In a new addition to Cue Action Snooker, young William Hardy will occasionally be contributing to the blog with "The Alternative View" which will offer some tournament previews and reviews along with any other ideas that Will brings to the table. You can follow William Hardy on Twitter @willhardyx
So, to kick off the season, we have the alternative view on the upcoming qualifiers for the Riga Masters and China Championship getting underway on May 31 in Preston:
It's only been just over 4 weeks since the memorable World
Snooker Championship final, battled out between two respectable greats of the
game, but after 29 days that felt almost like months - snooker finally returns
to the calendars of hardcore fans, reappearing cueists, and the new faces of
the professional game that earned tour cards in the sport's very own holidays.
A qualifying double-bill is set to hit one of the most established
venues at the Preston Guild Hall in the coming days. Most players will play
twice throughout the next week in order to qualify for the ever-growing Riga
Masters and the brand-new layout for the incredible China Championship. Snooker
fans have become accustomed to the game's only event in Latvia since 2014 when
the 'Riga Open' featured on the European Tour.
Since that year, when Mark Selby beat Mark Allen in a
deciding frame in the final, Barry Hawkins (£20,000) and Neil Robertson
(£37,500) have also picked up sizeable cheques. After the ridding of the
European Tour two seasons ago, the tours 128 players now partake in a
full-ranking event in the Riga Masters, therefore attracting some of the games
highest-paid professionals.
Elsewhere in the China Championship, prize money is the
centre of attention with the event boasting a total prize fund of £650,000 -
only smaller than the World and UK Championship. Last year was the tournament's
first instalment where the 16 invitees needed to win just 3 matches in order to
reach the final in Guangzhou. John Higgins went home with a cash sum of
£200,000 and his first victory of the season. Changes to the tournament's set
up mean it's no longer just an invitational event and 128 players will get the
opportunity to claim the trophy, with one win needed to secure a trip to China.
Amateurs will no doubt have a big part to play in qualification
for Riga this week as 10 aspiring players hope to repeat the actions of Welsh
Wizard and former-pro Darren Morgan from last year's event, who beat Adam
Stefanow, Zhao Xintong, Ken Doherty and Xiao Guodong to reach a Semi-Final with
Neil Robertson in a tournament he was close to not entering. 15-year old
Jackson Page, who made heads turn last season when he secured 2 wins in the
Welsh Open, will play fellow Q- School top-up James Silverwood.
Jamie Rhys Clarke will be looking for a repeat of last year
too, as he got through qualifying at the Gibraltar Open, when he plays David
Grace. Ben Jones, who missed out of Q-School graduation by just one win, takes
on Mike Dunn. Other amateurs haven't been quite as lucky with the draw in
Preston as William Lemons plays Alan McManus, Charlie Walters faces David Gilbert,
and Daniel Ward has the task of overcoming Neil Robertson in a game that will
take place at Arena Riga before Round one. Seemingly, because the majority
players with tour cards have taken up the opportunity to play in Guangzhou this
year, there's no amateurs on that specific schedule.
For most snooker fans, this week will be a chance to check out
the 2017 graduates of Q-School from less than two weeks ago in Preston, or
players who guaranteed their two-year tour cards via other competitions and
nominations. Some familiar faces will be returning to the snooker tour this
year as Gerard Greene is set to face Zhang Yong and Neil Robertson, and World
Seniors Champion Peter Lines will challenge Ken Doherty and Matthew Selt in the
respective events, after both secured tour cards through the EBSA play-offs.
Those qualifying this year through the Q-School Order of
Merit will also have previous memories and triumphs of the professional game,
as Joe Swail returns to play Li Hang next Tuesday (he is the only member of
Q-School who has not taken up the option to enter Riga), Sean O'Sullivan has
drawn Christopher Keogan and Belgian Bullet Luca Brecel, while Martin
O'Donnell, who took home the highest break prize of last year's Riga Masters,
will play Jimmy Robertson and Michael White over the next seven days.
The only other successful player on the Q-School Order of
Merit, Zhang Yong, will experience the test of Ronnie O'Sullivan in his first
match of the 2017/18 season at the China Championship. Sanderson Lam, Paul S
Davison, Ashley Hugill, Duane Jones and Allan Taylor are also names that got
through the tension of Q-School and featured regularly last season. Lesser
known players can always make a huge impact nevertheless as Lukas Kleckers (vs
Li Yuan and Ben Woolaston), Billy Joe Castle (vs Alexander Ursenbacher and
Stuart Bingham) and Chen Zifan (vs Ross Muir and Dominic Dale) are all more
than capable of shocks. It's also notable that Hamza Akbar, Soheil Vahedi, Yuan
Sijun, Chris Totten, Xu Si and Lyu Hoatian who gained two-year invites from World
Snooker via various routes are also all in action twice this week.
Aside from those looking to plant their feet in the future
of snooker for decades to come, or those that may struggle to stay on the tour
before retirement in the coming years, these two tournaments attract the very
best of snooker players worldwide. New three-time world champion Mark Selby
will have to wait to kick-off his 2017/18 season however as both of his
qualifying games are to take place at the main venues before round one. Anthony
McGill and Chen Zhe were lucky in the draw to have their qualifying games held
over to Riga, whilst the same fell to Andrew Higginson, Daniel Wells and Tian
Pengfei by drawing wildcards in the China Championship.
Mark Allen starts this season, without coach Terry Griffiths,
by facing Jack Lisowski and Lee Walker, although Michael Holt and Ding Junhui
look for victory under Griffith's watchful eye yet again. More names who look
to get on the TV table in the Riga Masters include Martin Gould, Stuart
Bingham, Stephen Maguire, Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy who'll go in as
favourites against Kurt Maflin, Li Hang, Ian Burns, Alfie Burden and Luca
Brecel respectively.
They'll also be eyeing up a large chunk of the cash in the China
Championship and start that tournament facing Adam Duffy, Billy Joe Castle,
Jamie Barrett, Michael Georgiou and Zhang Anda, who will all have hoped for easier
draws. Mark Williams is, impressively, kicking off his 25th season as a
professional in Preston this week and told World Snooker during the break that
he 'really thought hard about retiring', at the end of last season and insists
if he is going to carry on playing he'll have to 'try something completely
different'. His campaign begins sitting 15th in the world rankings, versus Yu
Delu on Friday and Jak Jones on Saturday.
Finally, there's no doubt the name's crowds from all around
the globe will flock to the Preston Guildhall to see will be those fulfilling
their invitational tour card's for the first time. These were awarded to Jimmy
White and Ken Doherty before the World Championships in the 40th Anniversary
celebrations at the Crucible. The Whirlwind is set to enjoy his 37th year on
the tour, after he narrowly fell off during a heart-breaking 10-7 defeat to
Jack Lisowski at Ponds Forge in April. Jimmy told Barry Hearn he will be
looking to regain a place on the tour, starting with fixtures against Jak Jones
tomorrow (Wednesday) and Ryan Day next Tuesday.
The second player to be handed an invitation back to the
snooker tour is the 1997 world champion, who lost his place at Ponds Forge
following defeat in round two of world qualifying against Ben Woollaston. The ‘Darlin’
of Dublin’ has drawn Peter Lines and Gary Wilson in the two qualifiers, who
he'll play tomorrow (Wednesday) and on Saturday.
All entrants need just one win in both competitions this
week to ensure a place in the Riga Masters (23-25 July) and China Championship
(16-22 August), but more importantly to guarantee a solid start to the long
awaited 2017/2018 season.
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