Time to have a look at how things could shape up in Beijing this week:
Quarter 1
Last 64 Draw: (Picks in bold)Neil Robertson Vs Anthony Hamilton
Mark Williams Vs Anthony McGill
James Wattana Vs Mark Joyce
Duane Jones Vs Yu De Lu/Chen Zifan
Mark Allen Vs Luca Brecel/Yuan Sijun
Jack Lisowski Vs Dominic Dale
Graeme Dott Vs Rory McLeod
Dave Harold w/o Stephen Maguire
This quarter sees the likes of Neil Robertson, Mark Allen, Graeme Dott and Mark Williams battling for a place in the semi-finals, and Stephen Maguire was meant to be in this section before his withdrawal from the event due to a bad back.
Neil Robertson's form has gone missing a little bit in recent times, failing to get past the Last 16 of a ranking event since winning the UK Championships, and it's hard to work out why since he has made 92 centuries this season, which points to consistent performances in ranking events across the whole season. However, it could be said that he's maybe started to concentrate to heavily on the 100 centuries landmark, and this could have put a little bit of extra pressure on him, which may have showed at certain times. I still make him a clear favourite for this quarter because he is probably the best and most consistent performer in it.
Mark Allen will be up there for this quarter, having made the recent World Open semi-finals and Players Championship quarter-finals. However, he would've been incredibly disappointed to lose to Gerard Greene in the quarter's and it showed some of the inconsistencies that are present in his game, having played so well in the Last 32 and the Last 16 to then play so poorly in the quarter-finals. With such an inconsistent game it is tough to try and tip him for big things in this event, especially after a short turnaround for him since the Players Championship. The likes of Mark Williams and Graeme Dott will certainly cause problems for Robertson and Allen, but again they aren't quite the consistent performers they used to be, though you wouldn't put it past Graeme Dott to go on and make the quarter-finals with the draw that is in front of him.
Quarter Winner: Neil Robertson
Quarter 2
Last 64 Draw: (Picks in bold)Shaun Murphy Vs Jamie Cope
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs David Grace
Xiao Guodong Vs Hammad Miah
Ricky Walden Vs Pankaj Advani
Ali Carter Vs Jamie Jones
Ryan Day Vs Matt Selt
Peter Ebdon Vs Jimmy Robertson
Judd Trump Vs Kurt Maflin
This quarter sees the likes of recent World Open champion Shaun Murphy, Championship League winner Judd Trump, Ricky Walden, Ali Carter, Ryan Day and Xiao Guodong all battling for a semi-final place, but not all of these guys are in the best form of late.
Shaun Murphy is probably in the best form of any of the players in this quarter having just won the Haikou World Open before then beating Neil Robertson in the first round of the Players Championship, and Murphy's confidence has well and truly returned to him at the right time with tournaments coming thick and fast. He has a nice little draw to start him off here, and I don't think he'll have a problem here so he can build himself into the tournament nicely, saving his energy for both the final stages of the tournament and the upcoming World Championships.
Judd Trump is also in good form at the moment, but he has had a very short turnaround having played in the semi-finals yesterday at the Players Championship and he hardly has an easy draw playing Kurt Maflin in the first round, with a possible Last 32 match with Peter Ebdon (who has a great record in Beijing) and then a possible Last 16 match with possibly Ryan Day or Ali Carter. Another good run for Trump then doesn't look as likely here and I think he will probably be beaten in one of the early rounds.
Some of the other guys like Walden and Carter aren't in the best of form at the moment, but if they soon re-discover something near their respective bests they too could make a challenge for the quarter win.
Quarter Winner: Shaun Murphy
Quarter 3
Last 64 Draw: (Picks in bold)Ding Junhui Vs John Astley/Yan Bingtao
Ken Doherty Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Michael White Vs Sam Baird/Zhao Xintong
John Higgins Vs Michael Wasley
Marco Fu Vs Li Hang
Aditya Mehta Vs Mark King
Kyren Wilson Vs Jamie O'Neill
Barry Hawkins Vs Fergal O'Brien
This quarter sees the 3 guys that all reached the latter stages of the Players Championship with John Higgins making the quarter-finals there, and at the World Open and Welsh Open recently, while Marco Fu was knocked out in the semi-finals at both Preston and in Haikou, while Barry Hawkins won the title last night. One thing that that does mean is that 4 times ranking winner of this season Ding Junhui does have a slight advantage in this quarter, having less of a short turnaround after being knocked out of the PC Grand Finals on Tuesday afternoon.
Ding's form has just dipped a fraction since the Welsh Open, only making the Last 16 of the World Open, and the Last 32 at the Guildhall last week, but that could well be a sign of him relaxing a bit ahead of the World Championships after a long season where he's already won 4 big events. However, I think he'll be slightly more focussed this week for one of his big home events, as he tries to entertain his home crowd, and more importantly, build up some more momentum going into the World Championships in less than 3 weeks time. Therefore, he is one of my favourites for the quarter.
Barry Hawkins and Marco Fu will both fancy their chances after good runs in the Players Championship, but it will be tough for the pair of them flying out today and then having to play everyday from Tuesday if they are to have a decent run in the event. Fu has reached the semi-finals of the last 2 events, but has also continued to show why he is such an inconsistent performer, having played so well in both events to reach the semi's but then perform so badly in both of those Last 4 ties and end up not offering much of a challenge. As for Hawkins, his Players Championship win will give him a much needed boost ahead of the World Championships, but also relax him a bit for this event - which is clearly not as important to him and many other players ahead of the big one. That kind of approach could lend itself to an early exit or a deep run, but if tiredness kicks in after a busy week or so, then it's more likely to be an early exit for both men.
One man that could be a dark horse in this quarter is John Higgins who seems to be improving slowly but surely ahead of The Crucible having made the quarter-finals of the last 3 events in a row, and played brilliantly in Haikou to defeat Judd Trump. If he can replicate that kind of form again this week there is no reason why he couldn't have a good run of his own this week, and begin to build his case for another possible World Title. Whether he still has the consistency for it is another question entirely.
Quarter Winner: Ding Junhui
Quarter 4
Last 64 Draw: (Picks in bold)Martin O'Donnell W/O Stuart Bingham
Michael Holt Vs Craig Steadman
Mike Dunn Vs Peter Lines
Tian Pengfei Vs Gary Wilson
David Morris Vs Jimmy White
Alfie Burden W/O Tony Drago
Nigel Bond Vs Barry Pinches
Mark Selby Vs Stuart Carrington
After certain results in the Last 128 round of this in Gloucester back in February, and Stuart Bingham pulling out due to a family funeral during the week, I can only see 2 plays that you'd really want to back to win the quarter and they are Mark Selby and Michael Holt, and even Michael is a long shot with his form not being great at the moment. However, there are a lot of matches in this quarter that can have a big effect on the end of season money list.
One Last 64 game of big importance is Mike Dunn Vs Peter Lines. While Peter should be safe now really in 59th place, Mike is in a significantly worse off position though sitting 69th on the money list and around £4,000 from safety, so he could do with a win or 2 this week. The winner of that match would then play the winner of Tian Pengfei Vs Gary Wilson. Importantly, Wilson is in the 64th position (despite this being the first year of his 2 year card) £100 ahead of Steve Davis who will be cheering on Tian Pengfei who is 67th position, and around £2,000 behind the 64th spot and tour safety. Another important clash here sees David Morris take on Jimmy White. Jimmy is in 62nd currently and around £1,000 clear, but if he were to lose here he could be pushed down into the "relegation zone" if other results went against him. If David Morris won a couple of matches this week though (despite being on the first year of his card) he could spell trouble for others as he is in 66th, and less than £2,000 behind Gary Wilson in 64th, but more importantly he's exactly £2,000 from Sam Baird in 63rd and if he were pushed back into the "relegation zone" that would have big implications on who qualifies via the European order of merit.
In terms of the winning of this quarter, it's hard to see past Mark Selby winning it (though stranger things have happened). He's reached the World Open final, Masters final and the UK Championship final this season but he has been lacking that major title, having not won a ranking event since December 2012, which is really too long a drought for someone with his ability. One thing being in the quarter could well allow him is a few easier games early on so that he doesn't use up a lot of mental and physical energy if he's playing well enough. He could also play himself into some good form, which would be important come the latter stages of the event as he really does need to start playing better if he has any plans of winning both this event, and then the World Championships.
Quarter Winner: Mark Selby
Tournament runner-up: Neil Robertson
Tournament Winner: Mark Selby
Whatever the outcome of the tournament, it should be a nice week of snooker as the top players look to either find some form or continue gathering valuable momentum for the big one starting at the Crucible on the 19th April, I don't think there will really be that much emphasis on the title this week as you would expect, with a much more valuable title at stake in the weeks to come. Therefore, a mixture of gaining momentum, building form and conserving energy will be the order of the day in Beijing.
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