The players that have qualified via the one season money list have certainly earned their places. Every single player in the field has reached at least one ranking event final this season, nine of them have been ranking event winners this season, while Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen take the tally of tournament winners in the field to 11 if you include the two biggest invitational events.
Having won the UK Championship, World Grand Prix, English Open and the Shanghai Masters this season Ronnie O'Sullivan is the top seed, while German Masters and Northern Ireland Open winner Mark Williams is the second seed.
One thing is for sure, having qualified for this tournament, every single player in the field can be considered a contender for this big title, while it is an important event for guys like Stephen Maguire, Ryan Day and Allen in the 'Race to the Crucible'.
Quarter 1
First round draw: (Picks in bold)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Graeme Dott
Ding Junhui Vs Mark Allen
Top seed Ronnie O'Sullivan has been the dominant player of the season by a long way, and there are not many players that can say they have beaten him this year or even given him a good game. The only players to beat O'Sullivan this season are John Higgins (twice - Scottish Open and Welsh Open), Mark Allen (Masters), Elliot Slessor (Northern Ireland Open), Shaun Murphy (Champion of Champions), Yan Bingtao (International Championship) and Luca Brecel (China Championship). On four of those seven occasions he was beaten by the eventual winner of that tournament.
His first round opponent here Graeme Dott is not one of those players that has given O'Sullivan a good game this season. Dott has played the Rocket twice this season, firstly in the China Championship where he lost 5-0 and then in Cardiff recently where O'Sullivan was again victorious without dropping a frame. The Scotsman is here after a good couple of weeks in which he reached the German Masters and Snooker Shoot-Out finals. He is slightly fortunate to be here, after Cao Yupeng lost in the Gibraltar Open final, in a match that Cao needed to win to make it to Llandudno ahead of Dott. He has been playing much better this season than in previous years and he would have a good chance against most of the guys in this field playing how he has been. However, you feel like he would need a dip in the performance of O'Sullivan to make it through here.
The corresponding match in this quarter sees Masters champion and International Championship runner-up Mark Allen take on World Open champion and recent Grand Prix runner-up Ding Junhui. These two have only met once in the last four and a half years amazingly, with Ding beating Allen 5-2 in the 2016 Shanghai Masters, a tournament he would go on to win. Between Ding's win at the World Open and his final a few weeks ago in Preston there was not much to shout about, though this was largely due to an eye problem.
Allen meanwhile has not got going again since winning the Masters in January. He lost in the last 32 of the German Masters, Welsh Open and the World Grand Prix (a 32 man event), as well as losing in the first round of the Romanian Masters this week. The Northern Irishman is of course under huge pressure as well in the 'Race to the Crucible'. This match with Ding in itself is a massive one for the man provisionally 16th and on the bubble. A victory would put him ahead of Stuart Bingham (who is not here this week) at the very least, going into the China Open. Meanwhile, a defeat to Ding would leave the door open for Ryan Day who could overtake him and knock Allen to 17th going into the China Open, if Day were to win his first round match this week. If Ding produces the form that got him to the final of the Grand Prix here, then I think Allen could be in real trouble.
Quarter choice: Ronnie O'Sullivan
Quarter 2
First round draw: (Picks in bold)
Luca Brecel Vs Neil Robertson
Judd Trump Vs Stephen Maguire
The second quarter is where we find China Championship winner Luca Brecel up against Scottish Open winner Neil Robertson. The pair have only ever met once and that was back in the 2015 World Grand Prix with Robertson winning 4-0, so that does not have too much relevance to this match. For Brecel, his recent form has fallen away dramatically in recent months, compared with the first half of the season. This week he was whitewashed in the first round of the Romanian Masters. This came after defeats in the last 128 of the Gibraltar Open, the last 64 in Cardiff, and another 4-0 defeat in the first round of the World Grand Prix. There are a few things this could be attributed to, including a shoulder injury that caused a couple of early exits and a couple of withdrawals towards the end of 2017. Meanwhile, he has also had a lot of cue trouble, though his original cue has since been returned to him and fixed ahead of the Welsh Open. However, the one thing that will have suffered in this time of shoulder and cue trouble is his confidence, to go from flying high to only winning two proper matches in 2018.
Neil Robertson meanwhile regained his top 16 place after winning the Scottish Open (the week after he fell out of the top 16) but he too has not had much to shout about since. His failure to get going before Glasgow meant he was not in the Masters in January, and the week after winning in Scotland he failed to qualify for the German Masters. His first outing of 2018 outside of the Championship League came in mid-February at the World Grand Prix where he defeated David Gilbert before losing in the last 16 to Mark Selby. Despite barely putting a foot wrong against Ian Burns, he still lost out there in the last 64 of the Welsh Open and then exited in the first round in Romania. Therefore, it is hard to say that either one of these players has much form coming into this match. Brecel's performances are all over the place, while Robertson has lost a number of matches this season in which he has seemed to play pretty well, a trend he needs to fight,
The corresponding match in this quarter is the one I believe will yield the man who goes on to make the semi-finals. The head to head does not look great for Maguire, who has lost his last four matches against Trump, two of which were this season. Maguire this season though has played very well indeed. Starting the season by making the Riga Masters final was a great building block, and he has since made semi-finals in the UK Championship and World Grand Prix, losing both to eventual winner O'Sullivan. He may have lost in the last 64 of the Welsh Open, but that was to eventual winner John Higgins in what was a very tough draw at that stage of the event. In the Romanian Masters this week he whitewashed Mark King with two centuries, before losing out narrowly in the last eight to Ali Carter. His season should really have filled him with confidence, and despite being just over £25,000 off the pace with only this event and the China Open to go, I still think Maguire is in a great position to qualify for the Crucible automatically.
As for his opponent, Trump has blown hot and cold ever since losing 10-3 to O'Sullivan in November's Shanghai Masters final. Early exits in Northern Ireland and the UK Championship followed. He then made the semi-finals of the Scottish Open but was on the end of a huge upset as Cao Yupeng won 6-4. Further semi-finals followed in the Masters and German Masters but each of those eventual loses will have hurt massively, losing from well in front against Wilson before being thrashed by Williams in Berlin. In between those semi's was a loss to Jak Jones in China Open qualifying, which means his Players Championship title defence this week will be his last outing before the Crucible and you feel he really needs to lay down a marker after recent weeks. The left-hander fell at the first hurdle in Preston, before a last 64 exit in Cardiff. Even this week in Romania he thrashed Brecel with a couple of centuries, but could then not re-create that form in the quarter-final where he lost again to Wilson.
All in all, you have to say that Maguire probably has the most form of the players in this section coming to Llandudno and he may not be a bad bet to go all the way this week.
Quarter choice: Stephen Maguire
Quarter 3
First round draw: (Picks in bold)
John Higgins Vs Anthony McGill
Shaun Murphy Vs Kyren Wilson
As we head into the bottom half of the draw, it will feel like groundhog day for Anthony McGill as he once again has drawn John Higgins. The two have already met four times this season and Higgins has won each of those games. This fifth meeting, is the fourth at the first round stage of a 16-man invitational, as the two have previously faced off in this season's Champion of Champions, Masters and this week's Romanian Masters. McGill needs to stay positive and believe that he can beat Higgins on his day, but this must be incredibly difficult for a player who has lost to his upcoming opponent so many times in a short space of time. Otherwise, McGill has had a good season and should have confidence in his game, but he needs to find a way to beat Higgins if he is going to get on a run this week.
Higgins meanwhile will be full of confidence after winning the Welsh Open a couple of weeks ago. Overall he has a very good season after winning in India earlier this season too and making the semi-finals of the Scottish Open, Masters and the Shanghai Masters, so it is no surprise he is seeded as high as number three. Given his record against McGill and his current form then he is certainly the front runner in this quarter.
Meanwhile, the corresponding match in this quarter puts two players together who (at the time of writing) have managed seven finals this season between them. Murphy was a runner-up at the Paul Hunter Classic as well as the China and UK Championships while winning the Champion of Champions in November. As for Wilson, he has been a runner-up at the World Open, English Open and of course January's Masters, and he is still in the Romanian Masters, where victory against Ryan Day in today's semi-finals will put him into final number four of the season.
The concern for Murphy coming into this week is the neck injury that forced him to withdraw from his Gibraltar Open defence last weekend, so it will be interesting to see if he is fully fit, because this is certainly not a tournament where you can ease yourself in. Wilson meanwhile is putting some decent results together in recent weeks. He made the quarters in Gibraltar before suffering a surprise loss to Lee Walker. He impressed me in the last 64 of the Welsh Open when I was in Cardiff, as he ran riot there, though he eventually lost in the last 16. This is potentially the closest looking of all the first round matches and I could see it going the distance, but thing Wilson's recent form may just edge it.
Quarter choice: John Higgins
Quarter 4
First round draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark Selby Vs Ryan Day
Mark Williams Vs Yan Bingtao
The first match in this quarter is a vital one for Ryan Day. The Welshman could build himself a path to the Crucible with victory here against Mark Selby, having recently won the Gibraltar Open to boost his hopes. Having not qualified for the China Open, Day needs to be in the provisional top 16 after this event to have any chance but his victory in Gibraltar will give him a lot of confidence. That has already proved to be the case as he is still fighting for the Romanian Masters title (though that has no impact on his ranking) and at the time of writing he is preparing to face Kyren Wilson in the semi-finals. Prior to this season Day had never won a ranking title, but now has two under his belt as well as making the semi-finals in the UK Championship to record his best ever finish in a triple crown event, so he is certainly on a high right now.
Mark Selby meanwhile is not having his best campaign ever. Despite winning the International Championship the current runaway world number one is *only* the seventh seed for this event. Aside from the Grand Prix where he made the last four, Selby's season since winning in Daqing at the beginning of November has been littered with early exits. Due to that, his confidence may well be heading in an opposite direction to Day's, as he searches for something positive in the next two events to take into his World title defence.
The corresponding match in this quarter is a repeat of the Northern Ireland Open final between Yan Bingtao and Mark Williams. Williams was a narrow victor 9-8 on that occasion to deny Yan his first ranking title. It has been another incredible season for the youngster who is still only in his second season tour. Earlier on this year he also made the semi-finals of the International Championship, and was a quarter-finalist in the Welsh Open a couple of weeks ago.
As for Williams, he bagged a second title of the season by easing to victory in the German Masters in early February to completely confirm that he is back to his very best. He may have lost in round of the Romanian Masters, the last 32 of the Welsh Open and the first round of the World Grand Prix in his last three outings, but I still believe he is in great form and a big contender for this title. It is no coincidence that he, O'Sullivan and Higgins are the top three seeds for this event, as the class of '92 have been the three best players this season by quite a margin. Yan will have to be at his very best to beat Williams in this one, though I think his Welsh world cup partner Day has a much better chance of defeating Williams if he can first defeat Selby.
Quarter choice: Ryan Day
Tournament winner selection: Ronnie O'Sullivan
The tournament will be covered in full from Monday night to the conclusion next Sunday on ITV4 in the UK, with all matches in the first three rounds being played over the best-of-11 frames before a best-of-19 frame final.
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