The venue in Thailand is the Montien Riverside Hotel and (having little to no life whatsoever) I've had a look at some of the pictures of the hotel and it does look incredibly fancy, some lovely rooms for the players assuming that they are staying there as well and, of particular interest to some players, the bar looks like a decent area to be as well. The tournament is a five day long affair starting of course on Tuesday and ending on Saturday with all matches throughout the tournament being played over the best-of-7 frames just as the qualifying events are, and the top prize for the event is £100,000 with the runner-up receiving £38,000 and the semi-finalists getting £20,000 with this all of course going towards the rankings. Meanwhile, by qualifying, all 32 players turning up this week are guaranteed £4,000 towards their ranking.
Of the players qualified, Ronnie O'Sullivan is obviously the highest ranked not to have qualified and that is purely by only entering one of the nine overall events across Europe and Asia, which was the Paul Hunter Classic where a Last 16 appearance was never going to see him do enough.
Quarter 1
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Shaun Murphy Vs Rod Lawler
Martin Gould Vs Michael White
Barry Hawkins Vs Mark King
Judd Trump Vs Luca Brecel
In this quarter we have the top seed, twice European Tour winner of the season and Masters Champion Shaun Murphy taking on the 19th seed Rod Lawler, while Martin Gould the 15th seed faces a tough match with Indian Open champion and 24th seed Michael White. Meanwhile, Barry Hawkins as the 16th seed sneaks in to be drawn against a lower seeded player drawing 26th seed Mark King, while newly crowned World Grand Prix champion Judd Trump the 6th seed takes on 20th seed Luca Brecel.
Martin Gould comes into this event following what may have been a good run to the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix, but an old saying that you're only as good as your last match makes you worry in Martin's case here as he managed to lose that semi-final on Saturday afternoon 6-5 from 5-1 ahead, and with a very short turnaround to his opening game here on Wednesday against Michael White, that may have a big affect on his confidence. You only have to look at Barry Hawkins to see that these things do affect you, as he's suffered a lot since his 6-5 defeat from 5-0 ahead against Nigel Bond at the UK Championships and there is always danger of the same thing happening to Gould.
Michael White is his opening round opponent and you could have certainly asked for easier opponents than the man that is absolutely flying in terms of confidence and belief after the month he's had on the snooker table, winning both the Shoot-Out which gave him a big boost leading into his maiden ranking win at the Indian Open. Michael was always a dangerous player before the start of this year, but now he's won that maiden ranking title and made his breakthrough you just expect that he'll continue that natural progression up through the game at a great speed now.
Barry Hawkins is a man that did have such a natural progression after his maiden ranking win at the Australian Open a few seasons ago, and it has led to him reaching World Championship finals and semi-finals in 2013 and 2014 as well as taking this title a year ago. However, he has absolutely no form whatsoever coming into this event and he's not had a great season overall, never mind since the UK Championships. Another first round exit 4-0 to Matt Selt at the World Grand Prix certainly won't help his self-confidence coming out here, and his first round opponent is someone who's already beaten him once this season, after Mark King took a 5-3 win in the German Masters first round. This wouldn't be a bad tournament or a bad time for Barry to turn his fortunes around, but there isn't even the slightest sign of anything heading in the right direction for him at the moment, after a long series of very early tournament exits.
Judd Trump meanwhile has had an absolutely fantastic season winning two events now after beating Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-7 to win the World Grand Prix, and two other finals this season where he lost to Ronnie will sit pretty well with him. He's striking the ball well, and looks to have his all-round game in very good shape ahead of what is now a very busy month leading into the World Championships starting in less than a months time, for which he will be a major contender. Trump always performs well in these PTC style events, and has showed that again this season earning nearly £27,000 on the European Tour through the six events. With the Crucible now in the back of his mind though, I'm not sure Trump will be as motivated for this 5 day event, especially having won in Llandudno only a couple of days before having to play his first match against Luca Brecel.
Shaun Murphy on the other hand is one player that will certainly be determined to do better after a slightly disappointing defeat against Peter Ebdon in the World Grand Prix, but what would've annoyed him a little more is the performance he gave in that match where his long potting seriously let him down. After winning the Masters and making the final of the German Masters very quickly afterwards, Shaun could've been forgiven for coasting just a little bit, but that Grand Prix defeat comes a bit of a wake up call that he won't get close to winning tournaments more consistently and picking up a 2nd World Title as he'll be aiming to do in early May. However, he is the top seed for this event and has performed superbly in this Tour style events in the last year and a half, especially this season where he came close to picking up £50,000 on the European Tour which was £17,000 more than his closest rival, and it's always worth remembering that Shaun won the first ever Grand Finals in 2011 and I'm sure he'd love to be the first man to win two Grand Finals. In six events he won two and made the semi's of another and these short sharp events seem to allow him to get on a roll and really fire at the top of his game throughout.
Quarter Winner: Shaun Murphy
Quarter 2
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Robert Milkins Vs Chris Wakelin
Matt Selt Vs Oliver Lines
Mark Williams Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Mark Selby Vs Dominic Dale
Mark Selby is the highest seeded player in this section as the number 4 seed having won the season starting European Tour event in Riga and he faces the very bottom 32nd seed Dominic Dale. Mark Williams made it into the event as the 9th seed after being the runner-up in Gdynia and making the AT3 semi's and he'll play the man that beat him in that semi-final, 21st seed Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. Lisbon Open runner-up Matt Selt is the 10th seed this week and has got a tricky draw against AT2 runner-up and 18th seed Oliver Lines. Finally, Robert Milkins the number 8 seed takes on one of the other lowest ranked players in the event, the 30th seed Chris Wakelin.
I keep saying it, but Matt Selt is improving all of the time and the hard work put in by Matt is starting to really shine through and turn into big results now. He's constantly giving the top players a good game and comes into this having thrashed Hawkins during the Grand Prix. He's the 10th seed here thanks to consistent performances on both the European and Asian Tours and he'll be confident that he can pick up another win or two this week, especially as he aims to show that his Lisbon Open final appearance was in no way a one off.
Mark Williams is seeded one above Matt Selt for this week after reaching the final of the Gdynia Open recently, as part of his simply amazing run of form in the last month or so. A quarter-final at the World Grand Prix where he lost to eventual champion Judd Trump, sits very nicely with all of his other big runs in the last month and he despite all of the travelling, the plans that he and his personal trainer have in place appear to be keeping him in brilliant shape stamina wise for this continued assault of events that he's in. Saturday is Mark's 40th birthday and the secret that seems to have come with age is that he still works hard on his game, but because he considers that his best days are clearly behind him, he has no real expectations and therefore doesn't put as much pressure on himself and can relax more. He has a tough opponent first up in the home favourite Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, but Mark has had to negotiate many hurdles lately, and I think that he can deal with most things being thrown his way at the minute.
Mark Selby is still the fourth seed this week, despite not seeming to do very much since his win at the Riga Open at the beginning of the season, and in all truth he has done very little. The German Masters looked like being a major turning point for him as he had done little between winning the World Championships and winning in Berlin, but equally Last 16 exits at the Welsh Open and World Grand Prix along with a Last 32 loss at the Gdynia Open mean that he has also done very little since. The one thing we do know for sure about Mark is he is a very gritty character, and even though that German Masters victory came out of the blue, Mark has a handy characteristic of being able to play well when you least expect it, so you can never rule him out.
Robert Milkins is the eighth seed this week and deservedly so as he has impressed me a lot over the course of the European and Asian Tour events this season, reaching the Ruhr Open final, but also the Gdynia Open quarter-finals while in full ranking events he's had an International Championship semi-final and a quarter-final at the recent Indian Open. I think a lot of this comes through his sheer determination to get into the top 16 for the World Championships which he can still do if he has big runs both this week in Thailand and next week in Beijing prior to the seedings cut off. As I say, I feel Robert is another guy that is well suited to these quick fire events, with quick fire formats, while the draw for this week could've been a lot worse with all due respect to Chris Wakelin, and with the feeling and confidence that he can still put up a good fight for a Crucible spot, you wouldn't expect him to slip up there and I fancy him for another good run here.
Quarter Winner: Robert Milkins
Quarter 3
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Stephen Maguire Vs John Higgins
Jimmy Robertson Vs Michael Holt
Peter Ebdon Vs Anthony McGill
Joe Perry Vs Ding Junhui
There are some very nasty matches to call in this section with the number 3 seed Stephen Maguire taking on one of the best 31st seeded players you'll ever see in an event in the shape of John Higgins. Jimmy Robertson has had a top class season on the Euro and Asian Tours to come in as the 12th seed where he will play 25th seed and AT1 runner-up Michael Holt. Peter Ebdon the 13th seed was one of the most consistent players over the course of the tour events and he plays 28th seed Anthony McGill, while 7th seed and AT3 winner Joe Perry takes on 17th seed and AT1 winner Ding Junhui in one of the toughest matches of round one.
Peter Ebdon I guess is someone that has slid slightly under the radar into the top 16 of the seedings for this week, simply by making a number of quarter-finals and semi-finals on the Asian Tour this season, but he's as dangerous as any other man in this tournament this week. Two good victories against Murphy and Maguire got him to the Grand Prix quarter-finals last week, and it's always a potential risk if you're going to underestimate what he can do this week too. Peter always seems to me to be one of the better players at adapting to the change of conditions from playing in the UK to playing in Asia, as well as possessing the stamina that is required with the continuous travelling at this stage of a season.
Ding Junhui however, is really struggling at the moment to even find a win at a venue in a major tournament. He comes into this week as the 17th seed despite winning an Asian Tour event, therefore giving him a much tougher draw against Joe Perry, and the simple mistake there is that he hasn't entered any of the European Tour events, and arguably those small events can help you build up some form for the bigger ones which could be a reason that players like Ding have struggled more this season and others like Shaun Murphy and Robert Milkins seem to have had one of their best ever seasons. If you ignore the qualifiers for the German Masters, Indian Open and China Open that were played at the Barnsley Metrodome or in Wigan, Ding hasn't won a match at a proper venue since beating Jimmy White in the Last 64 of the UK Championships, while in a full ranking event his best performance was a semi-final in Shanghai, but that looks hugely isolated when compared with his next best of a Last 32 at the German Masters and UK Championships. We all know that Ding is better than this, but he does badly need to get out of this slump now.
Joe Perry isn't going to make that particularly easy for him however. Joe is in a decent form again at the moment, and even though he lost in the Last 16 of the Grand Prix it was to the eventual champion Judd Trump, and he did make the Indian Open quarters before that so he is certainly playing well lately, as he has been for a while. Ding will need to play well to beat him, and he'll know that having been thrashed really by Perry without Joe having to do much in the Masters Last 16 where Ding was very patchy once again. Knowing that Ding is out of form, and that he has beaten him lately will also give Joe confidence, along with knowing that out in Asia he seems to play to a great standard having won two Asian Tour events in the last two seasons, along with reaching the final of the seasons opening ranking event in Wuxi.
John Higgins managed to sneak in to the Players Championship finals by making the Last 16 in Gdynia while others around him on the European order of merit seemed to melt under the pressure. John hasn't had his best year ever, and has been very inconsistent despite another Welsh Open title. His first round exit to Graeme Dott at the Grand Prix seemed to highlight again an example of a match where he was the favourite, seemed to play well and he still managed to lose. The truth is that while he may seem to be playing decent snooker, an unusually bad miss or poor safety shot the likes of which are usually rare with John, seem to creep in more and more with John these days, possibly as he isn't coping with the pressures of playing top level snooker quite as well as he did in his pomp.
Stephen Maguire is his incredibly tough first round opponent this week, and Stephen is in the position that he knows he has work to do this week, leading Michael White by only around £8,000 on the provisional seedings for the last automatic qualification spot for the World Championships. This is all by Maguire's own work mind you, choosing not to enter the Indian Open, which White won to end up getting this close. That shows an enormous confidence in your own ability from the Scot's point of view, and even though his first round tie with Higgins as tough as it could be, he has a good record against John and he showed signs of continuing his decent form of December through to February this season in his first round win at the Grand Prix against Guodong. Stephen played good snooker on the European Tour through most of the season and he usually seems to go well in these events, and he certainly has that extra incentive this week.
Quarter Winner: Stephen Maguire
Quarter 4
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Neil Robertson Vs Marco Fu
Mark Davis Vs Ricky Walden
Stuart Bingham Vs Alan McManus
Mark Allen Vs Ryan Day
This final quarter here is easily the "quarter of death" if there was such a thing. Mark Allen the number 2 seed, winning one ET and getting to the final of another, could've had easier opponents in round one than 29th seed Ryan Day, while AT2 champ and 11th seed Stuart Bingham plays the 23rd seed Alan McManus. Mark Davis is the 14th seed this week and he faces a very tough game against International champion and 22nd seed Ricky Walden, while Gdynia champion and number 5 seed Neil Robertson plays 27th seed Marco Fu who is always a player you want to avoid in the draw.
Marco Fu isn't in the best of form at the moment, and in all fairness he hasn't played in too many events in recent times to show us much form. Fu didn't show all that much form on the European Tour only earning £7,416 to qualify. His first round exit to a more in form Mark Davis at the Grand Prix came as no surprise to me at all after he didn't play in India, failed to qualify for the German Masters and didn't look to be playing very well at times during the Welsh Open and Gdynia Open in between. You couldn't ask for much tougher draws than Neil Robertson who did win that Gdynia Open in order to qualify.
Neil Robertson did have to do things very late on in the European Tour to qualify as the fifth seed for the event, but he does have a good record in the Players Championship Finals and the tour events to qualify so it would've been a surprise for him not to do so. He was a runner-up in both 2013 and 2012 when the Grand Finals were held in Galway, and he'll be determined ahead of the World Championships, to keep his form up and come in with a big title making it third time lucky. Having Fu in the first round is a nasty draw, but one I also expect him to negotiate pretty well, especially having seemingly mastered playing in Asia in the last two years.
Mark Davis is yet another big name in this quarter that appears to be full of them. Davis is another player that appears to have started playing decent stuff in the last few weeks with quarter-finals in India and the Grand Prix after reaching the overall Championship League Final. Although, despite this good play, Davis did suffer a rather bad thrashing in the Grand Prix quarter-final to Stuart Bingham and that may dent his confidence a little coming into this and deep down he knows that he'll need to be at his very best against Ricky Walden in order to get through.
Ricky Walden is on top form this season it would seem after reaching the Indian Open final to go with his International Championship title earlier in the season, and even though he struggled a little more in the back half of the European Tour this season, he is still very well suited to this quick fire format when he's in good form because he can go missing in the middle of certain matches over a long format, but best-of-7 frames matches don't really leave you too much time for that, so invariably if Ricky starts well he goes on to win it, and even when he isn't on top form he can grind out the result, and that could be a big feature if he is to get past a very gritty player in Mark Davis.
Stuart Bingham is the eleventh seed for this event, and comes into this as one of the leaders from the Asian Tour which is a very nice marker with the Players Championship Finals being in Asia this time around. Bingham is a frequent winner on the Asian tour, but he also won a major ranking event out in Asia earlier in the season taking the Shanghai Masters. A Grand Prix semi-final along with his Championship League overall victory are the highlights of 2015 so far for Bingham and if he can carry some of that form again to Thailand he will once again prove a major threat.
Mark Allen only played in three European Tour events but he still managed to finish second on the order of merit thanks to early performances at the Paul Hunter Classic where he ran out the winner, and the Riga Open where he was runner-up to Selby, as Allen again showed his enjoyment of playing in tournaments that aren't too strenuous and are only played over a weekend. Mark won consecutive tour events last season and could've easily done that again this season, so he's clearly got a game well suited to these best-of-7 sprints over a few days. However, his season has gone off a little bit since the Masters in January, but with a tournament like this, now would not be a bad time to play yourself into a bit form ahead of the big one at the seasons end. Mark looked thoroughly fed up after defeat in round one of the Grand Prix to Liang Wenbo and the world did seem to be against him in the deciding frame and sometimes defeats like that, that really get the blood boiling are the ones that can spur you on to have a good run in the next tournament, and I have a feeling the same thing could happen for the Northern Irishman here.
Quarter Winner: Mark Allen
Tournament Runner-Up: Stephen Maguire
Tournament Winner: Shaun Murphy
It's very much a quick fire week again with this only being a 5 day event, but it is a key one with the Crucible seedings cut off looming large with only this event and the China Open left for things to change, and even though it is a short format throughout, there's sure to be some good games to watch on Eurosport who looking through my sky TV Guide are covering the event in it's entirety.
Great write-up - much appreciated.
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