So let’s have
a look at who I think the front runners will be this week:
Quarter 1
The top quarter has got plenty of
big names in it, with the likes of defending champion Judd Trump, last years
semi-finalist Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen all having a shot at the title, while
Joe Perry and Ryan Day are also capable of getting on a good run and winning
this opening quarter. Judd Trump tweeted earlier this week that he was going to
win the title and make a maximum while he was at it. However, a quick look at
the form guide tells you that things haven’t gone his way so far this season,
and that this comment was rather optimistic, rather than realistic. With no
other top players in his little section, he should make the quarter-finals, but
I can’t see him making it any further than that. Meanwhile the bottom section
is quite a tough one to call. Mark Allen should have a comfortable game against
Tian Pengfei in the first round, while he could face Pankaj Advani in the Last
32, who beat him recently in Indian Open, though Allen was quite unwell (along
with many players I should add) during that tournament. Shaun Murphy has an
even tougher draw, facing David Gilbert in the Last 64, who has had a good
season so far and will provide a tough early test for Murphy, that could
indicate how far he will go in the event. He’ll then face either Joe Perry, who
is very capable of making a run of it this week, as he showed in winning the
first Asian Tour of the season. Perry should come through his opening match
against Jamie Jones, but the Welshman won’t provide Perry with an easy ride to
round 2 either. However, I still think that Murphy and Allen will meet in the
Last 16, where they will play out what I would expect to be an entertaining,
but very close contest. Shaun has had a little while off, to work on his game
and get accustomed to his new cue a bit more, and will definitely be after
making up for his poor start to the season. Allen on the other hand won the
recent Ruhr Open event, and if he has fully recovered from illness after the
Indian Open, he has to be one of the main title contenders. However, I
certainly think that Shaun Murphy has a point to prove in this event, after a
poor start to the season and I have always stood by the theory that he’s always
enjoyed the longer format much more, and if he can find his form early on in
the tournament, you’d be a fool to right him making the Last 4.
Quarter Winner: If he
can get into his stride in the early rounds Shaun Murphy should win this quarter after a couple of weeks off.
Quarter 2
The second quarter has also got a
lot of big names including UK and Masters holder Mark Selby, Australian Open
champion Marco Fu, World Championship runner-up Barry Hawkins and Stuart
Bingham, whilst Xiao Guodong and Martin Gould are also capable of making the
latter stages of the event. However non e of these players are really in the
best form at the moment, which makes it really difficult to pick the winner of
this section. Mark Selby has a reasonably easy opening encounter with Jamie
Burnett, with a second round date with either Mark King and Peter Lines which
should see him through to the last 16. Then, looking at the draw, your money
should be on Stuart Bingham meeting him in round 3. Stuart is not on the best
run either of late, but in my opinion Bingham has been playing slightly better
and is due a good run in a ranking event, so I expect him to beat Selby and
make the quarter-finals. Barry Hawkins starts of his International campaign
with a match against either Jimmy White or a wildcard, which he should some
through to play Craig Steadman, Steve Davis or a wildcard, which shouldn’t be
any trouble to him either. In the last 16, the likelihood is that Barry will
play Marco Fu, who made the quarter finals in Chengdu a year ago. This will be
a very close encounter (should the draw pan out as such) and I think that the 2
are very evenly matched in all departments. However, something in me thinks
that Barry will just edge this one, and if he does I believe that he’ll be able
to see off Stuart Bingham in the quarter-finals as well.
Quarter Winner: Barry Hawkins should be able to save some energy in his opening
matches, to make a charge into the latter stages of this event.
Quarter 3
Battling it out to make it to the
quarter finals, in the 3rd quarter are Wuxi Classic champion Neil
Robertson, man of the moment Ding Junhui, John Higgins and Matthew Stevens.
Meanwhile, last year’s semi-finalist Peter Ebdon and young gun Jack Lisowski
could also go on a run to the latter stages, while neither really has the current
form to do it this time around. Neil
Robertson is the stand out name in the top half of this quarter, and he should
be able to make the quarter-finals quite comfortably, with only Peter Ebdon or
Jack Lisowski (whoever should win this first round encounter) likely to give
Neil any trouble at all in the early stages of this event. Meanwhile, Ding
Junhui hardly has an easy draw to make it to the quarter-finals. His first
round opponent is Cao Yupeng, who should certainly provide his fellow
countryman with an early test. If he makes it through that either Gary Wilson
or James Wattana, could offer him another tricky tie, while his last 16
opponent is likely to be either John Higgins or Matthew Stevens. However, the
way Ding has been playing in the last month he should be able to come through
those matches and set up another quarter-final meeting with Neil Robertson.
Now, I think that the next season or so will see this pair trading blows, and
after Ding’s win against him in the Indian Open, Robertson will certainly want
his revenge this time around. I think this match could all come down to the
amount of energy the two players have to use in the early stages, with Ding
having a much tougher draw than Neil.
Quarter Winner: It’s
a tough one but Neil Robertson should
come through.
Quarter 4
The bottom quarter is easily the hardest
one to call, with the whole section full of capable talent. World Champion
Ronnie O’Sullivan is the headline act of this quarter, but it won’t be easy for
him with the likes of Welsh Open champion Stephen Maguire, Rotterdam Open
winner Mark Williams, 6 Reds holder Mark Davis, Graeme Dott and Robert Milkins
all capable of winning big events.
Meanwhile, Michael White, recent Asian Tour 3 champion Liang Wenbo, PTC
Grand finals semi-finalist Kurt Maflin and recent Asian Tour 3 semi-finalist
Anthony McGill are all also capable of going on a good run and upsetting the
odds. Out of everyone in this quarter,
Stephen Maguire is the best player in the best form at the moment and should be
to get through his opening match against either Kyren Wilson or a wildcard. His
next opponents would be either Graeme Dott or Michael White, which I expect to
be a very tight match, and one that will certainly take it out of both players.
Therefore, if Maguire can stay relatively fresh, he should be able to make it
to the last 16. There he’d be likely to meet either Mark Williams or Robert
Milkins. Now in the last couple of tournaments Milkins has not been in the best
form, while Williams has really start to find his and is playing a lot better
than he was at the end of last season. Therefore, I expect that it will be
Williams that plays Maguire, in what I would expect to be yet another
entertaining contest. Maguire has the better of the head to head record, and I
think that he will certainly be the favourite of the 2 to reach the quarter
finals, and continue his decent run of late.
At the bottom of this section,
Ronnie O’Sullivan has an opening round contest with Anthony McGill, which on
paper looks like an easier contest than it is sure to be. McGill is on a really
good run at the moment, and having already got used to the conditions compared
to Ronnie, who hasn’t played in China since the 2012 China Open. However, I
think you’d also be a fool to bet against Ronnie in this one, who will also be
fresh, since his last event was the Ruhr Open. He should face recent Asian PTC
3 champion Liang Wenbo in the last 32, in what will be another tricky match for
Ronnie, but again you still have to expect Ronnie to make it through. Meanwhile, his probable last 16 opponent Mark
Davis has a relatively simple draw to get the third round, and should save a
lot of mental energy for the end of the week. One of the most impressive things
about Mark Davis is his recent record against John Higgins, who must dread the
very sight of him. If he can do a similar job against O’Sullivan, there is no
reason why he shouldn’t win. Although, I still think that Ronnie will come
through this and set up a quarter-final tie with Stephen Maguire. This, for me,
is where O’Sullivan could meet his end in this event. Maguire doesn’t have an easy
draw, but Ronnie having not played in China for a while may not be able to
handle the mental exertions of his draw as well as Maguire will, and that could
well be the deciding factor.
Quarter Winner: I
think that Stephen Maguire is my
favourite to make it through this minefield of a draw.
Tournament runner-up: Shaun Murphy
Tournament Winner: Neil Robertson
Whatever the outcome of the
tournament is, I believe that the top players will make the latter stages of
the event, and make it a very tense, exciting and of course entertaining event,
which should produce some great snooker throughout the week. I’ll be back to
review the matches on a daily basis, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my take
on how things will pan out in Chengdu.
No comments:
Post a Comment