Northern Ireland Open Preview

The second Home Nations series sees 128 players heading to Belfast searching for glory at the Northern Ireland Open. 

World Champion Mark Williams is all set to defend the title he won 12 months ago with a dramatic 9-8 victory that denied Yan Bingtao his first ranking title. Mark King is the other former champion in Belfast having beaten Barry Hawkins back in 2016. 

The man to watch is Stuart Bingham after his win at the English Open kicked off the Home Nations series and he is now the only man that can complete the unlikely clean sweep in the four events which would make him the first ever recipient of the £1 million bonus. 

Home favourite Mark Allen comes here in arguably the form of his life having just won the International Championship in style and keeping that going at the Champion of Champions, while other Northern Irishmen in the field include Joe Swail, Gerard Greene, Jordan Brown and amateur invites Patrick Wallace and Raymond Fry. 

Notable absentees are few and far between for this week, though Ding Junhui is making us wait for his first appearance this season in a ranking event outside of China, while Martin Gould has also opted out of a trip to the Waterfront Hall this week. 

There are plenty of big names that will be competing for the Alex Higgins trophy and a winner's cheque of £70,000 over the next seven days. 

Quarter 1

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)

Mark Williams Vs Alfie Burden
Ali Carter Vs Paul Davison
Akani Songsermsawad Vs Fan Zhengyi
Xiao Guodong Vs Harvey Chandler
Joe Perry Vs Nigel Bond
Joe Swail Vs Luke Simmonds
Michael White Vs Mark Joyce
Eden Sharav Vs Li Yuan
Sam Craigie Vs Adam Duffy
Li Hang Vs Zhang Yong
Kurt Maflin Vs Ashley Carty
Neil Robertson Vs Ben Woollaston
Mark Davis Vs Noppon Saengkham
Lu Haotian Vs Luo Honghao
Peter Ebdon Vs Patrick Wallace
Kyren Wilson Vs Lee Walker

Mark Williams is this week's defending champion and the as the reigning World Champion he almost has two targets on his back this week in Belfast. Of late his form has dipped with a last 32 exit in the English Open, being followed by a last 64 loss in the International Championship and a first round exit at the Champion of Champions. This week his draw is far from easy either. Alfie Burden could cause problems for him in a banana skin of a first round tie, before a potential last 64 tie with Ali Carter, who has made the quarter-finals of the last two ranking events and is more than capable of making that three quarter-finals in a row this week, or maybe even going on beyond that stage in Belfast. With the likes of Akani Songsermsawad (who beat Williams in Daqing) or Xiao Guodong potentially waiting in the last 32 as well, there are plenty of big hurdles standing in Williams way if he is not quite at his best once again. 

At the time of writing Kyren Wilson is in the final of the Champion of Champions in Coventry. That will mean he has a shorter turnaround before starting his campaign in Belfast but after a couple of quieter tournaments he looks to be back in the form that took him to Paul Hunter Classic victory back in August. Wilson was a semi-finalist at this event two years ago and faces the strong possibility of a repeat of the Paul Hunter Classic final against Peter Ebdon in the last 64 this week. Tough matches lie in wait after that with each of his potential last 32 opponents bringing a big threat to the table. While it will be tough to go deep into two tournaments in a row, Mark Allen has showed what is possible by winning the International Championship before losing to Wilson in the semi-finals in Coventry. There is still a lot of competition in this section though and he started off the Home Nations series with a last 128 exit so it's very tough to predict how Wilson will do in Belfast. 

Joe Perry and Mark Davis are two of the last three ranking event runners-up with the third also sitting in this quarter. Perry went close at the European Masters, though he lost in the first round of the opening Home Nations event in Crawley, before losing to International runner-up Neil Robertson in Daqing. In my view Perry has a very gettable draw this week in Belfast and should be targeting a spot in the last 16 at least, with a quarter winning a big possibility. As for Mark Davis, he lost out to Perry in the last 64 of the International Championship after falling just short in the English Open final and he faces another tough first round draw this week taking on Noppon Saengkham. The Thai has already shown what he can do in these Home Nations events in 2018 with a run to the semi-finals in Cardiff as well as making the quarters in Crawley last month. 

My first quarter pick this week is in-form Neil Robertson. It has taken the very best of Mark Allen to prevent Robertson from having two potential title charges in the last two weeks. First off in Daqing Robertson had beaten the likes of Mark Selby, Jack Lisowski and dug deep to overcome Joe Perry and Yuan Sijun before being blown away in the final by Allen's heavy scoring. He then came to the Champion of Champions and saw off the world number one Selby for the second week in succession, only for Allen to make three centuries in a thumping 6-1 win over the Australian in the quarter-finals. This comes for Robertson after a slightly quieter spell of tournaments since his season opening Riga Masters win, but it finally looks as though he is back to his very best and can threaten in every tournament he plays in once again. The draw for him this week is not straightforward but if he can get beyond Ben Woollaston in round one he would have a good chance in my view to go on and make the latter stages. As a previous Home Nations series winner he has shown that he can perform over this format and the way he is playing at the moment it would be very tough to rule him out for another big run. 

Best of the rest: Joe Perry

Quarter choice: Neil Robertson

Quarter 2

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)

Judd Trump Vs Matthew Selt
Stuart Carrington Vs Xu Si
Liam Highfield Vs James Wattana
Jack Lisowski Vs Hossein Vafei
Luca Brecel Vs Raymond Fry
Ian Burns Vs Farakh Ajaib
Zhao Xintong Vs Daniel Wells
Gary Wilson Vs Adam Stefanow
Robin Hull Vs Jordan Brown
Mike Dunn Vs Tian Pengfei
Yan Bingtao Vs Zhang Anda
Ryan Day Vs Michael Georgiou
Yuan Sijun Vs Jamie Clarke
Liang Wenbo Vs Andrew Higginson
Graeme Dott Vs Billy Castle
John Higgins Vs Rory McLeod

Judd Trump will be looking to put his Champion of Champions exit behind him having lost convincingly in the Coventry quarter-finals to Kyren Wilson. It seems that Wilson has his number at the moment and things will not get easier this week based on his draw. Matthew Selt is capable of causing problems on his day, while a potential last 64 encounter with Stuart Carrington would put him up against the player who saw to his early Belfast exit last year. Meanwhile, a third meeting in three ranking events against Jack Lisowski could come as early as the last 32 stage. His quarter-final exit to Lisowski in Daqing was preceeded by a last 16 loss at the English Open and a last 32 loss in the European Masters so he has not been in bad form, but is neither at his very best. 

Yan Bingtao was the runner-up here 12 months ago losing very narrowly to Mark Williams. It could so easily have been his breakthrough moment and having reached the International Championship semi-finals just a couple of weeks before that, a lot of fans thought he may have gotten over the line and won a ranking event by now, but it is still so early in his career that it is tough to be critical of him. In the opening Home Nations event a tough draw saw him exit at the last 64 against Stephen Maguire, while he also lost in the last 64 of the European Masters to a Scotsman in the form of Alan McManus. Bookending that period are two last 16 appearances in Chinese ranking events which both ended in defeats to Judd Trump. This week he opens up against fellow Chinese player Zhang Anda in a match you would expect him to win, before a potential last 64 tie with Ryan Day, whom he overcame 6-5 in the last 32 in Daqing recently. If he were to come through those tough opening tests then this could be the week where he really gets another big run under his belt. 

Ryan Day as mentioned above suffered a tough loss at the International Championship to Yan Bingtao 6-5 having fought back from 5-3 down and it was another deciding frame that cost him in the Champion of Champions against John Higgins. Prior to that he made consecutive quarter-finals at the European Masters and English Open but is yet to really find the same form that saw him win three times last season. It is very much the case that the winner out of potential Day vs Yan last 64 tie could go on a big run here in Belfast. Luca Brecel meanwhile is another top 16 that is yet to match the heights he reached in the first half of last season, though his struggles are to a much greater extent than Day's. Brecel has been almost anonymous in the entire of 2018, failing to reach a ranking event quarter-final for almost a full year now. One thing he does have in his favour is that he is fresh, having lost in the first round of the Champion of Champions and failing to qualify for the International Championship. 

John Higgins is also one of those players that did not feature at the International Championship and may come to this tournament a bit fresher for that. He looked good at the Champion of Champions beating Ryan Day in a good contest before running into an in-form O'Sullivan who was untouchable in the final four frames there. He has mentioned this season that he has struggled to get over the World Final loss in May but with the UK Championships on the horizon this is the time to find some form and he could be set to do just that this week. His first round draw against Rory McLeod is a pretty kind one given the form that McLeod is in and although Graeme Dott could prove a tough last 64 opponent, he has started the season slowly too, while a potential last 32 tie against Liang Wenbo would put him up against someone out of form who has a poor record against Higgins, though young Yuan Sijun could cause problems if they ended up meeting at that same last 32 stage. 

Zhao Xintong could provide the sort of run we saw from Yan Bingtao at this tournament last year. His start to the season has been sensational and it seems as though he has had that wake up call that could see him realise his potential. After the run that took him to the China Championship semi-finals, losing 6-4 there to Mark Selby he has lost out in the last 64 of the English Open 4-3 to a trio of Trump centuries from 3-1 down, before a last 32 exit at the International Championship 6-4 against Ding Junhui. The point here is that it is taking some of the world's best players to beat him now, where in the past couple of seasons he was often providing his own downfall with ultra aggressive game plans that just were not working for him. He does not have a simple draw opening up against Daniel Wells who reached the last 16 in Crawley with wins against Joe Perry and Barry Hawkins, while Gary Wilson could provide tough last 64 opposition if he comes through that. For me though, that China Championship semi-final was the start of something big for Zhao and there is plenty more to come. 

My selection for this second quarter and someone who I think has an excellent chance of winning the title this week is Jack Lisowski. The left-hander was back in the latter stages of a tournament again at the International Championship, defeating the likes of Judd Trump and Marco Fu to make the semi-finals, where an added bit of experience for Robertson was one of the deciding factors in a tight contest. Robertson was also his nemesis at the start of the season in the Riga Masters final, but Lisowski is getting closer and closer to his big breakthrough win and it would be a surprise to me if he has not won a full ranking title by the he walks out at the Crucible at the end of the season. He is putting himself in position in almost every event, having also made quarter-finals at the World Open, Paul Hunter Classic and the European Masters and if he keeps knocking on the door, then eventually he will get through and this could be the week where he does. The Home Nations series should suit a player like Lisowski who can blow opponents away quickly and clearly has no trouble in the short best-of-7 frames format. Unlike some of the other top players, he has also had a week off since the International Championship in order to come to Belfast slightly fresher, having scored superbly out in Daqing and continuing to improve his safety play. With Yan Bingtao coming close 12 months ago and Mark King winning in 2016, this event has already shown it can produce a first time ranking winner, so if you are looking at candidates in that category, Lisowski has to be at the top of the list. 

Best of the rest: Zhao Xintong

Quarter choice: Jack Lisowski

Quarter 3

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Soheil Vahedi
Mei Xiwen Vs Zhang Jiankang
Chris Wakelin Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Tom Ford Vs Rod Lawler
Stephen Maguire Vs Michael Holt
Mark King Vs John Astley
Zhou Yuelong Vs Lukas Kleckers
Jak Jones Vs Kishan Hirani
Alan McManus Vs Allan Taylor
Craig Steadman Vs Lu Ning
Hammad Miah Vs Basem Eltahhan
Mark Allen Vs Niu Zhuang
Ricky Walden Vs Matthew Stevens
Gerard Greene Vs Oliver Lines
David Gilbert Vs Fergal O'Brien
Barry Hawkins Vs Chen Zifan

Mark Allen is the man all of the home fans will want to watch this week, especially given his recent form. He was simply unstoppable at the International Championship, making 14 century breaks on the way to winning another ranking title and adding to his Masters triumph back in January, which will make him an even bigger hero to the Northern Irish supporters. Allen followed this triumph by coming close again at the Champion of Champions, defeating Barry Hawkins and then thrashing Neil Robertson with continued heavy scoring before losing out 6-5 in the semi-finals to Kyren Wilson. Hopefully he still has something left in the tank, but he has admitted previously that this event has brought with it a lot of extra pressure, losing in the last 64 last season, but with the form he is in this is a great chance to go further into the draw. If he keeps playing as he has been it is hard to see him not reaching Thursday night's last 16 at the very least, and he is one of many strong contenders in a hugely competitive quarter of the draw. Whether he overcomes the pressure of being on home turf though is another question and there is also a worry that he could run out of steam after so much snooker and travelling in a short period of time. 

Barry Hawkins is a former runner-up at this event, losing against Mark King in 2016 and he could well go deep in the draw again this week. This is one of the toughest quarters of the draw to predict and Hawkins is one of many serious contenders. His form at the start of the season was impressive though it has dropped off in recent weeks. At the European Masters he exited at the last 64 stage and that was followed by last 32 losses in the English Open and International Championship and a first round loss at the Champion of Champions, though that was to the man of the moment in Allen. His draw here sees him face either World Open runner-up David Gilbert, who beat Hawkins on the way to that final, or Fergal O'Brien who has had plenty of success against top 16 players already this season, in the last 64 should he get beyond Chen Zifan as easily as expected. Then a possible last 32 tie could await against potentially Ricky Walden or Matthew Stevens which is also far from easy, especially over a shorter format. 

Ricky Walden and Matthew Stevens should be a cracking first round encounter given Stevens' resurgence to make the International Championship. Given what the likes of Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins are still achieving in their forties, hopefully that run was not just a flash in the pan for the Welshman. His comeback against Ding Junhui in the last 16 was exceptional and he threw the kitchen sink at Allen in the semi-finals in a match that could have gone the other way had Stevens not lost his way at the end of the first session, given how well he played in the evening session. Walden meanwhile comes to Belfast having not qualified for the International Championship, though he did make the last 16 in Crawley before losing to eventual champion Stuart Bingham, having also made it to the last 16 of this event a year ago making this match with Stevens a tough one to call. 

Stephen Maguire is another player that could do some serious damage in this quarter. He was a semi-finalist in the opening Home Nations event before losing to eventual winner Bingham, while it was not third time lucky in the last 32 of the International Championship against Ali Carter who overcame Maguire at that stage of the event for the third year in succession. His first round draw against Michael Holt is another nasty one for Holt who faced European Masters winner Jimmy Robertson in round one of the first Home Nations event, though he did overcome English Open quarter-finalist Luo Honghao in the last 64 of the International, making three centuries in the process showing the damage he could do here. If the Scotsman can get beyond Holt, then a meeting with 2016 winner Mark King could await. King was recently a semi-finalist in the European Masters so has shown that he still has that form within him and can produce another tough match for whoever comes through the Maguire/Holt clash.

David Gilbert could be one of the players from outside of the top 16 that has a big run in Belfast. His first round match against Fergal O'Brien will cause some problems given some of the results that O'Brien has had this season so far, though Gilbert of course has reached another ranking event final. In Daqing he fell at the last 16 stage to Martin O'Donnell who had an incredible purple patch in the middle of that tournament, while at the English Open Gilbert lost a tight match against Shaun Murphy. He is not playing badly at all and with so many big names in this section a couple of results here or there could see the draw open up and Gilbert could well be one of the players in position to take advantage of such an eventually if he can get through the first couple of rounds. 

My third quarter choice is someone who should still be fresh and if he fancies the job will take some serious stopping looking at the draw and that is Ronnie O'Sullivan. At the time of writing O'Sullivan is in his fifth Champion of Champions final, having never missed out on making the final in any year that he has entered the event in Coventry. While it may be tough for him to get to the final and have the possibility of winning back-to-back events, a year ago after losing the final to Shaun Murphy he flew out to Shanghai and won the Shanghai Masters title without anyone else looking like beating him. O'Sullivan will be fresh after skipping the trip to Daqing for the International Championship and in the other two events he has won this season he has won the Shanghai Masters invitational and made the semi-finals of the English Open in Crawley, making a 147 break in the process. This comes after a season last time out where he won five ranking titles and with how tough he looks to beat again in the early stages of this campaign, a similar title haul is not unrealistic. Except for Stephen Maguire, there are not many names standing between O'Sullivan and the quarter-finals this week that you would give much of a chance against him at anything close to his best. The one remaining question if whether O'Sullivan will truly fancy the job for a second week in a row, or instead he may ease off and suffer a similar exit to that of his last 32 loss to Elliot Slessor in this event last season. 

Best of the rest: David Gilbert

Quarter choice: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Quarter 4

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)

Shaun Murphy Vs Sam Baird
Dominic Dale Vs Chris Totten
Robert Milkins Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Ross Muir Vs Elliot Slessor
Stuart Bingham Vs Peter Lines
Robbie Williams Vs Simon Lichtenberg
Sean O'Sullivan Vs Andy Lee
Sanderson Lam Vs Joe O'Connor
Duane Jones Vs David Lilley
Scott Donaldson Vs Ken Doherty
Martin O'Donnell Vs Jimmy White
Marco Fu Vs Chen Feilong
Anthony McGill Vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Ashley Hugill Vs Hamza Akbar
Jimmy Robertson Vs James Cahill
Mark Selby Vs Anthony Hamilton

Stuart Bingham is going to have a lot of pressure and attention on him this week after winning the English Open. However unlikely it may seem that he will win the three remaining Home Nations events, it is at least possible until someone beats him. Therefore, everyone in press and TV interviews this week will keep asking the question and talking about it more and more, the deeper he goes into the event. Last year Ronnie O'Sullivan was in that position and his chances ended with a last 32 loss to Elliot Slessor, while Liang Wenbo fell a round earlier in 2016 to eventual champion Mark King, so Bingham may suffer the same fate, or he could be the first player in this position to really have a run at it. His first round draw against Peter Lines could well cause him problems. Lines overcame John Higgins in the International Championship qualifiers so it would not be an unexpected occurrence. Compared to some other top players, his draw for the first three rounds is not as difficult on paper, though the same could have been said before his last 64 loss to Eden Sharav in the International Championship. 

World number one Mark Selby props up the draw and is an example of another top player who has a tough draw for the opening three rounds. In round one he faces 2016 semi-finalist Anthony Hamilton who also made the semi-finals of the European Masters a few weeks ago, so that is not a game Selby can take lightly. In round two he could then face the winner in Lommel with Jimmy Robertson providing a potential last 64 challenge, with Anthony McGill the most dangerous of his potential last 32 opponents. Selby's record in the Home Nations series testifies to that fact that he is most vulnerable over the best-of-7 frames format, with Ben Woollaston defeating him 4-3 at the last 64 stage in Crawley. In the last two events it is Neil Robertson that has proved his undoing, losing 6-4 in the International Championship quarter-finals and 4-3 to the Australian in the first round of the Champion of Champions, despite a third career 147 break from Selby which shows that he is in decent form. 

Marco Fu and Anthony McGill are two top 16 players that are not having their own way at the moment. It would be no surprise whatsoever to see either player lose early on in the week once again in Belfast, after their recent struggles. For Fu, he lost in the last 32 of the International Championship to Jack Lisowski despite some good breaks in that contest, though he had only just beaten Andrew Higginson 6-5 a round earlier. Prior to that were last 64 exits at the China Championship, European Masters and the English Open which is not a good omen for him coming to Belfast. As for McGill he lost in the last 64 of the International Championship to Stuart Carrington after a last 32 loss in Crawley to Luo Honghao. The European Masters provided his best run of the season, making the last 16 but having chances to beat Jimmy Robertson. Prior to that the Scot had suffered another two last 64 losses and a last 128 qualifying defeat, but one good win may be all it takes for either McGill or Fu to turn their fortunes around. 

My fourth and final quarter choice goes slightly against his form in this event, but nonetheless I am going for Shaun Murphy. This may seem like an odd choice given that Murphy has been handed the task of overcoming the 6-0 International Championship qualifying loss he suffered a month ago, to try and defeat the same opponent in round one here. Although, in his run to the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions there have been positive signs that Murphy is finally ready to get his season going. The quarter-final victory in Coventry against Ding Junhui was impressive and he looked to be playing more like the man who made it to five finals last season and not the one that has failed to get beyond the last 16 in a ranking event in this campaign. One thing that his failure to qualify for a couple of Chinese events does mean that without some of this travelling and competition he should be fresh and raring to go in Belfast. One other thing he has had plenty of time for is practice and he has said that he has been learning a lot from Fergal O'Brien since Murphy and his family moved to Ireland. When Murphy first mentioned prior to losing against O'Brien in the Paul Hunter Classic that O'Brien was his new practice partner, my first thought was that this could be a big help to his safety play and he has now said as much during the Champion of Champions this week. Seeing him in the club 9-5 every day has inspired Murphy to up his practice regime and while these things do take time, it could now be starting to pay off. The fact that he has never passed the first round in Belfast is only a slight concern given that this event is only in it's third staging this year as a Home Nations event and when Murphy won the Champion of Champions it came after four successive first round exits in Coventry. Having seen his good friend Mark Allen win a big title recently, Murphy has that added bit of inspiration too, just look at how Mark Davis reacted to seeing his practice partner Jimmy Robertson win in Lommel. 

Best of the rest: Stuart Bingham

Quarter choice: Shaun Murphy 

Tournament winner selection: Jack Lisowski 

With just four ranking events left prior to the World Grand Prix it is worth noting that all of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shaun Murphy, Luca Brecel, Graeme Dott, Liang Wenbo, Anthony McGill and Michael White are on the outside looking in at the 32 players currently set to qualify for that event via the one-year money list. 

The format in Northern Ireland is the same as the English Open and all of the Home Nations events from last year with best-of-7 frames matches in the first four rounds, before best-of-9 frame quarter-finals, best-of-11 frame semi-finals and a best-of-17 frame final. As always the action from this event can be viewed on Eurosport and the Eurosport Player with afternoon action throughout the week being available on freeview channel Quest for UK viewers.