Professional stages of this event may not start until Friday (being played in the traditional old European Tour format of one side in the draw playing Last 128 down to Last 32 on Friday and the other side doing so on Saturday until we play the Last 16 through to the Final all on Sunday), yet we do still have the amateur entries which is nice to see equally, and those stages will be played on Wednesday and Thursday to fill the 28 vacant spots in the draw.
Unfortunately, many of the top 16 have decided not to take part in the event this week. Those names missing include, Shaun Murphy, Judd Trump, John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Williams, Marco Fu and Barry Hawkins.
Each will pick there own reasons, such as Murphy who is expecting the birth of his first child in the very near future, and O'Sullivan who has announced that his season will start with the Shanghai Masters (and has also committed to playing in the four home nations events, the European Championship and the International Championship). However, there is one key thing to pick out for these members of the top 16 and that is that there last ranking event concluded on July 31st, and their next ranker will be the Shanghai Masters (for which the top 16 do not have to pre-qualify) which begins on September 15th.
The decision to take a school holiday like break, was likely aided too by the decision not to increase the prize money, like World Snooker did for the Riga Open, meaning that the Paul Hunter Classic and Gibraltar Open events have the lowest prize fund of the year, the winner taking home £18,750 and the weeks runner-up receiving £9,000.
Add to that the fact the draw for the week is unseeded and entirely random, then you get a week that is very much anyone's to win, so let's take a look at who is in with a chance this week.
Quarter 1
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Zhou Yuelong Vs Anthony Hamilton
Ricky Walden Vs Josh Boileau
Luca Brecel Vs Liam Highfield
Ross Muir Vs Amateur Qualifier
Mark Davis Vs Gareth Allen
Sanderson Lam Vs Jason Weston
Hossein Vafei Ayouri Vs Lee Walker
Adam Duffy Vs Amateur Qualifier
James Cahill Vs Amateur Qualifier
Ryan Day W/O Peter Ebdon
Mark Selby Vs Amateur Qualifier
Martin O'Donnell Vs Elliot Slessor
Zhao Xintong Vs Amateur Qualifier
Liang Wenbo Vs Amateur Qualifier
Gary Wilson Vs Jak Jones
Sam Baird Vs Amateur Qualifier
Watch out for: This quarter is no different from the others in the draw with how open they all seem, down to the absence of many of the World's top 16 from competition this week. World Champion Mark Selby has always had a great record at the Paul Hunter Classic winning in Furth in 2011 and 2012, but it has been a slow start to the new season for Selby after his Crucible triumph, which is not too dissimilar to the story of 2014/2015 after winning his first World title. The presence of the young Chinese players Zhao Xintong and Zhou Yuelong could ruffle a few feathers in the draw if they're on top form, while the more experienced Liang Wenbo is becoming well established as a big player in the game, but with only one tournament and an earlier exit in that event under his belt he may be a way off from his peak period of the season.
Quarter Choice: This week I am going for Welshman Ryan Day in this top section. After a slow start to the season in his first two events, he beat Barry Hawkins on the way to the Last 16 at the World Open where he was eventually beaten by the star of the season so far in Neil Robertson. Day benefits from a walkover at the start of the week, and when your opponent was due to be Peter Ebdon that is always a relief. He reached a final last season on the European Tour and played pretty well throughout without ever kicking on and getting his hands on a trophy, so perhaps one of the game's great underachievers could get some wind in his sails this week.
Quarter 2
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Rod Lawler Vs Mitchell Mann
Stuart Carrington Vs Amateur Qualifier
Xiao Guodong Vs Amateur Qualifier
Jimmy White Vs Jamie Barrett
Mei Xiwen Vs Amateur Qualifier
Alex Borg Vs Kurt Dunham
Zhang Anda W/O Darryl Hill
Michael White Vs Yu De Lu
Mark Joyce W/O Noppon Saengkham
Ali Carter Vs Amateur Qualifier
Scott Donaldson Vs Hammad Miah
Alfie Burden Vs Yan Bingtao
Ben Woollaston Vs Dominic Dale
Kritsanut Lertsattayatthorn Vs Amateur Qualifier
Michael Holt Vs Amateur Qualifier
Boonyarit Kaettikun W/O Robert Milkins
Watch out for: Riga Masters finllist Michael Holt has a very good record at the Paul Hunter Classic, where he lost out in a tight semi-final last year and reached consecutive finals before it became a ranking event in 2005 and 2006. Holt's results have improved a lot in the last year, which was evident by reaching the final in Latvia at the start of the season and you have to feel that there is more of that to come for the Hitman. Meanwhile, Ali Carter is this week's defending champion and the winner of the last event to be staged over in China at the World Open. Carter is very much back where he belongs after a tough few years and it is very nice to come into a tournament as the most recent winner on tour and defending event champion, and to add to that he was a semi-finalist here in 2013 as well as being a previous winner of the German Masters, so clearly enjoys playing in this part of the world.
Watch out for: Riga Masters finllist Michael Holt has a very good record at the Paul Hunter Classic, where he lost out in a tight semi-final last year and reached consecutive finals before it became a ranking event in 2005 and 2006. Holt's results have improved a lot in the last year, which was evident by reaching the final in Latvia at the start of the season and you have to feel that there is more of that to come for the Hitman. Meanwhile, Ali Carter is this week's defending champion and the winner of the last event to be staged over in China at the World Open. Carter is very much back where he belongs after a tough few years and it is very nice to come into a tournament as the most recent winner on tour and defending event champion, and to add to that he was a semi-finalist here in 2013 as well as being a previous winner of the German Masters, so clearly enjoys playing in this part of the world.
Quarter Choice: I have gone outside of the box here in quarter two with my selection of Xiao Guodong. Xiao's season last year was nothing short of awful but already this season there are signs of him turning that around. It would be easy to forget his quality after the lack of it on display in 2015/2016 but he is a former ranking finalist from just three years ago. A last 8 appearance in Latvia is a good way to start the season, and he followed that with a Last 32 appearance in the Indian Open where he lost from 3-0 up to eventual runner-up Kyren Wilson. On top of that he saw to Stephen Maguire in the World Open in making the Last 32 once again, and I expect it to take some quality to beat him this week.
Quarter 3
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Kurt Maflin Vs Oliver Lines
Anthony McGill Vs Amateur Qualifier
Martin Gould Vs Dechawat Poomjaeng
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Amateur Qualifier
Fergal O'Brien Vs Amateur Qualifier
Li Hang Vs Jamie Cope
Mark Allen Vs Zhang Yong
Joe Swail Vs Amateur Qualifier
Jack Lisowski Vs Amateur Qualifier
Kyren Wilson Vs Jimmy Robertson
Matthew Stevens Vs Amateur Qualifier
David Grace Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Andrew Higginson Vs Allan Taylor
Robin Hull Vs Rhys Clark
Joe Perry Vs Amateur Qualifier
Robbie Williams Vs Amateur Qualifier
Watch out for: There is a lot of quality in this section of the draw that includes Indian Open winner Anthony McGill, a win that no-one was really surprised with after seeing the quality he has displayed over the last couple of years, while Martin Gould is another of the first time ranking winners from the last year, a run that was started by Kyren Wilson at the 2016 Shanghai Masters, and by reaching the final at the Indian Open and the World Championship quarter-finals this year. Wilson is now very much a threat in any tournament he plays in now, and that will continue for many many years to come. On top of that Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is very much growing in confidence as was evident in his recent run to the semi-finals of the World Open matching his International Championship semi-final from 2015. Keep an eye on Joe Swail who made the final of this tournament as an amateur in 2012, and came back the next year by reaching the quarter-finals, so he may be a tournament specialist.
Watch out for: There is a lot of quality in this section of the draw that includes Indian Open winner Anthony McGill, a win that no-one was really surprised with after seeing the quality he has displayed over the last couple of years, while Martin Gould is another of the first time ranking winners from the last year, a run that was started by Kyren Wilson at the 2016 Shanghai Masters, and by reaching the final at the Indian Open and the World Championship quarter-finals this year. Wilson is now very much a threat in any tournament he plays in now, and that will continue for many many years to come. On top of that Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is very much growing in confidence as was evident in his recent run to the semi-finals of the World Open matching his International Championship semi-final from 2015. Keep an eye on Joe Swail who made the final of this tournament as an amateur in 2012, and came back the next year by reaching the quarter-finals, so he may be a tournament specialist.
Quarter Choice: My quarter 3 selection though is Mark Allen who won this tournament in 2014, despite first round exits in both 2013 and 2015 sandwiching that. Allen is also one of the most prolific players from the European Tour era that ended last year winning 5 times overall, including back to back wins in 2013, showing just what he is capable. Allen should also come back here fresh and raring to go, with this being his first professional tournament since last season's World Championship and that is an important factor for Allen.
Quarter 4
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
David Gilbert Vs Amateur Qualifier
Fraser Patrick Vs Michael Georgiou
Stuart Bingham Vs Sydney Wilson
Hatem Yassin Vs Amateur Qualifier
Cao Yupeng Vs Amateur Qualifier
Jamie Jones Vs Tian Pengfei
Nigel Bond Vs Craig Steadman
Michael Wild Vs Amateur Qualifier
Paul Davison Vs Amateur Qualifier
Rory McLeod Vs Amateur Qualifier
John Astley W/O Hamza Akbar
Mark King Vs David John
Thor Chuan Leong Vs Christopher Keogan
Alan McManus Vs Amateur Qualifier
Tom Ford Vs Ian Burns
Chris Wakelin Vs Chen Zhe
Watch out for: Mark King was a semi-finalist in Furth last year, and reached two further European Tour quarter-final's out of the six events in total and finished the season as one of the top players on the European Order of Merit. 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham has still not one since that unlikely triumph, so you have to say he is overdue. The draws have not necessarily been kind to Ballrun this year, losing out in the Last 16 of the Riga Masters to eventual runner-up Michael Holt, the Last 16 of the Indian Open to eventual winner McGill and in the Last 32 of the World Open to Ali Carter who took the title that week. Alan McManus fired himself back into prominence with a run to the 2016 World Championship semi-finals. Starting the season at the World Open he reached the Last 16 there seeing off Wenbo on his way.
UPDATE: News has come through of a possible injury to Alan McManus that "may affect his performance". Make of it what you will, but without any specific details regarding the injury to go on it is tough to tell what difference it will have.
Quarter Choice: My choice for this fourth and final section is David Gilbert. Gilbert has improved a lot in the last year and gained a lot of confidence in his ability. A career best season that featured a semi-final on the European Tour and his first ranking event final has given him the taste for more, with one of his better performances coming in the World Championship where he lost out 10-7 to Ronnie O'Sullivan despite a barrage of big breaks from Gilbert to show what he is capable of on the biggest stage. This season has started in decent fashion for the 35 year old with a run to the quarter-finals of the World Open and the Last 16 of the Riga Masters and he will be looking to better those this week.
Tournament Choice: Mark Allen
Unfortunately, this event will not be on TV at all this week, with those who have a Eurosport Player subscription being the only ones who will have access to any live coverage of the event from Friday to Sunday.
Following this on the snooker tour comes the qualifying rounds for the Shanghai Masters (which uses the old tiered structure) and start next Tuesday, before the non-ranking 6 Reds World Championship in Thailand which is not one to pour too much interest in to. As for full ranking events, the Shanghai Masters final stages begin on Monday September 19th and that event will see the return of my old "Stat Attack" feature from last year and a debut for a couple of new features which will completely change the style of previews on Cue Action Blog. A new format for this seasons Fantasy Snooker will also be brought in for it's first event at the Shanghai Masters.
