Paul Hunter Classic Preview

Friday sees the start of the professional stages of the 4th European Tour event: The Paul Hunter Classic. This is seen as much more of a prestigious event than just another PTC, and many players consider it as good as any ranking event, because of the great atmosphere and fan support, on top of the man that tournament pays tribute too. Every year the event brings back memories of the great Paul Hunter for everyone involved in the game. It's the understatement of the century that Paul Hunter is the biggest loss to the game of snooker, and he would have achieved so much more if it wasn't for the illness that brought about his tragic death.  I could say so much more about him, but nothing I could say would ever do the great man justice.

As for the tournament itself, Mark Selby has won it 2 years in a row, and he really does love playing in Germany, having won the other German PTC on the calendar last season. On his current form however, I would say it is very doubtful that Selby will make it 3 on the trot, but with the current UK and Masters champion you never know what could happen.

So here's who I think are the main contenders from each quarter to win the title this weekend:

Quarter 1

One thing I love about the PTC events are their ability to be so unpredictable however, as many shocks as we see during a PTC weekend it always seems as though the top players rise to the top and reach the latter stages. There are plenty of top players in every section of the draw in a PTC, which is another reason why I like the format of them, and this isn't any truer of the top quarter of the 2013 Paul Hunter Classic.

All battling away for 1 semi-final spot are: Mark Williams, Mark Allen, Stuart Bingham, Mark Davis, Judd Trump, Graeme Dott and Ronnie O'Sullivan. However, there are plenty more players that are capable of upsetting the books and making the semi-finals, but against that lot it will always be hard work.

I fancy that Ronnie O'Sullivan could well make at least the quarter-finals this week, with a slightly easier draw (though nothing is taken for granted in a PTC event) having been working hard on his snooker and fitness and feeling good about his game on the whole.

Mark Allen looked good in Doncaster, and in hopefully better conditions, he could flourish and win the top half of the section, and is well capable of winning the event if he is on good form again.

From the rest Mark Williams is in decent form since his Rotterdam Open win, and reached the quarter-finals of the Bluebell Wood Open. Judd hasn't been in the best form of late, and neither has Graeme Dott so I don't think they will challenge this weekend.

Quarter Winner: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Quarter 2

Elsewhere in the top half of the draw, there are more top players battling away for the second semi-final spot. Some of the guys in this section are: Robert Milkins, Marco Fu, Matthew Stevens, Martin Gould and Mark Selby.

Tom Ford is also in this quarter, and well capable of putting a run together in these PTC events, while Gary Wilson made the semi-finals of the Rotterdam Open in July. Looking at the draw there is a chance for one of those guys to cause some upsets and make it through to at least the quarter's maybe.

Marco Fu is on a great run at the moment, having won the Australia Open in July and making it to the final of last week's European Tour 3 event in Doncaster. If he can continue his great run this week I would expect to see him make at least the quarter-finals.

Defending champion Mark Selby isn't in the best of form right now, but that hasn't stopped him in the past. Going for his 3rd Paul Hunter Classic in a row, he wasn't playing great when he won it last year, and if he turns up with his B game and the desire to win he is always a dangerous. He could well make the quarter-finals if he shows a bit better form this time around.

Matthew Stevens and Martin Gould are hardly on top form at the moment so I don't really expect them to go any further than the Last 16. As for Milkins he could make the quarter-finals, but with Fu in his section it will always be tough.

Quarter Winner: Marco Fu

Quarter 3

The third quarter doesn't have as many top players in it, but there are still plenty of guys capable of winning this quarter and going on to win the event. The likes of Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Barry Hawkins and Jack Lisowski will all be battling hard for a spot in the last 4, with plenty other guys capable of a good run to the semi's also.

Shaun Murphy is well overdue a tournament win, and after a good look at himself having lost his Indian Open qualifier, he got to the semi-finals of the ET3 last week. He scored well in the tournament and that will increase his confidence with his new cue in hand. I reckon Murphy could well win the event this weekend.

Elsewhere in the quarter Barry Hawkins is my other pick to make the quarter-finals, he's not been great recently but with a slightly favourable draw to give him some early confidence, I think that he will have a decent run in this event.

Meanwhile Neil Robertson is well capable of winning this event, and someone like Jack Lisowski could gather some momentum with early victories, to push him into the latter stages.

Quarter Winner: Shaun Murphy

Quarter 4

The final quarter is also full of top players and there are plenty of guys in this section who could put a run together and win not only the quarter but the whole event. In this section we have the likes of: Joe Perry, Ding Junhui, Stephen Maguire, Ali Carter, Ricky Walden and John Higgins.

Meanwhile David Gilbert made the semi-finals of the second European Tour event and is capable of causing plenty of upsets, Marcus Campbell and Andrew Higginson are also players with the game to make the latter stages of a PTC, and young guns Luca Brecel and Michael White could make a storming run to final's day on Sunday.

For me though Ding Junhui is my favourite of all of those to make the semi-finals. He played well in making the semi-finals at the Doncaster Dome last weekend, and was scoring well - which is always a sign of when things are going well for the 2013 PTC Grand Finals champion. He may be a little inconsistent, but I am expecting good things from him in this tournament.

Stephen Maguire is another good contender to make the quarter-finals, having made the quarter-finals of both European Tour's 2 and 3, the only completed tournaments he's played in this season. He does have a very tough draw for this event, but there is no reason why he shouldn't come through it make at least the quarter-finals, and maybe go even further.

Quarter Winner: Ding Junhui

Tournament Winner: I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that Shaun Murphy will win this event, he's long overdue and will badly want to win this after a slow start to the season with his new cue. After last week though, I think good things are not too far away for the current World No.4.


Whatever happens this weekend I hope that Germany can host another great snooker event, and that the players can put on a great show in memory of Paul Hunter, as I'm sure they will do. I'm thoroughly look forward to watching this event unfold and I hope to see lot's of gripping snooker in this tournament.