The defending champion in Riga is Mark Selby who came from 3-0 down to beat Mark Allen 4-3 in last years final, and i'm sure the pair will be looking for runs of similar depth through the draw one year on as well, although there are a lot of players that are going to have a say about that. The interesting one for the top guys will be how they view this event. For members of the top 16 that aren't a part of next weeks Shanghai Masters Qualifiers, they will have around another 4 weeks off after this event ahead of the Paul Hunter Classic, which makes it a very stop start beginning to the new season with little to gain, including early season rhythm and form. It all comes back to how sharp some of the main guys will be, and if Australia is anything to go by, then some may still show signs of a tan (or at the least a Golfers tan).
However, it all comes down to opinion on such a matter. Golfers and Tennis players often choose to take 2 or 3 weeks off after a major competition but only in the heat of the season, and never as many as the top ranked snooker boys have had since Australia and will have again before heading to Furth in late August. I also have to admit to struggling to get into this season. With the Golf in the height of it's major season, and Cricket's Ashes well and truly heating up, that offers a healthy distraction to the lack of snooker and a busy period for me during the World Cup along with more unsociable timings and poorer weekend coverage of the Australian Open mean I have watched little snooker since the World Championships.
Enough of that debate though and back to the action this week in Latvia, with the draw and my thoughts upon it.
Quarter 1
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Mark Selby Vs Sanderson Lam
Joel Walker Vs Paul Davison
Ken Doherty Vs Amateur Qualifier
Gary Wilson Vs Amateur Qualifier
Jamie Jones W/O Hamza Akbar
Luca Brecel Vs Amateur Qualifier
Michael Georgiou Vs Amateur Qualifier
Ryan Day Vs Allan Taylor
Graeme Dott Vs Amateur Qualifier
Andrew Higginson W/O Hossein Vafei Ayouri
Mike Dunn Vs Amateur Qualifier
Matthew Stevens Vs Steven Hallworth
Rod Lawler Vs Amateur Qualifier
Peter Lines Vs Amateur Qualifier
Scott Donaldson Vs Michael Leslie
Mark Allen Vs Gareth Allen
The top quarter of the draw is where we find last years Riga finalists Mark Selby and Mark Allen, along with Australian Open semi-finalist Jamie Jones and Graeme Dott who is presently hovering just outside of the top 16 in the world.
Jamie Jones started to show more of what we know he's capable of in Australia on the way to the semi-finals, beating Mark Selby, Mark Davis and his good friend Michael White along the way. Those results just prove what he can do at this level and that will increase his confidence even more than his run to the World quarter-finals in 2012, because it had been such a long time coming. However, his loss to John Higgins 6-4 from 4-0 ahead in the semi-finals would've hurt, but he's had long enough to deal with that and get that out of his system, to turn up here and play good snooker in a little section of the draw that I feel could open up to see him get to at least Sunday's Last 16.
Graeme Dott is someone we haven't really had to speak about in tournaments for a long time as a serious contender, but in this quarter there is every chance for him to shine. This will be his first event of the season so there could be some early cobwebs to work off, but the beauty of the European Tour events for all these players coming in a little short on match practice is that they can easily work into a rhythm with matches coming thick and fast, and that will help the likes of Dotty. Again, like Jones, I believe that if Graeme plays well enough that for him a last 16 spot and a good start to the season are both easily achievable.
Mark Selby hasn't as yet had the best start to the season being knocked out of the World Cup with Stuart Bingham in the group stages and receiving a last 16 thrashing in Bendigo at the hands of Jamie Jones. However, it is on these European Tour weekends that Mark will often do well, with his ability to take control of some matches early on and make light of the early fixtures to save energy, and then grinding out results when he needs to. His record speaks for itself and he is the defending Riga Open champion as well, a special title as his first after his World Championship triumph, so he won't want to give it up without a fight. Mark is unlikely to peak at such an early stage of the season and will not be set up to do so this week either, and I believe that opens for others to have a good week, though you can never write off the Jester.
Mark Allen is one of my tips to do very well this weekend in Latvia. His record in European Tour events over the last two seasons speaks for itself, putting him within the top 3 on the Order of Merit in both of those campaigns. Consecutive titles for Mark in 2013 and a win at the Paul Hunter Classic in 2014 following a runners up finish in the inaugural running of this event shows that his early season form is usually right up there and that he thrives on these best-of-7 sprints if he can get some momentum and rhythm going early on in the piece. He may have exited early in Australia but that's not really a guide for Allen who, by his own admitting, plays poorly year after year in Bendigo, possibly due to the long flight over. The things in Mark's favour for this weekend are that he has all of the tools and "knowhow" to win these European Tour events and that he will have good memories of playing in the venue last year.
Quarter Winner: Mark Allen
Quarter 2
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Barry Hawkins Vs Amateur Qualifier
Robbie Williams Vs Ian Glover
Craig Steadman Vs Amateur Qualifier
Anthony McGill Vs Amateur Qualifier
Mark King Vs Amateur Qualifier
Sam Baird Vs Jason Weston
Mitchell Mann Vs Lee Walker
Michael White Vs Amateur Qualifier
Stephen Maguire Vs Amateur Qualifier
Anthony Hamilton Vs Amateur Qualifier
Jimmy Robertson Vs Eden Sharav
Alan McManus Vs David Grace
Kurt Maflin Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Robin Hull Vs Tony Drago
Mark Joyce Vs Chris Wakelin
Judd Trump Vs Sydney Wilson
Here in quarter two we have the Players Champion for 2013 Barry Hawkins, and Australian Open semi-finalist Stephen Maguire along with Judd Trump who has a superb record on the European Tour, as well as young Michael White and Anthony McGill.
Michael White will be pleased with how his game is shaping up at the moment making the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, despite losing 5-4 from 4-2 ahead against Jamie Jones in that last 8 tie, and a semi-final place in the World Cup alongside Mark Williams. Young Michael is really starting to perform now with a little more consistency which his maiden ranking win in March would've given him the confidence to do. The draw that White has in front of him should see him get to the Last 16 if he's relatively on his game, though we know that things don't always go to plan in these European Tour events.
Judd Trump started off his campaign with an annoying 5-1 loss in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open after two easy games. That loss saw him have many of the frames stolen on the colours by Maguire and the lack of killer instinct would worry Judd ahead of long season, so he'll hope to be back stronger this week without any further issues. It may not be too long before Judd gets the opportunity to exercise such demons either with a possible last 16 meeting with Stephen Maguire lurking in the future. That may not necessarily please Judd either given a poorer record against Maguire that he has compared to his record against most other top players. However, if he could get past that Judd does have the ability to breeze through the draw if he's on his game, as his record in these weekend long European Tour events shows.
Stephen Maguire has had a very well polished start to the season, even at this early stage. With a new cue in his hand Stephen should be well practiced as he attempts to get used to the new equipment, and that showed as he teamed up well with John Higgins to reach the World Cup final and then reach the last 4 down under. It would be good to see Stephen playing with renewed confidence and good early showings with a new cue is enough to boost any players self-belief. The Scot is also a winner on the European Tour from last season where he shone through in Lisbon, and all of the signs point to him being a serious contender, despite his very tough section.
Barry Hawkins is turning out for the first time this season when he steps out in Latvia. This is an incredibly important season for Barry with much to defend in the rankings after winning the £100,000 top prize as Players Champion two years ago and that means he needs an impressive start in these ET events to push him high up on the Order of Merit. Obviously, if Barry failed to qualify that would be a disaster for his ranking. A lot could be said about the way Barry's season tailed off in the middle, but he did start the season well and does usually seem well prepared to start the season strong and end it even stronger, and if he's thinking ahead like he should be, he'll be well aware of the strong start he needs to make this weekend, which could ultimately spur him on.
Quarter Winner: Barry Hawkins
Quarter 3
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Shaun Murphy Vs Amateur Qualifier
Aditya Mehta Vs Duane Jones
Jack Lisowski Vs Rhys Clark
Peter Ebdon Vs Nigel Bond
Matt Selt Vs Amateur Qualifier
Joe Swail Vs Alfie Burden
Liam Highfield Vs Amateur Qualifier
Robert Milkins Vs Fraser Patrick
Mark Davis Vs Amateur Qualifier
Stuart Carrington Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Rory McLeod Vs Amateur Qualifier
Fergal O'Brien Vs Amateur Qualifier
Michael Holt Vs Jimmy White
Kyren Wilson Vs Ross Muir
Tom Ford Vs Amateur Qualifier
Joe Perry Vs Amateur Qualifier
Onto the bottom half of the draw where we find last years European order of merit leader and two time winner on the Euro Tour Shaun Murphy accompanying the eventual Players Champion Joe Perry. Matt Selt and Robert Milkins can also be found here and will want to go one better than the runners-up finishes they had in ET events in 2014.
Robert Milkins started off his season in Australia with a last 16 exit to Joe Perry is about average for Milkins who does struggle to kick on in events, especially when up against the top players like Joe. In the European Tour events he's had slightly more success as his run to the Bulgarian Open final last season demonstrated, and the format of these events suits his game quite nicely. As a player that appears to be reliant most of the time on getting into a rhythm early on, games coming thick and fast over the course of a weekend won't upset him too much, although we also know that if he doesn't get off to a good start he can fold quickly with the lack of recovery time that the best-of-7 frames matches offer. His draw doesn't look like a bed of roses with a possible last 32 clash against Matt Selt who is on the rise to better things as a player and well capable of toppling Milkins.
Matt Selt will have even more confidence after an appearance in the Australian Open quarter-finals to start his season, especially after beating home favourite Neil Robertson in the first round. Matt is continually growing in confidence and growing his ranking along with that, and he has plenty of bottle and nerve to match. A final on the European Tour last season gives him something to build from, and has built from a semi-final from the Gdynia Open of February 2014 and I think these short formats seem to be favouring him as much as the long format that saw him qualify for the Crucible and nearly come back from 9-4 down to beat Barry Hawkins in round one. If certain players come in cold this weekend i'd say that Selt won't be one of those as he's working incredibly hard on his game to get right to the very top and I could see him going far in Latvia this weekend too.
Shaun Murphy is last years European order of merit winner, after really coming into his own on the working weekend. After struggling in the Riga Open exiting in the Last 64, he went out to Selby in the Last 32 of the Paul Hunter Classic prior to winning in Bulgaria and making that back to back titles with the Ruhr Open. A Last 128 exit to Craig Steadman in Lisbon was a minor pre Christmas blemish, but he responded in the final event to make the Gdynia Open semi-finals as defending champion. A winner of nearly £50,000 just on the European Tour last season, Shaun will look to match that again this year and improve on a start to the season that saw him lose out in the first round of the Australian Open to Ali Carter. In fact that now means Shaun has lost his first match of the season in 3 of the last 4 years and that will annoy him, so he'll be working hard to put that right, and as I've detailed above he is clearly a threat for this weekend.
Joe Perry in fact went one better than Shaun last season by going on to win the Tour Championship finals in Thailand so he will want a strong start here in Riga, to boost his chances of defending that title. Joe was superb in these tour events last season finishing in the qualifying positions for the finals via both of the Asian Tour and European Tour order of merits, following his second Asian Tour title. It could be said that with Asian Tour events and a full ranking event title under his belt now, all that is missing for Joe is a Triple Crown event, and a European Tour title, but he's certainly displayed the credentials to compete over this shorter format. In fact, such are the results of Perry in recent years, he can now be counted as a major contender for every event he enters, and I expect this week to be no different.
Quarter Winner: Joe Perry
Quarter 4
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Ricky Walden Vs Zak Surety
Darryl Hill W/O Jamie Burnett
Ian Burns Vs Jamie Cope
Ben Woollaston Vs Vinnie Calabrese
Martin O'Donnell W/O Martin Gould
Michael Wasley Vs Amateur Qualifier
Gerard Greene Vs James Cahill
Mark Williams Vs Barry Pinches
John Higgins Vs Amateur Qualifier
Oli Lines Vs Daniel Wells
Dominic Dale Vs Chris Melling
Ali Carter Vs Amateur Qualifier
Liang Wenbo Vs Amateur Qualifier
David Morris Vs Amateur Qualifier
David Gilbert Vs Amateur Qualifier
Stuart Bingham Vs Amateur Qualifier
The World Champion and second seed for this week can be found here in the final quarter with Stuart Bingham finding company at the bottom end of the draw with Australian champion John Higgins. Also here we have a recovering Mark Williams on the comeback from shoulder surgery, while Ben Woollaston, Ali Carter and Ricky Walden will all be looking to go big this weekend too.
Ricky Walden is a player that I can't seem to get away from the view of being very hit and miss. Even though his consistency has improved in the past few seasons, he still has patches where his game is shaky and he can go from very good performances to shocking ones without any real warning. He has won on the European Tour before but he's never up there amongst the titles as much as say a Trump, Selby or Murphy has been in the last couple of seasons, thriving on these best-of-7 weekends. Often Walden will get to the Last 32 or Last 16 and then perish to any player ranked around him, and I could very easily see that occurring again this weekend with plenty of those players lurking like Ben Woollaston, who could be seen as someone more likely to have a good run in these European Tour events, thriving on the format.
It will also be interesting to see how our World Champion Stuart Bingham gets on after his first round exit to Fergal O'Brien at the Australian Open, and an early exit in the group stages of the World Cup alongside Mark Selby. Stuart has every right to enjoy his summer with family and friends, along with completing a lot more corporate and sponsors events than he would be used to before now. The key is not to neglect the hours of practice that got you to where you are now, and let the odd day of hard practice slide but i'm sure he won't. However, it's a tough draw early on for Stuart Bingham who could face John Higgins or Ali Carter in the last 16, both of which seem to be cueing nicely in the early season, so Stuart will certainly need to show more of the form that got him to World Champion, than he has since starting the season with that title.
John Higgins is the shining star at the beginning of this new snooker campaign. On the baize, John led the Scots to the final of the World Cup alongside his good friend Maguire, before travelling down under to take his second ranking event title of 2014 by beating Martin Gould in the Australian Open final. I will be the first to admit that I doubted John over the last year or so, questioning his consistency throughout matches and tournaments, and I still wasn't convinced by his win in Cardiff a few months ago. However, the fact that he has performed consistently well at the start of the season, demonstrates that he can still pick up results and trophies, and is still working hard on his game. The season opening Euro Tour event of two years ago in Bulgaria saw Higgins go far, so will this weekend see a repeat performance? He's certainly playing well enough to make that a reality.
Ali Carter in my opinion can class his start to the season as a success. His only event so far came at the Australian Open, and after his ranking was unfrozen, Ali dropped out of the top 16 and had to play a match to qualify for Bendigo which he came through with the professionalism we come to expect from a top player like Carter. His first round performance to beat arguably the best player of last season in Murphy 5-4 with some high class breaks, was incredibly impressive and i'm sure he would've beaten Michael White in the Last 16 had the odd break gone his way in that narrow 5-4 loss. Having seen off what he's had to see off in the last couple of years, Ali will now be determined to get back to where he belongs in the world rankings and the winners circle. As we know Ali is a very determined character and I think this along with continued results will translate into a great season for Carter and some brilliant results, very possibly starting with this weekend if he's playing well enough.
Quarter Winner: Ali Carter
Predicted Tournament Runner-Up: Joe Perry
Predicted Tournament Winner: Mark Allen
Despite what I may have said and suggested earlier on, this should be a nice short sharp burst of snooker action, all of which will be found on Eurosport as usual and there should be yet more chances to see some new guys in action as well as all of your firm favourites for the first or second time in the early stages of Kreativ Dental (yes they're still sponsoring the show) European Tour 2015/2016. I hope you all enjoy, wherever you are!!!
