Monday 17 December 2018

German Masters Qualifying Preview

Following victory for Mark Allen in the Scottish Open at the weekend, there is just one piece of snooker business to attend to in the calendar year of 2018.

Starting on Tuesday in Barnsley, 128 starters will be trimmed down to the 32 players that will travel to Berlin for the German Masters. The opening round will be played over the first eight sessions this week, with three sessions of playing taking place each day. From Thursday evening, the final four sessions will be devoted to the last 64 as the final line-up is confirmed.

Having just lifted the Scottish Open title, made the UK Championship and guaranteed to be the number one seed for the World Grand Prix whatever happens this week and in Berlin, Allen is one of the non-entries for this event. 2012 Berlin champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is the other notable non-entry, while Rhys Clark and James Wattana from lower down the rankings have also chosen to give this week a miss.

The search for a home player to qualify is extended this year as Lukas Kleckers is joined by new German pro Simon Lichtenberg while amateur Richard Wienold has been invited to take part. Also, young teenager Ben Mertens from Belgium who reached the last 64 of the Paul Hunter Classic has been invited.

Qualifying Section 1 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Mark Williams Vs Fan Zhengyi
Hossein Vafei Vs Jak Jones

The first section is headlined by defending champion Mark Williams, who cruised to victory in Berlin last year with a crushing win over Graeme Dott. The Welshman comes into this event after skipping the Scottish Open and taking a holiday so it will be interesting to see if that makes him more vulnerable or more refreshed. He should have no trouble in round one against Fan Zhengyi who has not shown enough to offer thoughts that he could produce an upset here. 

The other contenders in this section are fellow Welshman Jak Jones who I give the slight edge in a tight looking match against Hossein Vafei. Hossein has not really got his season going as yet and was a no show recently in Scotland with multiple rumours started on why that was. For me, Jones is the most likely winner of that one but he would need Williams to be below par if he were to qualify for the venue.  

Predicted qualifier: Mark Williams

Qualifying Section 2

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Zhou Yuelong Vs Zhang Anda
Michael Holt Vs Dominic Dale

Section two is a very competitive section where a case could be made for each of the four players. Zhou Yuelong is the stand out in my view given some of his recent form, with victories over Mark Williams and Barry Hawkins in the home nations events. Zhang Anda will offer a threat to Zhou but if Zhou is at or close to his best he is simply a class above Zhang who does not have as much consistency. 

Dominic Dale's form has not been up to scratch this season so far and has left him fighting for tour survival as he faces Michael Holt. That will certainly add pressure to Dale who may already have half an eye on the commentary box given some of his recent comments. Holt has not hit top form yet this season, though he threatened in Northern Ireland by beating Stephen Maguire and Mark King before his run was halted in the last 32 on the final black by Zhou. All in all, Zhou probably has the slight edge on his three fellow competitors in this section. 

Predicted qualifier: Zhou Yuelong

Qualifying Section 3

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Ali Carter Vs Sam Craigie 
Sam Baird Vs David Lilley

There is a nice mix of players in section three headlined by former German Masters champion Ali Carter. He takes on Sam Craigie in the opening round and Craigie will be looking to put some recent tight losses in the UK Championship and Scottish Open behind him to get the win here. Carter has had an interesting season with a couple of quarter-finals and further last 16 appearances but he is yet to quite kick on. 

Sam Baird was the man to end Carter's run in Glasgow, coming from 3-1 adrift to defeat Carter 4-3 and progress to his first ever ranking quarter-final. After dropping off tour at the end of last season, he now looks back to the sort of form that has seen him make the last 16 at the Crucible in previous years. Baird faces David Lilley in round one and Lilley has a good record of winning his last 128 matches this season, despite not being on the tour. He was at it again in Glasgow defeating Tom Ford for the second time this season and that came after Ford had just competed in the UK Championship semi-finals, so do not rule him out here. While Carter is the obvious favourite there is certainly potential for any of the other three players in this section to upset that. 

Predicted qualifier: Sam Baird 

Qualifying Section 4

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Joe Perry Vs Ashley Carty
Chris Totten Vs Andy Lee

Much like the first section, there is a runaway favourite in this section as Joe Perry leads the way. Perry has had a good season so far, making the final of the European Masters, the quarter-finals of the UK Championship and who knows how far he could have gone in Scotland last week if it wasn't for Kyren Wilson's revival from 3-1 down in the last 32. Perry faces Ashley Carty in round one and he is probably the most likely candidate to produce an upset here in section four as he is more than capable when on top scoring form. 

Chris Totten and Andy Lee should be a tight tussle between two players who will be desperate to get some ranking points on the board. It's difficult to split them because neither has shown enough form to make them a clear favourite and whoever does come through would be second favourite in the last 64 as well, regardless of who they face out of Perry and Carty. 

Predicted qualifier: Joe Perry 

Qualifying Section 5 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Peter Ebdon Vs Farakh Ajaib 
Mark King Vs Rod Lawler

Section five is another tight section to call and sees the first of the amateurs in the draw in the shape of Farakh Ajaib. Peter Ebdon is the man taking on the Q School top-up in round one and again he will be a pretty big favourite having shown glimpses of some good form this season, by making the Paul Hunter Classic final and the quarter-finals of the Northern Ireland Open. Ebdon will be second favourite to qualify for Berlin behind Mark King but he is still more than capable of producing the goods and you would expect him to be there battling for a place at the Tempodrome in the last 64. 

King against Rod Lawler is a slightly tougher call but King should still just have the edge with Lawler proving pretty hit and miss this season, after a poor season last year as well. King also suffered very few first round exits this season and was a losing semi-finalist in the European Masters. A possible match-up between Ebdon and King in the last 64 could go the full distance and would be an excellent battle. 

Predicted qualifier: Peter Ebdon

Qualifying Section 6 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Jimmy White Vs Harvey Chandler
Shaun Murphy Vs Martin O'Donnell 

This section has taken a slightly different look after events in Glasgow. Had Shaun Murphy suffered another earlier exit at the Scottish Open then it would have been tough to pick him to beat Martin O'Donnell here in round one. However, Murphy found something and reached the final with victories over Kyren Wilson and Judd Trump in there before a narrow loss to Mark Allen in the final. It still leaves him 31st on the World Grand Prix list with just the German Masters to go before the cut off, so he is by no means safe yet. O'Donnell has reached three quarter-finals this season and is 16th on the Grand Prix list, so well ahead of Murphy on that front and he has shown that he is still capable of pulling off the victory here, even after Murphy's Glasgow run. 

Expect a match that goes to the wire and whoever does come through will be a big favourite to beat either Jimmy White or Harvey Chandler in the last 64. White qualified for this event two years ago with a nice win over Joe Perry and this match with Chandler also shapes up to be a close contest with Chandler showing glimpses of his best form in the first half of his rookie season. 

Predicted qualifier: Shaun Murphy

Qualifying Section 7 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Mark Davis Vs Rory McLeod 
Martin Gould Vs Adam Duffy

Section 7 brings with it another former German Masters champion in the shape of Martin Gould who captured this title back in 2016. His season has not quite sprung into life like it did that year when he was in superb form. He has only won money in three events this season which is partly due to the fact that he has only entered six ranking events, with this being his seventh of the season. You still have to make him a good favourite against Q School top-up Adam Duffy, who had more than enough chances to beat John Higgins in Glasgow on the TV table but he just could not get over the line when it mattered. 

Mark Davis will be hoping to give himself more chances to repeat what he did back in October at the English Open, where he made his first career ranking final. He starts off here with a qualifying match against Rory McLeod who is in serious need of victories as the race for tour survival starts to get a lot more serious. On this season's money list he has earned just £16,000 which is only enough to put him 76th so a big improvement is needed from him in the next four or five months. Overall, based on recent form you have to say that Davis is a worthy favourite to win this section. 

Predicted qualifier: Mark Davis

Qualifying Section 8 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Alfie Burden Vs Oliver Lines
Kyren Wilson Vs Ian Burns

Section 8 on paper may look like one where Kyren Wilson should be the man booking his flights to Berlin at the end of the week, but last year in these qualifiers he simply ran out of steam and motivation and suffered an early exit. Ian Burns could cause trouble for him if he is below par in the last 128 and Alfie Burden is also a big threat in this section. 

Burden made the last 16 of the International Championship a few weeks ago and last week in Glasgow he made the quarter-finals. The common denominator in both of those runs is that he pulled off some strong victories before losing out to eventual winner Mark Allen on both occasions. I certainly see Burden being too strong for Oliver Lines if he keeps that form up, especially since Lines is just outside of the top 100 on the provisional Grand Prix list while Burden is 52nd and in all honesty he could be even higher than that but for a couple of tight losses to Liang in the Autumn. Overall, a quarter-final at the UK Championship followed by a tight last 16 loss in Scotland show no suggestion that Wilson is likely to tail off this week, but if he did Burden is the man most likely to pounce. 

Predicted qualifier: Alfie Burden

Qualifying Section 9 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Barry Hawkins Vs Michael White 
Stuart Carrington Vs Adam Stefanow

Section 9 is another really tough section to call given recent form. Barry Hawkins has gone quiet of late, losing in the last 128 of both the Northern Ireland Open and the Scottish Open as well as the last 32 in the International Championship and English Open. Prior to Christmas here he faces a tough tie against Michael White, though the Welshman has had a very poor season by his standards. He has earned just £13,000 so far this season and is 87th on the Grand Prix list and would have to win this title in order to qualify for Cheltenham.

The dark horse in the section is recent Scottish Open quarter-finalist Stuart Carrington who is 25th on the Grand Prix list and assured of making his debut in the event. He has qualified for Berlin before with a victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan to do so and he is a massive favourite against Adam Stefanow who has only picked up one win this season (defeating Jamie Clarke who is yet to win this season). At his best Carrington is a terrific scorer and is well capable of pulling off upsets and now looks capable of making the latter stages of tournaments too. If Hawkins does not have his A game then Carrington could well qualify for Berlin once again. 

Predicted qualifier: Stuart Carrington

Qualifying Section 10

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Robert Milkins Vs Elliot Slessor
Eden Sharav Vs Allan Taylor

This section feels like an opportunity for all of the players involved given that there is no stand out favourite. Robert Milkins is the highest ranked player though at 37th on the Grand Prix list he has work to do to make it through to Cheltenham and needs to make at least the quarter-finals in Berlin. Aside from a last 16 run at the World and English Opens Milkins has suffered some early exits so could be vulnerable in this section. Elliot Slessor is more than capable of getting the win but he has had a tough season as well, sitting level with Michael White on the Grand Prix list.

Eden Sharav is actually the highest of the four on the one-year list, just ahead of Milkins largely thanks to his semi-final at the Northern Ireland Open as well as good wins in the English Open and International Championship prior to that. Again in all likelihood he would need to make the quarter-finals of this event to make the Grand Prix but you would expect him to beat Allan Taylor in round one who has failed to win a match since the last 128 stage of the English Open. Overall, this section could come down to a close contest between Milkins and Sharav in the last 64.  

Predicted qualifier: Robert Milkins

Qualifying Section 11 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Stephen Maguire Vs Daniel Wells 
Gerard Greene Vs Xu Si 

Section 11 produces a big tie between recent Scottish Open semi-finalist Daniel Wells and UK Championship quarter-finalist and top 16 player Stephen Maguire. Wells is someone I am becoming a big fan of in recent times, particularly after the excellent match that he and Zhao Xintong produced in the UK Championship. In Glasgow he had some good fortune to get the first round walkover after Ronnie O'Sullivan's withdrawal but he jumped all over it. Victories over the likes of David Gilbert, Matthew Stevens and Ryan Day followed before that heart-breaking loss to Mark Allen. Without a real massive winning chance in that match it is hard to say he crumbled under pressure or anything like that, Allen simply came to life in the closing stages which should make it an easier loss to get over.

Maguire did not get started at his home event, losing convincingly in round one to Billy Castle in a real shock result, which would make victory for Wells much less of a surprise. The Scot was in great form though in York so Wells will need to continue his Glasgow form if he is to pull off the victory. The other match features Gerard Greene against Xu Si in a really tight match to call. Both have won the odd match here or there with Greene slightly ahead of Xu on the Grand Prix, though both are around either side of the 100 mark and only separated by nine places. Whoever were to come, they have yet to show the sort of form this season to convince me that they would beat Wells or Maguire. 

Predicted qualifier: Daniel Wells

Qualifying Section 12

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Graeme Dott Vs Sean O'Sullivan 
Michael Georgiou Vs Mei Xiwen

Section 12 is where we find last year's finalist Graeme Dott. The Scot had an excellent few days in Berlin last year recovering from 4-0 down in the quarter-finals and then defeating an in-form Shaun Murphy in the semi-finals before falling flat against Williams. After reaching the last 16 of the Scottish Open, before losing to eventual champion Allen, I see no reason why he should not beat Sean O'Sullivan in round one and go on to win this section.

Sean O'Sullivan has won just one match this season, while Michael Georgiou, who faces Mei Xiwen, is a lowly 81st on the Grand Prix and is yet to rediscover the form that took him to Shoot-Out victory and some good wins straight after that. That makes him a second favourite against Mei, who was beaten by Dott in this event last year at the last 16 stage. Mei has picked up enough wins this season to put him in mid-table on the one-year list at 55. Overall, Dott is still a very strong pick to return to the Tempodrome. 

Predicted qualifier: Graeme Dott

Qualifying Section 13

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Peter Lines Vs Lu Ning 
Yan Bingtao Vs Robin Hull

Section 13 is a good looking section that could produce some interesting results. Starting with Yan Bingtao and Robin Hull there is potential for a slight upset here. Yan is 24th on the Grand Prix list so is safe for Cheltenham but failed to qualify for this event 12 months ago and has been consistent this season without setting the world alight. Hull in my view has played a lot better than his one-season ranking of 106 suggests but there have been some really tough draws in there for him and this is certainly another. He has looked good recently but not quite gotten over the line in a couple of matches. He had a massive chance to beat Ryan Day in the last 32 of the Northern Ireland Open, just as he did in the last 16 of this event two years ago, while from 4-4 against Liam Highfield in the UK Championship Highfield was excellent to win 6-4.

Meanwhile, Peter Lines and Lu Ning is a really interesting clash. Lu had only earned £1,000 this season when he turned up at the Northern Ireland Open but has had an excellent run of results since then. He reached the last 16 there in Belfast, the last 16 in York and only missed out on another last 16 appearance in Glasgow by the odd frame. That has lifted him to 60th on the Grand Prix list which is 14 spots ahead of Lines, who will be desperate to return to Germany after making his maiden ranking semi-final this summer in Furth and he could do with some more big runs to guarantee his tour safety for next season. This section is so tight and all three matches played could easily go close, but on recent form Lu is a strong pick to qualify. 

Predicted qualifier: Lu Ning

Qualifying Section 14 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Alan McManus Vs Ken Doherty
Luca Brecel Vs Matthew Stevens

Section 14 is an incredibly strong section with Luca Brecel in there representing the top 16 along with three former top players. Starting with Brecel, he is 34th on the Grand Prix list after a tough season and he cannot afford to lose prior to the last 16 to have any chance of making it to Cheltenham, though in all likelihood he will need his first ranking quarter-final since November 2017 to make it into the top 32 there. His last 32 loss in Glasgow means that he has curiously gone the entire of 2018 without reaching a ranking quarter-final, yet he remains in the top 16 thanks largely to his China Championship victory in August 2017. In Matthew Stevens, he has a first round opponent who looks to be coming back to some of his old form, sitting 26th on the Grand Prix list thanks largely to his mammoth semi-final run at the International Championship, though he does come into this qualifier after a last 16 run in Glasgow also.

The other last 128 match between Alan McManus and Ken Doherty would have been a big tour survival clash for both players, before McManus overcame John Higgins on the way to the last 32 of the UK Championships. That run has along with a greater consistency of winning first round matches this season has promoted him to 55th on the provisional end-of-season list, while Doherty in 61st is now the man under pressure. For the reason I mentioned with the McManus first round consistency you would give him the edge over Doherty though Stevens looks a solid choice to upset Brecel and win the section. 

Predicted qualifier: Matthew Stevens

Qualifying Section 15

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Li Hang Vs Lu Haotian 
Anthony Hamilton Vs Luo Honghao

Section 15 is another section that looks wide open. 2017 German Master Anthony Hamilton is in a big tour survival battle, sat at 65th on the provisional end-of-season list after injuries ruined his 2017/2018 campaign. Victory over Luo would keep him in with a slim chance of making the Grand Prix which would really help to boost his tour survival hopes. Standing in his way is Luo Honghao who showed what he could do on the way to the English Open quarter-finals in October. That kicked his season into gear and he is in the top half on the Grand Prix list and could easily defeat Hamilton if his opponent struggled as badly as he did at the UK Championships recently.

Li Hang and Lu Haotian presents a very interesting match. Lu should have been a certainty for the Grand Prix after making the China Championship semi-finals, but his first round win in Glasgow was his first and only win since that semi-final in September. Li has not hit top form either for any consistent length of time in this campaign. His scoring in Northern Ireland on the way to the last 16 produced his best result of the season and hinted at better things and they may come here. Overall, every one of the four players in this section has a very realistic chance but if Luo beat Hamilton in round one I would fancy him to edge it. 

Predicted qualifier: Luo Honghao

Qualifying Section 16 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Lukas Kleckers Vs Hammad Miah
Judd Trump Vs Robbie Williams 

The final section in the top half of the draw looks a very one-sided one. Judd Trump, a former finalist in Berlin, is the clear favourite from the four players in this section. His recent Scottish Open semi-final continued on from the form that took him to the title in Belfast recently and it is hard to see anyone in this section touching him.

Miah and Kleckers are both outside of the top 100 on the Grand Prix list and while their opening round match could be a real close fight, a last 64 meeting with Trump would most likely be the exact opposite. Robbie Williams meanwhile is under big pressure. An average start to the season has left him 82nd on the Grand Prix list and 64th on the provisional end of season list, so tough draws like this are not what he needs for his tour survival hopes. Trump should be cruising to Berlin in this section. 

Predicted qualifier: Judd Trump

Qualifying Section 17

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

John Higgins Vs Soheil Vahedi 
Chris Wakelin Vs Zhang Jiankang

John Higgins is the headliner as we get into the bottom half of the draw. His first round tie against Soheil Vahedi looks very one-sided on paper, even with Higgins' recent inconsistent form. He showed signs of a turnaround at his home event with a 147 break in his second round match but would eventually bow out in the last 16 to Alfie Burden. It has been a tough time for Higgins but that does not mean he has forgotten to win by any means. He says he has struggled to get motivated again though and you have to worry about how motivated he's going to be in qualifying matches in the week leading up to Christmas.

Any dip below his best from Higgins could open the door for Chris Wakelin to come through this section. He has had a few tough draws of late but a first round tie against Zhang Jiankang should not really be one of them, even though he made the last 32 in Scotland and looks a capable player. The first round loss Wakelin suffered against O'Donnell in Glasgow meanwhile, was his first last 128 loss of the season, though his failure to consistently get to the last 32 or beyond is the main reason he is not higher than 46th on the Grand Prix list. This section probably comes down to what sort of form Higgins shows up with, if he's at his best or close to it then he should qualify, if not and Wakelin has an excellent chance. 

Predicted qualifier: John Higgins

Qualifying Section 18 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Noppon Saengkham Vs Liam Highfield 
Yuan Sijun Vs Ben Mertens

Section 18 features four players that are all under 30, with two teenagers and a combined age of 86 between the four of them (just three years older than my Nan). At 14, Ben Mertens is the youngest and he was only 13 back in August when he reached the last 64 of the Paul Hunter Classic but qualifying for the Tempodrome would be a monumental achievement. Three talented players surround him in this section and he starts out against 18-year-old Yuan Sijun who will more than likely win that one comfortably. Yuan is presently 29th on the Grand Prix list after a strong season and is well set to qualify for Cheltenham.

Noppon Saengkham and Liam Highfield is a much tougher match to call. Noppon is 19th on the Grand Prix list after a season that has contained a World Open semi-final and an English Open quarter-final, though he has also suffered first round exits in the last two home nations outings. Liam Highfield has not had quite as good a season, sitting 67th on the Grand Prix list, but his only first round exits have come at home nations events as well in Crawley and Glasgow, it is largely his failure to get beyond the last 64 that has left him as low as he is because he is a much better player than that. Whoever comes through out of Noppon and Highfield would be confident of delivering against Yuan, despite the season that the Chinese teenager has had, but this is another very close section.

Predicted qualifier: Noppon Saengkham

Qualifying Section 19 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Jack Lisowski Vs Mark Joyce
Gary Wilson Vs Chen Zifan

Jack Lisowski is the man to beat in this section. He takes on Mark Joyce in round one, with Joyce sitting at 72nd on the Grand Prix list after a very quiet season so far. For Lisowski, this is an event that he can certainly look to as one that could provide his first ranking title. Two of the last three winners were first time ranking winners (Hamilton and Gould) and now that he is into the top 16, securing a tournament win is the next outstanding goal for him.

Gary Wilson provides his major opposition in this section but the pressure is on for Wilson as he aims to keep his spot in the Grand Prix. At 32nd on the list a loss to Chen Zifan would mean that a first round victory for Zhou Yuelong would drop him out of the the all important top 32 on the list. Victory against Chen Zifan, who only has two to his name this season, would put him into a strong position and mean that those below would have to reach at least the last 16 to overtake him. If Lisowski is at his free scoring best then he should have enough to beat Wilson, but if Wilson is also in good scoring form then that could be a last 64 game that goes to the wire. 

Predicted qualifier: Jack Lisowski 

Qualifying Section 20 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Anthony McGill Vs Jordan Brown
Alexander Ursenbacher Vs Duane Jones

The highest ranked player in section 20 is Scotsman Anthony McGill, and despite his ranking of 70th on the Grand Prix list, he is still the highest ranked of the four in this section on that list also. His first round exit in Glasgow made it three last 128 defeats in a row for him in what has been a very tough spell for him, but that could well turnaround this week with a couple of wins to book his place in Berlin. He faces Jordan Brown in the last 128 who has had the odd good result this season, most notably a last 128 victory over Luca Brecel in the International Championship.

Also offering competition is Alexander Ursenbacher who should be favourite to topple Duane Jones in the last 128. Jones has showed little this season, while Ursenbacher has been a lot more consistent at winning his last 128 matches than he was after his English Open semi-final last season. His hit rate in the last 128 is 6 wins from 10 which is not bad considering there have been some tricky draws in there too. If McGill is still misfiring then Ursenbacher is the most likely candidate of the remaining three to deny him German Masters qualification. 

Predicted qualifier: Alexander Ursenbacher

Qualifying Section 21 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Zhao Xintong Vs Sanderson Lam 
Xiao Guodong Vs Thor Chuan Leong

Section 21 is one that will most likely come down to an exciting all-Chinese battle between Zhao Xintong and Xiao Guodong. Defeat for either in the last 128 would be a pretty big upset. For Zhao, he is certain of qualification for the Grand Prix at 23rd on the list and could easily break into the top 64 after just the first season of his two year tour card that he won back in May. His opponent Sanderson Lam meanwhile has only managed two wins this season, both of which came in Northern Ireland and barring a dramatic improvement or a real off day from Zhao there should only be one winner there.

Xiao meanwhile is slightly worse off at 28th on the Grand Prix list but with a nice three player buffer between himself and losing his Cheltenham place he should be safe. His season has been highlighted by a quarter-final run in the early season World Open, with just two first round exits coming in the home nations series. Thor Chuan Leong meanwhile has had just three wins this season and is outside of the top 100 on the Grand Prix list as well. Xiao was a quarter-finalist at this event last season but after losing from 4-0 up he has a bit of unfinished business, while Zhao continues to knock on the door. A potential last 64 meeting between the two could go right to the wire. 

Predicted qualifier: Zhao Xintong

Qualifying Section 22 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Akani Songsermsawad Vs Kishan Hirani 
Ryan Day Vs Lee Walker

Section 22 is another where I could see a top 16 player suffering an early exit. Ryan Day is the man this time that I feel could be under threat. His season has promised a bit more than it has delivered, with his run to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Open seeing him reach his fourth quarter-final of the season but thus far he has lost them all, despite going off favourite in three of them. In round one he faces Lee Walker who reached the quarter-finals of the Paul Hunter Classic in Germany earlier in the season. So far Walker has won 7 out of his 10 last 128 matches this season and Day knows what he will be up against here in this match.

Akani Songsermsawad features in the other last 128 tie and he will be on a quest to get into the World Grand Prix. His hopes suffered a big blow in Scotland as he drew eventual finalist Shaun Murphy in round one and has subsequently fallen to 36th and needs at least a quarter-final in Berlin to make it through to Cheltenham. Runs to the last 16 of both the International and UK Championships have shown what he is capable of though and Grand Prix qualification is not out of the question. His first round opponent Kishan Hirani has had some tough draws this season and managed just a couple of wins so far in his rookie season. Day could easily lose to Walker or Akani in my view if he is not at his best and Akani is certainly not a bad pick to make it through from this section. 

Predicted qualifier: Akani Songsermsawad

Qualifying Section 23 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Fergal O'Brien Vs Tian Pengfei 
Liang Wenbo Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh

Another very open section is the 23rd. The two higher ranked players in the two last 128 ties are probably in worse form than their opponents which makes for an interesting dynamic here. Fergal O'Brien is a man who needs victories in order to save his tour place, currently sitting at 63rd on the provisional end-of-season list, despite a start to the season that contained victories over the likes of Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter, Luca Brecel and Marco Fu. His first round opponent Tian Pengfei is in good touch though, having made the last 16 and last 32 in the last two events after an early season quarter-final at the European Masters. After missing two events, he has only suffered two first round losses in eight events, one of which was a best-of-7 frame match where he made three centuries. His scoring could well be the decisive factor against O'Brien and take him close to qualification.

In the other last 128 tie, Liang Wenbo will look to end his poor form as he faces Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. Liang has suffered three first round exits on the bounce, one of which was in the UK Championships after taking a 5-1 lead and overall he is 53rd on the Grand Prix list and in need of making the final in Berlin to advance to Cheltenham. Thepchiaya Un-Nooh is just ahead of him on the list despite his own first round exit in Scotland. Prior to that he made a quarter-final in Northern Ireland and has been in superb scoring form, losing just two first round matches out of nine this season. Overall, I think Tian and Un-Nooh will just come out on top in close calls with Tian winning the section. 

Predicted qualifier: Tian Pengfei

Qualifying Section 24 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Zhang Yong Vs Kuldesh Johal 
Ding Junhui Vs Nigel Bond

2014 German Masters champion Ding Junhui is the front runner in this section. Despite entering just five of the first ten ranking events this season and not yet getting beyond the last 16, he is still set to qualify for the Grand Prix, lying in 29th place. He is a clear favourite to beat Nigel Bond, though Bond is still capable of pulling off results and had a 136 in a losing cause against Shaun Murphy in the last 32 in Glasgow.

In the other last 128 tie, Zhang Yong faces amateur top-up Kuldesh Johal. This is just the second time that Johal has appeared as a top-up this season, after an early season run out at the Riga Masters. Zhang meanwhile is level with Bond on the one-year list and broke a run of three successive first round exits with his own run to the last 32 of the Scottish Open. Either way, it is hard to see anyone in this section defeating Ding if he is anywhere near his best. 

Predicted qualifier: Ding Junhui

Qualifying Section 25 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Neil Robertson Vs Jamie Clarke
Basem Eltahhan Vs James Cahill

The same as Ding could be said for Australia's Neil Robertson in this section. He is in a section that contains an amateur top-up in James Cahill and the only two remaining professionals that are yet to win a match this season. His first round opponent Jamie Clarke has come close but is yet to get over the line in the first half of his rookie season, a similar tale to how many near misses he needed to finally get on tour.

Meanwhile, Cahill will be favourite to beat struggling Basem Eltahhan. Cahill has beaten the likes of Mark Selby in the UK Championship and Liang Wenbo in the World Open, as well as reaching the last 64 in Scotland with a win over Thor Chuan Leong and he could have gone further in each of those three tournaments. He should beat Basem but whether he can challenge Riga Masters winner Robertson is an entirely different question and one that is probably answered with a no unless Robertson has a bad day at the office. 

Predicted qualifier: Neil Robertson

Qualifying Section 26 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Tom Ford Vs Joe O'Connor
Kurt Maflin Vs Paul Davison

The 26th section is headlined by recent UK Championship semi-finalist Tom Ford. His run to the last four there put him 22nd on the Grand Prix list and turned what had been a decent start to the season into a really good one. His last 128 opponent Joe O'Connor also got his season going more after a couple of wins in York against Ryan Day and Andrew Higginson, promoting him to 82nd on the one-year list and showing that he too can do some damage. If Ford is not on top form then that could be a close game, but if Ford scores heavily O'Connor may not be able to compete.

In the other last 128 match, Norway's Kurt Maflin takes on Paul Davison. Maflin has had an average year, sitting 66th on the Grand Prix list picking up a large amount of last 128 wins but failing to convert most of those much further than the last 64 stage. His first round opponent Davison had been having a pretty ordinary year but has picked up slightly by winning his last 128 match in both the UK Championship and Scottish Open to get him up above Joe O'Connor to 80th on this season's money list. Overall, Ford is clearly the stand out player in this section but if he's not quite at his best O'Connor could cause trouble while Maflin is always dangerous, should he defeat Davison in a tricky last 128 tie. 

Predicted qualifier: Tom Ford

Qualifying Section 27 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Stuart Bingham Vs Chen Feilong
Niu Zhuang Vs Simon Lichtenberg

Again we have another section that could be very one-sided for the top 16 player involved. This time it is Stuart Bingham who will be expected to come through and make it back to Berlin. He missed the event last season through suspension, but this year he is back on top form. His victory at the English Open has been backed up by a narrow UK Championship semi-final loss to Mark Allen. However, he lost a couple of first round matches early in the season and has also lost in round one of the last two home nations events, so he is not invincible at this stage. In Chen Feilong he has a first round opponent that is starting to get a taste for life on tour. Chen had failed to win a match on tour prior to his Northern Ireland victory over Marco Fu. That was backed up by a last 128 win over Shaun Murphy in the UK Championship and he also made the last 64 in Scotland last week. Bingham though is still rightfully a strong favourite.

Another German that has a chance to shine is Simon Lichtenberg but his qualification chances in this section are slim at best. He has only picked up a couple of wins this year but may be inspired by the opportunity to qualify for his home event, without actually having the pressure of playing his matches this week in front of his home fans. Niu Zhuang is his last 128 opponent and Niu has only won one more match than Lichtenberg this season so that presents an opportunity for both players to add to their tally this week. The section though feels like Bingham's to lose. 

Predicted qualifier: Stuart Bingham

Qualifying Section 28 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Jimmy Robertson Vs Dechawat Poomjaeng
Joe Swail Vs Richard Wienold 

The third and final German in the draw features in section 28 as amateur Richard Wienold takes on Joe Swail. Wienold is not a familiar name for many but German fans will recognise him as the winner of their amateur championship in 2017. After ending a run of four successive first round exits with a run to the last 32 on home turf, Swail has picked up the bulk of his season's winnings in his last three events and should have far too much class to be losing out to Wienold.

Another amateur features in this section as ex-tour pro Dechawat Poomjaeng takes on European Masters winner Jimmy Robertson. Things kicked up a gear for Robertson in this tournament last season when he made the quarter-finals to register his best ever ranking event finish at the time and perhaps gave him the confidence to go on and win in Lommel in October. He has not lost a last 128 match since that victory so you would not expect that too change against Poomjaeng who is winless from his appearances as a Q School top-up in the first half of this season. This section should really come down to a battle between Robertson and Swail which on current form should go the way of Robertson. 

Predicted qualifier: Jimmy Robertson

Qualifying Section 29 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Craig Steadman Vs Hamza Akbar 
David Gilbert Vs Ashley Hugill

This section features a man in David Gilbert who is in the top eight on the one-season money list, while the highest of the other three on the same list is Craig Steadman in 74th. That makes Gilbert a pretty big favourite, especially against Ashley Hugill in the last 128 who has been defeated in all of his last 128 matches apart from one this season. Gilbert meanwhile was the World Open runner-up early in the season and made the quarter-finals in Northern Ireland recently.

In the other match Steadman faces Hamza Akbar who, like Hugill, has only progressed beyond the first round in one event this season. That was in Northern Ireland where he reached the last 32, while Steadman has lost his last three first round ties in a row but had only lost two out of seven prior to that and he overcame Barry Hawkins in the European Masters to record his best finish of the season. This one will most likely come down to a Steadman Vs Gilbert battle where Steadman is capable of an upset but if Gilbert continues striking the ball as he has been for much of the season, then he will be hard to beat. 

Predicted qualifier: David Gilbert

Qualifying Section 30 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Ben Woollaston Vs Mike Dunn
Marco Fu Vs Matthew Selt

Section 30 is another where I can see a top 16 player suffering an early upset. Marco Fu is that man who is yet to get his mojo back this season. It started well with an early season quarter-final but he has not hit the same heights since but is still 27th on the Grand Prix list. In fact he has failed to get beyond the last 32 since the World Open, so an early exit here is well withing the realms of possibility. He faces Matthew Selt in round one who has also failed to hit the same heights as the World Open, where he reached the last 16. On his day he is capable of defeating Fu though, if his struggles continue.

Ben Woollaston is another man that could take advantage though it is surprising to see him as low as 61st on the Grand Prix list in all honesty. He had an excellent win over Mark Selby in the English Open but he has also had some tough draws in the home nations series. He has only lost three of his 10 last 128 ties this year, one of which was to Neil Robertson, while his opponent Mike Dunn has only gone beyond the first round in four events this season. As his Twitter followers will know, he has a tough time away from the table with his health but he is still good enough to produce the odd good run here and there which keeps him in the top 64. All in all, there is enough vulnerability wit Fu to see someone like Selt or Woollaston getting the better of him and going on to qualify for Berlin. 

Predicted qualifier: Ben Woollaston

Qualifying Section 31 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Li Yuan Vs Ross Muir
Ricky Walden Vs Scott Donaldson

Section 31 could be an all Scottish affair for a place in the last 32 at the Tempodrome. Ross Muir has done more than enough to go off favourite against Li Yuan. Muir defeated Neil Robertson to make the last 32 in Scotland last week and also made the last 16 at the European Masters earlier this season. Li meanwhile has only won one match all season, and that was his very first one, remaining winless since then.

In the other last 128 tie, Ricky Walden will be hoping to break a run of first round defeats, having failed to win a game since defeating Ben Woollaston in the last 32 of the English Open. His recent exits have hardly been against in-form players either losing to Jak Jones and Mark Joyce so he really seems to be struggling and sits 48th on the Grand Prix list. His opponent is Scott Donaldson who is under pressure on the end-of-season list sitting 62nd, but that is not because of a bad season this campaign. He has only suffered two last 128 exits in this campaign and is ahead of Walden at 41st on the Grand Prix list, with a best finish of the last 16 in the China Championship. I would expect him to beat an out of sorts Walden and then overcome his fellow Scot Muir or indeed Li Yuan in the last 64. 

Predicted qualifier: Scott Donaldson

Qualifying Section 32 

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Andrew Higginson Vs John Astley 
Mark Selby Vs Billy Castle

The final section is where we find the world number one Mark Selby. After taking the Scottish Open off and losing in the last 128 at the UK Championships it has been a quiet couple of weeks for Selby so he should be raring to again here. The 2015 German Masters champion will start his campaign against Billy Castle, who upset Stephen Maguire at the Scottish Open last week, though that was only the third event where he has gone beyond round one all season and it is tough to seeing him beating the world's best player in this one. Selby looked in good form in Northern Ireland where he lost in the last four, so his UK first round loss was a massive shock to everyone, including Selby.

Andrew Higginson takes on John Astley in the other last 128 tie in this section, with Astley coming into this after just two wins all season long. In all he has been winless since the International Championship qualifiers and is at 103 on the Grand Prix list. Higginson has plodded along once more this season, with a last 16 run in Northern Ireland his best of the season as he sits 55th on the Grand Prix list. Overall, Higginson should be beating Astley though he has suffered four last 128 exits this season, but Selby would have to be well below his best if he ends up failing to qualify. 

Predicted qualifier: Mark Selby


To watch some of the qualifiers throughout the week, two tables in each session will be broadcast on the Eurosport Player. All matches during the qualifying section are played over the best-of-9 frames. First round winners are guaranteed £2,250 with money increasing to £3,000 for those that make the last 32 in Berlin. 

Sunday 9 December 2018

Scottish Open Preview

Although the UK Championship is set to come to an exciting conclusion today with Mark Allen and Ronnie O'Sullivan battling to become the champion, a new tournament starts up again on Monday morning as the players head to Glasgow for the Scottish Open.

This is the third home nations event of the season and the final trophy up for grabs in 2018, so it's glory's last shot for a lot of players who have under-performed in 2018. Two notable absentees from Glasgow though are world number one Mark Selby, who lost in the last 128 of the UK Championships, and world champion Mark Williams who have decided to take a bit of extra time off before Christmas.

In attendance though is last year's champion Neil Robertson who overcame Cao Yupeng in one of the most dramatic finals of the 2017/2018 season. However, as we all know by now the runner-up Cao was suspended at the start of the season and has since been banned until November 2020.

Marco Fu is the other former winner of this event since it was brought back as part of the Home Nations Series, as he upset the home fans by defeating John Higgins in the final back in 2016.

Higgins joins a cluster of home hopefuls hoping to bring glory to Scotland with Stephen Maguire the next highest ranked Scotsman. Anthony McGill will be hoping his home event inspires a turnaround in form, while 2006 world champion Graeme Dott will also be gunning for glory. Other Scots include Scott Donaldson, Alan McManus, Chris Totten, Ross Muir, Rhys Clark and amateur invites Fraser Patrick and Craig MacGillivray.

Quarter 1

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Neil Robertson Vs Peter Lines
Alexander Ursenbacher Vs Ross Muir
Chris Wakelin Vs Martin O'Donnell
Rod Lawler Vs Sam Baird
Ali Carter Vs Luo Honghao
Michael Georgiou Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Mark King Vs Mei Xiwen
Tom Ford Vs David Lilley
Joe Perry Vs James Wattana
Liam Highfield Vs Robbie Williams
Li Hang Vs Paul Davison
Kyren Wilson Vs Oliver Lines
Nigel Bond Vs Andy Lee
Michael White Vs Allan Taylor
Michael Holt Vs Sam Craigie 
Shaun Murphy Vs Akani Songsermsawad

Shaun Murphy continued his struggles this season with a last 128 exit at the UK Championships 6-3 to Chen Feilong having been 3-1 up. Now he comes to the Home Nations series events where success has been hard to come by. In 10 previous events since the series was set up he has only reached the last 16 once. Last year here he lost in the first round to Daniel Wells and this year I see the same outcome coming as he faces a tough opponent in Akani Songsermsawad. In many ways, Akani is the benchmark for where Murphy needs to get in the next two events. The Thai sits 32nd on the World Grand Prix rankings, and is some £22,000 ahead of 65th placed Murphy who realistically needs to make at least the semi-finals in either this event or the German Masters and not lose before the last 16 in the other to qualify for the Grand Prix, a title the Magician won in 2016. Perhaps spending the week in York commentating rather than playing will give him a fresh perspective or coming off of Twitter will help block out the negative noise. At the moment though, there are not too many positive signs coming from Murphy's season to hint at a possible turnaround.

Kyren Wilson meanwhile is a real contender for every tournament he enters. After cruising to the quarter-finals of the UK Championship he came up short against Stuart Bingham who scored well against him. It was always likely to take a good performance to beat Wilson in York and it will need the same again in Glasgow if he gets himself himself straight back up for the task. That was not something he did at the Northern Ireland Open, but he had less than 24 hours to recover from a gutting 10-9 defeat against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the Champion of Champions before facing Lee Walker in Belfast. Other than a couple of minor blemishes here and there it has been a great season for Wilson and he is certainly at the forefront of my mind when looking at quarter and tournament winners.

Joe Perry is a player who may be getting back to that sort of form. The final he reached at the European Masters helped put him back close to the top table and he is 11th on this season's money list after reaching the quarter-finals of the UK Championship. Until a slightly surprise quarter-final loss to Tom Ford, he was excellent in York defeating Judd Trump in the last 16 and cruising to that stage with three easy wins in the early rounds. His immediate rival in this section would be Wilson who he could face in the last 32, though Perry overcame him on the way to that final in Lommel a couple of months ago, so there's no reason why he could not repeat that again. Should he continue his York form from the first four rounds then he is a big contender to win this opening quarter of the draw.

Neil Robertson is my first quarter choice and the defending champion looks to be playing better at the moment than he was when he won this title last December. The title win came in the one week he was outside of the top 16, seeing him out of the Masters in January. This year though he is firmly back in the top 16 having also won the Riga Masters and made it to the International Championship final, which has him in fourth position on the money list this season. His last 16 defeat to Mark Allen at the UK Championship came after Allen finished with back-to-back tons to win 6-5. There are certainly some players that could offer danger on their day to Robertson in this section, but if he starts matches better than he did in the early part of the UK Championship and at the Northern Ireland Open then it is hard to see him losing prior to the quarter-finals. His scoring is so good that it is hard to see why he went through tough patches in his game but once again he is back to being a tournament contender and he has a good chance of putting in a strong title defence this week. 

Best of the rest: Joe Perry

Quarter choice: Neil Robertson

Quarter 2

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)

Barry Hawkins Vs Zhou Yuelong 
Lu Haotian Vs Fan Zhengyi
Gary Wilson Vs Stuart Carrington
Hossein Vafei Vs Eden Sharav
Stuart Bingham Vs Tian Pengfei
Robin Hull Vs Kishan Hirani
Duane Jones Vs Lu Ning
Jak Jones Vs Sanderson Lam 
Matthew Selt Vs Ian Burns
Mike Dunn Vs Joe O'Connor
Hamza Akbar Vs Soheil Vahedi
Stephen Maguire Vs Billy Castle 
Zhang Jiankang Vs Simon Lichtenberg
Lee Walker Vs Jordan Brown
Ben Woollaston Vs Harvey Chandler
Judd Trump Vs Jimmy White

Stuart Bingham is one of the headliners of this second quarter. Bingham won the first home nations event of the season by defeating Mark Davis to win the English Open but the lofty million pound dreams were ended abruptly when he was defeated by Peter Lines in the last 128 in Belfast. Much more gut-wrenching though will be his 6-5 UK semi-final loss to Mark Allen and he does not have long to get over that one before facing a tough task against Tian Pengfei in Glasgow. Tian is well capable of pulling off an upset here having previously defeated Judd Trump in the European Masters to make the quarter-finals and he also defeated Lu Haotian and Jimmy Robertson to reach the last 32 in York, so by no means if this an easy draw for Bingham. Get through it though and you have to fancy him for another big run here in Glasgow looking at the draw.

Judd Trump will be disappointed with how he exited the UK Championship. The recent Northern Ireland Open champion stated that he needs to win more big events and was once again looking good in the early rounds but a last 16 defeat in a close match against Joe Perry will have left him feeling a bit low you would imagine and he may find it difficult to get his mind straight back on the job in Glasgow. At this event he is back-to-back semi-finalist but even that will be a bit disappointing looking back as he threw away a big lead against Higgins in 2016 and lost to Cao Yupeng in 2017 in a match Trump was a huge favourite for.

Barry Hawkins has gone a bit quiet in recent times but is still a major contender for this title. His run in York was halted by a good performance from Kyren Wilson but prior to that he had failed to get beyond the last 32 in each of the Northern Ireland Open, International Championship, English Open and the European Masters after a promising period at the end of last season carried over into the start of this campaign. The draw here in Glasgow is a tricky one also as he faces Zhou Yuelong in the very first round and Zhou could certainly do some damage over the best-of-7 frames, having reached the last 16 of both the English Open and Northern Ireland Open in recent times.

Stephen Maguire is the player I have earmarked to be the leading Scotsman this week in Glasgow and is also my pick for the second quarter of the draw. He is back in the top 16 for this season's Masters and it would be great for him and his fans if he won his first ranking title for five and a half years in his home tournament. His UK quarter-final against Mark Allen he put down to the state of the table as he lost 6-1 after superbly coming from 4-0 down to defeat Mark Williams the round before, as well as defeating Ali Carter in the last 32. In the first home nations event of the season he made the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion Bingham, and in Belfast he lost out after a tough first round draw put him up against Michael Holt. It seems to me as though Maguire is fighting hard to get back to where he was in 2013 when he last won a ranking title as he has certainly not achieved as much as he could have in recent years given his talent. Trump is really the only player in his half of this quarter that you could see beating Maguire, but if he could beat Trump or if Trump were to lose early on then I think Maguire could be set for a really big run here in Glasgow.  

Best of the rest: Stuart Bingham

Quarter choice: Stephen Maguire

Quarter 3

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold) 

John Higgins Vs Adam Duffy
Gerard Greene Vs Chris Totten
Craig Steadman Vs Ashley Carty
Yan Bingtao Vs Basem Eltahhan
Marco Fu Vs Chen Zifan
Peter Ebdon Vs Alfie Burden
Thor Chuan Leong Vs James Cahill
Anthony McGill Vs Zhang Yong
Scott Donaldson Vs Rory McLeod
Graeme Dott Vs Xu Si
Alan McManus Vs John Astley
Luca Brecel Vs Hammad Miah
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Luke Simmonds
Xiao Guodong Vs Yuan Sijun 
Chen Feilong Vs Fraser Patrick
Mark Allen Vs Liang Wenbo

John Higgins is the Scottish number one and will be hoping he can go one or two better than he has in the last couple of years in his home event. In 2016 he was blown away in the second half of his final with Marco Fu, while a year later he lost out in the semi-finals against Neil Robertson and would obviously have been a huge favourite to beat Cao Yupeng had he gotten through. This season is getting gloomy though for Higgins after last 128 exits at the International Championship and Northern Ireland Open have been followed by a last 64 exit at the UK Championship and he is now threatening to retire. I summarised this in a social media conversation by stating how difficult it must be for a player to get over losing a tight world championship final. For Higgins to have lost two really close Crucible finals in two years, it is going to take an incredible amount of mental strength to look beyond that to future success, especially at the stage he is at in his career - where he feels opportunities to win the sport's biggest prize are starting to look numbered. Will his home tournament this week inspire a turn in fortunes? Perhaps. Does he potentially need to take a few weeks off, skip some tournaments and get away from the practice table until he feels the motivation to return? This may be a more likely solution, because having reached back-to-back world finals, it is far too early for him to retire.

Mark Allen is a man at the opposite end of things in terms of confidence, belief and overall happiness having just backed up his International Championship victory by making the final of the UK Championship. Allen is the leader on the one-season money list (regardless of the result in the York finale which is ongoing at the time of writing) and is right up there with O'Sullivan as the two best players this season. He has really stepped up a gear this season to challenge for more titles, having gotten his hands on the Masters title in January. As for this week in Scotland, the big question is whether he will be able to get himself back in playing mode after the UK final, whatever the result. His first round opponent is Liang Wenbo who may be out of form at the moment having lost from 5-1 up in the first round of the UK Championship, but he still presents a tough match on paper for Allen, especially if Allen runs out of steam after his exploits of the last five weeks or so.

Graeme Dott, Alan McManus, Anthony McGill and Scott Donaldson are four of the other leading Scottish players in a home favourite heavy section besides the obvious stand out Higgins. Dott was unlucky in York not to defeat Neil Robertson in the last 32 so he looks to be improving after a quiet start to the season. McManus was the man to beat Higgins in the last 64 of the UK Championship and that result gave a timely boost to McManus' end-of-season ranking where he is now provisionally 57th and nicely clear of danger. McGill is in danger of having a very quiet season if he does not soon get things going. His failure to see off Lu Ning from 5-2 ahead in the last 128 of the UK Championships added to a string of disappointments in the first half of this season that have left him languishing at 68th on the World Grand Prix list and he needs similar heroics to Shaun Murphy in this event and the German Masters if he is to be in Cheltenham in February.
In a mini section of the draw that contains McManus, Dott and Luca Brecel, who needs to make the quarter-finals here to avoid going through the entire of 2018 without a ranking event quarter-final appearance, Scott Donaldson could be the man to come through and make the last 16. He was unlucky to lose 6-4 to fellow Scot Stephen Maguire at the last 64 stage of the UK Championship, but he does actually outrank McGill, Dott and McManus on the one-year list and at 62nd on the provisional end-of-season list he could do with the victories here to put a bit more security.

Marco Fu was the winner here two years ago and he has an excellent record in Scotland over the course of his career. He may not be the same player that he was two years ago since eye troubles have plagued him and halted his progress as he looked to be playing some of his best ever snooker. When he won this title he scored as well as anyone could dream of scoring and having won the Gibraltar Open on the same week in December a year earlier it seems that there is something about this time of year that really gets him playing well. Perhaps his family really go big with their Christmas lists. The season has offered little in the way promise, though he has suffered two last 32 exits to Jack Lisowski which have proved decisive in him falling out of the top 16 for the Masters, just as Robertson did 12 months ago. His last 128 exit at the Northern Irish open to Chen Feilong was a huge shock until Chen then toppled Murphy at the UK Championship, but his comfortable victories in the first two rounds of the UK Championship did offer some hope of a revival and that could start here on a happy hunting ground. 

Best of the rest: Scott Donaldson

Quarter choice: Marco Fu

Quarter 4

Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)

Ding Junhui Vs Niu Zhuang
Robert Milkins Vs Fergal O'Brien
Noppon Saengkham Vs Dominic Dale
Zhao Xintong Vs Ashley Hugill
Ryan Day Vs Rhys Clark
Anthony Hamilton Vs Kurt Maflin
Mark Davis Vs Jamie Clarke
Ken Doherty Vs Zhang Anda
Matthew Stevens Vs Li Yuan
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Elliot Slessor
Jimmy Robertson Vs Lukas Kleckers
Jack Lisowski Vs Adam Stefanow
Andrew Higginson Vs Joe Swail
Ricky Walden Vs Mark Joyce
David Gilbert Vs Craig McGillivray
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Daniel Wells

Ronnie O'Sullivan is the man to catch at the moment as he is winning every other tournament he enters and has not been knocked out prior to a semi-final all season, so he will take some stopping in this quarter. His season started with a victory at the invitational Shanghai Masters. His first UK appearance saw him suffer a surprise semi-final loss to Mark Davis at the English Open, before winning the Champion of Champions and losing a narrow Northern Ireland final to Trump. He looks well-placed currently as well to win the UK Championships for a second year in succession and following his York victory 12 months ago, he would make the quarter-finals of this event before losing to John Higgins for the second year running in Glasgow. With Higgins a quarter above they cannot meet before the semi-finals this time but the list of players you fancy against O'Sullivan is growing shorter and shorter. If he is up for it after a busy few weeks on his calendar, O'Sullivan is a clear favourite to win another title and continue dominating every tournament he enters.

Ding Junhui is not having such a good season and having skipped the first two home nations series events it was a little surprising to see him in the draw for this event. He reached the last 16 at the UK Championships before losing to Martin O'Donnell, who many people would have expected him to beat - despite that putting O'Donnell into his third quarter-final of the season and into the top 16 on this season's money list. If Ding were to suffer an early exit here in Glasgow, his Grand Prix place would be in serious doubt. His participation in the German Masters is by no means a guarantee and he is currently 31st on the qualifying list for Cheltenham. There are certainly players in Robert Milkins, Fergal O'Brien, Noppon Saengkham and Zhao Xintong that have the potential to stop him progressing to the last 16 this week. If that were to happen then his schedule for the rest of the season could be even shorter than his calendar was in the first half of the season.

Jack Lisowski and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh are two immensely naturally gifted players who each have a chance of doing well in Glasgow. It would be an excellently entertaining clash if they were to meet at the last 32 stage. Lisowski secured his Masters debut by defeating Marco Fu to make the last 16 of the UK Championships and even though he would go not further than that in York he is still someone to look at as a potential tournament winner between now and the end of the season. He is starting to build more consistency and that is exactly what is needed to break into but also to stay in the top 16 for an extended period, which must be his ultimate goal. At seventh on this season's money list he is in great form, though will be looking to improve on his two last 32 exits in this season's home nations events. He will be happy to see Trump nowhere near him in the draw, having lost to him on both of those occasions. As for Un-Nooh, he looks to be building some good form of late too. He had a maximum at the English Open before losing narrowly in the last 32 to eventual winner Stuart Bingham. That was followed by a quarter-final at the Northern Ireland Open where he lost to Selby, and his last 64 exit at the UK Championships came after Neil Robertson played six frames of sublime snooker from 3-0 down. If he gets into his stride in Glasgow then he is a serious threat.

Ryan Day may seem like an odd quarter choice given that he took a surprise thumping in round one of the UK Championships, but his quarter-finals at the first two home nations events are the real reason I have picked him out here. He also reached the quarter-finals of the European Masters and the common denominator there is the best-of-7 frame format. With Ding struggling, Day is the player in his half of this quarter that takes the eye. His draw is not easy though he will be expected to make light work of his first round game at the very least, though the same could be said for his first round clash with Joe O'Connor in York. Of course the passage of anyone else in this quarter will largely be reliant on the performance of O'Sullivan, though for fear of picking the Rocket in every event, I see Day as the next best player in this section if he turns up with his new found A game of the last 18 months, rather than the inconsistent and sloppy Z game that has made a couple of appearances this season again.  

Best of the rest: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh

Quarter choice: Ryan Day

Tournament winner selection: Neil Robertson


Once again this tournament is live to watch on Eurosport TV and for UK freeview viewers it will also be on Quest in the afternoons for the first five days before covering all of the weekend's action. As always the tournament is formatted like the rest of the Home Nations Series with four hectic days of best-of-7 frame action before Friday's quarter-finals, Saturday's semi-finals and Sunday's best-of-17 frame final. 

Wednesday 5 December 2018

Ronnie O'Sullivan continues UK Championship defence with last 32 whitewash

Ronnie O'Sullivan put talk of his controversial 'breakaway tour' to one side on Monday to deliver a crushing whitewash against Zhou Yuelong and book his place in the last 16 of the UK Championship. 

Zhou did have chances early on but fell 3-0 adrift after breaks of 66 and 60 from O'Sullivan and then the Chinese youngster would only score a further nine points in the final three frames, as O'Sullivan wrapped the match up with breaks of 68, 69 and 89. 

O'Sullivan will now face Jack Lisowski as he won a crucial match in the battle for the Masters, 6-3 against Marco Fu. Had the result gone the other only £1,100 would have separated the pair meaning that a win for Fu over O'Sullivan would have put him above Lisowski, but now the left-hander is almost certain of his Ally Pally place. On the day he made breaks of 69 and 109 but also won three crucial close frames in order to defeat Fu. 

Two-time UK champion Neil Robertson again recovered from a slow start to defeat Graeme Dott in a deciding frame. After trailing 3-0 in the previous round before winning, Robertson fell behind 2-0 this time after breaks of 66 and 58 from Dott. Robertson levelled at 2-2 with breaks of 58 and 57 but was behind again after the break when Dott's run of 54 put him 3-2 up. Robertson was level again with a run of 86, only for Dott to wade back in with a match high break of 105 to move 4-3 ahead. Two frames on the spin for the Australian looked to be crucial as he went ahead for the first time at 5-4, though Dott would not give up and forced the decider after a break of 63. After an unlucky in-off early in the decider from Dott, Robertson piled on a break of 71 which proved enough to edge the contest. 

World champion Mark Williams ended up a comfortable 6-3 winner against Noppon Saengkham and he looks to have found his feet well in York. Noppon opened up with a match high break of 119 but then spent most of the next three frames glued to his chair. Breaks of 54, 72 and 112 helped Williams to move 3-1 ahead before winning a more tactical frame after the break to lead 4-1. The Thai got himself back in it by winning frames six and seven to close the gap but Williams was quick to stretch the lead back to two, before winning the ninth frame on the colours to clinch victory. 

There were also comfortable 6-2 victories for the likes of Judd Trump against Mark King, though the final three frames of that contest could easily have gone the other way with chances for King. Stuart Bingham defeated David Gilbert by the same score making three centuries including a new tournament high break of 145, while Masters champion Mark Allen was a 6-2 winner against Hossein Vafei and Kyren Wilson was in good form to defeat Yan Bingtao 6-2. 

China's number one Ding Junhui held off Xiao Guodong by winning the final two frames of that match for a 6-4 win, while there was also success for another Chinese player as Lu Ning took out the 13th seed Luca Brecel 6-3. 

Lu is the lowest seeded player left in the competition at 110, though 11 of the top 17 seeds have made it to the last 16. This is compared to five of the top 17 seeds from last year, seven in 2016 and six in 2015. 

Last 32 results: 

Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-0 Zhou Yuelong
Jack Lisowski 6-3 Marco Fu
Martin O'Donnell 6-4 Tian Pengfei
Ding Junhui 6-4 Xiao Guodong
Judd Trump 6-2 Mark King
Joe Perry 6-2 Joe O'Connor
Lu Ning 6-4 Luca Brecel
Tom Ford 6-3 Alan McManus
Akani Songsermsawad 6-2 Jak Jones
Stuart Bingham 6-2 David Gilbert
Kyren Wilson 6-2 Yan Bingtao
Barry Hawkins 6-4 Gary Wilson
Mark Allen 6-2 Hossein Vafei
Neil Robertson 6-5 Graeme Dott
Stephen Maguire 6-3 Ali Carter
Mark Williams 6-3 Noppon Saengkham

Last 16 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Jack Lisowski
Ding Junhui Vs Martin O'Donnell
Judd Trump Vs Joe Perry
Tom Ford Vs Lu Ning
Stuart Bingham Vs Akani Songsermsawad
Barry Hawkins Vs Kyren Wilson
Mark Allen Vs Neil Robertson
Mark Williams Vs Stephen Maguire


Wednesday's selected match previews: 

Wednesday afternoon brings an excellent session of snooker starting with defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan against Jack Lisowski. O'Sullivan has had an interesting week with certain comments off the table which have distracted from his performances and at the times the event as a whole. On the table he had to come from 4-1 down to beat Ken Doherty 6-5 in the last 64, while his other two victories have been comfortable, but he faces much more of a test here against Lisowski. The left-hander is almost certain of his Masters spot after yesterday's win over Fu and that may help him relax more than he may have been in the early rounds. Not that his results have been anything other than plain sailing as he has only conceded five frames thus far. The problem Lisowski may have is the same one he seems to have against Judd Trump and that is allowing himself to relax and play well, because he has struggled against Trump in the past with this and given how intimidating O'Sullivan can be, the same could easily happen here. If he does score heavily and take his chances though, the defending champion could be right up against it. 

Then on the other table in the afternoon, world champion Mark Williams faces a tough tie against Stephen Maguire. Williams has been pretty comfortable so far with easy wins against Adam Duffy and Daniel Wells before a good display on the whole against Noppon Saengkham. Maguire has had the tougher route though, fighting from 3-1 down to beat Simon Lichtenberg 6-3 in the first round, before coming through tough battles with Scott Donaldson 6-4 and Ali Carter 6-3. His pot success in that one was 95% so he is clearly playing well too and is in the last 16 of the UK Championship for the 15th year in a row, showing just how good the 2004 champion's record is in this event. Take out the Championship League and Six-Reds from the head-to-head and it leans 5-3 in favour of Maguire, who overcame Williams at the last 32 in York in 2014, as well as a 9-5 win in the 2007 quarter-finals. So long as Maguire keeps his head at the key moments, this will be a really tough afternoon for the world champion and a match that could easily go all the way. 

In the evening session, the main game to focus on is a third meeting in four events between Mark Allen and Neil Robertson. Allen of course was the victor in the previous two, beating Robertson in the final of the International Championship and then defeating him again the very next week over a best-of-11 frame Champion of Champions quarter-final. This week Allen has been fairly untroubled winning each of his matches 6-2, while Robertson has had to battle through a decider against Graeme Dott and from 3-0 down against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh though he did so there with some superb scoring. Despite losing their last three meetings now, Robertson has to remember that he leads the overall head-to-head between the two pretty comfortably and has scored some excellent wins against Allen on the big stage at the Masters. If the pair score as well as they can then this will be a treat of a match, but on this occasion it is of paramount importance that Robertson puts his recent slow starts behind him (including falling 7-1 down to Allen in the International final) otherwise he will be severely punished in this match. 

Thursday's match preview to follow

Overall, the last 16 matches are played over the two TV tables on Wednesday and Thursday so that viewers can watch any of the eight matches over the course of the round and with some of the excellent match-ups that the draw has delivered there is plenty of entertainment to come over the next couple of days. 

Monday 3 December 2018

O'Sullivan, Ding and Trump survive UK Championship deciders

Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and former UK champions Judd Trump and Ding Junhui all survived dramatic last 64 matches in deciding frames to book their places in the last 32, while John Higgins exited in a deciding frame.

O'Sullivan was 4-1 down against 1997 World champion Ken Doherty as Doherty made breaks of 66, 71, 76 and 77 to move well clear of the Rocket. O'Sullivan won the next four though to move ahead 5-4 but Doherty still had the bottle to force a decider. For O'Sullivan though, a run of 56 in the decider was good enough to ensure his passage to round three in York.

Ding Junhui also had to come from behind to defeat Matthew Selt 6-5. In a contest where Ding's highest break was 56 and Selt's 130 break in the third frame was his only break of over 50, Selt took a 3-1 lead at the interval and then moved 4-2 in front after Ding had won the fifth. Ding dominated the next two though to square the tie at 4-4 only for Selt to move ahead once more and Selt had further chances in both of the final two frames but it was Ding who was able to get over the line in the end.

Judd Trump meanwhile survived a spirited fightback from Dominic Dale and recovered from missing match ball to win the match in the tenth frame, by making a deciding frame century to win 6-5. Dale had taken a 2-0 lead but Trump levelled at 2-2 going into the interval after a fourth frame break of 110. Dale would move ahead again at 3-2 before losing all of the next three to trail 5-3. A run of 69 kept him in the tie, before Trump looked to have won it in the tenth. Sensational pots and blue and pink left him needing the final black off it's spot for victory but he failed to convert. Another attempt from distance on his next visit also found the jaws and Dale was able to cut it in to force a final frame. That was when Trump stepped up with an excellent opening red and converting this time by making the match high break of 112 without giving Dale a chance to win.

John Higgins though was not as fortunate, losing his match from 5-3 ahead against fellow Scot Alan McManus and then reiterating that he has lost his motivation for the game after the match.Higgins failed to register a break of above 50 in the entire match, despite winning four frames in a row from 3-1 down to register the 5-3 advantage. McManus fought back though and with a deciding frame break of 85 he secured a valuable victory in his race for tour survival.

Further top 16 players in Luca Brecel and Stuart Bingham both needed deciding frames to book their spots in the last 32. Breaks of 121 and 107 had helped to Bingham 4-0 in front in his match against Kurt Maflin and with an important break of 76 in the seventh he moved 5-2 up and one from victory. Maflin hit back though with runs of 55, 89 and 106 to take the match all the way. Despite chances for the Norweigian at the eleventh hour, it was Bingham that came through.

Brecel needed a final frame decider to win his match with Liam Highfield, who lost a decider 12 months earlier at this stage to eventual runner-up Shaun Murphy - a potentially good omen for Brecel. After a break of 56 gave Highfield the opener, Brecel then struck three consecutive centuries with a 135, 109 and 101 putting him 3-1 ahead. Highfield took the next two though to level the match at 3-3 despite the brilliance of Brecel. After then falling 4-3 adrift, the Belgian struck back with a run of 97 to level at 4-4. Highfield had chances in the ninth but Brecel won that, only for Highfield to win a tight tenth frame, but Brecel ultimately shut Highfield out in the final frame to book his last 32 spot.

Two time UK Champion Neil Robertson won six straight frames from 3-0 down against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh to come through 6-3. Thepchaiya had made a century of his own in the opening three frames, but had to watch as Robertson made breaks of 137, 117, 101, 84, 78 and 68 in the six frames he won on the bounce.

Progress was more comfortable though for world champion Mark Williams and the man he beat in the Sheffield semi-finals Barry Hawkins, as both secured whitewash wins, while both 2018 Masters finalists Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson were 6-2 victors to move into round three at the Barbican.

Last 64 results: 

Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-5 Ken Doherty
Zhou Yuelong 6-4 Mark Davis
Marco Fu 6-2 Luo Honghao
Jack Lisowski 6-1 Mei Xiwen
Tian Pengfei 6-2 Jimmy Robertson
Martin O'Donnell 6-2 Chen Feilong
Xiao Guodong 6-3 Ben Woollaston
Ding Junhui 6-5 Matthew Selt
Judd Trump 6-5 Dominic Dale
Mark King 6-2 Li Hang
Joe O'Connor 6-3 Andrew Higginson
Joe Perry 6-1 Michael Holt
Lu Ning 6-4 Mark Joyce
Luca Brecel 6-5 Liam Highfield
Tom Ford 6-5 Robert Milkins
Alan McManus 6-5 John Higgins
Akani Songsermsawad 6-5 James Cahill
Jak Jones 6-5 Joe Swail
Stuart Bingham 6-5 Kurt Maflin
David Gilbert 6-4 Peter Ebdon
Yan Bingtao 6-1 Paul Davison
Kyren Wilson 6-2 Mike Dunn
Gary Wilson 6-3 Sam Baird
Barry Hawkins 6-0 Ian Burns
Mark Allen 6-2 Rory McLeod
Hossein Vafei 6-4 Martin Gould
Neil Robertson 6-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Graeme Dott 6-2 Matthew Stevens
Ali Carter 6-4 Chris Wakelin
Stephen Maguire 6-4 Scott Donaldson
Noppon Saengkham 6-0 Rod Lawler
Mark Williams 6-0 Daniel Wells

Last 32 draw: (Picks in bold) 

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Zhou Yuelong
Marco Fu Vs Jack Lisowski
Martin O'Donnell Vs Tian Pengfei
Ding Junhui Vs Xiao Guodong
Judd Trump Vs Mark King
Joe Perry Vs Joe O'Connor
Luca Brecel Vs Lu Ning
Tom Ford Vs Alan McManus
Akani Songsermsawad Vs Jak Jones
Stuart Bingham Vs David Gilbert
Kyren Wilson Vs Yan Bingtao
Barry Hawkins Vs Gary Wilson
Mark Allen Vs Hossein Vafei
Neil Robertson Vs Graeme Dott
Stephen Maguire Vs Ali Carter
Mark Williams Vs Noppon Saengkham


Selected Monday Match Previews:

Ronnie O'Sullivan will kick off the last 32 action in York by taking on Zhou Yuelong for the second successive event. O'Sullivan was a comfortable winner against Zhou when the pair met at the last 16 stage of the Northern Ireland, with Zhou not really ever looking like beating O'Sullivan and that may well be the case again here. O'Sullivan has dodged a big bullet to come through 6-5 against Ken Doherty, but he did the same at the last 16 stage against Akani Songsermsawad 12 months ago and still went on to win the title, so by no means does this necessarily make him more vulnerable. Zhou is a dangerous player as we know and scored a good 6-4 victory against English Open runner-up Mark Davis on Saturday, so if he can bring his best against O'Sullivan then he will provide a difficult test.

Kyren Wilson takes on Yan Bingtao in another exciting last 32 match on Monday afternoon. Wilson did not look at his absolute best against Mike Dunn in the previous round, despite recovering from losing the opening two frames to win the next six in a row. Yan meanwhile has also only dropped a couple of frames in his first two matches against Lukas Kleckers and Paul Davison, yet he has hardly looked in world beating form, with no breaks of above 50 against Davison. His scoring was much better against Kleckers in the opening round and we all know how dangerous Yan can be on his day. A year on from his final in Northern Ireland though, he has not quite kicked on as we might have expected, but still a very young man, he has plenty of time on his side and could soon have a very deep run at this tournament if he were to defeat Wilson. Wilson though, is starting to develop a taste for these big matches in big tournaments so expect him to be close to the top of his game against Yan.

On Monday evening, world champion Mark Williams faces a tough task against Thailand's Noppon Saengkham. The last meeting between these two was at the semi-final stage of the World Open this summer, with Noppon taking a 5-2 lead before losing his way and Williams ultimately came through 6-5. Both players have had an easy passage to the last 32 this week, Noppon losing a frame to Hamza Akbar and then whitewashing Rod Lawler and only conceding 50 points in the whole match. Williams meanwhile was a 6-2 winner against Adam Duffy and then was a whitewash winner himself against Daniel Wells, who ran out of steam after a dramatic first round victory. Make no mistake, Saengkham provides an enormous threat to Williams and is now on the verge of a place in the world's top 32. He is a very heavy scorer and well capable of taking advantage if Williams is not quite at his best, which he has not necessarily been in the last three or four tournaments leading up to this. Saengkham in my view has a great opportunity here to avenge his heart-breaking World Open loss from earlier in the season here.

Finally, one of the picks on Monday's play sees another meeting between Stephen Maguire and Ali Carter. In what has to be considered as the Chinese equivalent of this event, the International Championship, Maguire and Carter have met at the last 32 stage for three successive years, with Carter winning every single one. For this match though, there are two conflicting records at play here as Carter has won five of their last six meetings, including the three at the International Championship. To make that six wins from seven meetings though, Carter will have to do something no one has been able to do since 2003 - beat Maguire prior to the last 16 stage in the UK Championships with Paul Hunter the last man to achieve that 15 years ago. Maguire's UK record is impeccable since winning the title in 2004 and he was a semi-finalist again last year before losing to O'Sullivan. The pair this week have played the exact same amount of frames, securing 6-3 last 128 wins against Simon Lichtenberg and Thor Chuan Leong, before 6-4 last 64 wins for Maguire against Scott Donaldson and for Carter against Chris Wakelin. Overall, there really is very little to separate these two and that will more than likely be the case on the night as well.

Selected Tuesday match previews: 

Tuesday afternoon looks like one of the sessions of the tournament with some of the names in action and the match-ups to look forward to. The action starts with an exciting clash between Marco Fu and Jack Lisowski for the right to face Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last 16. These two met at the same stage of the recent International Championship with Lisowski winning that one 6-3 and it is the left-hander who is in by far the better form of the two so far this season. Fu did not play badly in that 6-3 loss by any means but Lisowski was still too strong for him on the day and that could be the case again this time at the Barbican. Fu is showing signs of improvement though with two comfortable wins so far this week and the tournament high break of 144, so expect this one to be a bit of a tighter battle than it was in Daqing.

Then there is another cracking contest that is not on the TV table as Stuart Bingham faces David Gilbert. Bingham had to really hold on for dear life in the last 64 as he watched Kurt Maflin come from 4-0 and 5-2 adrift to force a decider, before Bingham ultimately came through 6-5. Gilbert meanwhile came through a tough clash with Peter Ebdon by winning 6-4 and his scoring in that match was exceptional with the small matter of four century breaks coming from him. Both players have had good seasons, with Bingham winning the English Open and Gilbert making the World Open final and coming into this tournament from a quarter-final in Northern Ireland and he is just ahead of his opponent here on the one-season money list, such is his form. If Gilbert scores as well as he did against Ebdon and takes his chances as clinically then he is certainly going to be hard to beat here.

Then on the TV table there is a 2010 world final repeat between Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott. So far this week, Robertson has had to fight back from 3-0 down to defeat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-3 with some unreal scoring in the second half of the match given the early deficit. The slow start he got off to tough must be a slight worry given his performances in Belfast recently as he went 3-1 and 3-0 down before winning those first two matches 4-3 only to lose 4-0 in the last 32. As for Dott, he has started the week well if slightly under the radar with 6-2 victories over Oliver Lines and Matthew Stevens, who recently made the International Championship semi-finals of course. Dott also took Robertson out at this stage of the UK Championships a few years ago so it would not be a big surprise to see that happen again. One thing Dott will have to do is shut out Robertson, because his scoring has been too good this season to give him many clear cut chances.

In the evening, Mark Allen faces Hossein Vafei. The Masters champion has had a nice start in York with 6-2 wins over Basem Eltahhan and Rory McLeod but this match against Hossein will be by far his biggest test so far. Hossein was fortunate in the end to get through his first round game having given away a 5-3 lead to eventually beat Ashley Hugill in a decider, before then defeating former ranking event winner Martin Gould 6-4 in round two. It has been a quiet season so far for the Iranian but he has showed on occasions in the past that he is well capable of beating the top players but he will need to be on top form if he is to defeat Allen. The Masters and recent International champion is on fine form at the moment and scored for fun in that win out in Daqing a few weeks ago, the sort of scoring that was impossible to beat and would be very difficult to stop if he gets that going again in York, as he seeks to add another triple crown title to his CV after that excellent Masters win in January.

Finally, Ding Junhui takes on Xiao Guodong in an exciting all-Chinese clash. Ding really had to battle hard and was nowhere near his free-scoring best in a 6-5 victory over Matthew Selt in round two, while Xiao Guodong has been scoring well, despite being pushed close against Sean O'Sullivan where Xiao came from behind to win 6-4. Then in the last 64 Xiao recovered from losing two early close frames to win 6-3 with some more good breaks. When these two have met previously it has been one-way traffic towards Ding, with Xiao's only win in six attempts coming in their first meeting back in 2009. They met at this year's World Championship with Ding winning 10-3 and the aggregate score from their last three meetings is 21-5 in Ding's favour. Given how poor Ding looked in the last 64 though and the fact that he is playing a reduced schedule since the addition to his family in the summer, this may be one of Xiao's better chances to score a victory against the Chinese number one.


The last 32 matches will be played over Monday and Tuesday and will again be contested over the best-of-11 frames at the York Barbican, while the guaranteed prize money will improve from £10,000 for making the last 32, to £15,000 for making the last 16.