German Masters Preview

One of the most anticipated stops on the tour arrives on Wednesday as the 32 players who made it through qualifying in December, will take to the Tempodrome in Berlin for the German Masters.

The first full ranking event of 2018 also presents the penultimate chance for players to make a move on the World Grand Prix qualification list, which concludes next week at the end of the Snooker Shoot-Out.

Among the qualifiers for Berlin are World number one Mark Selby, recent Masters champion Mark Allen, defending champion Anthony Hamilton and 2016 champion Martin Gould.

Top 16 seeds in Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Shaun Murphy, Barry Hawkins, Mark Williams, Ryan Day and Liang Wenbo are also present in a strong field for the five days in Berlin with an increased £80,000 on offer for this year's champion.

Ronnie O'Sullivan withdraw from qualifying, while Scottish Open champion lost in the last 64 just prior to Christmas along with Masters runner-up Kyren Wilson and seeds 10, 11 and 13 in Luca Brecel, Ali Carter and Anthony McGill.

Quarter 1

Last 32 draw: (Picks in bold)

Anthony Hamilton Vs Jimmy Robertson 

Martin Gould Vs Gary Wilson

Mark Williams Vs Fergal O'Brien 

Mark Allen Vs Matthew Selt

The last two German Masters champions feature in the top quarter of the draw as well as reigning Northern Ireland Open champion Mark Williams and Masters champion Mark Allen. Williams played well to overcome Mark Selby in the Masters recently but he has a difficult draw with the possibility of facing the in-form Allen in the last 16. It's difficult to call that section given the form both Allen and Williams are in of late though with Allen on a high right now after his Masters win, I think more big runs and tournament wins could be on the horizon for him.

Meanwhile, defending champion Anthony Hamilton faces a tough tie against Jimmy Robertson. Robertson has had a decent campaign this season making the last 32 on a number of occasions, but not getting beyond that hurdle as often as he would like, so he will be keen to get past that stage here in Berlin. Hamilton has had a tough time of things this season. He withdrew from a number of matches earlier in the season because of his back, and that may have still been troubling him during first round exits in the UK Championships, Shanghai Masters and the first three home nations events. On Saturday, he had to come from 5-1 down to overcome low ranked David John 6-5 in China Open qualifying so he is clearly still struggling a little and with that in mind Robertson is more than capable of bring a premature end to Hamilton's title defence.

My first quarter choice though is the 2016 champion who made the semi-finals of his title defence last season. Martin Gould's form is really bubbling up nicely in the last few months. Just recently he made his first competitive 147 break in group 6 of the Championship League, which he also went on to win. Prior to the Christmas break he really hit top form making the quarter-finals of the UK Championship before running into Ronnie O'Sullivan, as well as making the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals and the semi-finals of the International Championship (where he lost to eventual winner Mark Selby). This form is not too dissimilar to the sort of form Gould was in when he came to the Tempodrome in 2016 and ended up walking away with his maiden ranking event win. You certainly would not be surprised to see Gould in the last eight given that section of the draw, and from there he could well pick up a second title. 

Best of the rest: Jimmy Robertson

Quarter choice: Martin Gould

Quarter 2

Last 32 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Ding Junhui Vs Michael Georgiou 

Ricky Walden Vs Jack Lisowski

Joe Perry Vs Yu De Lu

Judd Trump Vs Ben Woollaston 

Former champion Ding Junhui features in the second quarter, but his form is still very patchy after some of the eye trouble he had earlier in the season. His route through the qualifiers in December was not quite plain sailing, and he has only played once since - losing to Ryan Day in round one of the Masters. If he is not on top form in Berlin, Michael Georgiou could certainly take advantage and cause an upset.

Judd Trump is another of the headline acts in this second section and he will be looking to bounce back from a couple of recent setbacks. After losing from 5-2 ahead against Kyren Wilson in the Masters semi-finals he then lost 6-5 to Jak Jones in the China Open qualifiers. His first round opponent Ben Woollaston has beaten Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson in the last two years at this stage of the competition so there is no reason why he cannot do it a third time this year.

Joe Perry showed some decent form just prior to Christmas making the last 16 of the Northern Ireland Open and the quarter-finals of the UK Championship. Given that some of the other players in this section are not in the best of form, Perry could be the one to take advantage and have a deep run in this competition, as he is certainly still good enough to get back into the top 16.

My second quarter choice is another player who will be looking to get back into the top 16. Ricky Walden has started coming back to form in recent tournaments. Just before Christmas he made the quarter-finals of the Scottish Open and the last 16 of the UK Championships before losing to the runner-up in both tournaments. Walden's first round opponent Jack Lisowski is certainly a tough one, but somebody that Walden overcame at the last 64 stage in Northern Ireland just after Lisowski's career best run to the semi-finals in the Shanghai Masters. In the recent Championship League Walden reached the final of Group 5 and the semi-final in Group 6 so he should be sharp as well coming into this one and that may play in Walden's hands in the first couple of rounds here. Like Perry, he is far better than his current ranking and is more than capable of having a big week that could propel him back towards the top 16. 

Best of the rest: Joe Perry

Quarter choice: Ricky Walden

Quarter 3

Last 32 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Mark Davis Vs Niu Zhuang

Ryan Day Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh

David Gilbert Vs Mark Joyce

Shaun Murphy Vs Alan McManus

Quarter three is one that has already seen a couple of top 16 casualties with Ali Carter losing in the qualifiers in December and Ronnie O'Sullivan withdrawing from those matches. That has opened the door for someone like Mark Davis who is looking to boost what has been an average season for him. This is the furthest he has been in any tournament since beating John Higgins to make the last 16 of the European Masters nearly four months ago, with a number of first round exits coming in the time since.

Ryan Day will be eyeing a big week here to make strides towards getting back into the top 16 in the provisional Crucible seedings list, especially after taking a hit on Monday morning. Losing 6-3 to Lu Haotian in China Open qualifying means his destiny is out of his hands and that he will have to recover the deficit before Beijing. His first round opponent Thepchaiya Un-Nooh looked in good form in his China Open qualifier, and is someone that is more than capable of not only beating Day, but having a big run into the latter stages of this competition. However, the one thing that he does not seem to have is the consistency in his game, often going from top gear in one match to reverse in the next.

David Gilbert against Mark Joyce is one of the toughest first round matches to call and the head-to-head does not offer a great deal to help either. They have played each other twice this season, with Gilbert winning 5-0 in Shanghai before Joyce won 6-4 at the UK Championships. It has to be said that Joyce has looked in the better form of the two recently. He could easily have made the semi-finals of the UK Championship as well as making the last 16 at the International Championship and the quarter-finals of the Paul Hunter Classic. Gilbert meanwhile only managed one win from six matches and was relegated from the Championship League recently in the first group he entered. He also fell in the first round of the Scottish Open as well as suffering a few last 64 exits prior to Christmas.

The stand out name in this quarter though is Shaun Murphy. The Magician has made four finals this season already, including one in Germany at the Paul Hunter Classic and as a finalist here in 2015 he will be keen to go one better as he returns to the Tempodrome. Murphy was unlucky to fall in a tight Masters quarter-final to Trump, otherwise he could well have made final number 5 of the season at the Ally Pally. With the form he has shown in making the final of the UK and winning the Champion of Champions you have to think that there could be more finals to come between now and the seasons end a possibly another trophy or two. His draw is tricky but he would not have to play someone seeded in the top 16 until at least the quarter-finals and maybe even the semi-finals, should he make it through the early rounds. Looking at the line-up for this week Murphy is certainly a top contender for the title. 

Best of the rest: Mark Davis

Quarter choice: Shaun Murphy

Quarter 4

Last 32 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Barry Hawkins Vs Graeme Dott

Mei Xiwen Vs Hammad Miah

Liang Wenbo Vs Tom Ford

Mark Selby Vs Xiao Guodong

The bottom quarter is where we find World Champion and 2015 German Master Mark Selby. The world number one has been pretty quiet since winning the International Championship at the start of November however. Early exits in the UK Championship and Masters as well as not appearing in Scotland or Northern Ireland mean that Selby has not played huge amounts either, and should be pretty fresh coming to Berlin. His first round opponent Xiao Guodong is more than capable of an upset, as Selby found out in the last 32 of the English Open, where Xiao came out on top 4-1. As well as that the former ranking finalist reached the Scottish Open quarter-finals before losing 5-4 to eventual winner Neil Robertson, having already beaten Marco Fu along the way that week. He also reached the last 16 of the UK Championships and overcame Ali Carter to score another top 16 scalp in Belfast. If Xiao keeps up this form, we certainly have a cracking match to look forward to there and the winner could easily go deep into the tournament.

Barry Hawkins against Graeme Dott is another intriguing round one tie. Hawkins has been in poor form this season, and on Monday evening he had to recover from 3-0 down just to qualify for the China Open. He did not do a lot wrong in the first round of the Masters, losing 6-4 to the eventual runner-up, though he did also lose in round in Glasgow and Belfast, as well as suffering a shock 6-0 exit in the last 32 of the UK Championships. Dott meanwhile has had a couple of decent runs, showing he can still do it on the big stage by thrashing Trump in the UK Championships, as well as reaching the last 16 in Shanghai and the China Championships. Dott is a twice semi-finalist at the Tempodrome, most recently in 2016 - beating Hawkins along the way - and his record here is hardly a surprise as he still relishes playing in the big matches against top players.

Mei Xiwen versus Hammad Miah is a rather unexpected last 32 tie, with Mei coming through December's qualifiers for the loss of just two frames against Michael Holt and Robbie Williams, while Hammad saw off Luca Brecel and Zhao Xintong. With both players currently chasing the top 64, (or at least the top eight on the one-year money list not already qualified for the 2018/2019) in order to stay on tour so this could be a big week for both players.

My final quarter selection though is another player who needs a big week, as he targets a place in the upcoming World Grand Prix. Liang Wenbo is currently two spots outside on the qualifying list and needs to make at least the quarter-finals in Berlin, as he has not entered the Shoot-Out - which is the final event to qualify for Preston. An average season from Liang and a few early season non-entries has left Liang in this situation and he faces someone in Tom Ford in the last 32 who is also chasing a Grand Prix place. Again Ford could do with making the quarter-finals to put himself in pole position to be heading to Preston. The last two times these two have played it has gone the distance, most recently in the English Open when Ford led 3-1 before Liang came back to 4-3 as well as making a 147 break along the way. If this sort of heavy scoring (Liang also had the highest break in the Masters despite losing in round one) makes an appearance in Berlin, then he could repeat or even better his best run here, making the semi-finals in 2015. 

Best of the rest: Graeme Dott

Quarter choice: Liang Wenbo

Tournament winner selection: Shaun Murphy

The event will be covered on Eurosport TV and Eurosport Player once again and with plenty of top stars involved it should be a fascinating five days of action in Berlin. 

Fantasy Snooker: Points update and German Masters info

The Masters in London finished with just two players picking either of the finalists, one picking Mark Allen and taking full advantage of his success and another reaping the rewards from Kyren Wilson's good week. 

Coming up on Wednesday is the German Masters in Berlin with 32 players in action following December's qualifiers. If your season pick has made it through to the venue, you will get the points from their two qualifying wins as well as any points from this week in Berlin. 

Also, with this not being a double points event you can play one of your three captains picks. With just a handful of events after this time is running out to make the most of this feature and maximise your points. 

Here is how the table stands after the Double Points Masters: 

Couge: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie   Points: 935  

PPS: Williams x2, Ding x3, Murphy x3, Gilbert, Higgins x3, Bingham, Trump x3, Selby x2, O’Sullivan x2, Walden, Robertson (1 Captain pick used)

Protoursnooker: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Cao Yupeng    Points: 899  

PPS: Ding x2, Allen, Maguire, Murphy x3, Selby, Robertson x2, Higgins, Hawkins, O’Sullivan x3, Wenbo, Williams, Fu, Trump, Wilson, Carter, Bingtao (1 Captain Pick used)

Daniela Reich: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie   Points: 845   

PPS: Ding x2, Fu, Murphy x2, Allen x2, Williams, K. Wilson, Trump x2, Day, Bingham, McGill, O’Sullivan x2, Selby x2, Wenbo, Maguire, Robertson

Kellie Barker: SEASON: Jack Lisowski and Alex Ursenbacher   Points: 838  

PPS: Allen x3, Fu, Murphy, Higgins x2, Hawkins, Ding, Trump, Brecel, Carter, Bingtao, Selby x2, Wenbo, Williams, Robertson, O’Sullivan x2, Maguire (1 Captain pick used)

FAM147: SEASON: Zhao Xintong and Xiao Guodong   Points: 805   

PPS: Carter, Hawkins, Woollaston, Hossein, Bingham x2, Allen x2, Yuelong, Lisowski x2, Selby, Murphy, Trump x2, Akani, Robertson x3, O’Sullivan x2, Maguire

Alex Abrahams: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and John Astley    Points: 756   

PPS: Carter x2, Fu, Murphy x2, Perry, Higgins x2, K. Wilson, Trump x3, Williams x2, Bingham, Ding, O’Sullivan x3, Selby x2, Wenbo (1 Captain pick used)

TY: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Zhang Anda   Points: 729    

PPS: Ding x2, Robertson x3, Higgins x3, Allen x2, Ding, Bingham, Selby x3, Trump, Murphy x2, Brecel, O’Sullivan (1 Captain Pick used)

Colin Delaney: SEASON: Ken Doherty and Yan Bingtao   Points: 719   

PPS: Higgins x2, Maguire, McGill, Allen x2, Hawkins x2, Ding x2, Trump x3, Brecel, Selby x2, Murphy, Gould x2, O’Sullivan, Lisowski, Perry (1 Captain Pick used)

Cluster of Reds: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and John Astley   Points: 717  

PPS: Ding, Perry, Allen x3, Ford, Hawkins, Fu, Trump x2, Brecel, Robertson, Williams, Gould x2, Murphy, O’Sullivan x3, Selby, Wenbo, Higgins (1 Captain pick used)

Andy Brooker: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie   Points: 710   

PPS: Carter, Day, Maguire, Bingham, Higgins x3, Williams x2, Trump x2, Yuelong, Hawkins, O’Sullivan x2, Ding, Allen x2, Robertson, Selby x2, Perry (1 Captain pick used)

Phil Mudd: SEASON: Jimmy Robertson and Sam Craigie   Points: 704    

PPS: Ding x2, Fu, Woollaston, Allen x2, Robertson, Williams x2, Brecel, Higgins x2, O’Sullivan x3, Selby, Gould, Wenbo, Perry, Bingtao, Murphy (1 Captain pick used)

John McBride: SEASON: Hossein Vafei and Sam Craigie   Points: 682     

PPS:  Holt, Liang x2, Bingham, King, Murphy, Trump x2, Allen x3, Selby x3, Hawkins, Williams x2, Lisowski, Robertson x2, Higgins

Ben Summers: SEASON: Noppon Saengkham and Sam Craigie    Points: 674    

PPS: McGill x2, Day, Dott, Ding, Selby x2, Trump x3, Holt, Allen x3, O’Sullivan x2, Williams x3, Yuelong, Higgins, Maguire

Igor Snooker: SEASON: Matthew Stevens and Ken Doherty   Points: 653    

PPS: Ding, O’Sullivan x2, Maguire, Murphy x3, Fu x2, Selby x2, Robertson x2, McGill, Wilson, Williams x2, Allen x2, Bingtao, Carter, O’Sullivan (1 captain pick used)

TungstenDarts: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie   Points: 650   

PPS: Fu x3, Hawkins x2, McGill x2, Allen x2, Selby x2, Williams, Day, Gould x2, Trump x2, Ding, Robertson, O’Sullivan x2, Maguire (1 Captain pick used)

Rob Francis: SEASON: Mark Davis and Cao Yupeng   Points: 636    

PPS: Ding x3, Robertson x2, Murphy x3, Allen, Higgins x3, Wilson, Trump x2, Wilson, Williams, Selby x2, O’Sullivan x2, Maguire (1 Captain pick used)

Isitan Bakar: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Scott Donaldson   Points: 625   

PPS: Wenbo, Robertson x2, Murphy, Bingham x2, Ding x2, M. White, Higgins, Carter, Wilson, Allen, Trump x3, O’Sullivan x2

GaryOnCue: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Sam Craigie   Points: 595  

PPS: Hawkins, Robertson, Maguire x2, Murphy x2, Ding x2, Selby x2, Higgins x2, Wilson, Allen x2, O’Sullivan x3, Williams, Gould, Day, Walden (1 Captain pick used)

Munraj: SEASON: Jack Lisowski and Michael Georgiou   Points: 590     

PPS: Ding x2, Trump x2, Allen x2, Ford, Hawkins x2, Selby, Robertson x2, McGill x2, O’Sullivan, Wilson, Murphy, Wenbo, Gould, Guodong, Maguire, Carter (1 Captain pick used)

Kjetil: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and John Astley   Points: 556  

PPS: Carter, Perry, Woollaston, Dott, Fu, Allen x2, Xiwen, Gould x2, Bingham, O’Sullivan, Ding, Higgins x2, Akani, Lisowski, Maguire, Robertson, Williams

Matthew Lowson: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Alex Ursenbacher   Points: 553  

PPS: Ding x2, Fu, Maguire, Bingham, Hawkins, Brecel, Wilson, Selby x2, Higgins x2, Murphy x2, Trump, Williams, Bingtao, O’Sullivan x3, Allen, Day (1 Captain pick used)

LTD: SEASON: Robert Milkins and Ken Doherty    Points: 544   

PPS: Perry, Carter x2, Holt, Higgins x3, Hawkins x2, Maguire, Perry, Wilson x2, Wenbo, Selby x3, O’Sullivan, Robertson, Walden (1 Captain pick used)

Anthony: SEASON: Xiao Guodong and Michael Georgiou   Points: 514  

PPS: Higgins x3, Day, Maguire, Murphy, Ding, King, Trump x2, Bingham, Williams, O’Sullivan x2, McGill, Selby x2, Allen x2, Wilson, Bingtao

Mark Taylor: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Sam Craigie    Points: 511   

PPS: Allen x2, Robertson, Maguire, Perry x2, Hawkins, Higgins x2, Wilson, Day, Selby x3, Trump, O’Sullivan x2, Murphy, White (2 Captain Picks used)

D. Muckian: SEASON: Tian Pengfei and Zhang Anda    Points: 507  

PPS: Ding x2, Perry, Maguire x2, Allen X3, Williams x2, Lisowski, O’Sullivan x2, Wilson, Zhou, Gould, Selby x2, Higgins, White (1 Captain pick used)

Beat the Boss (Me): SEASON: Hossein Vafei and Robin Hull   Points: 463 

PPS: Maguire, Holt, Allen x2, Ford, Fu, Williams, Robertson x2, Brecel, Murphy, Hawkins, Ding, Gould, Wenbo, Selby, Trump, Perry, Bingtao, O’Sullivan, Higgins (1 Captain pick used)

My two "Beat the boss" picks this week are Barry Hawkins and Martin Gould

Get your picks in before the first matches at 1pm on Wednesday 31st January. All the best of luck for your picks this week. 

China Open Qualifiers Preview

On Saturday, four days of China Open qualifying will begin in Barnsley with a recent prize money increase announcement adding even more importance to the matches.

When the final stages of the China Open begin on April 1, it will be the last event for players to get into the top 16 and qualify automatically for the World Championships at the Crucible.

News on Sunday that the winner will now receive, £220,000 which has nearly trebled last year's winners cheque, means it will certainly be all to play for in Beijing, with Marco Fu being the only notable non-entry.

On top of this, it will be the penultimate chance for players to make it into the top 64 on the provisional end of season rankings, the crucial mark for tour survival - making these matches even more important for players in that area of the rankings currently.

Liam Highfield is currently 64th on the provisional end-of-season money list with £64,825 on his ranking, £3,575 clear of current 65th place Zhang Anda, but that could all change depending on results over the next few days.


Full Draw: 

Preliminary Round: (All matches held over to the venue)

Zhang Yong Vs Wildcard
Wildcard Vs Wildcard
Basem Eltahhan Vs Wildcard

Last 128: 

Mark Selby Vs Wang Yuchen - Held over to the main venue
Scott Donaldson Vs Zhang Anda
Ben Woollaston Vs Rod Lawler
Robert Milkins Vs Lee Walker
Ryan Day Vs Lu Haotian
Rory McLeod Vs Liam Highfield
Stephen Maguire Vs James Wattana
Fergal O'Brien Vs Hammad Miah
Mark Davis Vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Michael Holt Vs Akani Songsermsawad
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Ian Burns
Mark Williams Vs Ian Preece
Kurt Maflin Vs Ashley Hugill
Yan Bingtao Vs John Astley
Noppon Saengkham Vs Ken Doherty
Mark Allen Vs Allan Taylor

John Higgins Vs Adam Duffy
Alfie Burden Vs Martin O'Donnell
Anthony Hamilton Vs David John
Jack Lisowski Vs Gerard Greene
Ali Carter Vs Chen Zifan
Gary Wilson Vs Niu Zhuang
Joe Perry Vs Joe Swail
Matthew Selt Vs Chris Totten
Peter Ebdon Vs Zhang Yong/Wildcard - Held over to the main venue
Mark King Vs Leo Fernandez
Andrew Higginson Vs Wildcard - Held over to the main venue
Kyren Wilson Vs Li Yuan
Jimmy Robertson Vs Christopher Keogan
Xiao Guodong Vs Alex Borg
Tian Pengfei Vs Craig Steadman
Ding Junhui Vs Michael Georgiou - Held over to the main venue

Judd Trump Vs Jak Jones
Oliver Lines Vs Nigel Bond
Zhou Yuelong Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Li Hang Vs Chen Zhe
Neil Robertson Vs Robin Hull
Robbie Williams Vs Sanderson Lam
Martin Gould Vs Fang Xiongman
Jamie Jones Vs Sam Craigie
Hossein Vafei Vs Hamza Akbar
Ricky Walden Vs Aditya Mehta
Matthew Stevens Vs Eden Sharav
Stuart Bingham Vs Jimmy White
Mark Joyce Vs Peter Lines
Graeme Dott Vs Mei Xiwen
Chris Wakelin Vs Lukas Kleckers
Shaun Murphy Vs David Grace

Barry Hawkins Vs Josh Boileau
Sam Baird Vs Soheil Vahedi
Michael White Vs Xu Si
Dominic Dale Vs Paul Davison
Luca Brecel Vs Zhao Xintong
Cao Yupeng Vs Kurt Dunham
David Gilbert Vs Billy Castle
Mike Dunn Vs Mitchell Mann
Yu De Lu Vs Duane Jones
Liang Wenbo Vs Rhys Clark - Held over to the main venue
Stuart Carrington Vs Eltahhan/Wildcard - Held over to the main venue
Anthony McGill Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Tom Ford Vs Jamie Barrett
Alan McManus Vs Yuan Sijun
Daniel Wells Vs Elliot Slessor
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Ross Muir - Held over to the main venue


Stuart Bingham is all set to make his comeback from suspension here as he takes on Jimmy White in what is certainly a tough return fixture. The whirlwind defeated Ali Carter in York at the UK Championships and overcame Anthony McGill in German Masters qualifying to show that he is still capable of beating the top stars.

Bingham's last event on tour was the English Open when he exited in the last 32 to Hossein Vafei and he will certainly be looking to make up for lost time by qualifying for Beijing. The Snooker Shoot-Out in a couple of weeks will be Bingham's first full event at a venue, and with his World Grand Prix place in the balance, he will need to start strongly there.

Elsewhere, there are some brutal round one ties including Luca Brecel Vs Zhao Xintong. There is plenty on the line there for Zhao who is in need of victories in order to save his place on the professional tour.

As previously mentioned, Highfield is in the hot seat of 64th on the provisional end-of season list. The man that those below need to catch takes on Rory McLeod in a crucial round one tie that is a must win to keep his head above the line. Zhang Anda in 65th could overtake him with victory over Scott Donaldson if Highfield was to slip up, while 66th placed Mei Xiwen is also close enough to climb out but he faces a tough assignment against Graeme Dott to qualify for Beijing.

67th placed David Grace has an even tougher task against Shaun Murphy, but 68th on the provisional end-of season list is Tian Pengfei who is still seeded in the top 64 in the current seedings and therefore faces a player ranked below him in Craig Steadman. Also vulnerable is 63rd placed John Astley who has a brutal draw against young Yan Bingtao, and Noppon Sanegkham in 62nd could also be overtaken by 65th placed Zhang Anda and fall into the danger zone if he loses to Ken Doherty and other results go against him.

The secondary way to stay on tour is through the one-season money list. The top eight not already qualified for the 2018/2019 season will gain a new two year tour card without going to Qualifying School in May.

Elliot Slessor currently leads this list by a distance and is nearly £15,000 clear of second placed Tian Pengfei. Michael Georgiou, Mei Xiwen, Zhang Anda, Mitchell Mann, Zhao Xintong and Aditya Mehta are the others in position on that list.

However, Alfie Burden and Lee Walker are just £500 behind Mehta with Zhao not much further ahead while Zhang Anda and Mitchell Mann could also both be leapfrogged and fall out of these tour card positions with defeats in Barnsley. Mann faces Mike Dunn in the last 128, while Burden plays Martin O'Donnell, Walker is up against Robert Milkins and the man on the bubble Mehta plays Ricky Walden.

Grace is also within touching distance of the top eight NAQ for next season on the one-year list, but he must turn giant-killer to take advantage. Also within range are Ian Preece (who faces an all-Welsh clash with last year's runner-up Mark Williams), Sam Craigie (who takes on Jamie Jones) and Hammad Miah (up against Fergal O'Brien).


Many others are further back but need a run of victories to climb into either the top 64 on the end-of-season list or the top 8 NAQ on the one-year list. Surprisingly one of the names on that list is Sam Baird, who faces Soheil Vahedi on Tuesday afternoon and is more than capable of stringing some wins together between now and the end of the season.


In terms of the "Race to the Crucible" Mark Allen is number 16 and currently holding the last automatic qualifying spot. He leads 17th placed Ryan Day by just over £27,000 which is quite a lead, but with the money on offer in Beijing and before that crunch time that can soon be eroded.

In order to be in Beijing and have his destiny in his own hands, Day will need to overcome the dangerous Lu Haotian this week, while Allen faces Allan Taylor. Stephen Maguire is another player hunting a top 16 return and he needs to beat James Wattana to keep his destiny in his own hands.

Anthony McGill is 15th on the provisional Crucible seedings list and his last 128 opponent in Barnsley this week is Thor Chuan Leong, while Bingham himself is 14th and at a slight risk too.

There are no such worries for the likes of Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ding Junhui who are all exempt from the Barnsley qualifiers and have their last 128 matches held over to the venue in April. That means Judd Trump is the highest ranked player heading to the qualifiers this week and the former China Open winner plays Jak Jones for the right to play in China's capital.


All matches in the qualifying stages are played over the best-of-11 frames format, mirroring that of the International Championships, with winners in qualifying guaranteed £5,000 by making the last 64 and booking their spots for the penultimate ranking event of the season.

Masters victory can open the floodgates for Mark Allen

Mark Allen added his name to the illustrious list of players to have won one of Snooker's triple crown events on Sunday night when he overcame Kyren Wilson 10-7 to win the Masters title in London.

The Northern Irishman was the first from his country to win a triple crown event for 31 years since Dennis Taylor won the 1987 Masters.

For Allen though, a week that includes victories over Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins is fulfilment of the promise shown when he made it to the 2011 UK Championship final and lost out to Judd Trump. Having been in 7 full ranking finals, winning three and picking five "minor ranking" European Tour titles, Allen had admitted earlier in the week that he had not achieved as much in the game as he thought he would have.

Given the way he has been playing this season, and the way he played to capture this title, I think the floodgates could now open for Allen and ranking titles may be slightly easier to come by.

I think it is quite telling that he turned to good friend Shaun Murphy for advice during the final against Wilson, with Murphy winning this title in 2015 and being able to pass on his wisdom to a man in Allen who had not got the same experience of what it took to get over the line in one of snooker's three majors.

Now that this experience is in the bank, a lot of titles could follow for the heavy-scoring 31-year-old who should really only be at the beginning of his peak years, especially when you look at what O'Sullivan, Higgins and Mark Williams have achieved into their 40's.


As for Kyren Wilson, he has a very long time left in the game and the experience of reaching his first major final will keep him moving in the right direction. The loss may hurt for a while, but the fact he has reached three finals this season already shows how talented, hard-working and determined the 2015 Shanghai Masters champion is.

The qualities he has shown suggest that he could become a multiple triple crown event winner himself, and along with Allen, I think he will be a certain contender when attention turns to Sheffield in April for the World Championships.

Wilson's comeback against Judd Trump in the semi-finals was one of the great Masters comebacks - though the man on the wrong end of that match is beginning to develop an interesting trend in these major events.


Judd Trump's only triple crown event win to date came back at the 2011 UK Championships and given the way he had risen to the top so quickly, after breaking through early in the same year, many would have expected him to add to that tally multiple times by now.

However, he has never been to a Masters final, has only reached one UK Championship final since winning in 2011 and has not reached a second World final, after his run to the finals of the 2011 event.

He has though been to three Masters semi-finals now, losing in 2012 6-3 to Neil Robertson, 6-4 to Barry Hawkins in 2016 and now from 5-2 up to Wilson this year.

In the World Championships he lost out in the semi-finals in 2013 17-11 to Ronnie O'Sullivan, and at the last four stage in 2015 17-16 to Stuart Bingham, as well as losing 7 of the last nine frames in 2014 to fall 13-11 to Neil Robertson.

2014 was also the year of Trump's only triple crown final since the 2011 victory, where he ran through the field to meet O'Sullivan in the UK Championship final and came from 9-4 down to force a decider, before losing 10-9. Aside from that, Trump has played in five other UK's since 2011 and only gone beyond the last 32, when he lost in the last 16 to Allen in 2013.

At the age of 28, he still has plenty of time left to add to his major title and has still won six ranking titles in the six years since his 2011 UK win, but with a trend of semi-final losses in majors starting to emerge, it is time for Trump to find a way of reaching the next level. Whether that is by returning to the all out attack style that served him well in his break through year of 2011 instead of trying to tone it down, or by looking at his overall shot selection and game management, that saw him take on shots like a ludicrous plant in the deciding frame against Wilson on Saturday.


After this week though, I can certainly see Allen and Wilson adding to their trophy cabinets again in the very near future. For those that have watched either player throughout the first half of the season and in years previous, their good runs this week are no one-off and will surely be repeated multiple times before they put their cues away for the last time.

Rampant Ronnie O'Sullivan leads the way going into Masters quarter-finals

Aiming for his eighth Masters title, Ronnie O'Sullivan is off to the perfect start after the first round action was completed at the Alexandra Palace in London.

O'Sullivan cruised into the last eight with a whitewash win over Marco Fu, who could only manage a points total of 35 in the match.

The defending champion opened up with breaks of 120 and 121 to keep Fu in his chair and helpless in the early stages of the match. Runs of 74 and 50 gave the Rocket frame three before making his third century with a break of 112 putting him 4-0 ahead at the mid-session interval in no time at all. Further breaks of 75 in the fifth and a 53 in the sixth clinched victory and made sure O'Sullivan had a 50+ contribution in every frame of the match.

On Sunday, number two seed Mark Selby crashed out of the competition, losing 6-5 to Mark Williams. The pair met at the same stage last year with Selby winning 6-5 so the Welshman was able to return the favour. Selby certainly had his chances from 5-3 ahead to clinch victory but was unable to cross the line and like in the UK Championship, his title hopes were ended early.

Also exiting the competition was fourth seed Ding Junhui, despite making two centuries and leading the match 3-0 against Ryan Day. Ding opened up with a run of 111 and at 3-0 Day was not really in the game. That all changed though when he kept his hopes alive with a break of 79 making it 1-3. After the interval breaks of 125 and 105 soon had the match all square at 3-3, and when two tighter frames went the way of the Welshman, he was only a frame away, leading 5-3. Ding did not give up easily, making his second century to close the gap, but when Day's chance came his third century, a 115, was more than enough to secure a famous victory on his return to the competition.

UK Championship runner-up Shaun Murphy had to see off a fightback from Ali Carter to make it through to the quarter-finals. One of the form men of the season, Murphy strolled into a 4-0 lead, winning the first frame despite needing a snooker and making breaks of 119 and 87 prior to the interval. Carter took frames five and six with breaks of 99 and 110 and the high scoring continued as Murphy went 5-2 up with a break of 93. The Magician had chances again though in frames eight and nine but Carter held strong and really piled on the pressure by closing to just 4-5 adrift. There was to be no mistake when the chance came to Murphy in the tenth though and he closed out victory with a run of 76.

He will now meet Judd Trump in the quarter-finals on Friday after the former UK Champion won the battle of the left-handers against Liang Wenbo. Much like Murphy, Trump marched into a big early lead only to be pegged back impressively by his opponent. A 5-1 lead, was soon reduced to 5-4 after breaks of 58 and 51 in the seventh, a magnificent 139 in the eighth and a second century of 116 in the ninth. However, Trump's chance came in the tenth and he grabbed it with both hands, finishing off with his highest break on the night, an 85 securing his last eight spot.

Fifth seed John Higgins came from 4-2 behind to win the all-Scottish clash 6-4 against Anthony McGill. Higgins had taken the first two frames with his match high break of 89 coming in that second frame. Once McGill took a tight third he was able to settle down and marked his Masters debut with a 122 to level the scores going into the break. Runs of 61 and 76 after the interval made it four frames in a row and at this stage it looked like Higgins was in trouble. From there, McGill only scored 13 points in the next three frames as the higher ranked Scot turned the game back in his favour, and after McGill had a chance in the tenth to force the decider, Higgins was able to mop up and come through a tricky battle.

Mark Allen was in fine form with two centuries on the way to taking out debutant Luca Brecel who was not able to produce his best form on the big stage. Runs of 72 and 86 for the Northern Irishman were joined by a 135 break in frame four and a 120 in the final frame.

Barry Hawkins was the only other seed to fall, losing 6-4 to Kyren Wilson in a high quality affair. Hawkins started well with centuries in frames one and three, but he was only level at 2-2 going into the mid-session break. After Hawkins earlier 131 and 120 breaks, Wilson compiled two centuries of his own with a 109 in the fifth and a 106 in the seventh to lead 4-3. Hawkins levelled at 4-4 in one visit, but Wilson was just about the stronger of the two in the closing stages to win his first match at the Masters.


Last 16 results: 

Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-0 Marco Fu
Mark Allen 6-3 Luca Brecel
John Higgins 6-4 Anthony McGill
Ryan Day 6-4 Ding Junhui
Judd Trump 6-4 Liang Wenbo
Shaun Murphy 6-4 Ali Carter
Kyren Wilson 6-4 Barry Hawkins
Mark Williams 6-5 Mark Selby

Quarter-Finals: (Picks in bold)

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Mark Allen - If the first round of the Masters could be summed up in a couple of phrases they would certainly be: heavy scoring, and with plenty of close finishes. In fact it was really only O'Sullivan, who was rampant in whitewashing Marco Fu, and Allen who came through with much to spare. With five tons between them in the twelve collective frames won in round one, these two are far from shy amongst the balls and plenty more heavy scoring can be expected in this one. Allen does have wins against O'Sullivan in the past in the World Championships and the Masters so is not afraid of defeating him on the big stage and can certainly give him a big test in this opening quarter-final. However, if O'Sullivan is close to the performance given in round one then there are not many players this week who have a chance. 

John Higgins Vs Ryan Day - Both of these two had to come from behind to make it through to the quarter-finals. Day was in the much more perilous position at 3-0 down to Ding but he knew he had what it takes to beat Ding having done it so many times before. Against Higgins he does not quite have such a favourable head-to-head record though and I expect the Scotsman to get stronger after coming through a tough all-Scottish battle in round one. Day's scoring against Ding though was incredibly impressive and if he can take his chances as clinically against Higgins then he has every chance of making back-to-back Triple Crown semi-finals. Failure to take his opportunities though will prove very costly because we all know how good the four-times World champion is at coming from behind in frames. All told I expect this to be another close contest if Day can bring his A game to the table. 

Judd Trump Vs Shaun Murphy - This has to be one of the greater match-ups in snooker right now with some of the past matches they have produced. Their last proper meeting was in the Hong Kong masters where Trump won 5-3. If both players come to the party then there is never very much between them, as the 13-12 Crucible classic in 2013 will testify. The pair played another belter in 2016 at the International Championship where Trump had three centuries but only just survived to win 6-5. Given the form Murphy is in we can expect a game of similar quality and there will not be much to separate the players. Both had to survive players coming back at them in round one, though I would say Murphy looked the slightly more impressive of the two, creating a string of chances against Carter, while Trump's match with Liang arguably could have gone even closer. Given the close record they have, this has all the makings of an Ally Pally classic that could go the full distance. 

Mark Williams Vs Kyren Wilson - At the bottom of the draw we find another match where it is very difficult to separate the two players. Williams played well to beat Selby, but the world number one should have beaten him given the chances he had in the final three frames. Wilson though had to withstand a barrage of scoring early from Hawkins and hit back in kind later on in the match. The most impressive thing with Wilson is his mental strength and determination an asset that will take him a very long way in the game. Wilson and Williams have really only had two meaningful meetings, both at the quarter-final stage of tournaments. The most recent in the 2017 World Open a few months ago saw Williams open up with a century before being hit by wave after wave of big breaks by Wilson that completely shut the Welshman out of the match. Wilson also won a much tighter affair 5-4 in the 2016 Northern Irish Open, a title Williams would go on to win a year later. It really is difficult to pick a winner in this one, with two very smart players who can also score very heavily. For me though, Wilson has a very bright future in these big events and it would not be surprising if he got on a run to make his third final of the season on Sunday.


Whatever the outcomes, four fascinating quarter-finals are in prospect and the event is set-up very nicely after some tight opening round matches littered with century breaks and plenty of drama which looks set to continue over the next couple of days. 

Masters Preview

Major snooker in 2018 begins with a bang next week as the world's top 16 take to the Alexandra Palace in London for the Masters.

Ronnie O'Sullivan will be the man to beat in London, having won the title in three of the last four years, as well as winning three times already this season, including the season's first Triple Crown event at the UK Championship.

There are also a few notable absentees, including 2012 champion Neil Robertson. The Australian made it to both of the first two Alexandra Palace finals, and has been to three of the six finals stage there finishing runner-up in 2013 and 2015. You have to go back all the way to 2006 however to find the last Masters that did not feature Robertson, and ironically enough he made it back into the top 16 by winning in Scotland, the week after the Masters cut-off.

The other changes to the field from last year see suspended Stuart Bingham out, whilst last year's runner-up Joe Perry fell out of the top 16 at the end of the 2016/2017 season and has not been able to force his way back in.

There are a couple of debutants as Luca Brecel competes in the first of surely many Masters for him, after breaking into the top 16 courtesy of his win in August at the China Championship. Anthony McGill is the other debutant, while Ryan Day returns to the tournament for the first time since 2010 and a first appearance at the Alexandra Palace.

Draw 

Quarter 1 

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Marco Fu - Since missing the Masters in 2013 as part of his year out of the game, O'Sullivan has made three of the last four finals and was only defeated in the 2015 semi-finals by Neil Robertson. 12 times a finalist and seven times a Masters champion, O'Sullivan is so incredibly difficult to beat in front of a boisterous home support. Given the form he is in this season, winning the UK Championship, English Open and making the final of the Champion of Champions he has thrived in the events on home soil, and I think everyone else in the field is going to be up against it from the get go this week. 

Marco Fu does not have a bad record in London, he made the final in 2011 before then falling out of the top 16 and appearing next in 2014. In his last four appearances he has only lost in round one once - to Neil Robertson in 2016 - though he has played O'Sullivan twice in the last three years at the Palace losing on both occasions. It's been a quiet season for Fu who has failed to get past the last 16 in a meaningful event so far and I don't see that changing here this week. 

Prediction: O'Sullivan to win 6-3 

Mark Allen Vs Luca Brecel - In 9 consecutive appearances at the Masters Allen has only lost in the first round twice, but has also only made it past the quarter-finals on two occasions. That is by no means a bad record for the Northern Irishman but he will be looking to take a step forward this year, having looked in good form so far this season. A final at the International Championship and a semi-final in Yushan earlier in this season were impressive, and he has been scoring heavily throughout the first half of the campaign. He did withdraw from the recent Championship League for family reasons, so hopefully that is nothing too serious and Allen will be able to focus fully on the game ahead against Brecel.

The Belgium is on debut in the Masters in what will be the first of many appearances in this tournament for the youngster. He has had an excellent first half to the season winning his first major ranking title but he also made semi-finals at the World Open and the Champion of Champions to show that that was in no way a one-off. The concern for Brecel is his shoulder, having exited early in a couple of tournaments before Christmas and withdrawing from another in order to rest his shoulder. Hopefully with some rest and treatment over Christmas he will be fully fit for this match, otherwise he could come up short here. 

Prediction: Allen to come through a tight match 6-5

Quarter Prediction: Ronnie O'Sullivan 

Quarter 2

John Higgins Vs Anthony McGill - For a player of his quality, Higgins recent Masters record is slightly surprising. He has not made it past the quarter-finals since the first year at the Palace in 2012, and only passed the quarter-finals twice since he last won the event way back in 2006. After his first round exit last year, he has lost in round one in six of his last 11 appearances. Higgins has had a decent start to the season, but would have been disappointed to come up just short again in his home event, losing in the Scottish Open semi-finals just before Christmas. There have also been a couple of quarter-finals and semi-finals mixed in amongst the Indian Open title the Scot took home in September. I think he has the best chance of anyone in this quarter of winning the title, and there is certainly a big possibility of yet another O'Sullivan and Higgins match-up this week in the semi-finals. That would be the biggest challenge for Higgins if he is to win another Masters title, which he has shown he is still more than capable of.

Anthony McGill is on debut at the Masters and facing his fellow countryman for the third time this season after two unsuccessful encounters for McGill in the Indian Open final and Champion of Champions first round, losing 5-1 and 4-0 respectively. After a good start early on in the season, things have gone south for McGill since the English Open, with early exits in his last seven events. He has looked good in patches there but he will need to find another level here if Higgins is at his best. 

Prediction: Higgins to win 6-2 

Ding Junhui Vs Ryan Day - Last year, at the sixth attempt, Ding Junhui finally won his first match at the Alexandra Palace. Despite this, he was defeated in the quarter-finals meaning he has only won that one match since he won the title in 2011. That is a really odd record for someone of the immense quality of Ding, but in a few of those matches he has looked poor and slightly rusty coming back from the Christmas break. After his loss to Shaun Murphy in the first round in 2014 he suggested that he doesn't like the Ally Pally as a venue and has not put in enough practice over the Christmas break to be ready for the event. Four years on you would hope he has addressed those faults and is ready for a big run at the Palace. It has been a quiet time for him since winning the World Open, withdrawing from an event or two and suffering surprise early exits like in the UK Championship against Leo Fernandez. He has had an eye problem but hopefully that is now long gone and he will be able to focus on this tournament.

Ryan Day does have a good record against the Chinese number 1 though, beating him in both the World Championship and UK Championships in 2012, as well as beating him on home soil at the 2015 International Championship and nearly doing so at the Shanghai Masters in the same season, as well as beating him in the 2015 German Masters, after narrowly losing in the semi-finals to Ding in the same tournament a year earlier. I'm not sure what it is about Day that makes him such a consistent threat against Ding, but he has certainly shown it is not a one-off. If 2018 is as good to the Welshman as 2017 was then he is going to be in for another excellent year, after making the World Grand Prix final, wining the Riga Masters and making the UK Championship semi-finals in December. The 37-year-old has certainly shown more of his quality in the last 12 months and I think he is more than capable of having a big run here at the Alexandra Palace this week. 

Prediction: Day to beat Ding 6-3

Quarter Prediction: John Higgins 

Quarter 3

Judd Trump Vs Liang Wenbo - This will be Judd Trump's seventh successive Masters appearance, though he is yet to reach a final, and has lost in round one on three of those six previous occasions, all of which have come in his last four appearances in fact. Trump has hinted that he perhaps puts too much pressure on himself going into these Triple Crown events which may explain his poor record in them in the last couple of years, having failed to pass the last 32 in the UK Championship in his last three attempts as well as losing in the first round at the Crucible in 2017, when he was heavily fancied to win the title. Trump has had a mixed season so far with a win in Belgium in October as well as another final in Shanghai, though there have been a few other early exits so it is difficult to know what to expect from him. If he comes to London in top form this week, he is a massive contender to bag a second triple crown event victory. 

Meanwhile, this will be Liang Wenbo's third straight appearance but after exits to John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan, he is still searching for a first victory in the event. The draw certainly has not been any kinder to him this year throwing a match-up with the number three seed Trump, though he has beaten Trump in a couple of big matches previously. Trump was the victim in the final when Liang won the English Open in 2016, while in 2015 he came back from 4-1 down to beat Trump in the UK Championships on the way to reaching the final. Even in the 2016 World Championship Liang led 7-3 before eventually losing out 10-8 so the Chinese number 2 is not to be underestimated, and will also be looking to rectify a missed opportunity to beat O'Sullivan a year ago by defeating Trump. 

Prediction: Trump to overcome Liang 6-3

Shaun Murphy Vs Ali Carter - Shaun Murphy is, first of all, looking for his first win at the Masters since taking the title in 2015. However, in his first four appearances at the Palace he made it to at least the semi-finals on each occasion. It has been a first half to the season that Murphy himself has hailed as his "best ever". As well as defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final to take home the Champion of Champions title, Murphy made three other finals at the China Championship, Paul Hunter Classic and of course the UK Championships in York. The Magician's confidence will be high and given his aggressive style of play, that is a very dangerous sign for everyone else in the field. When he won here in 2015 it was a runaway victory in the end and if he plays as well as he did then or in the UK Championships a month ago, he is a major contender to take the title.

By contrast, Ali Carter has made ten appearances in the first round of the Masters in his career (including a debut in 2000 after making it through as a wildcard) but has only gone beyond round one on two occasions and is yet to make a semi-final in the event. His form this season has not been the best either. In ten ranking events so far he has lost in the first or second round on seven occasions, with a best run coming at the China Championship before losing to Shaun Murphy in the semi-finals. Overall though, his record against Murphy is a good one, overcoming him at the start of November 6-2 in the last 16 of the International Championship. Prior to Murphy's win at the China Championship, Carter had defeated him in their last three meetings and beat him twice on the way to winning group four in the Championship League this week. With everything weighed up I think we can expect a really tight game between these two on Wednesday. 

Prediction: Murphy to win a tight tussle 6-5

Quarter Prediction: Shaun Murphy 

Quarter 4

Barry Hawkins Vs Kyren Wilson - Prior to the Masters of 2016 Barry Hawkins was yet to win a match in the event, but when that duck was broken he marched on, beating an in-form Judd Trump amongst others on the way to making the final. Last year he nearly made that back-to-back Masters finals before a comeback from Joe Perry saw Hawkins fall in the last four. Interestingly, in the Championship League over the last week or so, Hawkins has met Wilson four times with Hawkins winning three of those matches with an overall aggregate score of 10-4. The season so far has been a tough one for Hawkins, though if you look at his history in the last few years he is notoriously much stronger after Christmas and that may well be the case again this season. 

This is only Kyren Wilson's second appearance in the Masters, losing in round one last year to give Ding his first win at the Ally Pally. It has been a decent season so far for Wilson making two finals, but since losing the English Open final he has played in six ranking events, losing in the last 32 on three occasions and suffering three first round exits. Winning group three of Championship League will hopefully give him some confidence to bring to London, and based on the form of both players I think this will be a really tight match. 

Prediction: Hawkins to win another tight game 6-4

Mark Selby Vs Mark Williams - This is a repeat of a first round classic from last year where Mark Selby came through 6-5 against Mark Williams. They've met three times since then as well, with Selby coming out on top in the China Open final and International Championship last 16 on the way to another tournament victory, while Williams won 5-3 in the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters prior to a tournament victory the next week in Northern Ireland. Williams though has only made it beyond the quarter-final stages at the Masters once since he last won the title in 2003. That includes round one exits in the last two years after failing to qualify in 2014 and 2015. As mentioned already, the Welshman is in really good form so far this season. He got off to a very strong start with four quarter-finals and a semi-final before defeating Yan Bingtao 9-8 to win in Northern Ireland. 

Mark Selby meanwhile has an excellent Masters record and it always takes a special performance to beat him. After making the final the first three years he played in the tournament, winning twice in 2008 and 2010 he then lost to the eventual finalist in the 2012 quarter-finals before winning again in 2013 and losing the 2014 final to O'Sullivan. In 2015 he may have lost in round one, but that was 6-5 against eventual winner Shaun Murphy and in the 2016 quarter-finals he again lost to the eventual champion O'Sullivan. Selby has got a trophy under his belt this season at the International Championships where he was in excellent form, but early exits in the UK Championships and the English Open - both won by O'Sullivan - mean that over the last couple of months he has been upstaged a little by the Rocket. Overall, you have to give Selby the edge here and I fully expect him to turn up at the Palace on Sunday afternoon firing on all cylinders and ready to win a fourth Masters title, and as his record in this event shows it is going to take an excellent performance to see him off. 

Prediction: Selby to show good form winning 6-3 

Quarter Prediction: Barry Hawkins

Tournament Winner Selection: Ronnie O'Sullivan 

UK viewers will have the choice of BBC coverage or Eurosport coverage this week, with Neil Robertson featuring as a studio guest for Eurosport throughout the week which will provide fascinating insight from the most recent ranking event winner on the tour. With the best players in the world gunning for glory this is once again likely to be an excellent showcase of snooker at the Alexandra Palace. 

Fantasy Snooker: Masters Update

After the Christmas break, Fantasy snooker is back and into the business end as we reach the second double points event of the year at the Masters.

There is still a clear leader at the top of the table and with just a few events remaining, it is going to take some good tipping to overtake him.

Here's how the table stands after the Scottish Open:

Couge: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie   Points: 909  

PPS: Williams x2, Ding x3, Murphy x3, Gilbert, Higgins x3, Bingham, Trump x3, Selby, O’Sullivan, Walden, Robertson (1 Captain pick used)

Protoursnooker: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Cao Yupeng    Points: 859  

PPS: Ding x2, Allen, Maguire, Murphy x2, Selby, Robertson x2, Higgins, Hawkins, O’Sullivan x2, Wenbo, Williams, Fu, Trump, Wilson, Carter, Bingtao (1 Captain Pick used)

Daniela Reich: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie   Points: 781 

PPS: Ding, Fu, Murphy x2, Allen x2, Williams, K. Wilson, Trump x2, Day, Bingham, McGill, O’Sullivan x2, Selby x2, Wenbo, Maguire, Robertson

Kellie Barker: SEASON: Jack Lisowski and Alex Ursenbacher   Points: 776  

PPS: Allen x3, Fu, Murphy, Higgins, Hawkins, Ding, Trump, Brecel, Carter, Bingtao, Selby x2, Wenbo, Williams, Robertson, O’Sullivan, Maguire (1 Captain pick used)

FAM147: SEASON: Zhao Xintong and Xiao Guodong   Points: 751   

PPS: Carter, Hawkins, Woollaston, Hossein, Bingham x2, Allen x2, Yuelong, Lisowski x2, Selby, Murphy, Trump, Akani, Robertson x3, O’Sullivan, Maguire

Alex Abrahams: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and John Astley    Points: 694  

PPS: Carter x2, Fu, Murphy x2, Perry, Higgins, K. Wilson, Trump x3, Williams x2, Bingham, Ding, O’Sullivan x2, Selby x2, Wenbo (1 Captain pick used)

TY: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Zhang Anda   Points: 693    

PPS: Ding x2, Robertson x3, Higgins x2, Allen x2, Ding, Bingham, Selby x2, Trump, Murphy x2, Brecel, O’Sullivan (1 Captain Pick used)

Andy Brooker: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie   Points: 674    

PPS: Carter, Day, Maguire, Bingham, Higgins x2, Williams x2, Trump x2, Yuelong, Hawkins, O’Sullivan x2, Ding, Allen x2, Robertson, Selby, Perry (1 Captain pick used)

Phil Mudd: SEASON: Jimmy Robertson and Sam Craigie   Points: 664  

PPS: Ding x2, Fu, Woollaston, Allen x2, Robertson, Williams x2, Brecel, Higgins x2, O’Sullivan x2, Selby, Gould, Wenbo, Perry, Bingtao (1 Captain pick used)

Colin Delaney: SEASON: Ken Doherty and Yan Bingtao   Points: 655    

PPS: Higgins, Maguire, McGill, Allen x2, Hawkins x2, Ding x2, Trump x2, Brecel, Selby x2, Murphy, Gould x2, O’Sullivan, Lisowski, Perry (1 Captain Pick used)

Cluster of Reds: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and John Astley   Points: 655  

PPS: Ding, Perry, Allen x3, Ford, Hawkins, Fu, Trump x2, Brecel, Robertson, Williams, Gould x2, Murphy, O’Sullivan x2, Selby, Wenbo (1 Captain pick used)

TungstenDarts: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie   Points: 638  

PPS: Fu x3, Hawkins, McGill, Allen x2, Selby x2, Williams, Day, Gould x2, Trump x2, Ding, Robertson, O’Sullivan x2, Maguire (1 Captain pick used)

Ben Summers: SEASON: Noppon Saengkham and Sam Craigie    Points: 634  

PPS: McGill x2, Day, Dott, Ding, Selby x2, Trump x3, Holt, Allen x3, O’Sullivan, Williams x2, Yuelong, Higgins, Maguire

Igor Snooker: SEASON: Matthew Stevens and Ken Doherty   Points: 613    

PPS: Ding, O’Sullivan, Maguire, Murphy x2, Fu x2, Selby x2, Robertson x2, McGill, Wilson, Williams x2, Allen x2, Bingtao, Carter, O’Sullivan (1 captain pick used)

Rob Francis: SEASON: Mark Davis and Cao Yupeng   Points: 610  

PPS: Ding x3, Robertson x2, Murphy x3, Allen, Higgins x3, Wilson, Trump x2, Wilson, Williams, Selby, O’Sullivan, Maguire (1 Captain pick used)

John McBride: SEASON: Hossein Vafei and Sam Craigie   Points: 576   

PPS:  Holt, Liang x2, Bingham, King, Murphy, Trump x2, Allen x3, Selby x3, Hawkins, Williams, Lisowski, Robertson x2, Higgins

Munraj: SEASON: Jack Lisowski and Michael Georgiou   Points: 574  

PPS: Ding, Trump x2, Allen x2, Ford, Hawkins, Selby, Robertson x2, McGill x2, O’Sullivan, Wilson, Murphy, Wenbo, Gould, Guodong, Maguire, Carter (1 Captain pick used)

Isitan Bakar: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Scott Donaldson   Points: 571   

PPS: Wenbo, Robertson x2, Murphy, Bingham x2, Ding x2, M. White, Higgins, Carter, Wilson, Allen, Trump x2, O’Sullivan

GaryOnCue: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Sam Craigie   Points: 533  

PPS: Hawkins, Robertson, Maguire x2, Murphy x2, Ding x2, Selby x2, Higgins, Wilson, Allen x2, O’Sullivan x2, Williams, Gould, Day, Walden (1 Captain pick used)

LTD: SEASON: Robert Milkins and Ken Doherty    Points: 508   

PPS: Perry, Carter x2, Holt, Higgins x2, Hawkins x2, Maguire, Perry, Wilson x2, Wenbo, Selby x2, O’Sullivan, Robertson, Walden (1 Captain pick used)

Kjetil: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and John Astley   Points: 506  

PPS: Carter, Perry, Woollaston, Dott, Fu, Allen x2, Xiwen, Gould x2, Bingham, O’Sullivan, Ding, Higgins, Akani, Lisowski, Maguire, Robertson

Matthew Lowson: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Alex Ursenbacher   Points: 491   

PPS: Ding x2, Fu, Maguire, Bingham, Hawkins, Brecel, Wilson, Selby x2, Higgins, Murphy x2, Trump, Williams, Bingtao, O’Sullivan x2, Allen, Day (1 Captain pick used)

D. Muckian: SEASON: Tian Pengfei and Zhang Anda    Points: 481  

PPS: Ding x2, Perry, Maguire x2, Allen X3, Williams x2, Lisowski, O’Sullivan, Wilson, Zhou, Gould, Selby, Higgins, White (1 Captain pick used)

Anthony: SEASON: Xiao Guodong and Michael Georgiou   Points: 460   

PPS: Higgins x3, Day, Maguire, Murphy, Ding, King, Trump, Bingham, Williams, O’Sullivan, McGill, Selby x2, Allen x2, Wilson, Bingtao

Mark Taylor: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Sam Craigie    Points: 449   

PPS: Allen x2, Robertson, Maguire, Perry x2, Hawkins, Higgins, Wilson, Day, Selby x3, Trump, O’Sullivan, Murphy, White (2 Captain Picks used)

Gary: SEASON: Ken Doherty and Yan Bingtao   Points: 403    

PPS: Carter, Robertson, Bingham, Gilbert, Fu, Higgins, Wilson, Day, Williams, Murphy, O’Sullivan, Selby

Beat the Boss (Me): SEASON: Hossein Vafei and Robin Hull   Points: 401   

PPS: Maguire, Holt, Allen x2, Ford, Fu, Williams, Robertson x2, Brecel, Murphy, Hawkins, Ding, Gould, Wenbo, Selby, Trump, Perry, Bingtao (1 Captain pick used)

My "Beat the boss" double points picks for the Masters are Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins. 

The deadline for all picks is before the curtain raiser on Sunday 14th January at 1pm. 

There's still plenty to play for in Fantasy Snooker, so all the best to all of you for the next round of picks. 

World Snooker releases "Average Shot Times"

Today World Snooker have released a new statistic onto the live scoring page that could change the way certain players are viewed, and confirm long running suspicions on others.

Under the heading AST on the main menu, the average shot times for every single tour player during the 2017/2018 season have been revealed.

This is obviously an interesting statistic to look at ahead of the Snooker Shoot-Out next month where players have time restrictions on each shot and are forced to play much faster than they would normally.

Fastest Players

According to this statistic these are the top 16 fastest players on the tour: 

The first thing I spotted here is how many of these players are actually currently in the top 16 of the world rankings. As of the completion of the Scottish Open, number two fastest Ronnie O'Sullivan is also number two in the official world rankings. At number three on the list, Judd Trump also matches his current world ranking, while Mark Williams, Luca Brecel Mark Allen, Ding Junhui, Marco Fu, Shaun Murphy are all in the the world ranked top 16 along with that. 

None of the names at the top of the list are particularly surprising, with former Shoot-Out winner Michael White sitting in 12th and fluent scorers like Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Zhao Xintong and Jack Lisowski all making it into the top eight. Soheil Vahedi is perhaps a name some would not have picked out, but anyone that has watched him a few times will have spotted that he does not hang around, as an average shot time of 19 seconds suggests. 

Slowest Players

Mark Williams will be pleased to see Lee Walker standing out as the very slowest player on the snooker tour. The Welshman has been saying for some time how slow Walker is and it will not come as a surprise to many that he is sits last, and deservedly so with an average shot time of 35 seconds. 

Rod Lawler and Peter Ebdon are the next two slowest and again that again will not surprise too many people. A couple of new tour players in Ashley Hugill and Lukas Kleckers are also slower than 30 seconds along with players like Paul Davison and Jak Jones who have been involved in their fair share of long matches in the last season or two. 

Long time snooker fans would pick Rory McLeod as someone they expect to be nearer the bottom, and while he is in the bottom 20 along with Fergal O'Brien, neither one is as low as I expected, though an average of 29 seconds per shot is certainly not speedy. 

Of the 19 slowest players listed here, Anthony Hamilton is the highest ranked by far at 29, showing a clear difference to the ranking of the 16 fastest players which contained 11 players ranked higher than Hamilton alone. 

Notable Others

Last season's snooker Shoot-Out winner Anthony McGill features on the list at 96 with an average of 26 seconds, while the 2016 champion Robin Hull has averaged 24 seconds a shot this season and sits in the middle of the table at 66th. 

At 23 seconds a shot, world number one and world champion Mark Selby sits 51st on the list. Recent Scottish Open winner Neil Robertson is a second faster than Selby and 14 places higher in 37th, while Ali Carter is 34th, Barry Hawkins 35th, John Higgins 36th and Martin Gould 38th all on the same 22 seconds a shot. 

Graeme Dott, someone who has received a bad reputation over the years in some circles for the length of two of the World finals he was involved, is a very high 17th averaging just 20 seconds a shot - surely dispelling the myth that he is in anyway slow. 

Could this list help referees? 

In 2015 I wrote up a piece on what could be done to combat slow play as it was a real hot topic at this time. In that I mentioned a particular rule stating: "Under Section 4 of the snooker rules, Point 1 Conduct, Part A, the rule specifically states "In the event of (I) a player taking an abnormal amount of time over a stroke or the selection of a stroke...the referee shall either... (V) warn the player that in the event of any such further conduct the frame will be awarded to his opponent." 

Having such a list public would allow an average shot time for the tour to be calculated which may then give a better example of what is "abnormal" in terms of shot times. For example, players averaging 30 seconds a shot or more may be guilty on a regular basis of taking 45 seconds-1 minute or more on a shot which would be abnormal by the standards of the rest of the tour. 

Knowing who is notoriously a little slower than normal may give the opportunity for referees to challenge these players in the future if they feel play gets to slow in a match. 

A guide for the Snooker Shoot-Out?

Can the order of players here tell us anything about potential contenders for a tournament that is considered the biggest lottery in the sport? Probably not.

Here are how the former winners rank: 

- Michael White (2015) - 12th 

- Barry Hawkins (2012) - 35th

- Martin Gould (2013) - 38th 

- Dominic Dale (2014) - 49th 

- Robin Hull (2016) - 66th

- Nigel Bond (2011) - 93rd

- Anthony McGill (2017) - 96th 

And for further insight the former runners-up in the shoot-out: 

- Luca Brecel (2016) - 6th

- Robert Milkins (2011) - 8th 

- Mark Allen (2013) - 9th

- Graeme Dott (2012) - 17th 

- Stuart Bingham (2014) - 47th 

- Xiao Guodong (2015 & 2017) - 56th 

Out of these 13 former Shoot-Out finalists, only Nigel Bond and Anthony McGill are in the bottom half of the table for average shot times this season. The halfway mark of 24 seconds a shot where Robin Hull sits could be halved and provide players with time to spare in the first five minutes of a frame in the shoot-out. 

However, these players and guys like Bond and McGill at 26 seconds a shot on average would need to go three times quicker than their norm in the second half of a shoot-out frame when the limit is 10 seconds a shot, while the likes of Brecel, Milkins, Allen and White outlined above would only need to go half their normal speed at that stage, which is a much reduced rush. 

Whatever you think about the release of these new statistics, hopefully it will pave the way for even more revealing statistics being made public, which there has been a calling for on social media already. Meanwhile, the full list of the tour's average shot times can be viewed through this link.