2018 World Open

[DeanH]

not sure if all realise but the qualifiers for this is now on; WS Live Score showing scores and some TV tables on Eurosport Player
!snooker back on people!! :biggrin:

[JimMalone]

The first prominent victim is Shaun Murphy, who loses 4-5 to Mei Xiwen.

[JimMalone]

Stuart Bingham is also out after losing 4-5 to Zhang Anda.
Murphy and Bingham were in the same eighth of the draw, so that section has opened a lot now with World Number 25 Xiao Guodong, who plays his qualifier against Zhang Yong tomorrow, the highest ranked player remaining there.

I was a bit surprised when I looked at the draw and found out that Mark Williams is the #2 seed. I've always thought that the seeding order is just the defending champion getting the highest spot and then it would continue in the order of the rankings, but actually the world champion gets the #2 seed and after that it's the order of the rankings.
During the last two seasons you couldn't notice as Selby held the World Crown as well as the Number one spot, but I was really sure that it wasn't this way before, just to be even more surprised, when I looked it up, that is an older rule already. I honestly never noticed (or can't remember).

[JimMalone]

An exchange of some really great safeties between Lee Walker and Anthony McGill at the end of their fourth frame.

[DeanH]

yep, both trying hard

had hoped Eltahhan may have produced a good match against Carter but Carter shut him down.

[DeanH]

well done Walker - maybe he has a new lease of snooker life from someone he knows?


McGill did seem to miss some relatively easy shots though.

[Mr Snooker]

Stuart Bingham is also out after losing 4-5 to Zhang Anda.
Murphy and Bingham were in the same eighth of the draw, so that section has opened a lot now with World Number 25 Xiao Guodong, who plays his qualifier against Zhang Yong tomorrow, the highest ranked player remaining there.

I was a bit surprised when I looked at the draw and found out that Mark Williams is the #2 seed. I've always thought that the seeding order is just the defending champion getting the highest spot and then it would continue in the order of the rankings, but actually the world champion gets the #2 seed and after that it's the order of the rankings.
During the last two seasons you couldn't notice as Selby held the World Crown as well as the Number one spot, but I was really sure that it wasn't this way before, just to be even more surprised, when I looked it up, that is an older rule already. I honestly never noticed (or can't remember).

It as always worked liked that the defending champion N0 1 seed, The World Champion N0 2 seed, then it continues in the order of rankings, unless it's a brand new tournament , then The World Champion is the number one seed, then it continues in the order of rankings.

[Mr Snooker]

I remember in the 2006 China open Ding Junhui official ranking 27 was the defending champion (N0 1 seed) and Shaun Murphy The world champion (N0 2 Seed), official ranking 21. This is when the top 16 seeded players got automatic entry into the last 32 and final stages. Steve Davis was world ranked n0 15 for the season and seeded N0 17, and he forgot he had to play one qualifying match to get to the final stages of the event (Last 32), Giving Ricky Walden a walkover into the last 32. Steve at the time was playing an exhibition match.

[DeanH]

Selby through a tough match with Luke Simmonds, who was 3-1 up at after Selby got the first frame. Simmonds played some very nice snookers to keep the No1 on his toes but experience won out in the end. Look forward to seeing more of Simmonds in the near future

[JimMalone]

Selby through a tough match with Luke Simmonds, who was 3-1 up at after Selby got the first frame. Simmonds played some very nice snookers to keep the No1 on his toes but experience won out in the end. Look forward to seeing more of Simmonds in the near future

He is already 38 though.

[JimMalone]

Finally we are here again with a full ranking tournament again! Yes, we had the tune-up in Riga, but dare I say that Monday is the day the 2018/2019 season really starts. And it’s quite a prestigious event as well. The World Open offer a total prize money of 700.000 pounds with 150.000 of those for the winner, making it the fourth highest paid tournament of the season along with the China Championship.
Therefore the format is even a bit short in my opinion with Best-of-9-matches for the first four rounds, Best-of-11-matches in the semifinals and a Best-of-19-final.

Winner: £150,000
Runner-up: £75,000
Semi-final: £32,500
Quarter-final: £20,000
Last 16: £13,000
Last 32: £8,000
Last 64: £4,000

Obviously with such a big tournament most of the top players are also in Yushan this week. Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins are the two only notable names not to enter the tournament (the next biggest name would be Martin Gould), while Shaun Murphy, Stuart Bingham and Anthony McGill failed to qualify.

Let’s look at the draw:
First quarter:
Ding Junhui/James Wattana – Yuan Sijun
Robert Milkins – David Lilley
Marco Fu – Peter Ebdon
Liang Wenbo/James Cahill – Andrew Higginson

David Gilbert already through to round 2 following Matthew Stevens‘ withdrawal
Rory McLeod – Ali Carter
Dominic Dale – Ricky Walden
Andy Lee – Neil Robertson/He Guoqiang

As always it will be highly interesting how Ding starts into the season, as his form is so unpredictable. I think he should qualify, but I could totally see him losing against Robert Milkins the next round. This quarter is generally hard to predict, even for being the first tournament oft he season. Cause there’s Marco Fu and the state of his game is pretty suspect after the very serious troubles he has with his eyes. And there’s Liang Wenbo, who’s always kind of a lucky bag.
In the opposite half there could be a great second-rounder between Neil Robertson and Ricky Walden. They just played each other in Riga a week ago with the Australian being a 4-2 winner in the quarterfinals on his way to the title. Walden’s latest results seem to imply that he is slowly climbing his way back towards his old form and the same could be the truth for Robertson, who of course has the higher ceiling. Right now I’d say that whoever wins the possible rematch has a good chance for a quarterfinal spot here, though neither Ali Carter nor David Gilbert would be an easy opponent.

Second quarter:
Hawkins – Akani
Holt – M. Davis
Walker – Selt
Yan/Carty – Carrington

O’Brien – Zhao
Donaldson – Brecel
G. Wilson – Ford
O’Donnell – Trump

The upper half of this section might be a good chance for anybody. Hawkins traditionally isn’t in good shape at the start of the season and he followed this rhythm already with an early loss in Riga. So despite his draw not being one of the harder ones I’d not be surprised if he goes out in the first or second round again. I’m curious how Yan Bingtao will start his season here after the last one ended in such a disappointment, when he failed to qualify for the World Championship.
In the other half I think Judd Trump is the man to beat. He has his early exits as well, but usually is a good bet to go deep in most of the tournaments. And his draw with O’Donnell first, than Gary Wilson or Ford isn’t exactly horrifying.

Third quarter:
Selby – Slessor
Zhou – Jones
Day – R. Williams
Lawler – Saengkham

Georgiou – Xiao
Jones – Zhang A.
Joyce – Hamilton
Lichtenberg – Mei

Mark Selby used the Haining Open at the tune-up, reaching the final against Li Hang there (as I write this I haven’t seen who won this), so this might point to the World Number One being already in quite a good shape and heading back to better form. But who knows. After all he won the China Open last season only to receive an ugly loss at the Crucible. Still Selby should like his chances here, despite his path being tricky. He opens against Elliot Slessor, who beat Ronnie O’Sullivan twice last season, then has Zhou, who doesn’t seem to be in good form and would probably have Ryan Day in the round of sixteen.

I wrote already before of a „good chance for anybody“. That is even far more fitting for the bottom half of this quarter. The highest ranked player here is World Number 25 Xiao Guodong, followed by Anthony Hamilton (29) and Jamie Jones (37). But one of this section has to make the quarterfinal, which would add nice 20.000 pounds to his earnings. And it could really anybody of them, though I doubt it will be young German Simon Lichtenberg. It could come down to who can cope mentally the best with this big chance.

Fourth Quarter
K. Wilson – Davison
Chandler – Maflin
M. Allen – Lyu
Lisowski – Wakelin

Dunn/Luo Zetao – Perry
Un-Nooh – Maguire
Woollaston/Bai – J. Robertson/Chang
Ursenbacher – Williams/Kleckers

This last part of the draw could be the hardest fought. It contains three of the world’s 11 best players in Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson and Mark Allen. Three more, who could be in competition about a Top 16 spot this season with Stephen Maguire, Jack Lisowski (both who seem to be in good form with a semifinal and a final appearance in Riga) and Joe Perry. And promising Chinese talent Lyu Haotian as a special guest.

Allen vs. Lyu is probably the most intriguing match of the first round with Lisowski vs. Wakelin just behind. And the two winners play each other in the second round. The winner in that match could then meet Kyren Wilson, who has a far easier path towards this rendez-vous, which could be an advantage in the round of 16 too.
If Mark Williams continues where he left last season he should be the favorite in the lower section, but it would be no surprise to see him lose against Maguire, who seems to be headed slowly in the right direction again. I’m really curious how the Welshman responds this season after his unexpected triumph at the 2018 World Championship.

My picks for Quarterfinals:
Ding - Robertson
Yan - Trump
Selby - Xiao
K. Wilson - Maguire

Semifinals
Ding - Trump
Selby - K. Wilson

Final
Trump - Selby

Winner
Selby


Sadly I won't see much of this tournament as I'm on a business trip this week, but I hope I can watch from time to time on Eurosport Player. I hope it will be a good tournament.

[gordon47]

think it will be another win for the over 40s

[JimMalone]

think it will be another win for the over 40s

So you're backing Williams?

Or counting on a surprise with Fu, Hamilton, Dott or Perry?

[DeanH]

So you're backing Williams?

Or counting on a surprise with Fu, Hamilton, Dott or Perry?

Dale?
...

[JimMalone]

Dale?
...

This would be a nice one.