Early days in China

The first couple of days are over and half of the round 1 matches have been completed. So far we have seen dominant perfromances from Scotland as 3 of their 4 representatives are through to the second round. However we have seen a fantastic performance from Jack Lisowski to dump out Judd Trump in Round 1, which now means that Mark Selby will regain the No.1 ranking if he reaches the quarter-finals. There were also departures for John Higgins as Robert Milkins came from 3-1 down and 4-3 down to win 5-4, and Matthew Stevens who lost 5-2 to Rory McLeod. However, my 2 dark horses for the event both made it through to the second round. Ali Carter got the win that he really needed to take a stronger hold on the 15th place ranking, and therefore the 16th seed for The Crucible. He beat Zhao Xintong 5-2. Shaun Murphy beat Andrew Higginson 5-3, avoiding another potential first round banana skin.

Day 1: Scots dominate Beijing

Graeme Dott fought back from 2-0 down to beat Marco Fu 5-3, with a top break of 76 and i thought that Dott showed a slight glimmer of how he can play, something he really needs to find before the World Championship. His incredible fighting qualities showed once more from 2-0, fighting back to 2-2 at the interval, especially as Marco Fu had the chance for a 3-1 lead. Dott shone after the interval and went 4-2 ahead. Breaks of 54 and 66 from Fu got it back to 4-3, but Dott held on for the 5-3 win.

In the only other round 1 match on day 1, Stephen Maguire came from 3-1 down to win 5-3. Holt took the first 2 frames with a break of 105 in the second frame. Maguire fought back with a break of 133 to make it 2-1. Michael wasn't fazed though and made it 3-1 with a 101. Maguire hit form after the mid-session break though breaks of 63, 66 and 62 giving him all of the last four frames for a 5-3 victory.

Day 2: Higgins, Trump and Stevens out. Murphy, Carter through.

Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter made it through on a day where 3 other top 16 players were knocked out, along with defending champion Peter Ebdon. Murphy made top breaks of 50, 52, 89 and 61 on the way to a 5-3 victory over Andrew Higginson. Meanwhile Ali Carter came back from losing the first frame to Zhao Xintong, to beat the wildcard 5-2 with high breaks of 50, 58, 63 and 76.

Peter Ebdon was knocked out by Marcus Campbell, losing 5-3. There were only 3 breaks of 50+ in the whole match, in what was another lenghty affair involving the defending champion. Ebdon made a breaks of 67 and 53 after Campbell stole the first frame by 1 point. From 2-2 though Ebdon only won 1 more frame as Campbells top break of 53 came in the third frame.

John Higgins lost against Robert Milkins by a 5-4 scoreline, despite the Gloucesterman not making a break of above 50. Higgins made breaks of 64 and 60 on the way to a 3-1 lead. The Milkman levelled it up at 3-3, only for Higgins to regain the lead with a 116 century break. Milkins though took a tense last 2 frames, to record another famous Chinese victory.

Rory McLeod came from 2-1 down to beat Haikou World Open runner-up Matthew Stevens 5-2. Stevens opened up with a break of 62 to lead 1-0. At 2-2 it still looked ok for the Welshmen until McLeod came out and made a 134 break (the highest of the first round so far) and then a break 52 consolidated his lead. The Dentist ground out the seventh frame to take out the match.

The clash of the day by far though, was Jack Lisowski's 5-3 victory over good friend Judd Trump. Lisowski took the first frame with a break of 85, only for Trump to level with a 58 break. This is where Jack began to show his class with a magnificent 131 break. The World No.1 took the next 2 though to lead 3-2. His practice partner won all of the last 3 frames in style with breaks of 63, 80 and 94 to close out the match 5-3. This really was a fantastic victory for Jack Lisowski who has now beaten the world's top 2 in the space of 2 tournaments, to remind us all of the future star of the game he is sure to be.

Wednesday's Round 1 matches

6.30 am (UK Time)

Ding Junhui Vs Barry Hawkins
Mark Davis Vs Dechawat Poomjaeng
Ricky Walden Vs Ken Dohery
Mark Williams Vs Lu Haotian

11.30 (UK Time)

Mark Selby Vs Mark King
Neil Robertson Vs Jimmy Robertson
Mark Allen Vs Anthony McGill
Stuart Bingham Vs Liang Wenbo

Shaping up for an exciting week already in Beijing!

Who will win in Beijing?

The penultimate ranking event of the season starts on Monday, as the China Open gets underway in Beijing. Apart from the title, there are also lots of valuable ranking points on offer as the fight for 15th place, and automatic qualification for the World Championship, reaches it's conclusion. 1st round victory should be enough for Ali Carter to secure the spot and make Mark Davis go to the qualifiers. There's also a tight battle between Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy to be ranked no.6 and therefore take the seventh seeding and therefore avoiding the ninth seed in the second round.

The top quarter of the draw sees an opportunity for either Neil Robertson or Mark Allen (whoever wins their possible second round match) to get into the semi-finals this week. In the bottom quarter the four seeds are Mark Selby, Ricky Walden, Mark Williams and Ali Carter and with Williams and Walden in poor form at the moment it gives Selby the opportunity to get a good run in ahead of The Crucible.

My 4 predicted semi-finalists would be Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui, Judd Trump and Mark Selby.

Neil Robertson has a first round meeting with his namesake Jimmy Robertson or wildcard Wang Yuchen. I can't real see Neil losing that one the way he's playing right now, so a second round meeting with Mark Allen is very likely. Robertson has a pretty decent record against Mark Allen, including a recent Masters quarter-final victory. Despite that Allen is in good form and played well in a losing effort against Ding at the PTC Grand Finals, and winning the Haikou World Open. However, i still see Robertson as a favourite in this one as he looks to improve his form in China. Looking at the other half of this section Marco Fu plays Graeme Dott and holder Peter Ebdon faces Marcus Campbell. I can see a slight upset in both matches there as neither Dott or Ebdon are in form at the moment. Firstly, Ebdon is struggling to get used to his new cue and has had a very poor year. Even though it was the same story last year until he won this event, i just can't see it happening again and i think Campbell will just get through. Graeme Dott is also in poor form, after first or second round exits in every event since the Masters in January, while Marco Fu made the quarter-finals in Galway and the German masters final in early February. Therefore i have to say that Fu will get through this and then go on into the quarter-finals. Despite this, Robertson should be strong enough on the day to beat Fu and reach the semi-finals.

In the other quarter, Ding Junhui has a tough start against Barry Hawkins, but in his current form i have to back the home favourite to get through. He should then play Stephen Maguire, who himself has a tricky start against Michael Holt, but one that the Scot should just come through. Ding will fancy his chances against Maguire, who had a really bad defeat from 3-0 up against Joe Swail in the PTC Grand Finals. Ding Junhui also has a good record against him, and therefore the home favourite, will be the favourite for a quarter-final spot. Elsewhere in this section John Higgins plays Robert Milkins and Stuart Bingham will face either Liang Wenbo or wildcard Lu Ning. Stuart should get through that, although not being in the greatest form since making the Welsh Open final. As for John Higgins, his last meeting against Robert Milkins saw Milkins win 5-3 in the Haikou World Open in 2012. However, Milkins has previously admitted that he struggles in the first round of Chinese events and if he does so again Higgins will surely punish him by going through to the second round. Out of Higgins and Bingham, i have to say that Higgins will get through if he can regain the form that saw him thrash Bingham 5-0 in the World Open. Whoever does reach the quarters from will come unstuck against Ding however, as they will really need to find their form quickly to overcome the century making machine if the home favourite is switched on. Otherwise i have to say that it will be successive China Open semi-finals for Ding Junhui.

Judd Trump has an equally tricky start, as he could play his good friend Jack Lisowski, as long as Lisowski wins his wildcard match. Judd should come through this one, but Lisowski definetly has the potential to beat him, especially after the confidence a win over Selby in the PTC Finals will give him. Still Trump will be the big favourite, and is my pick to be in the second round. In the second round he should play Mark Davis (no disrespect to Dechawat Poomjaeng), and this is another match that Trump will be hot favourite for. Davis has not had a great start to 2013, not qualifying for Germany or Wales (under the changed system) and suffering first round defeats in Haikou and Galway. That is definetly the form that gives me any reason to say that Davis will beat Trump, not saying that he can't, but it just seems unlikely. However automatic qualification for The Crucible could be on his mind and spur him on this week. In the other half of Trump's quarter lies a couple of dark horses. Shaun Murphy may not have won a ranking event for 2 years, but having had almost a month of from tournament would have given him a chance to refresh himself, and get some much needed practice in after disapointing defeats in Wales and Haikou. One of those disapointing defeats came to Matthew Stevens, who he may have to face again in round 2 here. Both have tough opening encounters with Murphy playing Andrew Higginson, and Matthew Stevens should face a trip to the dentist, playing Rory McLeod. Both should get through and then i think Murphy will make the quarters, and looks to get rid of some unfinished business of Haikou. Trump against Murphy would be a tough one to call, but one that Trump will look to, in order to prove he's ready for the World Championship. Murphy would be a good tournament bet if some others like Trump or Selby fall early though.

Finally, Mark Selby has a tasty start against Mark King, but Selby has a great record against King. King definetly has a good chance, especially as he plays some of his best snooker out in China. Selby should win if he's on his game though, and the fact that he's taken his wife out to Beijing may help him relax and get back into form this week. In the second round Selby could play either Ricky Walden or Ken Doherty. Walden enjoys playing out in China and his best results will prove that. To start with that made me think that he would definetly beat Ken and that he would also beat Selby. Having looked at Walden's form in recent times though, he hasn't managed to find the form in 2013 so far that got him the Wuxi Classic title, and at times he has actually played quite badly and nowhere close to where he can. Therefore, i have to go with the UK and Masters champion for victory. Meanwhile in Selby's quarter, Ali Carter needs victory over Jamie Cope or Zhao Xintong to secure the 16th seed for the World Championship. For that reason, and the fact that Cope has had a poor year that has seen him drop to world number 32 provisionally, i have to say that Carter will be in the second round. Carter will meet either Mark Williams or Lu Haotian (the 15 year old who made the quarters at the International Championship). This is after Mark Joyce pulled out of the tournament giving Lu a bye into the first round. I don't like to talk about the wildcards or even consider them because, i find them unfair and a complete waste as it's really all down to sponsors and many of them probably aren't good enough. So, i can see no way that Williams will exit this one in the first round (as he has in many recent tournaments) and he will be in the second round, where he should play Carter. This is where i must take the Welshmans form into account. On current form there is little chance of him beating Ali, if the German Masters champ keeps his discipline. Carter also made the Championship league final last week and has to be my bet of the week to make the quarter-finals. Out of Selby and Carter to reach the semi-finals then, i fancy that it will be Selby. The Jester from Leicester will be hoping for a good run to regain confidence before the big one in April starts, and if he shows the kind of determination he did in the UK and Masters, then i'm sure he will get through.

Predicted Semi-Finals:
Neil Robertson Vs Ding Junhui
Judd Trump Vs Mark Selby

Predicted tournament winner: Neil Robertson

1st Round Draw

Peter Ebdon Vs Marcus Campbell
Graeme Dott Vs Marco Fu
Mark Allen Vs Anthony McGill/ Heydari Nezhad Ehsan
Neil Robertson Vs Jimmy Robertson/ Wang Yuchen
Stephen Maguire Vs Michael Holt
Ding Junhui Vs Barry Hawkins
Stuart Bingham Vs Liang Wenbo/ Lu Ning
John Higgins Vs Robert Milkins
Judd Trump Vs Jack Lisowski/ Zhou Yuelong
Mark Davis Vs Dechawat Poomjaeng/ Zhu Yinghui
Matthew Stevens Vs Rory McLeod/ Hu Hao
Shaun Murphy Vs Andrew Higginson
Mark Williams Vs Lu Haotian
Allister Carter Vs Jamie Cope/ Zhao Xintong
Ricky Walden Vs Ken Doherty
Mark Selby Vs Mark King

Gould earns Championship triumph

Martin Gould sealed victory yesterday in the 2013 Championship League at Crondon Park, a win that should give him a place in next seasons Premier League (although that is not confirmed).

Gould came into the second day of the winners group with only 1 win from 3 games, with matches against in-form Ding Junhui, second placed Ali Carter and John Higgins to play. However, Gould pulled off a 3-0 victory over Carter, and a 3-1 victory against Ding. That was enough for him to seal third place in the group despite a 3-0 loss to John Higgins.

Elsewhere, Ding Junhui only won 1 of his remaining 2 matches, giving him a second place finish and a semi-final meeting with Gould. Carter won 2 of his 3 matches on the final day, against Marco Fu and Barry Hawkins, to seal the top spot.

He had a semi-final meeting with Marco Fu after Fu beat Mark Allen, which turned out to be enough to finish above Allen on frames won. Meanwhile, poor results for John Higgins and Barry Hawkins meant that they finished in the bottom 2 with only 2 wins each.

Semi-Finals

Martin Gould reached the final of the Championship with a second victory on the day against Ding Junhui, this time whitewashing him 3-0. A break of 84 was enough to win him the first frame. They both had chances to win the next 2 frames, but Gould won them both to keep his great run on the day going, leading into the final.

Ali Carter also got through to the final with a 3-0 whitewash of Marco Fu. Carter took the opener with a break of 50, as he dominated the early stages. Carter took the next, and 64 break got him over the line as Fu only scored 33 points in the match.

Final Hurdle of Crondon Marathon

The final between Martin Gould and Ali Carter brought the curtain down on the whole Championship League series that started on January 7th after the sixth european tour event in Germany, and now in Mid-March, 25 players had been cut down to 2.

Carter started brightest in the first frame with a break of 58, but he found himself 1-0 behind. He took the next to level a tight match that could still go either way. The reigning short formats champion put himself back ahead as he looked for another short format win, a break of 55 proving enough as Carter failed to score.

Carter hit back in the next and levelled once more, with a 68 break eventually forcing the Championship League into a decider. Ali Carter had an early chance, but could only make 22 from it and Gould soon waded in with a century, a deserving way for the classy break builder to win the £10,000 winners cheque, a probable Premier League place and more importantly the title of 2013 Championship league winner.

Congratulations then to Martin Gould, and roll on Beijing with my China Open preview coming in the next few days.

 

Finals Day in Essex

Here we are then for the final day of the 2013 Championship League at Crondon Park in Essex. 7 guys are left going for the title and the possible Premier League spot (if it is to stay in it's current format) and all 7 could still walk away with the title and £10,000 overall winners money (excluding frames won prize money of £300).

Here's how the table looks after day 1:
                    
                         Played     Won    Lost       Frames Won     Frames Lost           Points
Ding Junhui         4             3         1                 10                        7                        3
Allister Carter      3             2         1                  8                         5                        2
Marco Fu            4             2         2                  8                         8                        2
Mark Allen          4             2         2                  7                         9                        2
Martin Gould       3             1         2                  7                         6                        1
John Higgins       3             1         2                  5                         6                        1
Barry Hawkins    3             1         2                  4                         8                        1

At this stage any of the seven players could still make the top 4 and the evenings semi-finals with Gould, Higgins and Hawkins still having 3 games to play, despite having only won 1 of their 3 matches so far. The in form player and holder Ding Junhui is looking good with 3 wins already under his belt with still 2 games left, and he's already made 4 century breaks in this group. Ali Carter is also in as good a position and should also make the semi-finals with 2 points on the board so far, with 3 matches still to play. Group 7 winner from earlier this week, Marco Fu and Group 4 winner Mark Allen are in possibly tricky situations, both having 2 points from 4 games so far, so both have 2 games to play. It's likely that only 1 of them will make it though as they play each other this afternoon.

Remaining Fixtures:

John Higgins Vs Barry Hawkins
Ali Carter Vs Martin Gould
Mark Allen Vs Marco Fu
Ding Junhui Vs Barry Hawkins
Ali Carter Vs Marco Fu
John Higgins Vs Martin Gould
Ding Junhui Vs Martin Gould
Ali Carter Vs Barry Hawkins
John Higgins Vs Mark Allen

So i think that Ding Junhui should be a certain for the semi-finals and i'm pretty certain Ali Carter will make it having already won 2 matches, and arguably his toughest matches were yesterday. Marco Fu has a slight advantage, gaining some momentum from victory in Group 7 on Monday and Tuesday and i think that might see him through if he can beat Mark Allen. Looking at Gould, Hawkins and Higgins, i think that Higgins has the advantage of being able to play both guys around him, as well as not having to play the top 2 of Carter and Ding. Therefore my semi-finalists would be Ding, Carter, Fu and Higgins.

For clarification, if players are tied on points, who finishes where is determined by, firstly, frames won and then amount of frames lost.

The semi-final line-up will be:
1st Place Vs 4th Place
2nd Place Vs 3rd Place

Should be quite an exciting conclusion to this one and i'm looking forward to seeing who will come out on top, and gain some valuable momentum for the China Open, and none other than the World Championship.

Ding shines in Galway

A bit delayed but here's a general overview of the events of the PTC Finals in Galway last week.

First Round- Big names fall early.

There were a lot of bad results for the big names in Galway as 8 out of the 13 top 16 players that qualified, crashed out. John Higgins went out 4-2 to fellow top 16 player Ali Carter, as did Mark Davis 4-0 to in form Mark Allen. Graeme Dott went out to Xiao Guodong 4-1, while Stuart Bingham fell 4-2 to Joe Perry and Mark Williams went out to Leicester's Ben Woollaston 4-3 having led 3-1.

Elsewhere World No.2 Mark Selby went down 4-3 to Jack Lisowski. Selby admitted that he wasn't at his best despite breaks of 76 and 63. But Lisowski made a fine clearance in the decider under pressure and set down the man that topped the Euro order of merit.

Judd Trump was another surprise casualty as he went out against Alfie Burden, who performed superbly. Alfie took an early 2-0 with a good break of 76 in the second. Trump wasn't at his best but levelled at 2-2 only for Burden to go ahead again. Trump won a tight sixth frame, to force a decider but a magnificent 113 in the decider gave Alfie Burden a famous victory.

Comeback man Joe Swail made a great comeback from 3-0 down to Stephen Maguire to win 4-3. Maguire had complete control at 3-0 having made breaks of 89,56 and 52. Joe did have chances though and continued to get them, winning two tight frames to get it back to 3-2. A well played break of 69 in the next forced a decider for the outlaw. Joe Swail played a good decider and took his chance in the end to book his place in the second round.

Neil Robertson and Ding Junhui survived scares to get through also.

Second Round - Favourites through but Captain falls

Tournament favourites Neil Robertson, Mark Allen and Ding Juhui all got through to the quarter-finals while Ali Carter was sent packing by Marco Fu. Tom Ford, Xiao Guodong, Kurt Maflin and Ben Woollaston also got through.

Ding Junhui played fantastically in beating Anthony McGill 4-3, making 3 centuries along the way. Ding made breaks of 101 and 133 in the first 2 frames and a break of 54 in the fourth gave him a 3-1 lead. McGill fought back winning the next two to force a deciding frame. Unfortunately for him it was all in vein as Ding Junhui made a magnificent 130 in the decider to get through.

Neil Robertson came from 1-0 down and 51 points down in the second frame to beat Barry Hawkins 4-1. This one required a decent performance from Robbo as Hawkins looked good early on, but a steal in the second frame from the Aussie turned the match in his favour. He won the next and made breaks of 63 and 58 in the last two frames to get through comfortably in the end.

Ali Carter appeared to lose the plot in his second round match against Marco Fu. Carter took the first frame and looked like taking the second until feathering the white while playing the pink, allowing Fu to level at 1-1. A good break of 63 from Marco gave him a 2-1 lead as Carter was becoming visibly frustrated by missed oppurtunities. He again had chances in the fourth frame but after Fu took that, and the 3-1 lead, Carter seemed to lose any chance of winning the match. It proved true in the fifth frame as a break 55 put Marco Fu in a commanding position to win, and after Carter missed 2 hit and hope shots on the yellow, Fu was gifted the ball he needed for a 4-1 victory.

Quarter-Finals - Ding through with maximum

Ding Junhui booked his place in the semi-finals in Galway with a maximum break on the way to a 4-3 victory over Mark Allen. Elsewhere at the Bailey Allen Hall, Neil Robertson beat Xiao Guodong 4-1, Tom Ford got through 4-1 against Marco Fu and Kurt Maflin overcame Ben Woollaston 4-3.

Ding Junhui hit a 147 in the opening frame of his classic match against Mark Allen. However, he did find himself 2-1 behind as Allen didn't seem fazed by the earlier events. A total clearance of 138 and a break of 81 restored Dings lead and continued the fascinating break building on show to the fantastic crowd. Allen made a century of his own, a classy 125 forcing a great match into a deserved decider. The match ended with yet another century, Ding Junhui's third of the match, a 108, earning him a semi-final against Kurt Maflin.

Neil Robertson eased past Xiao Guodong, despite again losing the firt frame of his match on the way to a 4-1. A tidy break of 60 was enough for Robertson to get back on track at 1-1 and a scrappy third put him 2-1 ahead. He started to put his stamp on the match with a break of 92 in the fourth, putting him 1 frame away from a semi-final place. Neil got their in the fifth frame despite an early 52 from his chinese counterpart and earning a semi-final meeting with Tom Ford.

Semi-Finals - Ding and Robertson seal final spots

Neil Robertson made the final of the PTC Grand Finals in Galway for the second consecutive year with a 4-3 win over Tom Ford. Robertson dominated the early stages of the match, proving why he has such a great head to head record against Ford. Breaks of 50,65 and 80 gave the Thunder from Down Under a 3-0 lead and he looked certain to make the final. Ford did not give up though and breaks of 60,51 and 66 of his own put the pressure on Robertson at 3-2. Ford continued to pile pressure on Neil who missed a chance to win the match and Tom Ford managed to force a decider. In an understandably tense decider both men had early chances, but Neil Robertson eventually took his and celebrated victory with a loud shout of "YES" and a fist pump to the crowd.

Ding Junhui had a much calmer semi-final against Kurt Maflin who never rose to the big occassion. Kurt Maflin had chances in every frame but lost them all and the match 4-0. Maflin failed to convert chances and a break of 53 from Ding gave him the first and he took the second frame comfortably as well. Ding looked comfortable in taking the third frame as well and it looked as if there was no way back for the Norwegian. Maflin had a great chance in the fourth frame, potting a red over the pocket and splitting all of the reds. However, he missed a tricky brown to the middle pocket and gifted Ding a match winning chance, that he took with a break of 73 to put him into the evenings final.

Final- Super comeback gives Ding the title

In a repeat of their Masters first round match, Ding Junhui and Neil Robertson battled it out for the £100,000 first prize in Galway and the title of PTC Grand Finals champion. Robertson started the better of the two players with an 88 break giving him the first frame. The Aussie soon found himself 2-0 ahead with a nice break of 58 showing that he meant business. Ding should have won the third frame, with a break of 51 giving him the chance. However, he couldn't convert it into a frame winner and a Robertson break of 60 made it 3-0 to him just as he did in his earlier semi-final. But in the same manner as that match, things started to swing the other way. Ding made breaks of 52 and 70 to get his first frame on the board. It was soon 3-2 thanks to a brilliant 130 break from Ding, his seventh century break of the week. Neil Robertson had a good chance to win the match 4-2, but he could only manage 44 and Ding came back to the table and forced yet another decider. After Robertson played a poor shot early on in the decider, Ding soon found himself at the table with the chance to win. He soon had the reds nicely split and took them all superbly, an in-off on the black only denying him an eighth century of the week. A bang on the chest from a man who rarely shows any emotion, told everyone what this meant to him and the fantastic Irish crowd, who turned out in good numbers all week (despite several days play finishing past midnight). Ding Junhui in the end, was far better than anyone else during the week and once he got going no-one could stop him as that great final comeback showed.


Thanks for reading and i will be back soon to look ahead to the China Open in Beijing.

 

PTC Finals 2013 Preview

This week sees the conclusion of the Players Tour Championship for this season, with the final 32, as taken from the 2 order of merits (European and Asian), will battle it out for the £100,000 first prize in Galway. The draw certainly looks as though it is has one much stronger half, with 4 of the top 5 in the rankings in that half.

If i had to pick the 4 semi-finalists this week, i would probably go for Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Mark Allen and Stuart Bingham.

Mark Selby has a tough opening match against Jack Lisowski, who was the runner-up in the first UKPTC, but Selby himself won both the first and sixth European tour events and finished top of the European order of merit. The winner would then face the winner of the match between Tom Ford, who finished sixth on the Asian order of merit, or Martin Gould who won UKPTC2. Again both quality players, but i think that Selby would be too strong for them, even though Gould got to the final of the first Grand Final in 2011. In the other half of this quarter, John Higgins who won the UKPTC4 will play German Masters champion Ali Carter. Meanwhile German Masters runner-up and finalist of UKPTC3 Marco Fu plays Mark Joyce, who is only here because Ding Junhui qualified on his place in Asian order of merit, rather than the European one. I expect Higgins to come through out of those 4 but i think his form has been a bit short over recent months, and therefore i think Mark Selby might just edge it and get into the semi-finals.

Neil Robertson faces a repeat of the European Tour 2 final in the first round against Jamie Burnett, one which Robertson won 4-3 and i would heavily back him to do so again. The winner would then face Barry Hawkins or Li Hang, the latter of which is a currently not on the tour and was runner-up to Stuart Bingham in Asian PTC3. In the other half of this section Graeme Dott, runner-up in the very last European PTC event, plays Xiao Guodong, who is only at Galway because of holder Stephen Lee's suspension. That is a match that i expect Graeme to win, but the chinaman did have a good run to the quarters last year and beat Judd Trump. Speaking of Judd he too is in this half of the draw that is crammed with stars and plays Alfie Burden in a match that Judd will fully expect to win, but Alfie did have a good run to the semi-finals of UKPTC2. Judd and Neil do look the strongest two in this quarter and i have to say that i think that Robertson will just edge it.

As for Mark Allen, winner of European tour event 3, he faces another current world no.17 Mark Davis. Looking at Mark Davis' current form i fully expect that recent World Open champion Allen will come through. The winner will either play Stephen Maguire or Joe Swail, who dropped off of the tour at the end of last season and was runner-up to Mark Selby in the Paul Hunter Classic. Maguire will be the firm favourite to win, but don't underestimate Swail, who has been practicing with Mark Allen. As for the other half of this quarter, Ding Junhui, winner of European tour 5, plays former PTC grand final semi-finalist Andrew Higginson and Robert Milkins plays Anthony Mcgill. Mark Allen should come through this section, however Maguire was the recent Welsh Open winner is in good form and Ding Junhui has also improved his recent form.

Finally, Stuart Bingham is in a section of the draw featuring only 2 top 16 players. Bingham plays World No.19 Joe Perry in what will be a tough start to the tournament, but one i expect Bingham to take by the odd frame. The winner would play either out of form Mark Williams or Leicesters Ben Woollaston, in a match that i think Ben will have a great chance of causing an upset. In the other matches in this section home favourite Ken Doherty will be playing with fresh confidence against Norway's Kurt Maflin and UKPTC3 winner Rod lawler plays Cao Yupeng who's 2013 hasn't been as good as his 2012 form was, so far. So Bingham is by far the best player in what is the worst section of the draw for big matches, and i will be shocked if isn't in the semi-finals in all honesty.

First Round Draw

Mark Selby Vs Jack Lisowski
Martin Gould Vs Tom Ford
Marco Fu Vs Mark Joyce
John Higgins Vs Ali Carter
Neil Robertson Vs Jamie Burnett
Barry Hawkins Vs Li Hang
Graeme Dott Vs Xiao Guodong
Judd Trump Vs Alfie Burden
Ding Junhui Vs Andrew Higginson
Robert Milkins Vs Anthony McGill
Mark Allen Vs Mark Davis
Stephen Maguire Vs Joe Swail
Rod Lawler Vs Cao Yupeng
Ken Doherty Vs Kurt Maflin
Mark Williams Vs Ben Woollaston
Stuart Bingham Vs Joe Perry

Tip for the tournament: Neil Robertson to go one better than in recent tournaments.

Should be a good event and one i really enjoyed watching last year.
Hope you enjoyed reading my preview and have fun watching it this week.

Allen does it again

Quarter Final round-up

Continuing from my last blog post, the Quarter finals were incredibly entertaining and lived up to billing that i gave it in the last blog. Starting with a repeat of the 2013 Masters final between Mark Selby Vs Neil Robertson, which was very high quality affair. Selby took an early lead with a break of 91, but breaks of 53 and 107 in the next 2 frames gave the 2010 world champion a 2-1 lead. The match swung again with Selby going 3-2 ahead. Robertson then took all of the last 3 with breaks of 73, 79 and 59 and arguably even better than his 2nd round match which he claimed was his "best in China".

Meanwhile Matthew Stevens beat Judd Trump 5-3 after getting his own cue back. However, Trump had problems of his own after discovering his cue tip was mishapen. After Trump took the first frame, Stevens took the next 3 and a 3-1 lead at the interval. After the break, the new world no.1 took the next 2 frames including an 85 break to make it 3-3. Stevens took the last 2 though, with Stevens top break of the match, a 79 in the final frame, to get him to his first ranking semi-final of the season.

In the later session, Mark Allen dominated Ricky Walden to keep his defence going along. Allen made top breaks of 72, 62 and 58 and all Walden could reply with was an 82 in the second frame.

John Higgins produced the performance of the tournament so far in beating home favourite Ding Juhui 5-0. Ding barely had a chance as he only made 14 points in the first 4 frames and a total of 40 points overall. Higgins started the match by making the tournament high break, a 141, and followed it up with a 113 break in the second frame. He completely shut Ding out of the next 2 frames with two more frame winning breaks of 73 and 56, confirming him as one of the favourites for the title.

The Final Four

In the first semi-final between Neil Robertson and Matthew Stevens neither player was ever more than 1 frame ahead in a game with many twists and turns. The first 4 frames of the match were shared with top breaks of 52 and 69 from Stevens. The fifth frame could have gone either way but went the way of the "thunder from down under". Stevens levelled again at 3-3 with a break of 79 and took the next with a break of 55 to regain the lead. Robertson really upped his game, making a break of 107 to make it a best of 3 for a place in the final. Stevens had a good chance to go back in front with a break of 65, but Robertson stole it with a 57 to go one away from victory. A 60 break in the tenth form the Welshmen gave us the decider that this match really deserved. In the end Matthew Stevens played a great decider as Robertson didn't have a chance to score any points at all and Stevens booked his place in the final with a top break in the decider of 51.

Mark Allen reminded us, for the first time this week really, why he won this title last year in his semi-final against John Higgins. John Higgins hadn't lost a frame in his last 2 matches against Bingham and Ding, and he started this match of nicely with a 90 break giving him a 1-0 lead. Allen showed his class in the next with a break of 119, and he dominated the third as well giving the Irishmen a 2-1 advantage. Higgins levelled the match with a break of 58 in the last frame before the interval. Those turned out to be the last points Higgins scored in the match as Allen took all of the next four frame without giving the 2011 world champion a sniff of a chance. Allen made breaks of 56, 81 and 76 in the last 3 frames and even bettered Higgins with some of his safety play, which is never easy. A really good win which put Mark Allen in great shape to defend his title.

Allen Romps Home

In the end Mark Allen stormed to consecutive World Open titles and the £85,000 prize money with a 10-4 victory over Matthew Stevens. The feat was last achieved in full ranking event by John Higgins when he won the 2010 and 2011 Welsh Open tournaments. The Welshmen Stevens was never really in the match after the first couple of frames and had chances to win many of the frames that Allen took early on in the contest. Mark Allen sprinted to a 4-0 mid-session lead in the first session. Stevens had good chances in the first and fourth frames but Allen took both with a 58 break in the fourth. Allen also made breaks of 93 and 52 inbetween. Stevens had to respond and did so, taking the next two frames with breaks of 67 and 112, which was his first century of the tournament. The "pistol" soon put Stevens back in his place though extending his lead back to 4 frames at 6-2, as the 2 time world finalist Stevens failed to score a point. Importantly though he did take the last frame of the first session to set up a possible comeback in the evening.

The comeback never happened though as they only needed 5 of the 10 possible frames in the final session. A tight frame, the tenth could have gone either way and Stevens really needed to take it but really missed the boat as Allen made it 7-3. Matthew put that dissapointment behind him, with a break of 100 getting it back to 7-4. That turned out to be the last frame he won though as Allen took the next 2 before the mid-session break making it 9-4. At this point i thought that World Snooker, the tournament organisers or whoever decided that the presentation commitee should sit in row 1 of an empty stand, with Allen only needing 1 more frame, were incredibly disrespectful to Stevens and stood out like a sore thumb in as they pretty much doubled the amount of people watching in the arena. Luckily for them they weren't left red faced any further as Allen did take the frame with a break of 68 and the well deserved title of 2013 Haikou World Open champion.

ITV Coverage

I thought that the ITV4 coverage of the event turned out to be quite brilliant. Clive Everton was a good catch and along with Neal Foulds, formed a sublime commentary duo. Jill Douglas did a good job as well in the end after being helped along in the first few days by Neal Foulds. On the whole ITV stuck with the live coverage much better than Eurosport who tend to stick to the schedules and priortise snooker somewhere near the bottom when it gets to the final.

Venue Troubles

In all honesty i thought that the trouble filling the venue on the Hainan island was all quite farcical really. The crowds only seemed to turn up for Ding Junhui or Marco Fu who were the 2 local favourites. Other than that they didn't seem interested or couldn't afford a weeks worth of wages, or however much the tickets were, to watch snookers finest. My initial thoughts were they would start to turn out by the end of the week, but was quite suprised that very few people were in the crowd for the final. In my view this tournament has to be moved to an area where snooker is much more popular, instead of letting this go on to a point where World Snooker is losing big money on the event.

Thanks for reading and roll on the PTC Finals next week after an enjoyable week in Haikou.