There are not too many notable absentees, though current top 16 player Ricky Walden did not come close to qualifying in all truth, while guys like Robert Milkins, Mark Davis, Alan McManus and Anthony McGill all of whom are in the top 32 failed to make it into the top 32 on this one year list to qualify.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is of course the big draw, qualifying thanks completely to his Welsh Open win, which was one of only two ranking events he has played in prior to this. John Higgins is the top seed given his two ranking event titles in the 2015/2016 season. Some poor seasons for certain players and the format being seed 1 Vs seed 32 and seed 16 Vs seed 17 etc. it has made for some cracking ties in round one.
The defending champion from last season is Judd Trump though the difference between last years tournament and this years is that last season's Grand Prix prize money did not count towards the world rankings, whereas it does this year. That makes it an important event in the race for the Crucible, with Stephen Maguire, Liang Wenbo, Kyren Wilson and Ding Junhui all battling for an automatic spot to avoid three rounds of qualifying at Ponds Forge.
As with last year, the event will be broadcast on ITV4 with Jill Douglas fronting the coverage and joined by Clive Everton, Neal Foulds and Alan McManus for commentary and analysis. The event will also be broadcast on Eurosport for the people of continental Europe which is a nice addition. Two tables will be in operation with four matches to be played each afternoon and evening on a roll-on roll-off basis for the first three days of play (first and second round).
Without further ado, this is how the draw looks for the event:
Quarter 1
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)John Higgins Vs Stephen Maguire (Tuesday 8th March 7pm)
Matthew Selt Vs Ryan Day (Tuesday 8th March 7pm)
Judd Trump Vs Mark Williams (Wednesday 9th March around 3pm - second afternoon session)
David Gilbert Vs Stuart Bingham (Wednesday 9th March 1pm)
In the top section we have John Higgins who is the number one seed after ranking wins in Australia and China in the first half of the season, while Stephen Maguire struggled into the final spot on the Grand Prix list. Matt Selt qualified thanks to runs to the UK quarter-finals and the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. Ryan Day was a quarter-finalist at the German Masters and a runner-up on the European Tour in Bulgaria. Judd of course made the Shanghai Masters final as the highlight of his season, while Mark Williams best performances came on the European Tour after a lean time in the main ranking events. David Gilbert qualified by finishing as the runner-up in the International Championships to Higgins, and finally Bingham may be world champion but the counts for nothing on this seasons list used to build the Grand Prix list. Stuart's best performance of the year came in Shanghai in September where he was a semi-finalist.
John Higgins has not shown the form since the turn of the year that he did in 2015, failing to qualify for the German Masters meant a long gap after the Masters and a last 16 exit at the Welsh Open was just, before a Last 64 exit in Gdynia to Mark Selby who went on to win the event. His first round match against Stephen Maguire is going to be a tough one with Maguire under a lot of pressure to stay in the top 16 for the World Championships and obviously being a good friend of Higgins.
Matt Selt had a nice week of practice at the Championship league in Crondon Park where he won group seven to get into the winners group where he lost out in the semi-finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan. His match with Day is a very tough one to call but I give Matt the slight edge based on some of the Welshman's inconsistencies and because Selt is improving all the time and working as hard as ever. His runs at the UK and Australian Open earlier in the season show he is not afraid to make the latter stages of events and take advantage of a good draw in some cases too. However, he is not quite yet a title contender.
Stuart Bingham is going from bad to worse this season after a first round exit in Wales was coupled with a first round exit in Gdynia which meant he failed to qualify for the Players Championship finals. This makes this his penultimate event before the defence of his world title and he will want to turn things around. His first round opponent David Gilbert is another interesting case as he has failed to reach the heights of the International Championship final in later events so this is a good opportunity for both players to possibly find a bit of form, but I fancy that whoever the winner is they will struggle thereafter in Llandudno.
Judd Trump has had an interesting season, and one that has been improved by overall victory in the Championship League at Crondon Park. He looked good after a couple of rounds in Cardiff and Germany before losing out without making it to the real business end of the competition which has really been the story of his season. Mark Williams has not fared too well in main ranking events this season with early exits in the UK and International Championships as well as the German Masters more recently, and he will certainly be sick of the sight of Trump who he has played around nine times (including Championship League) in just over a year with Trump winning on the majority of those occasions.
Quarter Winner: Judd Trump
Quarter 2
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Mark Selby Vs Tom Ford (Wednesday 9th March 7pm)
Luca Brecel Vs Ali Carter (Wednesday 9th March 7pm)
Joe Perry Vs Barry Hawkins (Tuesday 8th March 1pm)
Kyren Wilson Vs Jamie Jones (Wednesday 9th March around 9pm - second evening session)
The qualifiers in this section are of course world number one Mark Selby who was a semi-finalist in both the International and UK Championships as well as a winner on the European Tour. Tom Ford was a runner-up in the Riga Open at the beginning of the season. Luca Brecel of course was a runner-up at the German Masters while Ali Carter was the winner of the early season Paul Hunter Classic. Joe Perry made the semi-finals in the Welsh Open as well as a couple of other decent ranking event performances, while Barry Hawkins won the Riga Open. Kyren Wilson was of course the winner in Shanghai and has been pretty consistent since then and finally Jamie Jones was a semi-finalist in Australia at the seasons start.
Luca Brecel has turned himself into a real danger in the draw and a contender for events within the last few months. Making the German Masters final has given him his higher seeding here and while the shoot-out final he made was effectively meaningless it all helps to build his confidence. A consistent year on the European Tour has gotten him into the Tour Championship in a couple of weeks and he will be a big threat there too. He faces a tough first round tie against Ali Carter who is always a great competitor who has had quite a quiet season since winning the Paul Hunter Classic, showing there is still a way to go for the Captain to get back to his very best.
Kyren Wilson has had a very memorable season and one that just keeps getting better for the young man. Thriving from picking up his first ranking title in September he has had a couple of semi-finals recently, having to battle hard in Berlin before looking good in Gdynia and if he can bring that form here he is a contender once again. He will certainly be confident coming into the event, and with the carrot of getting into the top 16 for automatic World Championship qualifying, dangling very much in his sights then he knows that now is certainly not the time to let his performance dip or let up on his intensity.
Mark Selby has been striking the cue ball fantastically right from the start of 2016 and was finally rewarded last weekend when he sealed victory in Gdynia. It has usually taken something special to beat Selby this season as he has lost to the eventual champion in all of the International Championships, UK Championships, Masters and the Welsh Open. Selby is always a great contender for any event but when he is scoring well as he has been recently he shows all of us why he has consistently reigned as world number one for the last few seasons and he will be looking for another strong show this week. His first round opponent in Tom Ford could cause some problems over the best-of-7 format but I would still think that Selby will come through easily.
Barry Hawkins has had another good season after winning on the European Tour at the start of the season, and reaching the Gdynia Open quarter-finals last weekend before losing a tight match to Kyren Wilson. His big moment of the season was reaching the Masters final and playing some excellent snooker to do well. Hawkins is a very tough player to beat, particularly when he scores at a decent standard. His first round opponent Joe Perry will be the sick of the sight of Hawkins having played him twice already in 2016 losing both of those at the Masters and Gdynia Open. Whoever comes through such a tough clash will be playing well and make themselves a serious contender for the event.
Quarter Winner: Barry Hawkins
Quarter 3
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Martin Gould Vs Tian Pengfei (Tuesday 8th March around 3pm - second afternoon session)
Shaun Murphy Vs Michael White (Wednesday 9th March around 9pm - second evening session)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Michael Holt (Tuesday 8th March around 9pm - second evening session)
Liang Wenbo Vs Graeme Dott (Wednesday 9th March 1pm)
As we enter the bottom half of the draw we start with German Masters champion and even more recently Gdynia Open runner-up Martin Gould who takes on Ruhr Open runner-up Tian Pengfei. Shaun Murphy has consistently made the last 16 in the ranking events, with his best performance coming on the European Tour where he made the Paul Hunter Classic final, while Michael White made the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open and was a runner-up on the European Tour in Gibraltar. Ronnie O'Sullivan got into the Grand Prix despite only playing two ranking events thanks to winning in Wales, while Michael Holt has had a couple of last 16 finishes in main ranking events as well as a semi-final on the European Tour. Liang Wenbo was of course the UK runner-up, while his opponent Graeme Dott made the semi-finals of the German Masters.
Liang Wenbo has gone through a little bit of a lean spell since making the UK Championship final with first round exits at the Masters, German Masters and Gdynia Open as well as a Last 32 exit in the Welsh Open. He did find a little bit of form at the Championship League last week before losing out in the group seven final, but in a quarter like this with the big names that there are present it is tough to see Liang as a contender. His first round match with Graeme Dott will be tough enough as Dott is the ultimate competitor and over the best of seven frames that one could well go the distance.
Shaun Murphy has had a quiet season after the roaring spell that he had from January to May in 2015. In the main ranking events he has failed to get past the Last 16, with two last 32 exits in the Welsh Open and German Masters and even last weekend in the Gdynia Open he lost in the Last 64 so his form is not quite there at the moment. I mentioned before Gdynia that Murphy, Selby and Trump could all do with titles to boost their confidence ahead of the worlds with Ronnie and Robertson playing so well. Now, with Selby winning in Poland and Trump winning the Championship League that leaves Murphy to put his name right back at the top of that list of Crucible contenders. This week will be tough for him (and not just because of his two curses of playing on ITV and playing in Wales that he loves me mentioning) playing Michael White in round one who seemed to find a little bit of confidence in Cardiff, a possible Last 16 tie with in form Martin Gould and then Ronnie O'Sullivan in his quarter also. Then again, Murphy is not afraid to do things the difficult way.
Martin Gould is in the form of his life right now, and before we talk about him being a contender this week I do not think he will have any problems in round one against Tian Pengfei. A winner in Berlin he also made the final of the Gdynia Open and it is still worth remembering how close he came right at the start of the season in Australia. He will also be looking to expel the demons of last year, when he lost in the semi-finals to Judd Trump 6-5 having at one stage led the match 5-1. He is in even better form this week than he was a year ago too so there is no doubt that he could now go all the way again, with that clear winners confidence.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is still very much the man to beat in this draw. It seems to be a case of that when he turns up he wins. He romped to victory at the Masters and reeled off seven frames in a row to beat Neil Robertson in the Welsh Open final and right now he looks unstoppable. His unbeaten start to 2016 was ended at the Championship League winners group when he los his final round robin match to Mark Williams and eventually lost the overall final to Judd Trump. The early format of best-of-7 frames presents the best chance of him being beaten you would think and the possibility of a quarter-final with someone like the in form Martin Gould, who will take his chances against Ronnie and is someone that the Rocket rates highly could perhaps prove the bridge between him and another tournament win.
Quarter Winner: Martin Gould
Quarter 4
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Mark Allen Vs David Grace (Tuesday 8th March around 9pm - second evening session)
Marco Fu Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Wednesday 9th March around 3pm - second afternoon session)
Ben Woollaston Vs Ding Junhui (Tuesday 8th March around 3pm - second afternoon session)
Neil Robertson Vs Peter Ebdon (Tuesday 8th March 1pm)
Finally, we have another exciting quarter here with Mark Allen who is a high seed in the Grand Prix thanks to a win in Bulgaria on the European Tour and semi-finals in Shanghai and most recently in Cardiff, while David Grace was a famous semi-finalist in the UK Championships. Marco Fu has also been a winner on the European Tour this season as well as making the UK and International Championship quarter-finals, and his opponent Thepchaiya Un-Nooh was a semi-finalist at the International Championship in late October. Ben Woollaston has had another pretty consistent year with good performances on the European Tour and a quarter-final at the Welsh Open, while Ding Junhui has not had his best season but still won the sole Asian Tour event of the season and made the quarter-finals in Cardiff. Finally, Neil Robertson was the winner of the UK Championship and a runner-up at the Welsh Open so will be one of the favourites for this week, while his first round opponent Peter Ebdon has had a last 16 at the UK Championships amongst a number of last 32 exits which is enough to grab the penultimate place on the list.
Marco Fu has had a mixed time of things this season with some decent performances mixed with early exits and that makes it hard for me to make him a contender for this weeks Grand Prix particularly when he is in a quarter as tough as this one. He will be hoping that he has been able to tae something from a run to the Gdynia Open quarter-finals last weekend. In round one he faces Thepchaiya Un-Nooh who has struggled since making the International semi-finals in October and missing the last black for a maximum in the UK Championships. First round exits followed in Gibraltar and German Masters qualifying before more recent Last 64 exits in Wales and Gdynia.
Ding Junhui is one man that has found a little bit of form recently and it has certainly come at the right time for him. After a lean year and a half on the circuit he is now in danger of falling outside of the top 16 and having to qualify for the World Championships, a quarter-final run at the Welsh Open has helped a little but he still has some distance to make up on the likes of Wenbo, Wilson and Maguire ahead of him. In round one he has drawn Ben Woollaston who is a solid player and often tough to beat but given some of his recent results you would expect the Chinese to come through. The problems could come in the last 16 when he could meet Neil Robertson who beat Ding in the Cardiff quarter-final. Either way, do not rule the former UK and Masters champion out of a big run this week.
Coming back to Neil Robertson he will be confident coming into this event given how well players are having to play to defeat him recently. It took spells of brilliance from Trump and O'Sullivan in the Masters and Welsh Open to defeat him and of course he has already bagged the UK and Champion of Champions titles and made that 147 in the UK final. His schedule means he has plenty of time between events (having not entered the recent Gdynia Open and failing to qualify for the German Masters) allowing him to fine tune his game for an assault on the bigger titles with more importance. Once again, you would expect it to take something special for Neil Robertson to be beaten this week in Llandudno.
Mark Allen is someone who has impressed me greatly this season, a semi-finalist in the Welsh Open recently, and the Shanghai Masters in September he looks like he is ready to go on and add to his trophy. He has had a win this season on the European Tour but will be aiming for much higher than that after also reaching the Champion of Champions final and International Championship quarter-finals this season. Watching him on my trip to the Welsh Open he was one of the players that impressed me more than any other and I am certain that he is going to win a big title sooner rather than later. I also like that he has picked and chosen his events on the European Tour to really peak for the ones that matter and balance life at home with that on the road as he comes across as one of the players that needs this balance to enjoy his snooker and play well. The Northern Irishman is certainly a contender this week.
Quarter Winner: Mark Allen
Predicted Tournament Runner-Up: Barry Hawkins
Predicted Tournament Winner: Mark Allen
The format of the event sees matches of best-of-7 frames for the Last 32, last 16 and quarter-finals before things increase to best-of-11 frames for the semi-finals and best-of-19 frames for the two session final on the Sunday, where the winner will take £100,000 and the trophy home with him.
I'll be back as always with updates throughout the event, previewing the matches ahead of each new round, but this already promises to be a fantastic event.
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