World Open Preview

This week the snooker tour returns after a couple of weeks off since Anthony McGill's first ever ranking title which came in India. Yushan in China is the destination for the return of the World Open which was last on the calendar in March 2014 when Shaun Murphy walked away with the title.

 

A new venue always brings new sights to see, and while the children may be off for summer in the UK, the players are going back to school. Yushan Middle School to be exact. The prize is certainly not the school standard of a certificate and a pat on the back, with this weeks winner taking home £90,000 while the runner-up will take £40,000 home to show his family.

 

The format is not so much the child play of the best-of 7 matches we've seen in Riga and India, with best-of 9 matches from the Last 64 until the semi-finals which are best-of 11 frames prior to the first best-of 19 final in the 2016/2017 campaign.

 

As always with the Chinese events there are few heldover matches and wildcards so the draw takes more dissecting than usual.

 

Quarter 1

Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

 

Shaun Murphy/Sanderson Lam Vs Cao Yupeng
Jimmy Robertson Vs Wang Yuchen
Stephen Maguire Vs Xiao Guodong
Michael White Vs Kurt Maflin
Mark Davis Vs Tom Ford
Joe Perry W/O Jamie Burnett
Ben Woollaston Vs Gary Wilson
Robin Hull Vs Ding Junhui/Michael Georgiou

 

Quarter Winner: Ding Junhui

 

Quarter 2

Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

 

Neil Robertson Vs Ian Burns
Luca Brecel Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Barry Hawkins Vs Robbie Williams
Ryan Day Vs Allan Taylor
David Gilbert Vs Rod Lawler
Zhou Yuelong Vs Hammad Miah/Huang Jiahao
Peter Ebdon Vs Zhang Anda/Hu Hao
Judd Trump Vs Yu DeLu

 

Predicted Quarter Winner: Neil Robertson

 

Quarter 3:

Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

 

Stuart Bingham Vs Stuart Carrington
Ali Carter Vs Mike Dunn
Kyren Wilson Vs Zhang Yong
Daniel Wells Vs James Wattana/Xu Si
Graeme Dott Vs Duane Jones
Mark Williams Vs Andrew Higginson
Michael Holt Vs Fergal O'Brien
John Higgins Vs Oliver Lines

 

Quarter Winner: John Higgins

 

Quarter 4:

Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

 

Ricky Walden Vs David Grace
Anthony McGill Vs Lee Walker
Marco Fu Vs Sam Craigie
Matt Selt Vs Matthew Stevens/Liu Yiqi
Jamie Cope Vs Alan McManus
Liang Wenbo/Chris Wakelin Vs James Cahill
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Mark King
Mark Selby/Jimmy White Vs Alfie Burden

 

Quarter Winner: Liang Wenbo

 

Tournament Runner Up: Neil Robertson

 

Tournament Winner: John Higgins

 

 

These early season events are tough one's to call, but the reason I have gone with guys like Higgins and Robertson is because the Australian showed some good form in Latvia and is someone who seems to start recent seasons well (two Wuxi Classic victories will verify that) while Higgins is very similar in that regard in the last two or three years. Kyren Wilson has a decent section of the draw too as he looks to kick on from his recent runners-up finish in India.

 

From an outside point of view I could see someone like Xiao Guodong doing well this week. He was one of very few to qualify for all three of these early season events (this being the last of them) and he looked good in Riga and India without kicking on. Anything is better than the season that the 2013 Shanghai Masters runner-up had in 2015/2016.

 

Following the World Open there is another three week break until the Paul Hunter Classic and then the events start featuring with more regularity and it will really feel like the new season has begun and for the players their Golf clubs will go away until next summer.