All of the world's top players will be in action, though as expected none have a chance of lining their pockets with the million pound bonus that was on offer for winning all three events. However, will we see a first Welsh winner of this event in this century? Mark Williams has taken the title twice in 1996 and 1999 while also making the final in 2003, the last Welshman to do so. Williams has seen a resurgence this season winning two ranking titles including the second home nations event in Belfast.
Meanwhile, Ryan Day and Michael White were both tournament winners early in the season and will be looking to have a big run again in their home event. The furthest any of the home players got in the event last year though was the last 16, before Lee Walker lost out to Zhou Yuelong. 15 Welsh representatives are in the 129 man field this week, including invites Rhydian Richards and Darren Morgan, hoping to get their hands on the Ray Reardon trophy next Sunday.
Quarter 1
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in bold)
Stuart Bingham Vs Chen Zhe
Sean O'Sullivan Vs Jackson Page
Fergal O'Brien Vs Scott Donaldson
Matthew Stevens Vs Ken Doherty
Ryan Day Vs Kurt Dunham
Yan Bingtao Vs Jimmy White
Peter Ebdon Vs Wang Yuchen
David Gilbert Vs Anthony Hamilton
Fang Xiongman Vs Yuan Sijun
Zhou Yuelong Vs Chen Zifan
Tom Ford Vs Rod Lawler
Barry Hawkins Vs Niu Zhuang
Ricky Walden Vs Li Yuan
Martin Gould Vs Michael White
Aditya Mehta Vs Martin O'Donnell
Mark Williams Vs Mark King
Quarter number one is where we find not only the defending champion Stuart Bingham but also the three highest ranked Welsh players in the field. Bingham won the title with a 9-8 defeat of Judd Trump in the final, and now that his suspension is over and he has a few games under his belt he will be looking to make the most of his defence. His draw for the first couple of rounds looks negotiable for a player of his standing and then with a bit of confidence behind him who knows how far the defence could go.
This is a particularly strong quarter though and a Welsh heavy quarter also. Matthew Stevens faces a tough opening tie against Ken Doherty. It has to be said that Doherty has been in the better form of those two this season and may well upset the home fans in round one. Michael White also has a tough draw against Martin Gould. White was a quarter-finalist in this event two years ago and comes into it this year off the back of a quarter-final in the World Grand Prix. Gould meanwhile lost in the first round in Preston and out in Berlin and will be looking to return to the strong form he was showing before Christmas.
Ryan Day needs a big run this week to keep up any chances he has of being seeded through to the Crucible again this year. However, he has a possible last 64 draw with Yan Bingtao who overcame him in the Northern Ireland Open so that could be a big obstacle for him again this week as he chases down the top 16. Leading Welshman Mark Williams may not have things all his own way despite his good form this season. He does come here off the back of a first round exit in Preston, though I don't think that will play too heavily on his mind. Mark King will offer stiff opposition though and Williams did lose in round one in Cardiff last year, which again is a good sign for King.
Elsewhere, there is plenty more quality in this section of the draw. Barry Hawkins lost out in the quarter-finals in a classic encounter with Judd Trump that went right to the wire. This year though, Hawkins comes in with very different form after missing out on the chance to defend his Grand Prix title, and he is long overdue a good week this season to turn his fortunes around. Hawkins may face Tom Ford in round two who I think could be a sleeper in the draw with a lot of attention going elsewhere. The same could apply to Ricky Walden who will be looking to crush some home hopes with possible meetings with White in the last 64 and Williams in the last 32.
This is a particularly strong quarter though and a Welsh heavy quarter also. Matthew Stevens faces a tough opening tie against Ken Doherty. It has to be said that Doherty has been in the better form of those two this season and may well upset the home fans in round one. Michael White also has a tough draw against Martin Gould. White was a quarter-finalist in this event two years ago and comes into it this year off the back of a quarter-final in the World Grand Prix. Gould meanwhile lost in the first round in Preston and out in Berlin and will be looking to return to the strong form he was showing before Christmas.
Ryan Day needs a big run this week to keep up any chances he has of being seeded through to the Crucible again this year. However, he has a possible last 64 draw with Yan Bingtao who overcame him in the Northern Ireland Open so that could be a big obstacle for him again this week as he chases down the top 16. Leading Welshman Mark Williams may not have things all his own way despite his good form this season. He does come here off the back of a first round exit in Preston, though I don't think that will play too heavily on his mind. Mark King will offer stiff opposition though and Williams did lose in round one in Cardiff last year, which again is a good sign for King.
Elsewhere, there is plenty more quality in this section of the draw. Barry Hawkins lost out in the quarter-finals in a classic encounter with Judd Trump that went right to the wire. This year though, Hawkins comes in with very different form after missing out on the chance to defend his Grand Prix title, and he is long overdue a good week this season to turn his fortunes around. Hawkins may face Tom Ford in round two who I think could be a sleeper in the draw with a lot of attention going elsewhere. The same could apply to Ricky Walden who will be looking to crush some home hopes with possible meetings with White in the last 64 and Williams in the last 32.
After all of that though, my first quarter winner pick here is Yan Bingtao. Yan will have good memories of Cardiff from last year when he overcame World Champion Mark Selby in the last 32 on his birthday and there have been plenty of signs this year that he could get his name on a trophy before the year is out. At the Grand Prix he came very close to defeating an in-form Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last 16. He was a semi-finalist at the International Championship and a finalist at the Northern Ireland Open so is no stranger to reaching the latter stages of events and in a section of the draw that is away from some of the bigger guns like Williams, Walden, White and Gould he just might again in Cardiff.
Best of the rest: Ricky Walden, Tom Ford
Quarter winner: Yan Bingtao
Quarter 2
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Ding Junhui Vs Hammad Miah
Li Hang Vs Liam Highfield
Xiao Guodong Vs Chris Wakelin
Andrew Higginson Vs Ashley Hugill
Neil Robertson Vs Mark Davis
Ian Burns Vs Jamie Barrett
Jamie Jones Vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Tian Pengfei Vs Akani Songsermsawad
James Wattana Vs Zhang Yong
Michael Holt Vs Elliot Slessor
Rory McLeod Vs Adam Duffy
Kyren Wilson Vs Robert Milkins
Craig Steadman Vs David John
Hossein Vafei Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Noppon Saengkham Vs Ross Muir
Judd Trump Vs Duane Jones
The second quarter is where we find last year's runner-up Judd Trump who could do with a similar run this year after a frustrating start to the year. Semi-final exits at the Masters and German Masters will have been disappointing for different reasons and in between times he has lost in the qualifiers for the China Open and in the first round of the World Grand Prix. His draw does not look too bad this week, but he did not look at all at his best in Preston and could fall to an early round banana skin this week.
Kyren Wilson has been handed a tricky draw against last year's semi-finalist Robert Milkins. Wilson will have been disappointed to lose in the first round of the Grand Prix this week after taking a 3-1 lead against Mark Joyce and he will want to forget that and show the form that has gotten him to three finals this season. Milkins though will provide tough opposition and could inflict consecutive first round exits on the Warrior. If Trump and Wilson were to suffer early exits, the man in that half of this quarter that could pounce is Michael Holt. Holt has not been able to match up his form this season with that of the 2016/2017 campaign when he reached the Riga Masters final among other big runs throughout that season.
Players have come from the woodwork in this tournaments past. Woollaston did exactly that to make the final in 2015, while Brecel reached his maiden semi-final in the same year. While last year of course Scott Donaldson reached his maiden semi-final while Milkins matched his best run with another ranking semi-final. With the event being best-of-7 in the early stages and following another big tournament so closely, do not be surprised if the same themes occur in 2018.
Another player that has potential to do that is Xiao Guodong. Xiao has been making ranking quarter-finals for fun this season, doing so in Glasgow, Berlin and last week in Preston with wins over Mark Allen and John Higgins. His big obstacle though could be Chinese number one Ding Junhui who has a good record in this event. Ding has hit form again in Preston and at the time of writing he is set to face Mark Selby in the Grand Prix semi-finals. Depending on how much further he goes up in Lancashire, the short turnaround may be a good or bad thing as he looks to continue that form, while he could also run out of steam given the hectic schedule.
My selection in this quarter of the draw is former champion Neil Robertson. Robertson was also a finalist in Cardiff in 2016 losing out to Ronnie O'Sullivan, and was back to winning ways this season in Scotland so he should have plenty of confidence returning to an event that he has very fond memories of. A last 16 exit to Mark Selby in the World Grand Prix could help him come to Wales fresh and his draw in the early stages is one that I think he could negotiate easily enough, with Mark Davis in round one probably his biggest potential obstacle in the first three rounds. For me, him and Ding are the stand out names form wise in this section and with Ding still in Preston it could be the Australian that is able to pounce. There is no doubt for me that a second ranking win of the season is easily within his reach, and this could be the week where it comes.
Kyren Wilson has been handed a tricky draw against last year's semi-finalist Robert Milkins. Wilson will have been disappointed to lose in the first round of the Grand Prix this week after taking a 3-1 lead against Mark Joyce and he will want to forget that and show the form that has gotten him to three finals this season. Milkins though will provide tough opposition and could inflict consecutive first round exits on the Warrior. If Trump and Wilson were to suffer early exits, the man in that half of this quarter that could pounce is Michael Holt. Holt has not been able to match up his form this season with that of the 2016/2017 campaign when he reached the Riga Masters final among other big runs throughout that season.
Players have come from the woodwork in this tournaments past. Woollaston did exactly that to make the final in 2015, while Brecel reached his maiden semi-final in the same year. While last year of course Scott Donaldson reached his maiden semi-final while Milkins matched his best run with another ranking semi-final. With the event being best-of-7 in the early stages and following another big tournament so closely, do not be surprised if the same themes occur in 2018.
Another player that has potential to do that is Xiao Guodong. Xiao has been making ranking quarter-finals for fun this season, doing so in Glasgow, Berlin and last week in Preston with wins over Mark Allen and John Higgins. His big obstacle though could be Chinese number one Ding Junhui who has a good record in this event. Ding has hit form again in Preston and at the time of writing he is set to face Mark Selby in the Grand Prix semi-finals. Depending on how much further he goes up in Lancashire, the short turnaround may be a good or bad thing as he looks to continue that form, while he could also run out of steam given the hectic schedule.
My selection in this quarter of the draw is former champion Neil Robertson. Robertson was also a finalist in Cardiff in 2016 losing out to Ronnie O'Sullivan, and was back to winning ways this season in Scotland so he should have plenty of confidence returning to an event that he has very fond memories of. A last 16 exit to Mark Selby in the World Grand Prix could help him come to Wales fresh and his draw in the early stages is one that I think he could negotiate easily enough, with Mark Davis in round one probably his biggest potential obstacle in the first three rounds. For me, him and Ding are the stand out names form wise in this section and with Ding still in Preston it could be the Australian that is able to pounce. There is no doubt for me that a second ranking win of the season is easily within his reach, and this could be the week where it comes.
Best of the rest: Michael Holt
Quarter winner: Neil Robertson
Quarter 3
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Robin Hull
Graeme Dott Vs Sanderson Lam
David Grace Vs Darren Morgan or Rhydian Richards
Mei Xiwen Vs Jak Jones
Luca Brecel Vs Josh Boileau
Mike Dunn Vs Hamza Akbar
Alan McManus Vs Xu Si
Michael Georgiou Vs Mitchell Mann
Lu Haotian Vs Paul Davison
Jack Lisowski Vs Mark Joyce
Nigel Bond Vs Lukas Kleckers
Ali Carter Vs Rhys Clark
Sam Craigie Vs Leo Fernandez
Jimmy Robertson Vs Kurt Maflin
Stephen Maguire Vs Joe Perry
John Higgins Vs Matthew Selt
Plenty of former Welsh Open champions can be found in the third quarter of the draw. Stephen Maguire won a final frame decider to capture the crown in 2013 in Newport, and he comes to Cardiff from another good week where he made the semi-finals. For me, Maguire is the most likely of the players currently outside of the top 16 to force their way in, in time for Sheffield. After a final in Riga to start the season as well as a semi-final in York to match that of Preston, Maguire is showing that more major titles are possible despite the Welsh victory five years ago being his last full ranking title. However, the draw has not been kind to Maguire or Joe Perry as they have been paired together in the last 128 for a repeat of their UK Championship quarter-final in December. Perry will be hoping for some revenge there as he chases an outside chance of returning to the top 16 for the World Championships.
Ronnie O'Sullivan was most recently champion here in 2016 and could well come back to Cardiff with another trophy under his belt. At the time of writing, O'Sullivan has just made it into the final of the World Grand Prix and is aiming to add it to his UK Championship, Shanghai Masters and English Open titles from this season. If he remains hungry when he arrives in Cardiff, Graeme Dott could provide the main obstacle that he would have to get over in the early rounds. Dott made back to back finals earlier this month making it to the final two in Berlin with defeats of Hawkins, Xiao Guodong and Shaun Murphy, before also finishing runner-up in the one frame Shoot Out. His improvement in form has been rapid and he certainly looks a different animal this season to that of recent years.
John Higgins was the first champion at the Motorpoint Arena back in 2015 and the multiple Welsh winner will be gunning for glory again this week. He faces Matthew Selt in round one who defeated Mark Allen in the German Masters, and if he can get over that hurdle Perry or Maguire will be waiting in an incredibly difficult last 64 tie. You never write off Higgins, but if the Scot is to get his name on the trophy once more he will have a to do it that hard way. Ali Carter could have beaten Higgins in the first round of the World Grand Prix and he needs a good week here in Cardiff to have any chance of reaching the Players Championships in a couple of weeks. It has not been a good last few months for Carter though, but his draw for the first two rounds is one I expect him to come through with comfort and that could build some confidence for the rest of the week.
In another notable clash, Jack Lisowski will take on Mark Joyce in a tie between two players who have had very good seasons and climbed up the rankings in recent months. Both qualified for, and then completed victory in the first round of the World Grand Prix against higher ranked opposition. Joyce was a quarter-finalist at the UK Championships as well as August's Paul Hunter Classic, while Lisowski made the quarter-finals of the first home nations event in Barnsley and the semi-finals in Shanghai so this should be a quality encounter. The winner could well be a dark horse for the rest of the week.
Ronnie O'Sullivan was most recently champion here in 2016 and could well come back to Cardiff with another trophy under his belt. At the time of writing, O'Sullivan has just made it into the final of the World Grand Prix and is aiming to add it to his UK Championship, Shanghai Masters and English Open titles from this season. If he remains hungry when he arrives in Cardiff, Graeme Dott could provide the main obstacle that he would have to get over in the early rounds. Dott made back to back finals earlier this month making it to the final two in Berlin with defeats of Hawkins, Xiao Guodong and Shaun Murphy, before also finishing runner-up in the one frame Shoot Out. His improvement in form has been rapid and he certainly looks a different animal this season to that of recent years.
John Higgins was the first champion at the Motorpoint Arena back in 2015 and the multiple Welsh winner will be gunning for glory again this week. He faces Matthew Selt in round one who defeated Mark Allen in the German Masters, and if he can get over that hurdle Perry or Maguire will be waiting in an incredibly difficult last 64 tie. You never write off Higgins, but if the Scot is to get his name on the trophy once more he will have a to do it that hard way. Ali Carter could have beaten Higgins in the first round of the World Grand Prix and he needs a good week here in Cardiff to have any chance of reaching the Players Championships in a couple of weeks. It has not been a good last few months for Carter though, but his draw for the first two rounds is one I expect him to come through with comfort and that could build some confidence for the rest of the week.
In another notable clash, Jack Lisowski will take on Mark Joyce in a tie between two players who have had very good seasons and climbed up the rankings in recent months. Both qualified for, and then completed victory in the first round of the World Grand Prix against higher ranked opposition. Joyce was a quarter-finalist at the UK Championships as well as August's Paul Hunter Classic, while Lisowski made the quarter-finals of the first home nations event in Barnsley and the semi-finals in Shanghai so this should be a quality encounter. The winner could well be a dark horse for the rest of the week.
My quarter pick here is someone who will have good memories of this venue and has been reunited with his cue in the week leading up to this event. That man is 2015 Welsh Open semi-finalist Luca Brecel. His form in recent tournaments has dipped as he has tried different cues, though an announcement on Instagram this week that he will now be playing with his recently fixed cue in Cardiff is a good sign for fans of the Belgian. As well as making the semi's in 2015 he backed it up with another decent display in 2016 where he reached the last 16 defeating Shaun Murphy before losing to Ding Junhui. His form in the early part of the season was exceptional until cue troubles were joined with a slight shoulder problem that did not help in an early UK Championship exit. His draw for the early rounds is one I expect him to negotiate, especially if his down turn in form recently was not only due to cue trouble but a lack of practice as he waited for his cue to be fixed.
Best of the rest: Stephen Maguire
Quarter winner: Luca Brecel
Quarter 4
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Shaun Murphy Vs Gerard Greene
Stuart Carrington Vs Peter Lines
Dominic Dale Vs Chris Totten
John Astley Vs Zhang Anda
Mark Allen Vs Cao Yupeng
Alex Borg Vs Soheil Vahedi
Gary Wilson Vs Sam Baird
Daniel Wells Vs Lee Walker
Oliver Lines Vs Eden Sharav
Yu De Lu Vs Billy Castle
Ben Woollaston Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Anthony McGill Vs Basem Eltahhan
Robbie Williams Vs Allan Taylor
Zhao Xintong Vs Ian Preece
Liang Wenbo Vs Alfie Burden
Mark Selby Vs Christopher Keogan
The final quarter is another that has thrown up some interesting draws. First off, Masters champion Mark Allen faces Scottish Open runner-up Cao Yupeng. The pair have a bit of history dating back to the 2012 World Championships when Cao beat Allen in round one which caused some controversial comments from the Northern Irishman. Following his Masters win, Allen has been a little quiet losing in the first round at the Tempodrome and in Preston, where he was 3-0 up on Xiao Guodong before falling to defeat. He'll need to get his foot back on the gas here to avoid falling early again and damaging his hopes of being a seed at the World Championships, for which he is currently 16th on the provisional seeding list.
World Champion Mark Selby may well have a shorter turnaround coming into this tournament. He has showed some slightly better form this week to recent events and is currently awaiting a Grand Prix semi-final with Ding Junhui at the time of writing. Interestingly Liang Wenbo, who is chasing a return to the top 16 to avoid going to World Championship qualifying, could face Selby in the last 64 which would be a blockbuster tie so early in the competition. If they do meet as expected, the winner could have a very deep run in this competition, and Liang certainly needs one with time running out in his Crucible qualification quest.
Shaun Murphy has been a player to watch out for in the draw all season long. As well as making it to four finals so far, in recent times he has made the German Masters semi-finals and World Grand Prix quarter-finals. However, his record in this tournament is quite poor by his standards. Murphy has not gone beyond the last 32 at this event since making the semi-finals in 2012, a massive contrast given that he made the quarter-finals in each of his first four Welsh Opens. If he puts this record to the back of his mind though and continues playing as well as he has been all season, then there is no reason why he cannot make it through to the latter stages in Cardiff.
World Champion Mark Selby may well have a shorter turnaround coming into this tournament. He has showed some slightly better form this week to recent events and is currently awaiting a Grand Prix semi-final with Ding Junhui at the time of writing. Interestingly Liang Wenbo, who is chasing a return to the top 16 to avoid going to World Championship qualifying, could face Selby in the last 64 which would be a blockbuster tie so early in the competition. If they do meet as expected, the winner could have a very deep run in this competition, and Liang certainly needs one with time running out in his Crucible qualification quest.
Shaun Murphy has been a player to watch out for in the draw all season long. As well as making it to four finals so far, in recent times he has made the German Masters semi-finals and World Grand Prix quarter-finals. However, his record in this tournament is quite poor by his standards. Murphy has not gone beyond the last 32 at this event since making the semi-finals in 2012, a massive contrast given that he made the quarter-finals in each of his first four Welsh Opens. If he puts this record to the back of his mind though and continues playing as well as he has been all season, then there is no reason why he cannot make it through to the latter stages in Cardiff.
My fourth and final quarter choice for this week though is Anthony McGill. McGill showed good form to defeat Cao Yupeng and Stuart Bingham before narrowly losing to Ding Junhui in the quarter-finals of this week's Grand Prix. It has been a quiet time for McGill since making the English Open semi-finals after a very impressive start to the season. If he can get that form going again a run of quarter and semi-finals could be on the way again and potentially another ranking title. His draw does have a potentially big obstacle at the last 64 as he may face Ben Woollaston who was finalist here in 2015, before backing that up in 2016 by making the quarter-finals. As well as having good memories of the event, Woollaston also looked good in the German Masters despite defeat in the last 32 and he could easily have gone on a run there but for Trump's equally excellent display. Get beyond Woollaston and McGill could well progress much further and become a big threat in this event.
Best of the rest: Shaun Murphy
Quarter winner: Anthony McGill
Tournament Winner Selection: Neil Robertson
The format for the Welsh Open is the same as each of the other home nations events this year. The first round will be played on Monday and Tuesday over the best-of-7 frames, round two on Wednesday before the last 32 and last 16 on Thursday. The format then moves up to best-of-9 frames for Friday's quarter-finals, with Saturday's semi-finals the best-of-11 and Sunday's final a best-of-17 frame affair.
The tournament will be covered on both the BBC in Wales and all around the UK and Europe on Eurosport. Those of you that follow me on Twitter on @CueActionBlog will also be aware that I am in Cardiff for the first four rounds from Monday to Thursday and will be providing plenty of live blogs from the outside tables that you cannot watch on TV.
The format for the Welsh Open is the same as each of the other home nations events this year. The first round will be played on Monday and Tuesday over the best-of-7 frames, round two on Wednesday before the last 32 and last 16 on Thursday. The format then moves up to best-of-9 frames for Friday's quarter-finals, with Saturday's semi-finals the best-of-11 and Sunday's final a best-of-17 frame affair.
The tournament will be covered on both the BBC in Wales and all around the UK and Europe on Eurosport. Those of you that follow me on Twitter on @CueActionBlog will also be aware that I am in Cardiff for the first four rounds from Monday to Thursday and will be providing plenty of live blogs from the outside tables that you cannot watch on TV.
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