Play begins on Sunday morning with plenty of games to get through over the next eight days. Matches are all best-of-11 frames up until the best-of-17 semi-finals and the best-of-19 frame finale.
It's a tough event to pick a winner from with so many of the top players qualifying (or having their last 128 matches heldover) with English Open champion Ronnie O'Sullivan being one of those stars to easily negotiate his last 128 tie in Preston a month ago. The highest ranked player not featured in the line-up for Daqing is Marco Fu, who lost out in Preston to Akani Songsermsawad, while this event also marks the start of Stuart Bingham's three month suspension reported on Tuesday. Michael White at current world number 26 is the next highest ranked player not in the field, so you would expect a number of top players to make it through to the latter stages.
There are some big names like Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump, John Higgins and Ding Junhui who have already found the winners circle this season, while others like Mark Selby and Neil Robertson will be looking to find their best form ahead of a busy period on the calendar.
This is also an important week in terms of the rankings, with the International Championship marking the final event before the seeding cut off for the Northern Irish Open and the first triple crown event of the season - the UK Championships.
Quarter 1
Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Mark Selby or Ashley Hugill Vs Cao Yupeng
Tom Ford Vs Ian Preece
Ryan Day Vs Kurt Maflin
Mark Williams Vs Yu De Lu or Lu Haotian
Joe Perry Vs Sam Craigie
Robbie Williams W/O Stuart Bingham
Michael Holt Vs Matthew Selt
Neil Robertson Vs Gary Wilson
World champion and defending champion Mark Selby is coming into an event here where you would expect him to have more success than he has done so far this season. Based on his performances last season he clearly does better in the "longer" format events, and he does come into this on the back of a victory in the unadvertised Haining Open, where he also made a 147 break in the final. Selby has a tough draw with an in-form Cao Yupeng in the last 64 and a possible last 32 meeting with his Haining Open final opponent Tom Ford. Meanwhile, Ryan Day is one of two top players that could meet Selby in the last 16, but for Day his most recent form has not matched that of his early season Riga Masters triumph. With a new cue he started using a couple of months ago, he has had early exits in the World Open, European Masters and the English Open which will certainly give his last 64 opponent Kurt Maflin some encouragement.
Robbie Williams is the beneficiary here of Stuart Bingham's suspension, as he gets a bye into the last 32 while I could see a couple of results coming against the odds in the bottom half of this section. Matthew Selt has been coming back nicely this season so far after a poor campaign last year, while his last 64 opponent Michael Holt has not quite shown the form and results that he had achieved in the last couple of seasons. Joe Perry's form has been mixed, with a couple of earlier exits to in-form players in the English Open and European Masters and if Sam Craigie is at his best he could have a good run this week. Craigie is a player who I believe will have more success in slightly longer matches. Once again, it is going to be another big week for Neil Robertson in his race for the Masters. With Bingham's suspension he is now provisionally the 16th and final man on the list. However, victory for Liang Wenbo in his heldover last 128 game would put him in front so the Australian needs to do better than Liang this week, having not qualified for the Shanghai Masters. Signs were positive as Robertson made the quarter-finals in Barnsley, but he has still not made the semi-finals of a ranking event since the beginning of October 2016.
My opening quarter pick this week is Mark Williams. Williams has had a pretty consistent start to the season so far, as the English Open was the first ranking event this season where he did not make it to at least the quarter-finals, losing out to Jack Lisowski in the last 32. In the two Chinese events so far, he lost in the last eight of both, firstly to Li Hang in the China Championship when he had a nice lead, and then to Kyren Wilson in the World Open who was simply at the top of his game. He won convincingly to qualify for this tournament a month ago, and was a semi-finalist three years ago when he was very unfortunate not to make it through to the final. Williams has still shown that he has big victories in him and his switch to receive SightRight coaching has certainly seen an improvement in his results. In fact, since that switch he also seems to be speaking more confidently about his game on social media, and if he truly does have more confidence then there is no reason that the results will not keep on coming.
Robbie Williams is the beneficiary here of Stuart Bingham's suspension, as he gets a bye into the last 32 while I could see a couple of results coming against the odds in the bottom half of this section. Matthew Selt has been coming back nicely this season so far after a poor campaign last year, while his last 64 opponent Michael Holt has not quite shown the form and results that he had achieved in the last couple of seasons. Joe Perry's form has been mixed, with a couple of earlier exits to in-form players in the English Open and European Masters and if Sam Craigie is at his best he could have a good run this week. Craigie is a player who I believe will have more success in slightly longer matches. Once again, it is going to be another big week for Neil Robertson in his race for the Masters. With Bingham's suspension he is now provisionally the 16th and final man on the list. However, victory for Liang Wenbo in his heldover last 128 game would put him in front so the Australian needs to do better than Liang this week, having not qualified for the Shanghai Masters. Signs were positive as Robertson made the quarter-finals in Barnsley, but he has still not made the semi-finals of a ranking event since the beginning of October 2016.
My opening quarter pick this week is Mark Williams. Williams has had a pretty consistent start to the season so far, as the English Open was the first ranking event this season where he did not make it to at least the quarter-finals, losing out to Jack Lisowski in the last 32. In the two Chinese events so far, he lost in the last eight of both, firstly to Li Hang in the China Championship when he had a nice lead, and then to Kyren Wilson in the World Open who was simply at the top of his game. He won convincingly to qualify for this tournament a month ago, and was a semi-finalist three years ago when he was very unfortunate not to make it through to the final. Williams has still shown that he has big victories in him and his switch to receive SightRight coaching has certainly seen an improvement in his results. In fact, since that switch he also seems to be speaking more confidently about his game on social media, and if he truly does have more confidence then there is no reason that the results will not keep on coming.
Best of the Rest: Matthew Selt and Sam Craigie
Quarter Choice: Mark Williams
Quarter 2
Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Shaun Murphy Vs Mei Xiwen
Alan McManus Vs Zhang Yong
Ali Carter Vs Andrew Higginson
Stephen Maguire Vs John Astley
Martin Gould Vs David Grace
Kyren Wilson Vs Tian Pengfei
Graeme Dott Vs Robert Milkins
Ding Junhui or Chen Zhe Vs Oliver Lines
The first man to focus on in the second quarter is recent World and English Open runner-up Kyren Wilson. As that opening line suggests he has been at the top of his game in recent weeks to make those two finals and there is no doubt given his talent that these performances will keep on coming. I also like Wilson's draw this week in Daqing and think that if he keeps his form up he will have another big week. Shaun Murphy has been in good form this season making two finals, and was going nicely in Barnsley before he ran into the force that was Alexander Ursenbacher. If he can avoid any neck problems that he faced following his flight from India to Shanghai on the way to the World Open, then there is no reason he could not do well in an event that he made the quarter-finals of last season and the semi's in the inaugural year.
Ali Carter and Stephen Maguire are the other top players in opposition for Murphy in the top half of this section. Carter has not played much of late and exited in the last 64 of the English Open so it is tough to judge how he will go this week in a tough section. Maguire has also not been in the best of form in the last few weeks losing 4-0 in the first round of the English Open following another early exit in the Indian Open, failing to back up his final at the Riga Masters in June.
My selection for this section is last year's runner-up and 2013 International Champion Ding Junhui. Ding is the man for me in this section and quite possibly for the whole tournament, simply based on his record not just in this event but in all of the Chinese events in recent times. Just a month ago he stormed to victory at the World Open in what was only his second ranking event of the season, and even though he did not back that performance up in Barnsley, I think he will be close to his best again this week. I think it helps significantly for a player like Ding to have his last 128 ties heldover to the venue, because it will often just give himself an extra round to build up his form ready for when he faces tougher tasks. I fancy his chances with the draw he has for the first two or three matches, and think that Kyren Wilson could provide one of his main obstacles in this section. The fact that he has reached the final twice in the five years that this event has been held previously shows how much he enjoys it, and in both of those years, he has won the Shanghai Masters the month before which was in the same calendar slot as this year's World Open. Therefore, there are plenty of good signs pointing to Ding for this week.
Ali Carter and Stephen Maguire are the other top players in opposition for Murphy in the top half of this section. Carter has not played much of late and exited in the last 64 of the English Open so it is tough to judge how he will go this week in a tough section. Maguire has also not been in the best of form in the last few weeks losing 4-0 in the first round of the English Open following another early exit in the Indian Open, failing to back up his final at the Riga Masters in June.
My selection for this section is last year's runner-up and 2013 International Champion Ding Junhui. Ding is the man for me in this section and quite possibly for the whole tournament, simply based on his record not just in this event but in all of the Chinese events in recent times. Just a month ago he stormed to victory at the World Open in what was only his second ranking event of the season, and even though he did not back that performance up in Barnsley, I think he will be close to his best again this week. I think it helps significantly for a player like Ding to have his last 128 ties heldover to the venue, because it will often just give himself an extra round to build up his form ready for when he faces tougher tasks. I fancy his chances with the draw he has for the first two or three matches, and think that Kyren Wilson could provide one of his main obstacles in this section. The fact that he has reached the final twice in the five years that this event has been held previously shows how much he enjoys it, and in both of those years, he has won the Shanghai Masters the month before which was in the same calendar slot as this year's World Open. Therefore, there are plenty of good signs pointing to Ding for this week.
Best of the Rest: Kyren Wilson
Quarter Choice: Ding Junhui
Quarter 3
Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Judd Trump Vs Ian Burns
Zhou Yuelong or Robin Hull Vs Jimmy Robertson
Liang Wenbo or Adam Duffy Vs Lee Walker
David Gilbert Vs Li Hang
Mark King Vs Rory McLeod
Mark Allen Vs Matthew Stevens or Zhao Xintong
Martin O'Donnell Vs Sanderson Lam
Hossein Vafei Vs Akani Songsermsawad
The third quarter is where we find the inaugural International Champion Judd Trump. Following his laser eye surgery, he has played well winning the European Masters and was only stopped in the last 16 of the English Open by his in-form friend Jack Lisowski. Whatever the length of match, Trump seems to thrive with his heavy scoring that was a big fixture in his run to the semi-finals in Daqing last year. Liang Wenbo is one of Trump's biggest threats in this section after his maximum break at the English Open, though in the end he was easily beaten in the last 32. That is his best finish of the season in just his third event so he may still be a few events from getting back to top form.
Two players that could be dark horses in this section are Li Hang and Hossein Vafei. Li has had a good start to the season, particularly in the Chinese events where he made the semi-finals at the China Championship and the quarter-finals of the World Open and he is such a heavy scorer that I don't think this will be a one-off good spell for Li. Hossein was off to a quiet start this season before a good run put him into the quarter-finals in Barnsley. He is in a mini-section of the draw where he is the highest ranked of four players vying for a place in the last 16.
My selection in quarter three is the 2014 International runner-up Mark Allen. Allen has had a good start to the season so far, without quite yet kicking on and getting another title in the bag. In the last Chinese event he was a losing semi-finalist in a deciding frame against Wilson, and then in the European Masters he was on the wrong side of another final frame shoot-out in the quarter-finals. Perhaps just a little bit of luck, or the consistency to keep putting himself in those positions will eventually see things fall into place, because he has been playing well and scoring very freely in recent months. He'll face a tough test in the first round whichever one of Stevens and Zhao Xintong come through. We all know how dangerous Zhao can be, while Stevens beat Allen in the China Championship and has been playing well of late. If he can get through the likelihood is that he would have played well and I would then expect him to come through against potential opposition in the next two rounds to make the quarter-finals. If his scoring is still in top gear then he is a clear contender for the title.
Two players that could be dark horses in this section are Li Hang and Hossein Vafei. Li has had a good start to the season, particularly in the Chinese events where he made the semi-finals at the China Championship and the quarter-finals of the World Open and he is such a heavy scorer that I don't think this will be a one-off good spell for Li. Hossein was off to a quiet start this season before a good run put him into the quarter-finals in Barnsley. He is in a mini-section of the draw where he is the highest ranked of four players vying for a place in the last 16.
My selection in quarter three is the 2014 International runner-up Mark Allen. Allen has had a good start to the season so far, without quite yet kicking on and getting another title in the bag. In the last Chinese event he was a losing semi-finalist in a deciding frame against Wilson, and then in the European Masters he was on the wrong side of another final frame shoot-out in the quarter-finals. Perhaps just a little bit of luck, or the consistency to keep putting himself in those positions will eventually see things fall into place, because he has been playing well and scoring very freely in recent months. He'll face a tough test in the first round whichever one of Stevens and Zhao Xintong come through. We all know how dangerous Zhao can be, while Stevens beat Allen in the China Championship and has been playing well of late. If he can get through the likelihood is that he would have played well and I would then expect him to come through against potential opposition in the next two rounds to make the quarter-finals. If his scoring is still in top gear then he is a clear contender for the title.
Best of the Rest: Li Hang and Hossein Vafei
Quarter Choice: Mark Allen
Quarter 4
Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Barry Hawkins Vs Jack Lisowski
Xiao Guodong Vs Eden Sharav
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Yan Bingtao or Wang Yuchen
Ricky Walden Vs Peter Ebdon
Anthony McGill Vs Mark Joyce
Luca Brecel Vs Li Yuan
Ben Woollaston Vs Dominic Dale
John Higgins or Elliot Slessor Vs Niu Zhuang
The final quarter of the draw is filled with top players and in-form stars. Anthony McGill has made a very consistent start to the season making the final in India, the semis last week in Barnsley and the quarters of the European Masters, World Open and the season opening Riga Masters. The only thing missing for him is a trophy this season, but it is a very tough draw to negotiate if he is to keep his consistency. Jack Lisowski is certainly a dark horse after making the quarter-finals of the English Open with wins over Trump and Mark Williams, following up a run to the last 16 of the European Masters. He has played well to qualify for the majority of events and it is about time that he kicked on. In round one he faces Barry Hawkins who has not made it further than the last 32 of a ranking event so far this season and will be eager for a few results, but with Lisowski in form he will have to do it the hard way.
Ricky Walden and Peter Ebdon makes for a very interesting last 64 tie. Walden is out of form following his back injuries, and he is lucky to be through after a tough qualifier with Billy Castle. Every match seems to be difficult for Walden and it is always tough against Ebdon. Ebdon's own form is very hit and miss these days but he is still very capable of big results, as he showed by beating Marco Fu on the way to the last 16 of the last event in China, and a few of his better results over the last few years have come in China. Ronnie O'Sullivan will be looking to carry on from where he left off in Barnsley with another big title on offer. His form in China though is not really on the same level as it is in the UK and that may be something that holds him back this week in a tough section. I think O'Sullivan has a good chance of making the quarter-finals but it is tough opposition from there that may undo him. Luca Brecel could provide that test, particularly with his form in China following his China Championship victory up with a run to the World Open semi-finals. He should breeze past Li Yuan in the last 64 but from there he will need to be at his best to progress further, as he faces a possible last 32 tie with McGill and a potential last 16 match-up with John Higgins.
Out of all of these class acts, my final quarter pick for this week is 2015 International Champion John Higgins. Higgins is in pretty good form, having already collected a title this season at the Indian Open where he was playing some top snooker once again. It took Ronnie O'Sullivan in top gear to halt him in the last 16 of the English Open, or it could have been the Scotsman with his name on the trophy again there in Barnsley. He has also had a couple of earlier exits, in the last 32 of the European Masters to Mark Davis, and to David Gilbert in the World Open but he was undone there by good performances. Someone will have to play especially well to overcome him in the best-of-11 frames format this week, given his wealth of big game experience and match play prowess. A potential last 16 tie with either McGill or Brecel could provide a huge test for Higgins but I would not be at all surprised if we saw O'Sullivan and Higgins meet for the second event in succession, as that is a potential quarter-final in Daqing this week.
Best of the Rest: Jack Lisowski and Luca Brecel
Quarter Choice: John Higgins
Tournament Winner Selection: Ding Junhui
The event will be covered in full by Eurosport TV and on Eurosport Player and it should provide great entertainment as the top players compete for a big prize in Daqing.
The final quarter of the draw is filled with top players and in-form stars. Anthony McGill has made a very consistent start to the season making the final in India, the semis last week in Barnsley and the quarters of the European Masters, World Open and the season opening Riga Masters. The only thing missing for him is a trophy this season, but it is a very tough draw to negotiate if he is to keep his consistency. Jack Lisowski is certainly a dark horse after making the quarter-finals of the English Open with wins over Trump and Mark Williams, following up a run to the last 16 of the European Masters. He has played well to qualify for the majority of events and it is about time that he kicked on. In round one he faces Barry Hawkins who has not made it further than the last 32 of a ranking event so far this season and will be eager for a few results, but with Lisowski in form he will have to do it the hard way.
Ricky Walden and Peter Ebdon makes for a very interesting last 64 tie. Walden is out of form following his back injuries, and he is lucky to be through after a tough qualifier with Billy Castle. Every match seems to be difficult for Walden and it is always tough against Ebdon. Ebdon's own form is very hit and miss these days but he is still very capable of big results, as he showed by beating Marco Fu on the way to the last 16 of the last event in China, and a few of his better results over the last few years have come in China. Ronnie O'Sullivan will be looking to carry on from where he left off in Barnsley with another big title on offer. His form in China though is not really on the same level as it is in the UK and that may be something that holds him back this week in a tough section. I think O'Sullivan has a good chance of making the quarter-finals but it is tough opposition from there that may undo him. Luca Brecel could provide that test, particularly with his form in China following his China Championship victory up with a run to the World Open semi-finals. He should breeze past Li Yuan in the last 64 but from there he will need to be at his best to progress further, as he faces a possible last 32 tie with McGill and a potential last 16 match-up with John Higgins.
Out of all of these class acts, my final quarter pick for this week is 2015 International Champion John Higgins. Higgins is in pretty good form, having already collected a title this season at the Indian Open where he was playing some top snooker once again. It took Ronnie O'Sullivan in top gear to halt him in the last 16 of the English Open, or it could have been the Scotsman with his name on the trophy again there in Barnsley. He has also had a couple of earlier exits, in the last 32 of the European Masters to Mark Davis, and to David Gilbert in the World Open but he was undone there by good performances. Someone will have to play especially well to overcome him in the best-of-11 frames format this week, given his wealth of big game experience and match play prowess. A potential last 16 tie with either McGill or Brecel could provide a huge test for Higgins but I would not be at all surprised if we saw O'Sullivan and Higgins meet for the second event in succession, as that is a potential quarter-final in Daqing this week.
Best of the Rest: Jack Lisowski and Luca Brecel
Quarter Choice: John Higgins
Tournament Winner Selection: Ding Junhui
The event will be covered in full by Eurosport TV and on Eurosport Player and it should provide great entertainment as the top players compete for a big prize in Daqing.
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