Champion of Champions Preview

Sixteen winners on the green baize from the last year head to Coventry this week to compete for the coveted Champion of Champions title.

This will be the fifth year that the Champion of Champions has been held, since it replaced the Premier League in 2013. Previous all conquering potters include Ronnie O'Sullivan who took the first two titles, Neil Robertson in 2015 and John Higgins who is this week's defending champion.

The Ricoh Arena has been a happy hunting ground for some, and a curse for others. O'Sullivan chose not to play in 2015, and has therefore made at least the final in each Champion of Champions he has played in. Meanwhile, someone like Shaun Murphy is yet to win a match in this event and will be hoping that this week is fifth time lucky on that score.

There are a few debutants in this event this week, with Anthony Hamilton, Luca Brecel, Mark King and Ryan Day all making their first appearances in the Champion of Champions, as all have won their maiden ranking titles in the last 12 months.

With the International Championship in China running so close to this tournament, the draw for this week was not made until Thursday, while the final man in competition was not confirmed until after the final in Daqing on Sunday afternoon.

As usual the event will be played over "groups" from Monday to Thursday, with each day seeing four new players in action. The afternoon sessions will see two last 16 matches over the best-of-7 frames, the winners of which will then compete in a best-of-11 frames quarter-final that same evening.

The winner of Monday's group one will then face the winner of Thursday's group four in the first semi-final on Friday evening, and the winners of groups two and three face off on Saturday evening with both matches again being best-of-11 before Sunday's best-of-19 frame final.

The Ricoh Arena in 2015

Group 1 (Monday 6th November)

Ding Junhui Vs Anthony Hamilton - This is an interesting contest to kick off proceedings in Coventry. Hamilton was on top form in Berlin as he clinched the German Masters title in February to qualify here. Since August though, he has been struggling with a back injury that saw him withdraw halfway through his China Championship match with Shaun Murphy. Since then he has failed to win a match, and withdrawn before the start of both the International Championship qualifiers and European Masters final stages. As for Ding, he confirmed his Coventry place by winning the World Open in September but in the two events since he has been short of form. He looked to be lacking interest at times in his last 64 exit at the English Open, and was poor in a last 64 exit at the International Championship. This could potentially be explained by reports on Twitter that Ding has conjunctivitis and the journeys to and from China will not help that either. While he may be able to see off Hamilton, because of the "Sheriff of Pottingham's" injury and lack of match sharpness, the Chinese number one may struggle with a second big match on the day if he is not feeling 100%.

Prediction: 4-1 win for Ding Junhui

Barry Hawkins Vs Ryan Day - The second match in this group is a very tough one to call. Barry Hawkins booked his place in this event by beating Ryan Day in the final of the World Grand Prix in February. Things at the start of this season could have been a lot better for Hawkins though. He comes into this one off the back of three successive last 64 exits in ranking events, and he has only made the last 32 of a ranking event once in the six he has played in the 2017/2018 campaign to date. In this event he has only managed one win in the three times he has qualified which is also not a huge positive to his chances this week. As for Ryan Day, he overcame Barry Hawkins in the last 64 on the way to his victory at the Riga Masters. The season since that June triumph has been mixed, although he did fightback from 4-0 down to beat Kurt Maflin in a remarkable match in the last 64 of the International Championship this week. However, he fell at the last 32 stage there and in the China Championships to Mark Williams, whilst also losing in the last 32 of the World Open to Joe Perry. I still like Day's form much more than Hawkins, and if he were to make it past Hawkins he also has a very good record in big matches with Ding Junhui.

Day has beaten Ding in the 2015 International Championship, 2015 German Masters, and much more impressively in the 2012 UK Championships and from 9-6 down in the 2012 World Championships. Other than a couple of defeats to Ding in PTC events, his only other two losses to the Chinese star in the period since the 2012 World Championships saw him lose out in final frame deciders. So, if they were to meet in the quarter-finals on Monday night I would certainly expect Day to give Ding a big challenge.

Prediction: Day to overcome Hawkins 4-2

Group Prediction: Ryan Day

Group 2 (Tuesday 7th November) 

Marco Fu Vs Michael White - Marco Fu is in the Champion of Champions for his victory at the Scottish Open last season, but at the start of this campaign so far, his form has not matched that of last season. He has not played in many events as yet, skipping the European and Riga Masters as well as the Indian Open. However, last 128 exits in the English Open and International Championship to lower ranked opposition is not a good sign at all as he comes into this event. Michael White meanwhile has been a winner this season, qualifying for Coventry thanks to his win at the Paul Hunter Classic. He was very impressive in Furth beating Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy on the final day and that should give him a lot of confidence for the rest of the season. Some of that confidence showed as he made the quarter-finals of the recent English Open with a victory against Ding Junhui as well as some other high scoring performances. Given Fu's lack of match action (he has only played three competitive matches since mid-September) I think White may have the edge in this one.

Prediction: White to beat Fu 4-2

Shaun Murphy Vs Mark King - This will be the ninth meeting between Shaun Murphy and Mark King, and Murphy has won seven of the previous eight. King's sole victory was in their last meeting at the 2016 China Open, in what was strangely Murphy's second match of the day (his last 64 match in that tournament was moved to the Wednesday morning to accommodate making the latter stages in Manchester the week before). King of course is here for his win in Northern Ireland a year ago, but aside from one good run, his season so far has been average. In India he played well to make the semi-finals and nearly got through in that match with McGill. However, he fell in the last 64 of the China Championship, World Open and European Masters while not passing the last 128 stage in Barnsley recently. The recent International Championship saw him make the last 32 and nearly beat eventual finalist Allen before losing 6-5.

Even Shaun's wife Elaine was having fun at the expense of him and his record in Coventry

It is well documented (mainly by myself and Shaun on Twitter) that Murphy has not made it past round one in four previous attempts at the Champion of Champions, but fifth time may well be the charm here for him. His qualification was confirmed through March's victory in Gibraltar, and he has two further chances to add to his silverware this season. Finals in the same week at the China Championship and Paul Hunter Classic have been followed by last 16 exits in India, Barnsley and most recently in Daqing. Overall, his form has looked good and if he can finally bring this to Coventry a good run may be on the cards.

Prediction: Murphy to secure a first win in this event, 4-1 over King

Group Prediction: Shaun Murphy

Group 3 (Wednesday 8th November) 

Mark Selby Vs Liang Wenbo -  International Champion Mark Selby has a short turnaround here following his big win out in Daqing where he saw Mark Allen off 10-7 in the final. Selby qualifies for this through winning the UK and World Championships as well as the China Open and last week's International. He was not necessarily in the best form coming into that event in Daqing, but over the longer format best-of-11 games he seems to be so much harder to beat and is perhaps easier to beat over the best-of-7 frames. That is what he faces here with Liang Wenbo who has had a fairly quiet start to the season so far. Liang has not played in too many tournaments yet, and his best two runs have been in the last couple of weeks. At the English Open he made the last 32 and made a maximum 147 break in the last 64 of his title defence there in Barnsley. Last week in Daqing, he made the last 16 before losing out to an in-form Judd Trump and whilst looking a bit scrappy at times he did give Trump a challenge early in that game. If Selby is still heavily jet-lagged from the fact that he will not have been back in the country for more than a day realistically, there is a good chance that given the quality of this group, he is up against it to make it through the day with two wins. Liang may well have his chances here, but his form will need to improve for him to get on a run in Coventry.

Prediction: Liang to edge out a likely jet-lagged Selby 4-2

Judd Trump Vs Luca Brecel - Judd Trump is another of the players in the field who has qualified through victory in multiple events in the last 12 months. Trump was a winner in March at the Players Championship and added to that last month by defending his European Masters title in Belgium. Once again he has looked very sharp at the start of this season, particularly since having laser eye surgery that he is now reaping the rewards of. In the two events since his victory in Lommel he has made the last 16 in Barnsley and the quarter-finals in Daqing, losing out on both occasions in a deciding frame. His scoring has been superb, as he demonstrated by making eight centuries in his 23 frames won at the International last week, and given Selby's much shorter turnaround, he is the favourite for me to win this group. Luca Brecel will not make that an easy ride though. The China Champion is on debut in Coventry but from a couple of items I have seen from him on Instagram I sense that a week off is needed (and may be coming with a non-entry in Northern Ireland). He exited in the last 32 of the International quite comfortably against Mark Joyce and fell to Mark Williams in the last 64 of the English Open. With his maiden ranking title under his belt, it has been a whirlwind few months for him - especially as all eyes were on him just over a month after in his home ranking event. The 2014 Champion of Champions runner-up Trump, may just be a little too strong here at the Ricoh. 

Prediction: In-form Trump to storm through 4-1

Group Prediction: Judd Trump

Group 4 (Thursday 9th November) 

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Neil Robertson - This is probably the tie of the last 16 this week as Masters and English Open champion Ronnie O'Sullivan faces Hong Kong Masters winner Neil Robertson. Robertson's place was not confirmed until Selby had beaten Allen in the International, and the fact that he was always unlikely to make it to Coventry (he would not be here without Stuart Bingham's suspension either) may mean he is able to play with some freedom and no pressure on his shoulders. The pressure of recent weeks will also be taken away in the sheer fact that this is a non-ranking tournament. It is well documented that the Australian's top 16 place, and therefore his spot in the 2018 Masters, is well under threat and he may be finding this added pressure tough. Losses to lower ranked opposition in the last 16 of the International Championship and the Shanghai Masters last 128 qualifier would certainly suggest as much. In 16 proper meetings the head to head is pretty even, and Robertson has won the last two between them to comeback well from two tough defeats to O'Sullivan in 2016.

Ronnie made a flying visit to Daqing where he exited in the last 64 to the incredible Yan Bingtao. I believe it is tough to read much into O'Sullivan's Chinese results because it is clear from comments he has made in the past that he enjoys playing so much more in the UK and the results show that. It is hard to look past someone who has won the first event on UK soil in the 2017/2018 season and that has made at least the final in his three appearances at the Champion of Champions. This is the toughest group of the week in my view, and very hard to call given that the first round is only best-of-7 frames, because that is such a short distance between two top quality players like Robertson and O'Sullivan.

Prediction: O'Sullivan to just see off Robertson in a deciding frame, 4-3.  

John Higgins Vs Anthony McGill - Then we come to defending champion John Higgins who also took home qualifying titles at the Championship League, and the Indian Open where he overcame McGill in the final in September. Since that victory though his results have not been too bad, but some of his performances were not entirely convincing. He fell in the last 16 of both the World and English Opens but not before surviving huge scares in the last 32, something he could not do at the European Masters as he lost out to Mark Davis. Last week at the International Championships he came through against easy opposition despite not being at his best, and when the quarter-finals came around Yan Bingtao was able to punish him for his poor play. Higgins will still be tough to beat, and has a good record against Shoot-Out champion Anthony McGill. McGill has had a pretty consistent start to the season, making quarter-finals in the World Open and European Masters and the semi's in Barnsley since his Indian Open final. His only real poor events so far have seen him lose in the last 64 of the International and China Championships, losing on both occasions to Mark Joyce. This could well be a close contest, but the fact Higgins has beaten McGill comfortably in a big match this season may give him the psychological edge. 

Prediction: Higgins to come through a tough test 4-3

Group Prediction: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Tournament Winner Selection: Judd Trump

It should be another week of exciting action, and all of it will be available to watch on terrestrial TV in the UK with ITV4 continuing to hold the rights. I'm sure the likes of Neal Foulds, Alan McManus and Clive Everton will do another fantastic job on the coverage, and they make the ITV events ones that are some of my favourites of the year.