All 128 will be at the venue of Event City this week, and Event City played host to the Players Championship Finals as recently as March (and that event was won by Mark Allen), so it will be interesting to see how the venue will be set for an eight table set-up, compared to the two tables that were required in March. With all of the major players in the game in attendance it is going to be a star-studded week, and thanks to the new un-seeded draw which sees the top 16 players placed in the draw and the remainder drawn at random, some cracking matches are in store right from the off.
The whole event will be broadcast live on Eurosport, but for people that do not have Eurosport, coverage will be on Freeview channel "Quest" in the UK during the afternoons from what is available of the TV schedules, so that is some more good news for Non-Eurosport TV viewers.
In terms of format, the first two days will see the 64 first round games which will be played over the best-of-7 frames, it is best-of-7's once again for Wednesday's Last 64 and on Thursday when both the Last 32 and Last 16 will be played. Then the tournament takes the Welsh Open format of roll on, roll off quarter-finals for the afternoon with two matches being played then, while the evenings two quarter-finals will be played over a two table set-up. Sunday's eventual champion will walk away with a £70,000 winners cheque, and a place in November's Champion of Champions should they not yet have already qualified.
Quarter 1
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Mark Selby Vs Gary Wilson
Sam Craigie Vs Liam Highfield
Stephen Maguire Vs Gareth Allen
Ryan Day Vs Kurt Maflin
Barry Hawkins Vs Jack Lisowksi
Mark Davis Vs Tian Pengfei
Dominic Dale Vs David Grace
Andrew Higginson Vs Nigel Bond
Michael White Vs Jason Weston
Kritsanut Lertsattayatthorn Vs Boonyarit Kaettikun
Li Hang Vs Alex Borg
Ricky Walden Vs Robin Hull
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs John Astley
Yan Bingtao Vs Sanderson Lam
Sean O'Sullivan Vs Scott Donaldson
Mark Allen Vs Jamie Barrett
Mark Selby is always going to be one of the major contenders given the form that he has been in of late, making the latter stages of the last three events. However, the short turnaround from the European Masters to this event is something he will have to deal with and he could have some very tough early matches. Stephen Maguire is a possible Last 32 opponent for Selby and he found some form at the Shanghai Masters by making the semi-finals before losing to eventual winner Ding Junhui and despite failing to qualify for the European Masters there is no reason why, following a weeks rest, he could not hit form again this week. Ricky Walden had a mixed time at the European Masters, looking very sharp in his first round win before then being outplayed in a scrappy match with Alfie Burden in the Last 16. Walden has not had the best start to the season and he does have a tough opener this week against Robin Hull who qualified for the Last 32 of the European Masters. If he could come through that one though there is no reason Walden could not start firing again at a venue where he made the final, at March's Players Championships. Meanwhile, Mark Davis and Michael White could both be seen as the dark horses in this quarter. Davis comes into this off the back of a quarter-final at the European Masters which featured good victories against Shaun Murphy and Liang Wenbo before he lost out to an on fire Ronnie O'Sullivan. White was also a quarter-finalist a couple of weeks earlier, as he beat Walden and Judd Trump to get to the last eight in Shanghai and he too will be looking to kick on.
My opening quarter choice though is someone who won at this venue in March in Mark Allen. Allen has entered three events this season and lost in the Last 16 of each, once to Ding Junhui who went on to win the Shanghai Masters, while he ran Ronnie O'Sullivan close in the European Masters playing very well but for the odd miss that proved costly, and O'Sullivan is preparing for the final there at the time of writing. His draw this week for the early rounds does not look too bad either, if he strikes the ball as well as he did in Romania and he should be fresh from the time off taken before he started the new season. Of course he was a winner at this venue in March at the Players Championships, and he has looked in good touch throughout 2016 so there is no reason why he cannot start to convert some of these Last 16's into semi-finals, finals and get some more trophies.
My opening quarter choice though is someone who won at this venue in March in Mark Allen. Allen has entered three events this season and lost in the Last 16 of each, once to Ding Junhui who went on to win the Shanghai Masters, while he ran Ronnie O'Sullivan close in the European Masters playing very well but for the odd miss that proved costly, and O'Sullivan is preparing for the final there at the time of writing. His draw this week for the early rounds does not look too bad either, if he strikes the ball as well as he did in Romania and he should be fresh from the time off taken before he started the new season. Of course he was a winner at this venue in March at the Players Championships, and he has looked in good touch throughout 2016 so there is no reason why he cannot start to convert some of these Last 16's into semi-finals, finals and get some more trophies.
Quarter Choice: Mark Allen
Quarter 2
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
John Higgins Vs Michael Wild
Mark King Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Fraser Patrick Vs Zak Surety
James Wattana Vs Eden Sharav
Marco Fu Vs Martin O'Donnell
Tom Ford Vs Rory McLeod
Joe Swail Vs Itaro Santos
James Cahill Vs Adam Stefanow
Oliver Lines Vs Ian Preece
Mark Joyce Vs Craig Steadman
Ian Burns Vs Christopher Keogan
Mark Williams Vs David John
Martin Gould Vs Sydney Wilson
Zhou Yuelong Vs Jimmy White
Matthew Stevens Vs Jamie Bodle
Judd Trump Vs Ken Doherty
As we move into the second quarter we find players like Marco Fu, Martin Gould and Mark Williams who have all been in poor form this season so far. Fu has not made it past the Last 32 of any event so far this season which is very poor for a player of his known quality. and something he needs to turn around heading into this busy stretch of the calendar to avoid being left behind. Mark Williams was knocked out in the Last 128 of the European Masters to follow another first round exit in the Shanghai Masters, while Gould lost in the Last 128 of both the Paul Hunter Classic and the European Masters, while a 5-0 loss in the Shanghai Masters wildcard round was sandwiched in between. Improvements will be needed from all of those three if they are to contend this week. Like Selby, it will be tough for Judd Trump to get straight back up for this week especially as he has gone a step further than Selby and made it into the European Masters final. If he could keep that form going from Romania though, he is going to be a major threat once again. That could open the door for an outsider, though it is hard to pick someone out with Tom Ford possibly being the best shout, following his run to the Last 16 of the European Masters.
For me that leaves John Higgins as the quarter choice. Higgins has started the season nicely with a couple of quarter-finals in just four tournaments played, and one of those was at the European Masters before Trump got the better of him. The most impressive match was his against Holt in the Last 32 of that event, with Holt in good form. Higgins won 4-0 and made two centuries and it is that sort of play that will make him a contender in Manchester .As I have mentioned there are a lot of players in this section who have not had a great start to this season, with Trump being the only player playing well away from Higgins. If Trump does not march on from his brilliance in Bucharest, then Higgins is the man for me in this quarter.
For me that leaves John Higgins as the quarter choice. Higgins has started the season nicely with a couple of quarter-finals in just four tournaments played, and one of those was at the European Masters before Trump got the better of him. The most impressive match was his against Holt in the Last 32 of that event, with Holt in good form. Higgins won 4-0 and made two centuries and it is that sort of play that will make him a contender in Manchester .As I have mentioned there are a lot of players in this section who have not had a great start to this season, with Trump being the only player playing well away from Higgins. If Trump does not march on from his brilliance in Bucharest, then Higgins is the man for me in this quarter.
Quarter Choice: John Higgins
Quarter 3
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Shaun Murphy Vs Chen Zhe
Liang Wenbo Vs Graeme Dott
Robbie Williams Vs Fergal O'Brien
Ross Muir Vs Zhang Yong
Ali Carter Vs Luca Brecel
Akani Songsermsawad Vs Kurt Dunham
Ben Woollaston Vs Cao Yupeng
Zhang Anda Vs Josh Boileau
Rod Lawler Vs Yu De Lu
Peter Ebdon Vs Stuart Carrington
Adam Duffy Vs Anthony Hamilton
Joe Perry Vs Matthew Selt
Sam Baird Vs Elliot Slessor
Jak Jones Vs Brandon Sargeant
Mei Xi Wen Vs Darryl Hill
Ding Junhui Vs Mitchell Mann
This third quarter has some very tough looking matches thanks to the unseeded draw for these events that is coming into play this season. Stand outs are Ali Carter Vs Luca Brecel, Liang Wenbo Vs Graeme Dott and Joe Perry against Matt Selt. Carter has been in good form so far this season, why Brecel has struggled to get going so far so that does not necessarily bode well for the Belgium. Liang Wenbo and Dott is a very tough match to call over the best-of-7 frames, though the rise of Liang over the last year may just give him the edge. Perry against Selt is arguably the toughest with seed 11 playing seed 24 in the Last 128. Perry made the World Open final in July, yet since then he suffered a Last 64 exit at the Paul Hunter Classic before losing his opening matches in both the Shanghai and European Masters events. Selt meanwhile will want to win this one to get back on track also after losing in the Last 128 of the European Masters and was suspended from both the Riga Masters and Paul Hunter Classic. Shaun Murphy is one of the big guns in this section, though he has not necessarily been in the best of form in the last couple of tournaments. Maguire whitewashed him 5-0 in the Last 32 in Shanghai, and despite making a 147 in the qualifying rounds of the European Masters, this form did not carry over to the venue where he was beaten in the Last 32 once again. A potential meeting in the Last 64 with either Liang Wenbo or Graeme Dott is not going to make life any easier, but other than that match if he is in good form the draw may not be a bad one to make a charge this week.
The quarter choice here is a man who had last week off and appears to be in the section least packed with high ranked properties, and that is Ding Junhui. It is obviously tough to follow up an ranking win closely, with Ding taking the title in Shanghai, but having withdrawn from the European Masters he has had two weeks off from that win to prepare for this week. That win in Shanghai completes the return to form for Ding, having made the World Championship final and having a few good results earlier in 2016. It was only three years ago that Ding won the Shanghai Masters and then went on to win another four events that season, so he is certainly no stranger to that. I also think his section of the draw is a little more favourable than some of the other top players who have very difficult matches lurking early on in the week.
Quarter Choice: Ding Junhui
Quarter 4
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Neil Robertson Vs Hamza Akbar
Mike Dunn Vs Duane Jones
Noppon Saengkham Vs Michael Georgiou
Michael Holt Vs Xiao Guodong
Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Jimmy Robertson
Zhao Xintong Vs Wang Yuchen
Anthony McGill Vs Jamie Cope
Chris Wakelin Vs Allan Taylor
Lee Walker Vs Aditya Mehta
Jamie Jones Vs Rhys Clark
Alfie Burden Vs Daniel Wells
Kyren Wilson Vs Wayne Townsend
David Gilbert Vs Hammad Miah
Paul Davison Vs Peter Lines
Alan McManus Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Stuart Bingham Vs Robert Milkins
Once again this bottom quarter is packed with top stars with guys like Neil Robertson, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Anthony McGill all in the top half of this section along with Michael Holt who has started the season well. Robertson will have to pick himself up following a 6-0 loss to O'Sullivan in the European Masters semi-finals, though with the good form he was in prior to that loss that should not be an issue for a player of the Australian's quality. McGill incidentally lost to Robertson a round earlier and if his magnificent run continues he is a big contender. As mentioned earlier with Trump, the short turnaround could work one of two ways for O'Sullivan as he could struggle to get himself back up again so soon, or flourish and go on another blazing run through the field. Guys like Zhao Xintong and more so Thepchaiya Un-Nooh could be a couple of dark horses to keep an eye on, even if Un-Nooh faces a tricky opener against Alan McManus who could also go far if were to win that one. Stuart Bingham and Kyren Wilson could also be major contenders, with Wilson having a slightly more favourable draw than Bingham who has to play Robert Milkins in round one. Wilson though needs to pick himself up from losing his first match in the European and Shanghai Masters, as well as whitewash loss in the Last 64 of the Paul Hunter Classic. Bingham was in good form in Shanghai losing narrowly in the semi-finals, but with the tough draw he faces right from the off in Manchester, he could do with channelling that form again.
The player who I think will come on strong this week though is David Gilbert making him my outside quarter choice for the week. Gilbert has not got the worst draw with McGill, Robertson and O'Sullivan all in the upper half of this section, meaning that Gilbert would only have to play one of those upon, if the situation arose, in the quarter-final. I have spoken very highly of Gilbert in the last few months, such is the confidence he seems to have now which is letting his power scoring form and quality play come to the fore. With the short best-of-7 frames format someone outside of the big guns in the top 16 could certainly make the latter stages, and following a promising start to the early season there is no reason why Gilbert could not be that man.
The player who I think will come on strong this week though is David Gilbert making him my outside quarter choice for the week. Gilbert has not got the worst draw with McGill, Robertson and O'Sullivan all in the upper half of this section, meaning that Gilbert would only have to play one of those upon, if the situation arose, in the quarter-final. I have spoken very highly of Gilbert in the last few months, such is the confidence he seems to have now which is letting his power scoring form and quality play come to the fore. With the short best-of-7 frames format someone outside of the big guns in the top 16 could certainly make the latter stages, and following a promising start to the early season there is no reason why Gilbert could not be that man.
Quarter Choice: David Gilbert
Winner Selection: Ding Junhui
That's all of the build-up for the English Open. Don't Forget you can see my other two pieces, starting with the Stat Attack here:
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/english-open-stat-attack.html
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/english-open-stat-attack.html
And the Tournament Top Ten here:
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/english-open-tournament-top-ten.html
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/english-open-tournament-top-ten.html
I'll be back through the week with updates on the events unfolding in Manchester.
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