, the kind that makes you hard to knock out, and the new-found confidence has made him an even bigger danger. He could play Mark Selby, his favourite opponent, in the quarter-finals here, but there are a couple of obstacles before that. Marco Fu is here, the Australian champion... I guess no one really expects Fu to play well all the time, considering the inconsistency throughout his career, but he definitely plays fewer bad tournaments than he used to and, like Hawkins, he doesn't really have a weakness when he plays well. I would also keep an eye on Xiao Guodong here. Recent history suggests that a good run could well be followed by an early exit here, but he played well in Zhengzhou a couple of days ago and was involved at the business end. He showed some good fighting qualities in his run to the final in Shanghai, and there are not many players around his age who are playing as well as him at the moment, so the only way is up really. Steve Davis is also here, the new seniors champion, but I can't really see him getting through. In fact, he may have to play quite well to avoid an early exit against the very promising Zhao Xintong.
Mark Selby is the favourite for the other QF spot here. His season hasn't been spectacular, but not that bad either, the highlight being his run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open. He made the trip a bit early to play in the PTC event as well, and while he got knocked out in his first match there, it could still help him to settle quicker than his opponents. I don't have anything new to say about his game, I'm sure we are all aware of his strengths and weaknesses, and we can probably agree he is one of the players to beat in every tournament this season. I will say this though, the guy has played in nine tournaments with this best-of-11 format in his career so far and won four of them, which is quite a respectable percentage, so this is exactly the kind of event he likes. His biggest danger here is Stuart Bingham, another player who came early to play the PTC, and he too could benefit from that decision. He has played alright this season, but without any major run, so he will be looking for better here. Mark King could also be dangerous, a player who has caused a lot of problems for Selby in the past. He has been playing to a consistently solid standard for a number of years now, and no one is really safe from him. And then there is Martin Gould as well, he too still waiting for a good run, but could very well prevail over the likes of Bingham in an open attacking game if he finds his best form.
Quarter 3:
Neil Robertson v. Alex Davies
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v. Zhang Anda
Peter Ebdon v. Jack Lisowski
Allister Carter v. Mark Joyce
John Higgins v. Joe Swail
Matthew Stevens v. Rory McLeod
James Wattana v. Gary Wilson
Ding Junhui v. Cao Yupeng
The third quarter is maybe not the strongest in terms of the sheer number of possible contenders, but it does feature the two players who have probably played the best snooker in the world this season. Neil Robertson is the big favourite in the first part of this quarter, particularly after the withdrawal of Ali Carter, who would have been his biggest obstacle. Robertson basically hasn't played a bad tournament all season, in fact, the only bad tournament he played in the last 12 months was the World Championship, which is remarkable consistency, compared to earlier in his career. He has also gone from a player who struggles in China to a player who seems to play his best snooker there. On top of that, he was a century machine in the last couple of tournaments, and that, combined with his excellent tactical game and mental strength, makes him very tough to beat. Who could do it here? Well, Peter Ebdon is definitely the first in line, not just because of his class and experience, but also the fact that he has played Robertson four times in China, and beat him every time. He will first have to worry about Jack Lisowski though, a player who hasn't shown much so far this season, but looked very dangerous in reaching the quarter-finals of the China Open towards the end of last season. If he finds his best form he could possibly go through here, particularly if Robertson is out of sorts, but that's a big if. I wouldn't give the other players much chance, although Zhang Anda will be interesting to see, finally coming back to the scene after a couple of quiet years since his promising debut on the big stage at the Crucible in 2010.
Ding Junhui is the man to beat in the second part of this quarter. Whether you count the Indian Open or the Shanghai Masters as the previous major event, Ding is the most recent winner in any case. I think his Shanghai win is among his best ones, particularly because of how unflappable he looked throughout the tournament, slowing his pace down and concentrating on every ball. He played some good tactical stuff in addition to his usual strong scoring, and it's no wonder he came out on top, because he is very difficult to play against on that form. He has also had a couple of good wins over strong players such as Robertson this season, which gives him even more confidence. Having said all that, we know form comes and goes, and it's going to be difficult to add another title here. It doesn't help that he faces some strong opposition as well. Obviously there is John Higgins, not at the very top of most people's list of contenders at this point in time, but not that far down either. He played some good snooker to reach the final in Wuxi, thrashing all of his opponents along the way before coming up against an inspired Robertson. He has been somewhat quiet since then, but he featured in the PTC a couple of days ago, which suggests that he is up for this event. Matthew Stevens was a semi-finalist in Wuxi, so he too could go through a couple of rounds here, although to be fair, he did benefit from a somewhat easier draw in Wuxi. And speaking of strong performers from Wuxi, Cao Yupeng is also here. I was looking for him to build on his good form, but he didn't play in any tournaments for a while, and when Shanghai came his form was gone. Tough match against Ding in the 1st round, but you never know, Cao has been known to play strongly in the longer matches. I would also look out for Gary Wilson, who reached the last8 in Zhengzhou earlier this week.
Quarter 4:
Stephen Maguire v. Kyren Wilson/Lin Shuai
Graeme Dott v. Michael White
Mark Williams v. Paul Davison
Robert Milkins v. Kurt Maflin
Mark Davis v. Oliver Brown
Michael Leslie v. Stuart Carringthon
Liang Wenbo v. Li Yan
Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Anthony McGill
Four fairly evenly matched seeds in this part of the draw. Maguire is ranked the highest, maintaining a high ranking after a fairly good last season, his best in a while. He's had some decent result in the short-format tournaments this season, but he is still waiting for a good run in the majors, although to be fair he didn't play in many. It's quite frustrating watching him at times, with the stupid way he loses matches, like the one against Ding in Germany, but there is always a chance he finds form and combines it with a bit of patience and calmness. Not too often unfortunately, but it could be this week. Mark Williams's success has been similar, a PTC win, but only a good match here and there in the major events, and rarely two good ones in a row. Still, Williams is the king of Asian events, winning more titles in Asia than anyone currently playing, so you can't rule him out. Graeme Dott has also been out of sorts recently, without any sort of good run this season, and he hasn't exactly been a brilliant traveler in recent years. He won a couple of matches in the PTC this week, so at least he won't be coming into the event cold. And then there is Robert Milkins, not as big a name as the other three, but certainly the most successful of the four this season. He reached two successive major semi-finals at the start of the season, in Wuxi and Australia, playing some of his best snooker. Having said that, he never played a top player in the whole of that run and has lost every time he's come up against the likes of Robertson and Selby this season, so this part of the draw will be tough for him to come through. I would also mention Kyren Wilson, who played well to reach the quarter-finals in Shanghai, and Michael White, a quarter-finalist in the WC this year and also recently in India.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is the big name in the final part of the draw, making his first (and possibly only) trip to China this season. He has appeared in a couple of the minor tournaments this season and played alright, winning the Paul Hunter Classic in August. It's tough to predict how well he is likely to play in the longer tournaments, particularly in China where he has been known to play some weird snooker at times. We don't see that much nonsense from him these days, so he could be the man to beat in this quarter. Tricky match against Anthony McGill in the 1st round though, as McGill is clearly in good form, having reached the quarter-finals in India and the semi-finals in Zhengzhou. He could well have a breakout tournament here, like the one Lisowski had in Beijing last season. My gut feeling is that Liang Wenbo could go through. He has been slowly coming back to form in the last two seasons, in the sense that he has started playing more good matches than previously, and over the past month he has finally put a couple of good tournaments together. He reached the last16 in India, the semi-finals in Zhangjiagang and finally won the PTC in Zhengzhou, beating quite a few familiar Chinese players along the way. He has also played well in the longer matches in the past, so this format should suit him. But with O'Sullivan possibly awaiting in the 2nd round, it will be tough... He has actually played O'Sullivan three times in two-session and three-session matches, and lost them all. And finally a mention for Mark Davis, who finds himself with the easiest possible route to the last16, facing three players with very little experience between them. I'm sure he will be determined to do the business, after he wasted a good opportunity in Shanghai, where he also found himself up against three lower-ranked players but couldn't take advantage.
Possible QF lineup:
Judd Trump v. Mark Allen
Barry Hawkins v. Mark Selby
Neil Robertson v. Ding Junhui
Stephen Maguire v. Liang Wenbo
Should be a great week with some quality snooker. Hopefully we also see some of those snooker pandas again.
:smile:
Should be a good week for the Chinese players as well, considering they have featured heavily in pretty much every tournament this season, with a number of potential contenders emerging.
Anyway, let's see what the draw looks like...
Quarter 1:
Judd Trump v. Alan McManus/Zhou Yuelong
Ryan Day v. Mike Dunn
Ben Woollaston v. Fergal O'Brien
Rod Lawler v. Aditya Mehta
Mark Allen v. Tian Pengfei
Dave Harold v. Pankaj Advani
Joe Perry v. Jamie Jones
Shaun Murphy v. David Gilbert
Judd Trump is by far the biggest name in his part of the draw, looking to defend the title, and also looking for his first notable result this season. It was the same for him last season, he took a while to get going after a couple of quiet months in the summer. I would expect his form to pick up for the next couple of events, and the slightly longer matches should also make him more difficult to knock out. It's hard to say where his biggest danger is coming from here. Aditya Mehta got to the final of the recent Indian Open, and even though it was short-format stuff he still played well to beat three top players. He also had a good win over Ricky Walden in the qualifying for this tournament. Getting past Trump could be difficult for him though, especially as he lost 6-0 to him in this tournament last year. Ryan Day could possibly be dangerous as well. He has been waiting for an appearance at the business end of a major tournament for a while, but he has played some good matches in the early rounds over the last season or two. He has been quite inconsistent, but a good day at the right time could see him come through this quarter. I would also mention Ben Woollaston, one of the few non-Chinese players to play in the recent PTC in Zhengzhou, which could give him an advantage over his opposition here. Zhou Yuelong also shouldn't be underestimated. He reached the last8 of both of the last two PTCs in China, so he should at least be a tough wildcard opponent for McManus, if not for Trump in the 1st round proper.
The second part of this quarter has two big names, Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen potentially meeting in the last16. Allen has struggled in the major events so far this season, going out early in all of them, but then won the title in the Ruhr Open PTC, beating some top players on his way. He isn't among the most consistent players these days, but at his best he is a strong contender for titles, and he has won a couple in China in the past. On the other hand, Murphy is probably the biggest name not to have won a ranking title in China. He too has had a pretty mediocre season so far, even getting caught out in the qualifying a couple of times. His record in reaching the business end of tournaments is quite strong, but at the same time his record against other top players over the last season and a half is dreadful, so I would make him second favourite in the potential clash with Allen. All eight players in this part of the draw are quite strong, but I will only mention three more. Pankaj Advani is an interesting player, a quarter-finalist in the Indian Open, and considering he is missing the billiards World Championship to play in this event, he would probably be quite disappointed to go out early. His two best runs in ranking events so far have both come in the best-of-7 format, so I'm not sure the longer matches here will suit him, but he has just had a win over Mark Allen in India, so it could be a good match in the 2nd round. Joe Perry could also be dangerous if he can reproduce his form from Yixing and Wuxi. I'm not sure he can though, because a lot of these "top32" players in recent times have had some success and then went right back to their usual standard, and I think we could see something like that with Perry as well. And finally, Tian Pengfei is always interesting to see. We've seen quite a few Chinese players have good runs in tournaments recently, but Tian is not really one of them. He has kind of dropped off the radar since that good run of form in 2010, and it's a good thing he had a fairly easy opponent to qualify for this event, because qualifying has proved quite a struggle for him. Still, now that he is here he could find some inspiration and maybe cause some problems for the favourites.
Quarter 2:
Barry Hawkins v. Jimmy White/Yuan Sijun
Steve Davis/Zhao Xintong v. Craig Steadman
Xiao Guodong v. Alfie Burden
Marco Fu v. Adam Duffy
Stuart Bingham v. Robin Hull
Martin Gould v. Matthew Selt
Mark King v. Peter Lines
Mark Selby v. Jamie Burnett
Probably the weakest quarter of the draw. I think there are three realistic contenders for the first QF spot. The first one is obviously Barry Hawkins, the highest-ranked player here and a semi-finalist in the Shanghai Masters last month. He enjoyed his top16 status in the second half of last season, and it looks like he is enjoying his top8 status this season. He has always had a very solid all-round game, the kind that makes you hard to knock out, and the new-found confidence has made him an even bigger danger. He could play Mark Selby, his favourite opponent, in the quarter-finals here, but there are a couple of obstacles before that. Marco Fu is here, the Australian champion... I guess no one really expects Fu to play well all the time, considering the inconsistency throughout his career, but he definitely plays fewer bad tournaments than he used to and, like Hawkins, he doesn't really have a weakness when he plays well. I would also keep an eye on Xiao Guodong here. Recent history suggests that a good run could well be followed by an early exit here, but he played well in Zhengzhou a couple of days ago and was involved at the business end. He showed some good fighting qualities in his run to the final in Shanghai, and there are not many players around his age who are playing as well as him at the moment, so the only way is up really. Steve Davis is also here, the new seniors champion, but I can't really see him getting through. In fact, he may have to play quite well to avoid an early exit against the very promising Zhao Xintong.
Mark Selby is the favourite for the other QF spot here. His season hasn't been spectacular, but not that bad either, the highlight being his run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open. He made the trip a bit early to play in the PTC event as well, and while he got knocked out in his first match there, it could still help him to settle quicker than his opponents. I don't have anything new to say about his game, I'm sure we are all aware of his strengths and weaknesses, and we can probably agree he is one of the players to beat in every tournament this season. I will say this though, the guy has played in nine tournaments with this best-of-11 format in his career so far and won four of them, which is quite a respectable percentage, so this is exactly the kind of event he likes. His biggest danger here is Stuart Bingham, another player who came early to play the PTC, and he too could benefit from that decision. He has played alright this season, but without any major run, so he will be looking for better here. Mark King could also be dangerous, a player who has caused a lot of problems for Selby in the past. He has been playing to a consistently solid standard for a number of years now, and no one is really safe from him. And then there is Martin Gould as well, he too still waiting for a good run, but could very well prevail over the likes of Bingham in an open attacking game if he finds his best form.
Quarter 3:
Neil Robertson v. Alex Davies
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v. Zhang Anda
Peter Ebdon v. Jack Lisowski
Allister Carter v. Mark Joyce
John Higgins v. Joe Swail
Matthew Stevens v. Rory McLeod
James Wattana v. Gary Wilson
Ding Junhui v. Cao Yupeng
The third quarter is maybe not the strongest in terms of the sheer number of possible contenders, but it does feature the two players who have probably played the best snooker in the world this season. Neil Robertson is the big favourite in the first part of this quarter, particularly after the withdrawal of Ali Carter, who would have been his biggest obstacle. Robertson basically hasn't played a bad tournament all season, in fact, the only bad tournament he played in the last 12 months was the World Championship, which is remarkable consistency, compared to earlier in his career. He has also gone from a player who struggles in China to a player who seems to play his best snooker there. On top of that, he was a century machine in the last couple of tournaments, and that, combined with his excellent tactical game and mental strength, makes him very tough to beat. Who could do it here? Well, Peter Ebdon is definitely the first in line, not just because of his class and experience, but also the fact that he has played Robertson four times in China, and beat him every time. He will first have to worry about Jack Lisowski though, a player who hasn't shown much so far this season, but looked very dangerous in reaching the quarter-finals of the China Open towards the end of last season. If he finds his best form he could possibly go through here, particularly if Robertson is out of sorts, but that's a big if. I wouldn't give the other players much chance, although Zhang Anda will be interesting to see, finally coming back to the scene after a couple of quiet years since his promising debut on the big stage at the Crucible in 2010.
Ding Junhui is the man to beat in the second part of this quarter. Whether you count the Indian Open or the Shanghai Masters as the previous major event, Ding is the most recent winner in any case. I think his Shanghai win is among his best ones, particularly because of how unflappable he looked throughout the tournament, slowing his pace down and concentrating on every ball. He played some good tactical stuff in addition to his usual strong scoring, and it's no wonder he came out on top, because he is very difficult to play against on that form. He has also had a couple of good wins over strong players such as Robertson this season, which gives him even more confidence. Having said all that, we know form comes and goes, and it's going to be difficult to add another title here. It doesn't help that he faces some strong opposition as well. Obviously there is John Higgins, not at the very top of most people's list of contenders at this point in time, but not that far down either. He played some good snooker to reach the final in Wuxi, thrashing all of his opponents along the way before coming up against an inspired Robertson. He has been somewhat quiet since then, but he featured in the PTC a couple of days ago, which suggests that he is up for this event. Matthew Stevens was a semi-finalist in Wuxi, so he too could go through a couple of rounds here, although to be fair, he did benefit from a somewhat easier draw in Wuxi. And speaking of strong performers from Wuxi, Cao Yupeng is also here. I was looking for him to build on his good form, but he didn't play in any tournaments for a while, and when Shanghai came his form was gone. Tough match against Ding in the 1st round, but you never know, Cao has been known to play strongly in the longer matches. I would also look out for Gary Wilson, who reached the last8 in Zhengzhou earlier this week.
Quarter 4:
Stephen Maguire v. Kyren Wilson/Lin Shuai
Graeme Dott v. Michael White
Mark Williams v. Paul Davison
Robert Milkins v. Kurt Maflin
Mark Davis v. Oliver Brown
Michael Leslie v. Stuart Carringthon
Liang Wenbo v. Li Yan
Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Anthony McGill
Four fairly evenly matched seeds in this part of the draw. Maguire is ranked the highest, maintaining a high ranking after a fairly good last season, his best in a while. He's had some decent result in the short-format tournaments this season, but he is still waiting for a good run in the majors, although to be fair he didn't play in many. It's quite frustrating watching him at times, with the stupid way he loses matches, like the one against Ding in Germany, but there is always a chance he finds form and combines it with a bit of patience and calmness. Not too often unfortunately, but it could be this week. Mark Williams's success has been similar, a PTC win, but only a good match here and there in the major events, and rarely two good ones in a row. Still, Williams is the king of Asian events, winning more titles in Asia than anyone currently playing, so you can't rule him out. Graeme Dott has also been out of sorts recently, without any sort of good run this season, and he hasn't exactly been a brilliant traveler in recent years. He won a couple of matches in the PTC this week, so at least he won't be coming into the event cold. And then there is Robert Milkins, not as big a name as the other three, but certainly the most successful of the four this season. He reached two successive major semi-finals at the start of the season, in Wuxi and Australia, playing some of his best snooker. Having said that, he never played a top player in the whole of that run and has lost every time he's come up against the likes of Robertson and Selby this season, so this part of the draw will be tough for him to come through. I would also mention Kyren Wilson, who played well to reach the quarter-finals in Shanghai, and Michael White, a quarter-finalist in the WC this year and also recently in India.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is the big name in the final part of the draw, making his first (and possibly only) trip to China this season. He has appeared in a couple of the minor tournaments this season and played alright, winning the Paul Hunter Classic in August. It's tough to predict how well he is likely to play in the longer tournaments, particularly in China where he has been known to play some weird snooker at times. We don't see that much nonsense from him these days, so he could be the man to beat in this quarter. Tricky match against Anthony McGill in the 1st round though, as McGill is clearly in good form, having reached the quarter-finals in India and the semi-finals in Zhengzhou. He could well have a breakout tournament here, like the one Lisowski had in Beijing last season. My gut feeling is that Liang Wenbo could go through. He has been slowly coming back to form in the last two seasons, in the sense that he has started playing more good matches than previously, and over the past month he has finally put a couple of good tournaments together. He reached the last16 in India, the semi-finals in Zhangjiagang and finally won the PTC in Zhengzhou, beating quite a few familiar Chinese players along the way. He has also played well in the longer matches in the past, so this format should suit him. But with O'Sullivan possibly awaiting in the 2nd round, it will be tough... He has actually played O'Sullivan three times in two-session and three-session matches, and lost them all. And finally a mention for Mark Davis, who finds himself with the easiest possible route to the last16, facing three players with very little experience between them. I'm sure he will be determined to do the business, after he wasted a good opportunity in Shanghai, where he also found himself up against three lower-ranked players but couldn't take advantage.
Possible QF lineup:
Judd Trump v. Mark Allen
Barry Hawkins v. Mark Selby
Neil Robertson v. Ding Junhui
Stephen Maguire v. Liang Wenbo
Should be a great week with some quality snooker. Hopefully we also see some of those snooker pandas again.
:smile:
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