Championship League Group 7: Wilson and Davis shine on day one

Kyren Wilson and Mark Davis sit atop the table of the final qualifying group in this years Championship League after the opening days play at Crondon Park.

Kyren Wilson showed no signs of fatigue after coming straight to Essex from Gdynia where he made the semi-finals of the final European Tour event on Sunday. Three wins from his opening four games puts him in second place by just one frame of Mark Davis who also won three of his four matches on the opening day.

Matt Selt started off with wins against Liang Wenbo and Mark Davis before a loss to Stuart Bingham provided Selt's only defeat of the day from three games, and Stuart's only success from four matches as the world champion sits in fifth place and will be badly struggling to qualify for the semi-finals.

Liang Wenbo meanwhile has achieved two wins from three matches to leave him in fourth place, while Dominic Dale suffered two defeats (and nearly had a maximum break made against him as Mark Davis went in-off on the pink trying to obtain black ball position) in his three matches.

Michael Holt also struggled losing two deciders (against Mark Davis and Dominic Dale) with a whitewash loss to Wilson in between meaning he is rock bottom without a victory from his first set of three matches.

What it all means is that Mark Davis and Kyren Wilson should be safe when it comes to making the top four in the table and progressing to the knock out stages.

Matt Selt and Liang Wenbo are both well placed with two wins from day one and still three matches to play on Tuesday from which they may only need a single win. Wenbo takes on Michael Holt, Mark Davis and Dominic Dale and would very much be a favourite to move on to the semi-finals at the end of the day. Selt meanwhile also takes on Michael Holt and Dominic Dale, with his other game coming against Kyren Wilson so you would once again fancy Selt.

Stuart Bingham will need to win his to remaining games, while Michael Holt will need to win all three of his and the pair play each other on day two. Bingham's other game comes against Dominic Dale who will need at least two wins from his games against the men currently sat in the three places directly ahead of him.

So, the likelihood based on todays form is that Wilson, Wenbo, Davis and Selt will make up the semi-finals and go head to head for that final spot in the Winners Group which starts on Wednesday. As we know in snooker though, anything can happen so there could yet be a surprise or two to come tomorrow before we find out who will join O'Sullivan, Trump, Maguire, Williams, Selby and Carter in the Championship League finale.

World Grand Prix Draw and Players Championship finals seedings

After the weekends play in Gdynia we now have the 32 names that will take part in the World Grand Prix in a weeks time in Llandudno and the 32 names from a separate list that will take part in the Players Championship finals at Event City in Manchester.

No-one was able to surpass 32nd place on the Grand Prix list Stephen Maguire with a good run in Gdynia though some players did come close, while the likes of Martin Gould, Kyren Wilson and Sam Baird did manage to play themselves into the Players Championship Finals with good runs through the weekend.

First off, I can bring you the draw for the World Grand Prix on the premise that the format is the same as last year (and there has been no suggestion otherwise) that 1st on the list will play 32nd, and 16th will play 17th.

World Grand Prix Draw: (In Bracket order)

John Higgins (1) Vs Stephen Maguire (32)
Matthew Selt (16) Vs Ryan Day (17)
Judd Trump (9) Vs Mark Williams (24)
David Gilbert (8) Vs Stuart Bingham (25)

Mark Selby (5) Vs Tom Ford (28)
Luca Brecel (12) Vs Ali Carter (21)
Joe Perry (13) Vs Barry Hawkins (20)
Kyren Wilson (4) Vs Jamie Jones (29)

Martin Gould (3) Vs Tian Pengfei (30)
Shaun Murphy (14) Vs Michael White (19)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (11) Vs Michael Holt (22)
Liang Wenbo (6) Vs Graeme Dott (27)

Mark Allen (7) Vs David Grace (26)
Marco Fu (10) Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (23)
Ben Woollaston (15) Vs Ding Junhui (18)
Neil Robertson (2) Vs Peter Ebdon (31)


Some quality ties in there including some very important ones for players looking to get into the top 16 for the World Championships. We have Stephen Maguire set to play John Higgins in an all Scottish tie, the all Vegan tie between Neil Robertson and Peter Ebdon, while Joe Perry and Barry Hawkins will meet for the third time this year already. Ronnie O'Sullivan will play Michael Holt, and Judd Trump plays Mark Williams (again) as well as an all Leicester tie with Selby and Ford.

Anywhere, onto the seedings for the Players Championship finals. These are worked out by combining the money earned on the European Tour with that earned on the Asian Tour for the 32 players that have qualified. The top 16 seeds will then be drawn at random against the seeds 17-32 in round one which should make for some more great ties in round one.

Players Championship Finals Seedings

1 - Mark Selby (Total money earned: £26,625 all from the European Tour)
2 - Barry Hawkins (Total money: £25, 275 all from ET)
3 - Marco Fu (Total: £24,475 - £23,175 from ET and £1,300 from the Asian Tour)
4 - Rory McLeod (Total: £22,200 finishes ahead of Allen on European Tour countback)
5 - Mark Allen (Total: £22,200 all from ET)
6 - Ali Carter (Total: £20,550 all from ET)
7 - Shaun Murphy (Total: £15,975 all from ET)
8 - Ding Junhui (Total: £14,925 - £1,425 from ET and £13,500 from AT)
9 - Mark King (Total: £14,500 - £13,200 from ET and £1,300 from AT)
10 - Ryan Day (Total: £14,475 all from ET)
11 - Tom Ford (Total: £13,850 - £13,050 from ET and £800 from AT)
12 - Michael White (Total: £13,200 all from ET)
13 - Tian Pengfei (Total: £13,000 - £11,700 from ET and £1,300 from AT)
14 - Mark Williams (Total: 12,225 all from ET)
15 - Ben Woollaston (Total: £11,500 - £9,750 from ET and £1,750 from AT)
16 - Martin Gould (Total: £10,425 all from ET)

17 - Andrew Higginson (Total: £10,275 all from ET)
18 - Ricky Walden (Total: £10,025 - £3,525 from ET and £6,500 from AT)
19 - Mike Dunn (Total: £9,975 all from ET)
20 - Kyren Wilson (Total: £9,900 all from ET)
21 - Liang Wenbo (Total: £9,850 - £8,550 from ET and £1,300 from AT)
22 - Dominic Dale (Total: £9,325 - £8,025 from ET and £1,300 from AT)
23 - Michael Holt (Total: £8,700 all from ET)
24 - Judd Trump (Total: £8,250 all from ET)
25 - Jimmy Robertson (Total: £8,000 - £4,500 from ET and £3,500 from AT)
26 - Alan McManus (Total: £7,950 all from ET)
27 - David Gilbert (Total: £7,350 all from ET)
28 - Sam Baird (Total: £7,275 all from ET)
29 - Luca Brecel (Total: £6,675 all from ET)
30 - Graeme Dott (Total: £6,450 all from ET)
31 - Robert Milkins (Total: £6,200 - £2,700 from ET and £3,500 from AT)
32 - Mark Davis (Total: £6,150 all from ET)


As you'll note there are some big name players missing. The likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Stuart Bingham, John Higgins and Stephen Maguire have all failed to qualify while guys like Judd Trump, Liang Wenbo and Kyren Wilson are seeded outside of the 16 and could draw guys like Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and Ding Junhui in round one which could all prove massive in the race to make it into the top 16 for certain guys like Maguire, Wilson, Wenbo and Ding.

The World Grand Prix and Players Championship finals are both on ITV with the Grand Prix running from Tuesday 8th March with the final on Sunday 13th March and the Players Finals following after a weeks break from Tuesday 22nd March until Sunday 27th March.

Championship League: Group 7 Preview

After Ali Carter flew to victory in group six of the Championship League it is time for the final qualifying group ahead of the winners group starting on Wednesday.

In group seven we have losing finalist in group six who was Dominic Dale, Dale also played in Gdynia over the weekend where he lost out in round two to in-form Martin Gould.

The losing semi-finalists in group six who move on to group seven are Mark Davis and Michael Holt, both of whom suffered last 64 exits in Gdynia over the weekend also.

Kyren Wilson took the lucky loser fifth place in group six in order to move on to this group, and he did make the final day in Gdynia losing out in the semi-finals to Martin Gould, so he should still be back for this group as I do not expect him to withdraw.

The three new players coming in for this group are World Champion Stuart Bingham who moved from group four to group seven so could have been playing much sooner in the defence of his Championship League title. Bingham lost out in the first round of the Gdynia Open over the weekend to Fraser Patrick meaning he will not feature in the Players Championship finals. That now means that Bingham only has this week in Crondon Park, the Grand Prix and China Open before defending his world title at the Crucible in April.

Liang Wenbo is the second new player coming in for group seven. Wenbo also suffered a shock first round exit in Gdynia at the weekend 4-0 to amateur qualifier Elliot Slessor.

Finally, we have Matt Selt who will be hoping to put behind him missing out on the players championship finals, by only one place on the combined list after Martin Gould made the Gdynia Open final.


Whoever wins this group will join up with group one winner, Masters and Welsh Open champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, group two and former Championship League winner Judd Trump, group three winner Stephen Maguire, group four winner Mark Williams, champion of group five and the weekends Gdynia Open Mark Selby as well as Ali Carter the latest group winner from last Thursday.

Obviously there is no threat of relegation as this is the final qualifying group so only one thing matters in the long term and that is the group winner. Bingham and Wenbo are the highest ranked players in the group but their form seems to have gone walkabouts in recent times with very disappointing first round exits in Gdynia. Matt Selt has been solid this season without doing too much, while Michael Holt will just be hoping not to make such hard work out of his round robin matches after the deciders he played over groups five and six.

Kyren Wilson seemed to be playing well in Gdynia and is one of the favourites to win this group for sure and looking at recent form he probably has the best chance, while you should not rule out Mark Davis who seems to be cueing fairly well after making the semi-finals of both groups five and six, winning the world seniors and looking impressive whenever I watched him in Cardiff.

I will of course be back throughout the week with updates from group 7 on Monday and Tuesday, before the winners group on Wednesday and Thursday and then the return to ranking event action will be in a weeks time with the World Grand Prix.

The Social Media Week: Food glorious food

In a new feature for the blog, I am going to take a look back on some of the 140 character gems that have been catching my eye on Twitter this week. Be that from players, referees, fans or pundits there's no need for you to miss a beat as I bring everything together.

This week, following the Welsh Open, I take a light hearted look at how some of the players have been looking after their bodies on the road, what certain players have been cooking up at home and what you should and should not be eating on and off the table.


First off, Ronnie was saying at times that he was bored in Cardiff so he took to Twitter to give us all a little bit of diet. First off here's what he thinks we need to avoid in our diets...

 

Right then, that's bacon and eggs off of the menu for me in the mornings. What can I eat then Ronnie?

 

 

Oh good, a lovely bit of seafood and some fresh fruit and veg. That'll sort me right. So... where are we off to tonight then Mr O'Sullivan.

 

 

Of course, Ronnie's getting a nice greasy kebab in with some nutritious fizzy drinks to gulp down. I can't wait.

 

 

Then of course we had the good friends Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen in the battle of the steaks, showing us the difference between home comforts and life on the road.

 

 

Murphy's effort up first:

 

 

I have to say that looks quite nice, home cooked food from the man that can magic anything up. Sign him up for Celebrity masterchef already will you. Looking forward to my invite to the opening of Shaun's restraint too.

 

 

What can Mark Allen come back with then...

 

 

When you get beat in the semi-finals you have to soften the blow a little. Steak and chips with a cider? This one is a close call with Shaun's homemade though. Oh hang on...

 

 

 

Only Fools and Horses in bed? We have a winner ladies and gentleman, Allen's stolen this one at the death.

 

 

There's also been a bit of debate with guys like Neil Robertson eating bananas in the arena between frames and whether or not that is actually within the rules. You would not be able to think of why he should not but a look at the week on Twitter would not be complete with us checking in on the Welsh potting machine, Mark Williams...

 

 

 

Steak at the table? MJW is certainly taking things to the next level once again, but nothing surprises you with the two times world champion. Somehow I do not think he will be having a sirloin cooked up for his match with Ding Junhui in Gdynia.

 

 

 

Who knows what the next edition of the social media week will bring, an interesting debate is currently going on as people look to the future and who the top players could be in a few years time. I'll certainly be bringing you more on that as and when. 













Championship League: Group 6: Captain flies to top spot on day one

Ali Carter is sitting pretty in top spot of group six of the Championship league after a long first day at Crondon park. Eight of the twelve matches went to fifth frame deciders, with a number of those seeing players turn things around from 2-0 behind to win.

Martin Gould lost all three of his opening matches, the first of which was from 2-1 ahead in a lengthy match with Fergal O'Brien. O'Brien then came straight back out, and after losing an opening frame that lasted for close to an hour and then fell 2-0 behind to Michael Holt he came back to win 3-2.

Ali Carter then opened up with a couple of 3-1 victories against Dominic Dale and German Masters champion Gould, whilst Michael Holt came back out after losing from 2-0 ahead, only to turn around a 2-0 deficit himself against Kyren Wilson. Wilson's day did not end any better as the same thing happened against Dominic Dale so he finishes the day with one win, when it could have easily been a clean sweep of three wins from his opening three matches.

Ali meanwhile managed to see off Fergal O'Brien 3-2, before losing his final match of the day to Michael Holt, who made a 77 break to win the decider.

What it all means is that Carter is looking very good for qualification, while Gould and Wilson are in a little bit of trouble but nothing they cannot get out of with three group games left to go. Holt, Dale, O'Brien and Mark Davis are all evenly matched in the middle of the table with two points, with O'Brien and Davis having played one less game to arrive at that total.

Dominic Dale and Michael Holt still have work to do with their two wins coming from four games and with them set to play each other on the final day one of them is going to be in a much better position than the other coming into the final game. Holt's other fixture is against bottom placed Martin Gould while Dale will play Fergal O'Brien.

O'Brien's other two games on the final day come against Kyren Wilson and Mark Davis in what will again be key games for both players with Wilson looking to make a comeback and get out of the bottom two while Davis is the Irishman's neighbour with two wins from three which again means the loser of that game could be thrust into trouble.

Seniors champion Davis will also face bottom placed Martin Gould and top boy Ali Carter in his search for another win or two to qualify for the knock-out stages so it will certainly not be easy for him.

As Martin Gould eyes a turn around in fortunes he faces sixth placed Kyren Wilson in his final match after playing Holt and Davis and that match could well be a relegation play-off between the two.

Before facing Gould, Wilson has matches against O'Brien and Ali Carter as he looks to get out of any trouble without relying on a win from his final match with the former Championship League winner.


Ali Carter is certainly the man sitting pretty on top coming close to a clean sweep on day one, but he will not want to let his intensity drop for his final two games before playing in the winners group.

Whatever happens these seven guys will quickly hop onto the plane out to Gdynia with some playing on Friday and others on Saturday in the season's final European Tour event, though Carter is the only one of the seven who will not be there having decided not to enter.

Gdynia Open Preview: All to play for

The Gdynia Open, with the professional stages starting on Friday sees a lot of things come to an end. As the European Tour has been scrapped for next year, this will be the last event to be played under that tag. It means that after this weekend we will have the 32 names qualified for the Players Championship Finals in March, and the 32 names that will play in the World Grand Prix in Llandudno a couple of weeks before hand. We will also have a better picture of who will stay on the professional tour with eight tour cards to come from the European Tour order of merit for the top 8 players not already qualified for next season.

The defending champion Neil Robertson has chosen not to enter this week and that also means that he will not be in the Players Championship finals, suffering a first round exit in the only European Tour event he played this season. Ronnie O'Sullivan is another non-entry so he will also not be in Manchester at Easter time for the tour finals.

Mark Allen, Ricky Walden and Ali Carter are the other notable non-entries for Gdynia though all of them have already done enough from one route or another to get through to the Players Championship finals. Walden however, has not even come close to qualifying for the World Grand Prix after poor performances in the main ranking events this season.

The big things to note are that, while the top 24 qualify from the European order of merit, the other places go to Ding Junhui and Ricky Walden for making the final of the only Asian Tour event this season, so the other six places go to the top six not already from the European order of merit on a combined list with the money from the Asian Tour event. As it stands 24th place is jointly held between Luca Brecel and Andrew Higginson who are both on £5,775, but with £525 for a first round win, and £900 for making the Last 32 with a couple of wins, guys as low down as Oliver Lines in 33rd are within touching distance.

Those figures are also of importance for the tour card race, particularly when one of the eight is provisionally being held by Hammad Miah who is not on the tour and has to come through amateur qualifying just to add anything to his total, though with a gap in hand he'll be hoping that whatever happens, his space for next year is guaranteed.

It's all go and as usual the event will be covered on Eurosport throughout the weekend as it is very much to play for. Time to look at the draw and who needs to do what in their respective battles.

Quarter 1

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Barry Hawkins Vs Yu De Lu
Jimmy Robertson Vs Michael Wasley
Joe Perry Vs Amateur Qualifier
Oliver Lines Vs Amateur Qualifier
Stuart Bingham Vs Fraser Patrick
Daniel Wells Vs Ross Muir
Zhou Yuelong W/O Itaro Santos
Judd Trump Vs Amateur Qualifier
Michael Holt Vs Ian Glover
Martin O'Donnell Vs Amateur Qualifier
Robert Milkins Vs Peter Lines
Kyren Wilson Vs Duane Jones
Thor Chuan Leong Vs Amateur Qualifier
Kurt Maflin Vs Amateur Qualifier
Gareth Allen W/O Aditya Mehta
Mark Williams Vs Ding Junhui

Plenty to talk about in this section with tour cards and players finals spots to be decided and that is aside from the fact that there is also a quarter to be won, where the main contenders will be Barry Hawkins (who is looking to top the order of merit, currently holding that first place position on the list), while the likes of Judd Trump will be hoping to add some consistency to his season, while Ding Junhui and Mark Williams face off in round one in a massive match.

Thor Chuan Leong is the first man we come to on the tour card race. He currently has £4,200 to his name and is top of the tour card holders list, over £2,000 clear of the three players in joint eight. There is a half chance of him actually making the players championship finals as he is 34th on the order of merit, but the likelihood is that he would need to reach the quarter-finals, especially as he has no help from money earned on the Asian Tour to add to a combined list.

Aditya Mehta is not actually in the tournament this week after withdrawing from the event, and after not entering the China Open qualifiers or Welsh Open some questions have been raised about him. He sits in fourth place on the tour card holders list, £1,050 clear of those in joint eighth and in 71st on the provisional end of season (EOS) list he certainly needs this place. Having said all of that it would certainly take a big turn around to see him lose the place.

Peter Lines does not have the cosy positions of the likes of Thor or Mehta and is in fact £1,050 behind joint eighth place on the tour card holders list. 75th on the provisional EOS list he has plenty of ground to cover so could use any penny he is able to lay his hands on this weekend. A first round clash with Robert Milkins does not look easy but he is more than capable of victory, while a run to the last 16 would certainly put him in the hunt.

Oliver Lines has his own battle this week and a much more upbeat one to be mentioning as he seeks his place in the Players Championship finals. Currently Lines junior is in 33rd position on the order of merit £900 behind 24th place, while on the combined list he would be £600 behind 30th place which is effectively 28th on the European list with only Jimmy Robertson and Robert Milkins having significant money to add on that would put them in the top 30 currently. More on that in a bit as it is quite complex. What it means is that Oliver needs at least two wins this week, starting off in the first round against an amateur qualifier, but with the likelihood of playing Joe Perry in the second round things look very tough for him to make it to Event City.

Stuart Bingham may be inside of the current top 24 on the order of merit but he still has a little bit of looking over his shoulder to do. He is in 23rd position just £150 better off than Higginson and Brecel in joint 24th so he could do with a win in round one to secure his place, with extra places on the combined list to fall back on. He takes on Fraser Patrick in round one and it was the Scot who took Neil Robertson to a decider at the Welsh Open, and it would certainly sum Stuart's season up if he lost in round one here and results conspired that he missed out on the Tour finals. Having said all that I think he'll beat Fraser and to be honest he could well be fine regardless.

Kyren Wilson is in joint 29th on the European order of merit with a chance of making the top 24 or getting into the Tour finals with the extra spaces on a combined list. He is currently £375 behind the joint 24th place and plays Duane Jones in round one with a possible Last 64 match with Robert Milkins or Peter Lines. Given that draw you would fancy him to get through round one and he could well run deep in the event to earn that place in Manchester. It would be a big disappointment for Kyren if he were to miss out after the season that he has had.

Jimmy Robertson does not look like he is in the best position on the order of merit in 37th position, but on a combined list he has £3,500 to add on from making the semi-finals of the Asian Tour event which puts him up to 20th place on the list and means that he is almost certain to qualify for the Tour finals in Manchester regardless of how he does this weekend.

Robert Milkins was the other losing semi-finalist in the Asian Tour event back in October last year and that £3,500 propels him from 51st on the European order of merit to what would be 24th position on a combined list. He could probably still do with a win against Peter Lines in round one to guarantee his tour finals spot, but he may well be ok without that.

Ding Junhui and Mark Williams face off in the first round this week and the winner of that match could be a big contender to win the quarter. Williams has gone well on the European tour this season and has already booked his place in the Players Championship finals, while Ding booked his by winning the sole Asian Tour event. Ding however needs wins and plenty of them to avoid having to go through three rounds of qualifying to reach the Crucible this year. Despite a run to the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open he is still sat in 19th position in the provisional seedings, £17,000 behind Stephen Maguire in 16th. Some of Ding's play in Wales did suggest that he could not be too far from a return to form so this week may be his week.

Joe Perry meanwhile was a semi-finalist at the recent Welsh Open playing well in a 6-3 loss to eventual winner Ronnie O'Sullivan. On the European tour this season he has struggled and unless he can pull something out of the fire this weekend then he will not defend his Players Championship title won last March. He is currently around £3,000 short of the top 24 and therefore would probably need to win this quarter to have any chance of making it through which may not look likely in a very tough section but if he plays like he did at times in Cardiff then he has every chance.

Quarter Winner: Joe Perry

Quarter 2

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Ryan Day Vs Mark Joyce
Michael Leslie Vs Amateur Qualifier
Scott Donaldson Vs Sydney Wilson
David Gilbert W/O Hossein Vafei Ayouri
Ben Woollaston Vs Amateur Qualifier
Lee Walker Vs Amateur Qualifier
Li Hang Vs Paul Davison
Mike Dunn Vs Darryl Hill
Liang Wenbo Vs Amateur Qualifier
Ian Burns Vs Robin Hull
Anthony McGill Vs Liam Highfield
Stuart Carrington Vs Amateur Qualifier
Dominic Dale Vs Allan Taylor
Robbie Williams Vs Martin Gould
Jamie Jones Vs Amateur Qualifier
Shaun Murphy Vs Amateur Qualifier

In this section we have eyes on the race for tour cards, order of merit, as well as someone looking to make it into the World Grand Prix. That is of course on top of the fact there is a quarter here to be won where Martin Gould will be one of the main contenders, and he is in the same mini section as former Gdynia Open champion Shaun Murphy who could use a run this week to give himself a boost ahead of the final stretch of this season, following a lean spell of results.

Mark Joyce is fighting for a place in the World Grand Prix this weekend. After Ronnie O'Sullivan's Welsh Open win Joyce was knocked down from 32nd on the list and holding the last spot, down to 33rd and needing to make up ground. Fortunately, he is only £125 behind Stephen Maguire in 32nd so he would effectively have to go a round further into the tournament than Maguire to take the place. The unfortunate thing for Joyce is that he has a tough first round tie with Ryan Day in which he is certainly an underdog, and if he were to lose that match his hopes of making the world grand prix would go with it.

Michael Leslie is right in the heat of the battle for a tour card place on the order of merit this weekend. Currently he sits in joint eighth on the tour card holders list on £1,950 with a win in round one potentially putting him above both seventh and sixth positions if they lose in round one. Leslie has an amateur qualifier in round one so will be hopeful of securing victory, but he may still need a win in round two depending on other results and with a potential tie with either Ryan Day or Mark Joyce that could be a much tougher prospect.

Scott Donaldson is also in at the business end of the tour card holders list. He sits in sixth on £2,250 only £300 clear of the three guys in joint eighth. That simply means that he needs to win his round one match. He takes on Sydney Wilson in round one and that is a very tricky match, given that Wilson has played reasonable snooker in recent times and by comparison Donaldson is struggling. The pressure is very much on given his desperate position, way outside of the top 64 on the EOS list making this his only hope of avoiding a trip to Q School in May.

Lee Walker has the lovely position of being safe as houses on the tour card holders list. He is currently in third place on £3,225 miles clear of the chasing pack so he does not really have to do anything this week.

Ian Burns is second on the tour card holders list, miles clear of the chasing pack so he has that little bit of security on that front. However, he may not need that fresh card as he sits in 65th position on the EOS list just £310 behind Gerard Greene in 64th. If he could go well here this week (facing a tough first round match with Robin Hull in round one) or in China which he has qualified for, before everyone has a go at qualifying for the World Championships.

Stuart Carrington has his eyes on the players tour championship finals this weekend. Currently sitting in 31st on the European order of merit he is £525 behind joint 24th place on the list so there is still a chance for him, particularly with the extra places given through a combined list. He has an amateur qualifier in round one, for the right to play Anthony McGill or Liam Highfield in round two so again he has more than a chance if he plays like he has in previous tour events.

Martin Gould meanwhile has become a major title contender after winning the German Masters earlier this month. He has a lot of confidence now and will be looking to build from here. In terms of the European order of merit he is way short of the top 24 and would probably need to make at least the final just to get to the Players Championship finals. With that as motivation though, do not be surprised if he comes through the draw once again.

Quarter Winner: Martin Gould

Quarter 3

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Marco Fu Vs Vinnie Calabrese
Rod Lawler Vs David Morris
Zhang Anda Vs Barry Pinches
Matt Selt Vs Amateur Qualifier
Graeme Dott Vs Rhys Clark
Mitchell Mann Vs Sanderson Lam
Jack Lisowski Vs Cao Yupeng
Alan McManus Vs Dechawat Poomjaeng
Mark Selby Vs Amateur Qualifier
John Higgins W/O James Wattana
David Grace Vs Steven Hallworth
Luca Brecel Vs Joe Swail
Sam Baird Vs Amateur Qualifier
Chris Wakelin Vs Amateur Qualifier
Gary Wilson Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Michael White Vs Amateur Qualifier

Once again we have a keen eye here on the battle for tour cards via the order of merit and for players that are still hopeful of staying in the top 64. On top of that there are players vying for places in the Players Championship finals spots on top of the quarter that is here to be won. The main contenders on that score will be recent Championship League group five winner Mark Selby who could play John Higgins as early as the Last 64. Michael White was a finalist in Gibraltar so will be hopeful of continuing that form, while Marco Fu at the very top of this quarter was of course the winner on that occasion.

David Morris may not be anywhere in terms of saving his place on tour via the European order of merit, but he is still in there and fighting to stay inside of the top 64 so every win helps at this stage of the season. This is realistically his last chance to earn any money before the World Championship qualifiers, and he is presently 67th on the provisional EOS list, over £3,400 behind 64th place Greene. No first round match is easy, but Rod Lawler is definitely a man you want to face.

Cao Yupeng is an even perilous position. Like Morris he is not really anywhere in terms of saving his tour place via the European order of merit and currently sits in 70th place on the provisional EOS list, £7,000 behind 64th, with his first round match in the China Open held over to the venue though you would not expect him to win. His Last 128 match this week is against Jack Lisowski and he has a half chance of victory, though with the way he played in the Welsh Open I cannot really see it happening.

Zhang Anda is in the position where he is currently safe having secured a fresh two year tour card via the Asian order of merit, where he is higher than on the European order of merit (where he would also have earned a tour card) but he may not yet need that if he can play himself into the top 64. He is 69th on the provisional EOS list £6,500 behind 64th place. A good weekend here for here could set him going ahead of one last push at the World Championship qualifiers where there will be no pressure on him.

Mitchell Mann is right in the thick of things in terms of a tour card place. This is his main hope of staying on tour for next season and he is with the group on joint eighth in the race for a tour card. His first round opponent this week is a tough one in Sanderson Lam, but Mitchell has showed good recent form to beat Mark Allen in China Open qualifying and then beat Zhou Yuelong in the Welsh Open before narrowly losing out to Shaun Murphy. I fancy his chances of getting the job done here.

Matt Selt is looking for a weekend in Gdynia like the one he had two years ago where he lost out in the semi-finals. Presently, Selt is in 32nd place on the European order of merit £675 behind joint 24th position and even with the extra places via a combined list he needs to make it to at least the Last 32, if not Sunday's last 16. He has an amateur qualifier in round one so it will be interesting to see who comes through there on Thursday, and if he comes through that he takes on either Zhang Anda or Barry Pinches in round two and he would certainly fancy his chances there too, so there is every chance that Matt will still make it to the Players Championship finals in Manchester.

Luca Brecel is right on the border sitting in joint 24th position on the order of merit, but even with the extra places that a combined list has to offer it still means that he could use a win or two this weekend. His first round match is a very tricky one against Joe Swail but with the good form that he has shown he will be hopeful of getting the job done.

Sam Baird is also in position that with some good results this weekend he could make it into the players championship finals. He is currently 27th on the order of merit, which would be 29th on the combined list as it stands, and he is only £225 behind joint 24th. In round one he faces an amateur qualifier and will be expecting to win that and set up a second round tie with either Chris Wakelin or another amateur qualifier. You have to like Baird's chances here as much as anyone around that 24 mark.

John Higgins still has a chance of qualifying for the Players Championship finals via the combined list. Having earned £1,300 in the only Asian Tour event that boosts him up to just above Oliver Lines after receiving a first round walkover this week against James Wattana. The key match will be against Mark Selby in the last 64 assuming that Selby gets past the amateur qualifier he will play in round one.

Mark Selby comes to Gdynia after winning group five of the Championship League this week and losing to Ronnie O'Sullivan in another quarter-final as Ronnie went on to win the event. That is yet another occasion when it has taken the eventual tournament winner to see off Selby who is so tough to beat, as I got the joy of witnessing at past midnight in his Last 64 Welsh Open match against Peter Lines. If those granite like qualities are joined once again by his top class scoring (after making his 400th century at Crondon Park this week) then he once again is a major contender.

Quarter Winner: Mark Selby

Quarter 4

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Tom Ford Vs Noppon Saengkham
Sean O'Sullivan Vs Michael Georgiou
Stephen Maguire Vs Matthew Stevens
Alfie Burden Vs Amateur Qualifier
Andrew Higginson Vs Amateur Qualifier
Gerard Greene Vs Amateur Qualifier
Ken Doherty Vs Amateur Qualifier
Tian Pengfei Vs Amateur Qualifier
Mark King Vs Michael Wild
Zak Surety Vs Eden Sharav
Joel Walker Vs Anthony Hamilton
Peter Ebdon Vs Amateur Qualifier
Mark Davis Vs Hamza Akbar
Fergal O'Brien Vs Amateur Qualifier
Craig Steadman W/O Jason Weston
Rory McLeod Vs Chris Melling

This final quarter is probably the biggest looking in terms of tour spots via staying in the top 64 at the end of the season or getting a fresh card from the European order of merit list. On top of that plenty of players in this section are still playing for places in the Players Championship finals and the World Grand Prix that are upcoming, on top of the fact that there is a quarter to be won, and a quarter that you have to say is very much wide open.

Gerard Greene is the first man to come to here in terms of the battle to stay on tour. He is currently 64th on the provisional EOS list but just a few hundred pounds clear of Ian Burns in 65th so anything could happen between now and the end of the season for Gerard. He would love to give himself the insurance policy of a fresh tour card on the European order of merit if he did drop out of the 64 but that is not yet certain. If you place him on that list he would be in joint eighth with Mann, Surety and Leslie on £1,950. In the opening round this week he has an amateur qualifier, but that may not be an easy match depending on who comes through there and he can use all the wins he can get for his different battles.

Zak Surety has all his eggs in one basket so to speak, with poor odds of making it into the top 64 by the end of the season. That means he needs to secure a tour card via the European order of merit and he is in the group on joint eighth on that list. Therefore, he needs at least one win this week with two to make sure but his first round opponent could have been easier than Eden Sharav.

Joel Walker is the man in seventh place on the tour card holders list, but only being £150 clear he will need at least one win this week, if not two. With very little chance of making the top 64 unless he qualifies for the Crucible at a bare minimum, then he will need to secure things this week. His first round opponent could be easier though.

Anthony Hamilton is the man that Walker will play in round one. Hamilton has £1,425 to his name on the European tour so he could still secure a fresh tour card via this route. However, he will need to beat Joel and then win his second round tie at the very least. He will be buoyed by the fact that he managed a couple of wins in the Welsh Open (one of which was against the world champion), so he certainly has every chance.

Chris Melling is also in this quarter and is in the same boat as Hamilton, on the same money and needing two wins to have chance of securing a tour card. His first round opponent this week is Rory McLeod so he has half a chance there and if he were to win that he would face Craig Steadman so there could be two harder games to have to get the job done. The form book though says that Melling's chances are quite slim as he has not really adapted to the snooker tour that well.

Craig Steadman has been aided this week by a round one walkover after Jason Weston pulled out. Steadman needs all of the money he can get in his battle to stay in the top 64, currently positioned in 66th on the provisional EOS list, around £2,000 behind since his money for the walkover has already been added.

Sean O'Sullivan may be down in 38th on the European order of merit but he still has half a chance of qualifying for the players tour finals on the combined list. £800 earned in the Asian Tour event puts him up to just behind Oliver Lines, so still with plenty of work to do but if he could make the last 16 he would be in with a shout. If he plays good stuff this weekend, the draw is as such that he could get on a run that would see him qualify, so who knows.

Alfie Burden has a much more realistic chance of qualification as he sits in 28th position on the European order of merit which would put him in 30th on a combined order of merit and the final qualifier for the players tour finals in that way. In round one this week he plays an amateur qualifier and if he comes through that, then either Stephen Maguire or Matthew Stevens will await and that could end up being the key match for Londoner's chances of making it to Event City.

Andrew Higginson is the other player that joins Luca Brecel in joint 24th place on the European order or merit, so his chances of qualifying for the players championship finals are obviously good. He does still need a win or maybe two to ensure his place and that may not be easy as it sounds. His opponent in round one will be an amateur qualifier, which if you look back at the draw could be Hammad Miah who has caused plenty of problems for pro's this season including Judd Trump, so Higginson may have his work cut out there. If he were to get through he would face either Gerard Greene or another amateur qualifier in round two.

Peter Ebdon is also well in contention for a place in the players championship finals. Currently the "Vegan Power" sits in joint 29th on the order of merit and still within touching distance of the top 24 so with it all to play for. A couple of wins at least would be necessary, and he faces an amateur qualifier in round one for the right to play either Joel Walker or Anthony Hamilton in a potential second round match that would have implications on both parties for multiple reasons. Ebdon is also in 31st place on the World Grand Prix list and with players like Stephen Maguire and Mark Davis (both in this quarter) capable of making a march on him he still needs a win or two to be safe on that score.

Stephen Maguire cannot afford a slip up this week. His first round opponent is Matthew Stevens and that is a match he could do with winning to boost his hopes of making it into the World Grand Prix. His first round exit in the Welsh Open has thrust him into some trouble as he now sits in 32nd place just £125 clear of Mark Joyce. Matthew is more than capable of beating Maguire so the Scot will need to be on his game. His place in the Tour finals looks even less likely with a minimum of the quarter-finals needed to have any chance though the likelihood is he would have to win this quarter. Not great signs for Maguire given that he is 16th on the provisional seedings, only £3,000 clear of Liang Wenbo who is already guaranteed a place in the Grand Prix and Tour finals as they both seek automatic Crucible qualification.

Mark Davis is currently 26th on the European order of merit so is just another player on what seems to be an endless list of those in contention to swoop in and grab a place in the Players Championship finals. On top of this he still has a half chance of World Grand Prix qualification. Positioned in 34th on that list he trails 32nd place Maguire by £2,725. He looked in very good form at the Welsh Open before a strange Last 32 loss from 2-0 up against Barry Hawkins but in the section of the draw he finds himself in he is more than capable of a big run that could define his year more than his World 'Seniors' Championship win, if it did prove enough for him to qualify for the tour finals and Grand Prix too.

Quarter Winner: Mark Davis

Tournament Runner-Up: Mark Davis

Tournament Winner: Joe Perry


Well, there was more to digest there than at your local Carvery (especially if they let you go back up for seconds). One man to follow this weekend is Matt @ProSnookerBlog on Twitter who is at the venue and will have all of the provisional lists updated as the results come in, but I will also be keeping my Twitter updated with the results that matter throughout the three days of the event.

As soon as the event is over I will also have a blog up with the key news on who has secured the tour cards, what the seedings for the Players Championship Finals will be as well as the World Grand Prix.

Mark Selby wins Championship League Group 5

After coming close in groups two, three and four of the Championship League, Mark Selby has come back to Crondon Park this week and taken the group five title to book his place in the winners group. He joins Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump, Stephen Maguire and Mark Williams in the list of those already through to the finale which takes place on Wednesday and Thursday of next week.

On day two of group five, Selby carried on from his perfect day one performance with two wins and a loss to Kyren Wilson, to finish up as the table leader at the end of the round robin stage. Defeat to Selby for Mark Davis in their final round robin game saw Davis miss out on the top spot after wins earlier in the day against Michael Holt and Graeme Dott got him up to four points from his games.

Victory for Kyren Wilson in his final group game with Michael Holt as well as the earlier win against the Jester saw him finish second in the group to play Mark Davis in the group semi-finals. Holt was able to take fourth spot by a frame of Graeme Dott aided by his only win of the day in a decider with David Gilbert.

That loss saw both of Gilbert and Walden relegated before they even played each other in the final round robin game. The damage had been done for both on the first day, with the loss to Holt being Gilberts fifth from five, while Walden lost from 2-0 up for the second time in the group in his match with Graeme Dott which did the damage for him, and following his 3-0 loss in the dead rubber with Gilbert the pair finished in the bottom two with a point each.

In the semi-finals, Selby breezed past Michael Holt with two centuries in a 3-0 win (after making his 400th career century earlier in the day against David Gilbert), while Kyren Wilson managed to survive as Mark Davis came from 0-2 to 2-2, only for Wilson to clear with 65 in the decider to book his place in the final.

Of course, it was Selby that came out on top, avenging his earlier round robin defeat, making the highest break of the entire group in the match with a 131 forming part of a 3-1 victory.

 

 

What it means for tomorrow and the start of group six is that Kyren Wilson, Mark Davis and Michael Holt move on and are joined by the three new players in German Masters champion Martin Gould, Paul Hunter Classic champion Ali Carter, Fergal O'Brien who replaces Michael Holt, who moved up from group six to group five to come in for Neil Robertson and finally Dominic Dale who replaces Graeme Dott who has withdrawn after finishing in fifth place in group five.

 

 

You have to say that this set of players looks like the most evenly matched so far, but the stand out two have to be group five runner-up Wilson and Martin Gould who has been a former Championship League winner and nearly went on to defend his title the next year so you would certainly make him a favourite to win in this penultimate qualifying group. 

Fantasy Snooker: Updated points and Gdynia Players

The Welsh Open saw one man make a lot of people a lot of points as Ronnie O'Sullivan went on to win his fourth Welsh Open title. Next up of course is Gydnia an important European Tour event for lots of reasons and an opportunity that many people may choose to take to save money ahead of a big assault on the final four ranking events of the season. Lots of people have a lot of ground to make up on our leader though as well, so lets see how the table looks:

1^st: Igor: 663 +4.9 million O’Sullivan (79) and J. White (0)

2^nd: SnookerFollower: 604 +0.9 million O’Sullivan (79)

3^rd: Gorkem Kurt: 578 +9.8 million M. Williams (15)

4^th: Michael Coudray: 542 +7.2 million O’Sullivan (79)

5^th: Chris Watts: 536 +1 million O’Sullivan (79) and Bond (0)

6^th: TungstenDarts: 520 +8.6 million O’Sullivan (79) and Maguire (0)

7^th: Gary: 501 +1.2 million Trump (19) and Joyce (7)

8^th: Anthony Ward: 469 +3.6 million Robertson (47)

9^th: Guillermo: 468 -3.1 million O’Sullivan (79)

10^th: Kjetil: 444 +3 million Jones (0) and Mark Williams (15) 

11^th: Josh Cooper: 381 +0.2 million Murphy (16) and Jones (0)

12^th: Ezgi Ulutas: 378 +11.1 million O’Sullivan (79)

13^th: Spanish Snooker Blog: 368 +8 million Ding (33)

14^th: LTD: 360 +6.3 million Allen (41)

15^th: John McBride: 318 +10 million Trump (23) and Murphy (16)

16^th: Phil Mudd: 316 +0.4 million K. Wilson (0) and Gould (19)

17^th: Kai: 314 +3.8 million Perry (35) and Maflin (14)

18^th: Andrew Brooker: 299 +19.1 million K. Wilson (0) and Trump (23)

19^th: Kellie Barker: 247 +3.2 million Jones (0) and Stevens (12)

If I was offering odds now on who will win, Igor would probably be an odds on favourite with so few events to go but of course there is a double points World Championship to finish things off that close things out. Additionally plenty of members of the chasing have the money to spare to mount a comeback so lets see. Here are the players for Gdynia, ordered by world ranking and NOT seeding on the European Tour order of merit.

Mark Selby – 6 million

Stuart Bingham – 5.8 million

Judd Trump – 5.6 million

Shaun Murphy – 5.5 million

John Higgins – 5.4 million

Barry Hawkins – 5.3 million

Joe Perry – 5.2 million

Ding Junhui – 5 million

Mark Williams – 4.9 million

Marco Fu – 4.8 million

Martin Gould – 4.6 million

Michael White – 4.5 million

Stephen Maguire – 4.3 million

Liang Wenbo – 4.2 million

Kyren Wilson – 4.1 million

Matt Selt – 4 million

Players ranked 21-32 – 3.5 million

Players ranked 33-48 – 3 million

Players ranked 49-64 – 2.5 million

Players ranked 65- 80 – 2 million

Players ranked 81 or below – 1 million

That's it for this week, 8 million for two picks as usual, so happy picking people. All the best.

Well... It's been 3 years

Three years have now passed since I sat down one afternoon and started thinking of new things to do with my time, before the idea of writing my own snooker blog ran through a comfortable winner.

For me to have stuck at this for three years is quite something by my standards, as I usually give things a few weeks before getting bored. My attention span isn't great as you asked. Anyway what was I saying...

Oh yes. This is the opportunity I like to take each year to thank you guys - my readers. I'm lucky to be in the position where each year that that is written, there are more and more of you that see it. It's been another crazy year of snooker, and one where poor old Shaun Murphy must now have realised that i'm a total jinx. After inviting me to watch him in Coventry he lost to 15 year old Yan Bingtao, while he was also not to survive my three day stint at the recent Welsh Open with his name still in the draw. I doubt he wants to see me in the front row at the Crucible, so let's hope the schedule works out for him to play as far away from the first weekend as possible.

It was nice to venture into the Players Lounge in Wales and briefly meet another friend of the blog Michael Holt who is a fantastic character and pulled out a gem of a story about where he ranks in terms of looks with the rest of the snooker tour, according to his missus.

We also saw the introduction of the live blog in Wales which got a lot of views over the course of the three days where I was at the event, and that is something I would like to do more of at events but it is not often that I get the opportunity to attend for an extended period.

The "Stat Attack" is another new addition from the last year and something that will continue on for a long time to come, while another highlight of the year was talking to Stuart Bingham about his World Championship win for my classic matches feature.

What's in line for the next year? Well myself and my brother were talking about new ideas a few weeks ago and were thinking that as well as doing written previews for events, that I could join it with an audio preview or "podcast" if you like. That's very much a work in progress. I also want to upgrade the appearance of the blog and perhaps upgrade from a "BlogSpot domain" to owning my domain in full. If anyone could help with this or offer some advice, please get in touch. And to the relief of many upgrading the image will indeed mean that more pictures appear on the blog!!!

I'm always open to suggestions on what else could be done to keep the blog moving in the right direction so feel free to comment below, Tweet or privately message me on Twitter if you have any thoughts on what you think could be improved, or any new ideas you would like to see.

Additionally, i'm all about getting new voices on the blog, so if you would like to get involved by starting a guest column get in touch (although make sure you have a good idea of what you want to write and what angle to approach things from).

Social media has become a big part of the game and as I follow most of the players on twitter, a weekly look at what has been happening in our little "online snooker bubble" could become a fixture of the blog, as it will offer player insight and a dosage of laughter all rolled into one.


Thank you all once again for continuing to stick with me here at Cue Action Blog. Here's to plenty more posts and years of blogging.

Championship League: Group 5: Day 1: Selby on top again

Mark Selby has been dominant once again at Crondon Park, topping group five of the Championship League after the first days play.

He has won all of his opening three games for the loss of only a single frame, while it is certainly all to play for elsewhere. The next four players in the table all have two wins from their opening games. Michael Holt and Mark Davis have the advantage of only playing three of their six games so far, while Kyren Wilson has taken the most frames despite having played four games, while Graeme Dott may struggle if he does not improve on his two wins from four games so far.

One man that is struggling badly is Ricky Walden. He lost his opening match 3-0 to Kyren Wilson and then surrendered a 2-0 lead against Michael Holt to fall to a second defeat. He did manage a 3-0 win over Mark Davis though the match was hardly of a quality standard. The day ended with a 3-1 loss to Mark Selby in what was always set to be a tough match.

David Gilbert was the player of the seven that had the night off, after playing his opening three games this afternoon. However, the evening would not have been that enjoyable for him after losing all of his three games and putting himself well and truly on the back foot going into day two, knowing that a minimum of two wins from his three remaining games will be needed to avoid elimination in the bottom two at the end of the round robin stages.

You would think that from this position Mark Selby would make the semi-finals as he is comfortably the best player in this group. Neil Robertson would have been the next best but after his Welsh Open final disappointment he withdrew (as I expected) and Michael Holt moved up from group six to replace him.

Kyren Wilson will still need a win from his final two games and he still has to play table topper Mark Selby along with third place Michael Holt, so he still has to be on his game tomorrow to secure a top four finish.

Michael Holt still has three games, the one against Wilson as I mentioned followed by games against Mark Davis and David Gilbert, and I would back him to get a win from those three that you would expect (depending on other results and his frames won and lost) to put him into the knock out stages.

As for Mark Davis, he like Holt still has three games and aside from the game with the Hitman he will take on Mark Selby and Graeme Dott so a win from those three is not a certainty but I think the Seniors champion will be able to do enough to get through to the final four.

2006 world champion Graeme Dott has an uphill task with only two games to go and a currently inferior frames won/lost ratio. Aside from his match with Mark Davis he takes on Ricky Walden in what could be a must win match for both players and potentially be the difference for Dott between the top four and bottom two.

Ricky Walden is not looking good and has two must win games tomorrow against the players around him. Sitting in sixth on one win, he plays fifth placed Graeme Dott and seventh placed David Gilbert as he searches for a way out of his present mess.

Finally, David Gilbert has three games to change his fortunes but without a win to his name he will need at least two wins, if not a clean sweep to avoid elimination. The one with Walden is certainly a must win, but the other two with Michael Holt and unbeaten Mark Selby are set to be tough games and you have to say that things look very bleak at this point for the International Championship finalist.


Tomorrow is another day though and after the positions have been determined the semi-finals and final will take place as the fifth name in the winners group is determined and news of that will be brought to you on this blog once that happens.

Championship League Group 5 Preview

It's been three and a half weeks since the snooker boys left Crondon Park and the Championship League of 2016 but tomorrow it all starts again as group five gets underway. So far, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump, Stephen Maguire and Mark Williams are into the Winners Group after winning the opening four groups between, and it is not long now until we will have all seven names to start off the Final group.

As it stands the seven guys that will contest group five on Monday and Tuesday this week are Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Graeme Dott and Ricky Walden who move on from group four, along with the three new additions of Mark Davis, Kyren Wilson and David Gilbert. As I write this though, Neil Robertson is of course in Cardiff playing in the Welsh Open final, so he may well withdraw from the competition which would free up a spot for someone else. However, at this stage that is merely speculation.

If Robertson does play it will only be his second group, along with Graeme Dott, both of whom joined in group four and were knocked out in the semi-finals after negotiating the round robin stages.

Mark Selby was the runner-up of both groups three and four and joined the competition in group two where he was knocked out in the semi-finals by Judd Trump after winning all six of his round robin matches so for me he is one of the favourites to take victory in group five.

For all of Ricky Walden's struggles this season he is still in the Championship League and fighting hard. He started out in the very first group of the competition and has yet to finish above fourth position after the round robin stages. In groups one and three he finished fourth before losing in the group semi-finals and in groups two and four he has finished in the lucky loser fifth position where you miss out on the knock out stages but get to come back for the next group.

Mark Davis comes into this after winning the Seniors just a few weeks ago and he seemed to be in decent form when I watched him at the Welsh Open so I think he has a great chance to make the top four.

Kyren Wilson fell at the first hurdle in Cardiff being beaten 4-3 from 3-0 up so he will be hoping to get that huge disappointment out of his system this week in Essex. The form of China qualifier against Anthony Hamilton will be what he hopes to bring more of out here.

David Gilbert has not really done all that much since making the International Championship final and he has to be one of the top contenders to get relegated by finishing in the bottom two of the group at the end of the round robin stages.


 Selby and Robertson (so long as he definitely turns up) will be the top contenders to win the group, especially Mark after his near misses in the earlier groups that he has played in.

Group six is all set to follow with four players moving on from this group being joined by German Masters champion and former Championship League winner Martin Gould, Michael Holt and Ali Carter.

I will be back throughout the week with updates after each days play on where we stand in the groups.

Ding's 147 not enough as Ronnie, Allen, Robertson and Perry make the semi-finals

Ding Junhui made a maximum today at the Welsh Open but it came in a losing cause as Neil Robertson beat him 5-2. Joining Neil in the semi-finals are, Mark Allen, Joe Perry and of course the star of this weeks show, Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Ding Junhui and Neil Robertson started the day off as the tournament moved on to best-of-9's, and it was the Australian who was dominant making a 140 break of his own on the way to a 4-1 lead, Ding's maximum came in frame six after he had had a 120 break earlier on in the second frame but it was Neil who was the stronger player over the course of the match, playing more consistent snooker but this week does show signs that Ding could yet make a charge to qualify automatically for the World Championships.

Then we had a resumption of the rivalry between Mark Selby and Ronnie O'Sullivan. Selby looked good to take the opener but it all went downhill from there for the world number one. Ronnie played well overall, though the course of the match would have changed had Selby potted a long range black to lead 2-1, instead O'Sullivan made a tougher black to take the frame and took the next three, continuing his heavy scoring from the rest of the week to run out a comfortable 5-1 winner.

In the evenings televised match Mark Allen was a comfortable winner against the last Welshman left in the event in Michael White. White did not really turn up on the night and Allen said afterwards that his game plan worked perfectly, with the particular turning point coming after Allen stole frame two after needing snookers and the home favourite started to lash out after that and lose his cool, while Allen was solid and will now play Robertson in tomorrow's semi-finals.

In the final match, Joe Perry and Ben Woollaston were not televised, and Ben could not keep his good form going in Cardiff to repeat his run to last years final, with Perry making breaks of 57, 74 and 71 after losing the opening frame and he was able to steal a key frame five after the interval, after the Leicester man had made an earlier break of 69.

Quarter-Final Results:

Mark Allen 5-0 Michael White
Neil Robertson 5-2 Ding Junhui
Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-1 Mark Selby
Joe Perry 5-1 Ben Woollaston

Semi-Final Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Neil Robertson Vs Mark Allen - Neil Robertson has been playing well once again this week to get through to another major semi-final, while Mark Allen was hitting the ball as well as anyone while I was at the venue in the first three days and he has carried that on well since then to make it through to the last four. It will be interesting to see if Allen can carry on that form now that he has made it to the latter stages as his record against Neil is not great. Robertson just seems so comfortable in the back end of a tournament and as such an accomplished winner you would not be surprised at all if he breezed another title into his growing collection.

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Joe Perry - What can you say about Ronnie? He's playing as well as ever right now, long potting for fun and scoring like there's no tomorrow, missing virtually nothing when amongst them. His head seems to be in a good place and he will certainly take some stopping if he keeps this form up. Perry has had a good week and improved from game to game because he seemed a little shaky when I was at the venue for the early rounds and I do not think he was happy with his overall performances. He will need to take every chance he gets against Ronnie though and even then it may not be enough.

Nice to see four top players making the semi-finals though in response to no-one inside the top 16 making the semi's in Berlin, and it makes for a very entertaining end to the week.

Welsh Open Last 16 Preview

This is entitled Last 16 Preview but it won't be much as I write so close to the start of play. Yesterday there was some impressive snooker from plenty of players. Shot of the week came from Shaun Murphy in his match with Luca, as he potted a long ball from the jaws of the pocket when angled on the majority of reds.

Unfortunately for Shaun he's on his way home and it is the Belgian who keeps up his insane form. Speaking of insane form, Mark Allen is cueing as well as anyone this week. His match with Hull was excellent in the Last 64 with both playing magnificent snooker, while against Ryan Day I was one sided with the Northern Irishman absolutely flying.

Ronnie didn't look like he could miss in his match with Jimmy Robertson, while Ding Junhui has been a lucky boy to come through two deciders in two rounds and I fancy his match today could go the same way. Plenty of top players are left in the event and with the Last 16 still being best-of-7 frames it makes most of these matches coin tosses, but i'll still try some predictions:

Last 16 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

John Higgins Vs Michael White
Barry Hawkins Vs Mark Allen
Ding Junhui Vs Luca Brecel (Fancy another decider between these two after both have already come through 2)
Neil Robertson Vs Marco Fu
Mark Selby Vs Mark Williams (Have to fancy this to go the distance as well over best-of-7 frames)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Yu De Lu (Can anyone take another frame from Ronnie?)
Judd Trump Vs Joe Perry
Martin Gould Vs Ben Woollaston (Gould's been very lucky so far this week and Ben appears to love it here in Cardiff).


That's all from me as it's time to check out of my Cardiff hotel (where the breakfast has been going down smooth this week) and get on the train home, so unfortunately I will miss most of todays action.

I will do a proper round-up blog of my three days in Wales and what I thought of it all at a later date, but I have to say it has been an enjoyable experience for me as I don't get to attend many events.

The live blogs have been fun to do, and in my view have been pretty successful (particularly on Tuesday when the world snooker live scores site went down).

Welsh Open: Day 3: Live Blog

9am - What a day we had yesterday for the Last 64. Allen Vs Hull was far too good to be at such an early stage and a big shame there had to be a loser. A late finish from Mark Selby means there was no way I could do a Last 32 preview so I am now going to list the 16 matches taking place below with my picks in those games in bold.

John Higgins Vs Michael Georgiou
Liang Wenbo Vs Michael White
Mark Allen Vs Ryan Day
Barry Hawkins Vs Mark Davis
Shaun Murphy Vs Luca Brecel
Ding Junhui Vs Matt Selt
Marco Fu Vs Graeme Dott
Neil Robertson Vs Anthony McGill
Mark Selby Vs Fergal O'Brien
Mark Williams Vs Kurt Maflin
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Yu De Lu
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Jimmy Robertson
Judd Trump Vs Alan McManus
Joe Perry Vs Ken Doherty
Martin Gould Vs Matthew Stevens
Ben Woollaston Vs Anthony Hamilton


The 10.30am session sees John Higgins take on Michael Georgiou on the main table with the other three housing the matches with Joe Perry, Ben Woollaston (who didn't exactly finish early last night) and Martin Gould against Matthew Stevens (with Gould being in the same boat as Woollaston).

Up at 1pm it's Mark Williams once again on the TV, with Hawkins/Davis, Ding/Selt and Selby/O'Brien on the other tables.

Following that at 2pm match of the day for me between Murphy and Luca is on the TV, with Robertson Vs McGill, Fu Vs Dott and Poomjaeng Vs De Lu on the other tables.

In the evening we go down to two tables supposedly with Liang Wenbo Vs Michael White and Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Jimmy Robertson scheduled to take place before Mark Allen Vs Ryan Day and Judd Trump Vs Alan McManus follow at 8pm. Then again after last night you can never be sure where the matches will end up.

I'll try and find a vantage point to watch all four games at once in each session, though of course particular focus will be on Shaun Murphy at 2pm, and it's now time for me to get some breakfast.

10am - In the venue nice and early this morning. Last day for me so looking to make the most of it. Feels like I live here after these late finishes this week followed by early starts. Got a view on all games once again and looking forward to it. Stevens and Gould will be good if Matthew plays like he did in the last three frames yesterday. Went unnoticed that, but he was outstanding. 

In the meantime they're playing some awful tunes in the lead up to play beginning. Awful. 

11am - Good start for Perry after Ken missed to let him in. 1-0 there after an 80 odd from the Gent. Hamilton has missed a couple this morning and now needs snookers in the opener and it's a similar story from Matthew Stevens. John still cueing well on the TV table. 

11.30am - Nice stuff from Perry just now with a century to go 2-1 on Ken after missing a chance to counter in frame two. Gould called a foul on himself in frame three with Stevens to leave him right in amongst them. 2-1 now to Matthew there who is cueing sweetly. Big struggle for Hamilton this morning though, missed quite a few. Woollaston not playing great but leads 2-0. 

Hold the phone, Stevens misses frame ball only for Gould to miss the black looking to steal it. Definitely 2-1 Stevens now. 

11.50am - Just seen Ken Doherty miss-cue for the second time in two days. Much better from Hamilton in frame three. Cueing how he was against Bingham in a 126 to pull a frame back. Stevens was looking good in frame four until missing a pink to middle. Gould's long game absolutely superb and giving him chances. Is anyone hitting the long balls better than him right now? 

12.05pm - Decent stuff from Joe but Ken clearly struggling as he falls 3-1 behind. Great steal on table two from Gould after Stevens looked set to move 3-1 ahead but it's all to play for at 2-2. Snooker on the last red meaning Gould didn't have to take the black when potting it was a key to the frame. 

12.40pm - Hamilton very angry at himself for a missed pink in frame five but has played superb to level from 2-0 down given the way he started. Ken sticking in there at 2-3 with the Gent, while Gould has missed an early chance to win at 3-2 on Stevens. Can Matthew force a decider? Well this is a very good chance to do so. 

12.55pm - Stevens has forced a decider with Gould and Hamilton is going 3-2 up on Woollaston. Dominated the last three frames has the Sheriff. 

Not very funny moment in the arena just now as BBC Wales just decided to record their opening link on one of the balconies in the arena. Every player and most of the fans turned around in disgust and bemusement. Whoevers idea that was and whoever gave them permission should be given a thorough telling off. 

1.10pm - Perry wins 4-2 was just more solid on the day than Ken who missed too many. Gould meanwhile has just finished off Matthew Stevens with a magnificent 107 break under the pressure of a deciding frame. Hamilton missed a red when in with a great chance to win but left nothing fortunately for him. 

Williams and Maflin next up on the TV table. Mark Davis and Barry Hawkins coming on table three. Selby after his long night faces Fergal on table two. 

1.25pm - Decider coming up between Hamilton and Woollaston on table four. Woollaston made 63 before playing a bad rest shot but then Hamilton had the wrong angle on the pink, tried to force it round for the black but missed and Ben potted a thin pink to take us to a seventh frame. 

2pm - Woollaston wins the decider. They both had chances and both missed some key shots but it was a tricky blue that cost Anthony when he left the last red for Ben. Davis took the opener against Hawkins after doubling the last red and has another decent chance now. Selby looking reasonably solid so far given his late finish. Also on that table I think there could be something dripping on it perhaps as there was a discussion between the two players and Marcel Eckhart at the end of frame as he looked up and rubbed something off of the table. Who knows. 

2.30pm - Ding underway against Matt Selt with an impressive century break while Hawkins has pulled a frame back against Mark Davis. Reckon that could go all the way. Won't be long until I move closer to the TV table to concentrate solely on Shaun and Luca with 

Williams leading the current TV match 3-2. 

4.50pm - Curse of the Last 32 strikes again for Shaun here in Wales as he loses out to Luca Brecel. Can count himself unlucky especially with frame four. See that Hawkins completed a very nice comeback from 2-0 to beat Mark Davis, from what I saw it was a mixture of good play from Hawkins and bad from Davis. 

Nor quite sure what's happening with Ding and Selt because I can't see from my new position

5.10pm - Taken up a new position now that Ding and Selt have gone to a decider. Always fancied it might. Will watch that and then it's food time for me. 

7pm - Back to see that Yu DeLu is 2-0 on Poomjaeng after some marathons on that table four today. Big crowd in tonight to see Ronnie against Jimmy Robertson and Michael White take on Wenbo up first. 

8.15pm - Well that was quick. Ronnie just too good. Mesmerising. Big crowd on their way. Someone tell them Judds coming on soon. Yu DeLu has just missed a green in the decider with Poomjaeng to all but win it. 21 ahead with 27 on. Michael White is flying having taken the first three against Wenbo, though Liang will get one back here barring unlikely snookers. Allen and Day out on table 3 in a match that started at 7.55pm. Bizarre. 

8.35pm - Excellent clearance from Michael White after a miss from Wenbo allowed him in. Good performance from one of the home boys there to win 4-1. Allen has made a nice 70 odd to take the second with some good shots on the final two reds in there. 1-1 against Day. Poomjaeng missed a pink in the decider needing pink and black De Lu only needed pink and he potted it to win 4-3. He'll play Ronnie tomorrow. McManus and Trump have started meanwhile with Angles dominating the opener despite the lack of a big contribution. 1-0 to the Scot. 

8.50pm - Allen just resuming from his brilliant match lady night with Hull. Clearance in the last surpassed by a brilliant break from start to finish of 135. He leads Ryan Day 2-1. Judd levelling with Angles at 1-1. 

9pm - This is scarily good from Allen 135 clearance followed up by an equally marvellous 105 after Day missed an early pink. The Welshman has to take his chances. 

9.15pm - A couple of chances needed in the last but it doesn't matter Mark Allen is through a 4-1 winner over Ryan Day after an excellent display tonight. Judds just missed an easy black in frame four to give McManus a chance after a 50+ in the third put him ahead. Angles looks solid and certainly not going to be a pushover for Judd. 

9.25pm - McManus made 61 after that missed black from Judd only to play an awful pink with the rest to win the frame. Judd then plays an outrageous long pink sending the cue ball around for the black, it was left very thin but he knocked it in to square again at 2-2. 

9.40pm - Alan doesn't take his chances 

Misses a red on 10, then another with the rest before Judd makes him pay with a great century break to lead 3-2. 

10pm - Back at the hotel now. Judd Trump did the damage in the last with a break of 57. Shame for Alan as he had played well early on. 

That's it for me at the Welsh Open for 2016. Several hours on a train for me tomorrow but I'd certainly like to come back next year as it's a nice venue and good to see so many players in a short time frame.