So, then lets have a look at what top quality action we can look forward to this week, and some of the implications that may have on the battle for tour survival down the rankings list:
Quarter 1:
Last 64 Draw: (My picks in bold)Ali Carter Vs Dechawat Poomjaeng
Jimmy White Vs Xiao Guodong
Ratchayothin Yotharuck Vs Jamie Burnett
Aditya Mehta Vs Joel Walker
Stuart Bingham Vs Peter Lines
Anthony Hamilton Vs Michael White
Ryan Day Vs Cao Xin Long
Li Hang Vs Barry Hawkins
This quarter isn't exactly littered with top players, but there are plenty of great players in this section that can do plenty of damage in this event and go on to win the whole thing. In this section we have defending champion Ali Carter, UK semi-finalist Stuart Bingham, 2013 World finalist Barry Hawkins, and there are also guys like Shanghai Masters runner-up Xiao Guodong, Ryan Day and Michael White that could all go on a run in Berlin this week. Meanwhile the likes of Peter Lines, Jimmy White and Joel Walker could all do with decent runs this week to try and boost their money rankings, although Lines and Jimmy are currently inside the Top 64, they could certainly do with wins to increase the gap between themselves and the guys below the 64 line. As for Walker you have to say that he would need a miracle to hold onto his tour card via the end of season money list, though he is very well placed on the current European PTC Order of Merit to pick up a new tour card for next season, with just 1 event to go in Poland in early February. However, with the Last 64 matches that these 3 face, it is very hard to see any of them progressing any further in Berlin, but you never know.
In terms of the quarter winner, Ali Carter has not had the best year that has once again been hit by illness, and it would be really good to see him go well this week and cue well, and looking at his draw I have to think he is in a fairly favourable position to at least make the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Stuart Bingham didn't quite look himself at The Masters for whatever reason, and I hope that he can a way to get back to the way he was playing in the UK Championships where he was quite simply superb. Barry Hawkins hasn't had the best year to date either, and after a poor show in the latter stages of his first round loss at The Masters, you have to say that there aren't really any signs that say he will be nearing the form he showed at last years World Championships this coming week.
Quarter Winner: I have to say it would be nice to see Ali Carter win this one and there is no good reason to tell me why he can't.
Quarter 2
Last 64 Draw: (My picks in bold)Ding Junhui Vs Mike Dunn
David Morris Vs Mark Williams
Dominic Dale Vs Steve Davis
Gerard Greene Vs John Higgins
Mark Allen Vs Anthony McGill
Luca Brecel Vs Joe Perry
Tom Ford Vs Kurt Maflin
Jimmy Robertson Vs Mark Selby
This quarter is absolutely jam-packed full of top players that could all go and win the event, never mind the quarter. Guys like Ding Junhui, Mark Selby, Mark Allen, John Higgins, Joe Perry and Mark Williams are all very tough to beat on their respective days. Meanwhile, looking further down the rankings, there are important matches for the likes of Luca Brecel, Mike Dunn, Steve Davis and Gerard Greene who will all looking to pick up vital wins with Gerard Greene, Steve Davis hovering just above the Top 64 line, while Luca is sat in 65th place, but will move into 64th place with Stephen Lee not looking like playing anymore matches this season. As for Mike, he is around £3000 off of the pace this week, and with a very tough opening round draw against Ding Junhui it doesn't look like he'll be adding to that tally this week. Luca has an equally tricky match against Joe Perry in the Last 64, while Greene faces John Higgins and Steve Davis faces Dominic Dale, so as good as all 3 of them are they face very tough matches indeed if they are to put themselves further clear of the ranking relegation zone.
In terms of picking a quarter winner, it is a very tough little section to try and predict, but as always i'll give it my best and hope for something better than total failure. Ding Junhui has to be one of the heavy favourites, despite a poor showing at The Masters, having won 3 ranking events already this season. 2 weeks off since his Masters exit would have done him good after a relaxing Christmas to get back into his full practice routine and be fully prepared for a deep run at the Tempodrome. Mark Selby also has a good shout at winning this section after his little Winter burst has come into effect again with final appearances at the UK Championships and the more recent Masters where Ronnie O'Sullivan ran riot. Mark still has played as well on a consistent basis as he would like, and we know he can and it must be immensely frustrating for a man of his talent to only show his best a few times a year, and on that basis you have to say he will struggle to beat some of the guys lining up in this quarter. The likes of Mark Allen and John Higgins have again showed glimpses of their best so far this season, but they haven't showed it consistently enough in the big events, but maybe this could be the week for one of them to come through. However, if it's consistency you want there is only one winner of this quarter.
Quarter Winner: Ding Junhui to make up for a disappointing display at The Masters.
Quarter 3
Last 64 Draw: (My picks in bold)Neil Robertson Vs Liu Chuang
Tian Pengfei Vs Andrew Higginson
Marcus Campbell Vs Rod Lawler
Paul Davison Vs Marco Fu
Mark Davis Vs David Gilbert
Ben Woollaston Vs Graeme Dott
Liang Wenbo Vs Cao Yupeng
Mark Joyce Vs Stephen Maguire
Once again here we have a quarter here that is full of great players that could easily go on and win the tournament. The likes of century machine Neil Robertson, Stephen Maguire, Marco Fu, Graeme Dott and Mark Davis are all top quality talents and can make this quarter very difficult for each other. Lower down the ranking lists, the provisional end of season money list shows that guys like Tian Pengfei, Liu Chuang and Paul Davison are all in big trouble, needing long runs at some point between now and the end of the season to make up the big gap between themselves and the top 64 tour relegation line. However, the 3 of those having tough draws against Andrew Higginson, Neil Robertson and Marco Fu, it is highly unlikely that they will be able to gain too much money, if any at all to help their survival causes next week.
Back to the top then, and thinking of a winner of this section you have to say there are plenty of players here that could easily run through and win the quarter on their day. You have to start with Neil Robertson, or the ton machine as he will soon be known, having made 77 centuries so far this season with 2 months to go, and 100 for the season well within his sights. Since winning the UK Championship title at the back end of 2013 he hasn't quite looked himself yet in the early stages of 2014 with poor performances, particularly at The Masters, and he seemed to lack a little bit of consistency in groups 3 and 4 of the Championship League last week, but if he can sort that out there's no reason why he couldn't add to his ranking event tally. Stephen Maguire is another great contender for this title, never mind the quarter as a whole, having put in some much better performances at the start of 2014, after working hard at his game over Christmas, making the semi-finals of The Masters and winning Group 4 of the Championship League at Crondon Park last week, and having made the final here 2 years ago, he'll certainly fancy his chances of going one step further this time around. Marco Fu is the other big contender to win this quarter, and again he has played well this season, winning the Australian Open and making the final of the International Championship. However, he showed some of his old consistencies by being by amateur Mitchell Travis at the Last 128 stage of the UK Championship and again at The Masters when he threw away a 4-1 lead to lose 6-4 in the Quarter-finals to Shaun Murphy.
Quarter Winner: With his recent turnaround in form post-Christmas I fancy Stephen Maguire to win this one.
Quarter 4
Last 64 Draw: (My picks in bold)Judd Trump Vs Noppon Saengkham
Dave Harold Vs Mark King
Matthew Stevens Vs Fergal O'Brien
Shaun Murphy Vs Ken Doherty
Gary Wilson Vs Daniel Wells
Jamie O'Neill Vs Michael Holt
Peter Ebdon Vs Alan McManus
Jack Lisowski Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
This quarter doesn't have as many top players as some of the other top quarters, with 2nd seed Ronnie O'Sullivan losing to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Ricky Walden losing to 147 man Gary Wilson in the Last 128 stage which was played at the Barnsley Metrodome in mid-December. However, former world Champions Shaun Murphy and Peter Ebdon along with former UK Champion Judd Trump and former Masters champion Matthew Stevens line up in this section, along with young gun Jack Lisowski and former top 16 player Mark King who all have the capabilities of coming out on top in this section. Nearer the bottom end of the rankings, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Daniel Wells and Jamie O'Neill all need wins this week if they are to survive tour relegation. Thepchaiya has the most realistic survival chance, being only around £2000 behind the top 64, and if he can get a win against Jack Lisowski in the Last 64 this week he'll be in a much better position. As for Daniel Wells and Jamie O'Neill, they have little or no chance of staying on the tour this year, and with tough first round matches against Gary Wilson and Michael Holt it won't get any easier for them.
As for the quarter winner, Judd Trump will be someone that is right at the top of that list despite his poor season so far. The best performance Judd seems to have had this season was his win in group 3 of the Championship League last week, because apart from that he's not made it past the Last 16 in a big event since last seasons World Championship. However, his form has looked like it may turn up a couple of times this season, and it hasn't really happened for him, so there are certainly no guarantees. Another player that has not had the best season on tour is Shaun Murphy who's season highlight was his recent semi-final appearance at The Masters, because apart from that he hasn't made it past the Last 16 in a full ranking event. However, I know he has been working very very hard at his game, and on himself and he is feeling very good, and he mentioned in our latest Q&A that he loves the Tempodrome and the German Masters, and would love to win it one day for his German fans. He made a 147 in group 2 of the Championship League and did look to be cueing well in groups 3 and 4 and in parts of his Masters campaign. You have to say though, that Judd and Shaun, who are due to meet in the Last 16 of this event, if they could re-discover their best form, they have to be contenders for the title next weekend.
Quarter Winner: I'm going to go for Shaun Murphy who seems to be cueing slightly better since the New Year.
Tournament Runner-up: Stephen Maguire
Tournament Winner: Ding Junhui
Whether my tips are any good is one thing you should certainly be unsure of, but what we do know is that with cramming the Last 64 to the final into 5 days that we are going to have a snooker feast, with what are sure to be 5 superb days of snooker from Wednesday-Sunday this week, at the wonderful Tempodrome venue in Berlin. I just hope now that one of my favourite events on the calendar can live up to my big billing and provide another enjoyable event this season.
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