As the year's have gone by the landscape of this tournament has changed and this will now be the third year that it has full ranking status. Michael White is the defending champion after his victory against Shaun Murphy in the final 12 months ago. With only three top 16 players entering this event in 2018, there could be a surprise winner or a first-time ranking champion waiting to be crowned.
With the large amount of non-entries, this tournament will also showcase some of the talent that is not currently on the tour, with 47 spots in the draw going to amateur players who will compete in Pre-Qualifying on Wednesday and Thursday, to make up the full field of 128. On top of that there are two German amateurs who have been given wildcard invitations to the professional stages, so Stefan Joachim and Kilian Baur-Pantoulier will join pros Lukas Kleckers and Simon Lichtenberg with hopes of glory on home soil.
Further mainland European hopes include Poland's Adam Stefanow, Switzerland's Alexander Ursenbacher and Belgian Luca Brecel who is also the fourth seed this week. Also in the field of pros are former runners-up Tom Ford, Gerard Greene, Joe Swail and Mark Davis, as well as 2015 and 2017 runner-up Murphy, who also won this title in 2008 and 2009 when the tournament was classed as a pro-am.
Quarter 1
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Michael White Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Rory McLeod Vs Allan Taylor
Zhang Anda Vs George Pragnall
Dominic Dale Vs Itaro Santos
Mark Joyce Vs Michael Wild
Sean O'Sullivan Vs Brian Cini
Alexander Ursenbacher Vs Barry Pinches
Harvey Chandler W/O Fan Zhengyi
Sam Baird Vs Kevin VanHove
Andy Lee Vs Reggie Edwards
Ian Burns Vs Oliver Brown
Zhou Yuelong Vs Jackson Page
Niu Zhuang Vs James Cahill
Scott Donaldson Vs Sam Craigie
Ross Muir Vs Patrick Einslie
Tom Ford Vs Luke Pinches
Not only is Michael White the defending champion here in Furth this week but he's also the highest ranked player in this quarter at world number 30, signalling the opportunity that is out there for someone this week. White won two of his three qualifiers last week in Preston, while his best finish from the first two tournaments this year is a last 32 finish in Riga. Coming back as defending champion is always a special feeling and despite the lack of top players in the field last year, he still overcame Mark Selby and Murphy on the final day. If he is in good scoring form as he was last year, he could well be the man to take advantage in this section.
Tom Ford is another man who will be looking to take advantage of the lack of top players in this section, and go one better than his runner-up finish from two years ago. At 33 in the world Ford is the third highest ranked player in this section, though he has not gotten off to a fast start this season. He failed to qualify for Riga at the season's start as well as missing out on European Masters qualifying last week and struggling in his Indian Open qualifier. There may not be many ranked higher in quarter number one, but there may be a few in better form heading into this week.
Sam Craigie is one of the lower ranked players that could worth looking out for this week. After missing the first two tournaments of the season, he made his first appearance last week in Indian Open qualifying, whitewashing Jimmy White before making two centuries in his next qualifier against Ashley Carty. Craigie certainly has the potential to put a really exciting run together in Furth, but if he is going to do so he will need to win a tough first round match with Scott Donaldson. The Scotsman has had a much better start to this season than he did a year ago. Last season it took Donaldson until the UK Championship to win a match, but this season has won all five of the last 128 qualifiers he has played in, showing how tough a task Craigie will face in round one.
Another exciting young player to keep an eye on this weekend is Alexander Ursenbacher. The Swiss has had a good week of qualifying in Preston, taking three wins from three including a 4-1 defeat of Michael White and a 5-0 thrashing of Ben Woollaston. Ursenbacher showed his immense talent on the way to the semi-finals of last season's English Open, and despite struggling for a while thereafter, he demonstrated that he is capable of big runs to the latter stages. With the draw as it is, this could be a big opportunity for him to do that again.
Zhou Yuelong is my first quarter choice though, despite the world number 32 not getting past the last 64 of his opening two events this season. The 20-year-old did not have the best finish to last season either, but it was around this stage of last season that he had a couple of impressive runs. First in August he made the quarter-finals of the China Championship, matching his best ranking event finish, but then beating that in early October with a semi-final appearance at the European Masters. Zhou is one of a group of players I think could make a maiden ranking final within the next year or two, as I rate both very highly. This feels like a week where we can see a new ranking winner and a lot of players achieving their best finishes, and Zhou can certainly be one of those.
Best of the rest: Alexander Ursenbacher
Quarter choice: Zhou Yuelong
Quarter 2
Last 128 Draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark King Vs Martin O'Donnell
Jack Bradford W/O Stuart Carrington
Peter Ebdon Vs Ben Jones
Basem Eltahhan Vs Andreas Ploner
Ben Woollaston Vs Alex Taubman
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Christopher Watts
Michael Georgiou Vs Umut Dikme
Zhang Yong Vs Elliot Slessor
Craig Steadman Vs Oliver Lines
Jamie Clarke Vs Kishan Hirani
Lee Walker Vs Regis D'Anna
Jamie Jones Vs Nigel Bond
Chris Wakelin Vs Luke Simmonds
Stefan Joachim Vs Aaron Busuttil
Chen Zifan Vs Duncan Bezzina
Luca Brecel Vs Curtis Daher
Mark King is the fifth seed here in Furth this week and a former semi-finalist in this competition three years ago. In this season's first event he reached the last 16, in an event with the same format as this one so that too bodes well for the former Northern Ireland Open winner. King does face a potential second round tie with Stuart Carrington who was a semi-finalist in Riga and could do some damage of his own this week. Overall, I think for an experienced player and ranking winner like King, this week provides a big opportunity to collect a lot of ranking points.
Luca Brecel is the lone top 16 player in this section, and it will be interesting to see how he responds following his last 32 exit in the World Open. Brecel was 4-0 up in that match against Fergal O'Brien before losing 5-4, which is probably a sign that he is not in the same form that he was this time last year, when he won the China Championship crown. In fact the early signs are that he is starting the season in a similar fashion to how he finished the 2017/2018 season, with some disappointing performances and early exits, but this could be the week where he turns things around.
Brecel's potential last 32 opponent Chris Wakelin could have something to say about that though. High on confidence after qualifying for the Crucible, and fighting back to push Judd Trump all the way, the 26-year-old has successfully won all of his last 128 qualifiers, including the three played in the last week. In his opening event in Latvia, Wakelin made the quarter-finals beating Jamie Jones and Mark King, which is a good sign for Wakelin fans especially as both of those players are in this section. If he can keep that form going, another quarter-final is well within reach.
My second quarter choice this week is Jamie Jones. Jones has had a reasonable start to the campaign making the last 32 of the first two events following his run to the last 16 of the World Championship last season. A year ago he was a semi-finalist in this event before a Shaun Murphy comeback narrowly denied him a final meeting with his good friend Michael White. Jones is a player who on his day performs well above his current ranking of 38, but he has not quite kicked on following the Australian Open semi-final he reached three years ago. After good performances both in World qualifying and at the Crucible, now he should be looking to break into the top 32 and reach the latter stages more consistently. This week is a big opportunity for a lot of players and Jones is one who I could see taking advantage, as he did 12 months ago in Furth.
Best of the rest: Mark King
Quarter choice: Jamie Jones
Quarter 3
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Kyren Wilson Vs Chen Feilong
Ashley Carty Vs Jake Nicholson
Liam Highfield Vs Sergey Isaenko
Kilian Baur-Pantoulier Vs Ryan Davies
Gary Wilson Vs John Astley
Jordan Brown Vs Philip Ciantar
Hammad Miah Vs Jurian Heusdens
Gerard Greene Vs Soner Sari
Matthew Selt Vs Vetter Luis
Joe O'Connor Vs Sompoi Saetang
Daniel Wells Vs Juergen Kesseler
Robert Milkins Vs Sanderson Lam
Adam Stefanow Vs Ben Mertens
Andrew Higginson Vs Fabian Monnin
Billy Castle Vs Iulian Boiko
Xiao Guodong W/O Yuan Sijun
The highest ranked player in the third quarter is Kyren Wilson and you have to say he is in the top two favourites to win this title. Wilson's form is good, starting the season with a quarter-final in Riga and a last 16 appearance at the World Open before a narrow loss to Jack Lisowski. As good as those results are, you can tell that Wilson is hungry for more and he always comes across as a hard working player who is putting in a lot of energy to improve. His three finals and a world semi-final from last season will not satisfy at all, especially as the three-year anniversary of his first and to date only ranking title is nearly upon us. All signs point to the fact that another title is not far from his grasp and you would not be at all surprised if he won multiple titles in the 2018/2019 campaign. Even though top players are lacking in this week's field, dominating in their absence would lay down a marker to everyone else.
If you're looking for a young player to break through this week Liam Highfield could be the man. He's had a remarkable 12 months, battling Crohn's disease but still managing his best ranking performance by making the Indian Open quarter-finals, and nearly repeating that in the Welsh Open before qualifying for his Crucible debut. A 5-4 loss in World Open qualifying in July is his only last 128 defeat after a clean sweep in the last week of qualifying in Preston. Recently I watched back Highfield's UK Championship loss to Shaun Murphy from December and there is so much of his game to be impressed with. He comes across very confidently, but also incredibly passionate as you will see any time he is unhappy with one of his shots - which is a sign he wants more and there could be plenty on the horizon with the talent he has.
Given that this is a week where it is entirely possible that a first time ranking winner will be crowned, it is worth noting Robert Milkins who is often overlooked in my view. To be a six-time ranking event semi-finalist you have to be a very good player, and he is also a former European Tour event finalist so there is no reason why he cannot thrive this week with the short format. Victory over Ding Junhui put him into the last 16 of the World Open earlier on this month, though he did only win one of his three qualifiers in Preston recently.
Someone who is certainly one to watch on recent form is Gary Wilson after his run to the quarter-finals of the World Open. In doing so he beat Tom Ford and more notably Judd Trump with exceptional scoring power that would be enough to beat anyone in this week's field if he can re-produce the goods. Following that he has won all of his three recent qualifiers, including a 4-3 defeat of Shaun Murphy, after requiring snookers in frame six at 3-2 down. Wilson also ended last season strongly making the semi-finals of the Welsh Open beating Mark Allen and his first round opponent this week - John Astley - in the last 16, as well as beating Ali Carter and Joe Perry to make the China Open last 16. He should be full of confidence and with a current ranking of 35, it would be a surprise if he is not soon back in the top 32, so do not discount him for this week.
Xiao Guodong is my third quarter choice for this weekend. Xiao should be right up there as one of the favourites this week given his return to form over the last year or so and his return to the top 32 in the world rankings. His run to the quarter-finals of the World Open in Yushan adds to the three quarter-finals he reached last season as well as the last 16 of two further events. Any concerns over Xiao following his withdrawal from Indian Open and European Masters qualifying have hopefully been answered by a 5-1 China Championship qualifying win over Zhang Yong. An extra boost for this week is that he has a walkover into the last 64 after the withdrawal of Yuan Sijun. Given the amount of matches the players have to play in a short space of time in this event, any energy that can be conserved is a bonus. When all is considered, Xiao is not just a contender for this quarter but a serious shout to win the whole event.
Best of the rest: Gary Wilson
Quarter choice: Xiao Guodong
Quarter 4
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Jack Lisowski Vs Dylan Emery
Zhang Jiankang Vs Felix Frede
Lu Ning Vs Daniel Williams
Eden Sharav Vs Daniel Holoyda
Jimmy Robertson Vs Chris Totten
Joe Swail Vs Paul Davison
Rod Lawler Vs Florian Nuessle
Lukas Kleckers Vs Ng On Yee
Alfie Burden Vs Marcin Nitschke
Simon Lichtenberg Vs Wayne Brown
Ashley Hugill Vs Andrew Pagett
Mark Davis Vs Markus Hertle
Kurt Maflin Vs David Grace
Peter Lines Vs Yun Fung Tam
Noppon Saengkham Vs Robbie Williams
Shaun Murphy Vs Fergal O'Brien
In quarter four, Noppon Saengkham is a man who will be on a mission after his difficult semi-final loss in the World Open. Getting there is obviously a massive achievement, but to then lose from 5-2 up will have hurt and may have affected him in the Indian Open and European Masters qualifiers where he lost to two lower ranked opponents. His run to the last four in Yushan included victories over Ryan Day, Xiao Guodong and Mark Selby and it comes pretty soon after his run to the semi-final in Cardiff. Noppon's certainly on the up and growing in confidence all the time, and with his aggressive style of play it makes him even more dangerous. There are not many players in the field with a tricky draw this week but Noppon may be one of them, as he has not been fortunate enough to avoid playing a pro in round one and may then face Shaun Murphy in round two.
Mark Davis is a player that could do well under the radar in Furth. He has won all five of his last 128 matches in the new season, and made the last 16 in Riga with victories over Luca Brecel and Marco Fu. Similarly to Milkins mentioned earlier, Davis has been in five full ranking semi-finals and made the final of this event when it was a minor ranking event in 2011. He may be down at 42 in the world rankings but that all takes a back seat this week with so many big names missing. Do not be surprised at all to see Davis in the draw for the last 16 on Sunday morning and keep a close eye on him from there.
One big name that is going to be a huge threat this week is Jack Lisowski who has started the season strongly by making his first ranking final, before backing that up by making the quarter-finals in the next event. His confidence could barely be higher and his ranking is heading in the same direction. At world number 21 he is a serious contender to make it into January's Masters and with the way he is playing at the moment, I would certainly back him to be at the Alexandra Palace - possibly as a ranking event winner. The most impressive thing with his form in the last year is that the consistency that his game has been crying out for is starting to come, which mixed with the talent he has is bad news for anyone that is drawn against him.
My fourth and final quarter selection for the Paul Hunter Classic is a twice runner-up here in the last three stagings in Shaun Murphy. The Magician has not gotten off to the best of starts this season, failing to win two of his four qualifiers this season, albeit in deciding frames, and losing out in the last 32 of his only full event so far. Long suffering Murphy fans know that slow starts are not unusual for him though, and when he reached two finals in one week last August, culminating with the loss to Michael White in Furth, he remarked that it was one of his best ever starts to a season. Whatever it is about this tournament, the venue or the surroundings, something seems to get Murphy on top form. Over the years he has won the event twice as a pro-am, as well as reaching last year's final and losing out to Ali Carter in the finale of the 2015 edition. Murphy's last ranking title came in the 2017 Gibraltar Open, where the format is the same as this, which goes alongside the continued success he had in the European Tour events of this style. If you like the theory of there being horses for courses, then Murphy is one that jumps off the page. His scoring in the two qualifiers he played last week was good, even in the 4-3 loss to Gary Wilson (making four breaks of above 60) and if he can bring his best scoring to Germany he will take some stopping.
Best of the rest: Jack Lisowski
Quarter choice: Shaun Murphy
Tournament winner selection: Shaun Murphy
The format for the three days of professional stages will be the same as recent years, with all matches played over the best-of-7 frames. The top half of the draw will play their opening three rounds on Friday, the bottom half will do the same on Saturday before the last 16 right through to the final is played out on Sunday.
As well as taking home the trophy, Sunday's champion will earn £20,000 which could be big for quite a few players on the ranking list. To watch the action throughout the three days, Eurosport Player will have full coverage online.
The format for the three days of professional stages will be the same as recent years, with all matches played over the best-of-7 frames. The top half of the draw will play their opening three rounds on Friday, the bottom half will do the same on Saturday before the last 16 right through to the final is played out on Sunday.
As well as taking home the trophy, Sunday's champion will earn £20,000 which could be big for quite a few players on the ranking list. To watch the action throughout the three days, Eurosport Player will have full coverage online.
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