Players Championship Grand Finals Preview

After a much needed week off from snooker for the players (and for the bloggers it has to be said) since the Haikou World Open, snooker is back with a bang this week as we return to the UK and the Guildhall at Preston for the Players Championship (PTC) Grand Finals. The Grand Finals were due to be in Thailand but after some unrest in the country they were moved back to the UK, which doesn't make things easy for the players in both this and the China Open, which kicks off in Beijing just 2 days after the semi-finals and final next Saturday in Preston. So, with the World Championships in mind, it wouldn't be the worst thing for some of the players if they had an early exit.


So lets have a look ahead at what to expect in this weeks best-of-7 frames PC Grand Finals:

Quarter 1

Last 32 Draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark Allen Vs Jamie Jones
Fergal O'Brien Vs Michael Holt
Sam Baird Vs Anthony Hamilton
Ricky Walden Vs Gerard Greene


At first glance, it could be said that this quarter looks a little bit bare in terms of the big names, in comparison to the other quarters of the draw, but there are still plenty of experienced names that could win the quarter, and even go on and win the event. The likes of Mark Allen and Ricky Walden will be the favourites to win this quarter, but Michael Holt, Fergal O'Brien and Anthony Hamilton all have the ability to have a great run in this event over the short format.


Mark Allen is my clear favourite to win this quarter as the top seed, having won 2 of the 8 European tour events during the season and coming into this event with decent form after making the semi-finals of the World Open. He's well overdue a tournament win and this could well be his week, especially as I feel he enjoys the UK tournaments more than the overseas events and enjoys the shorter formats as well, as he showed winning the ET5 and ET6 at the back end of 2013. Ricky Walden meanwhile is not in great form at the moment, but has been unlucky at times this year with some of his draws and he will certainly be a match for Allen having won a ET event of his won in the Uk this season, winning ET3 in Doncaster in August. From the rest, Holt and O'Brien certainly have abilities showing that with runner-up performances on either the European or Asian Tour this season, but I'm not sure either one has the form to challenge Allen for the quarter win, but that will certainly make for a brilliant Last 32 match.


Quarter Winner: Mark Allen

Quarter 2

Last 32 Draw: (Picks in bold)
John Higgins Vs Jimmy Robertson
Ding Junhui Vs Ben Woollaston
Marco Fu Vs Gary Wilson
Mark Williams Vs Lu Haotian


This quarter sees 2 ranking event winners from this season, with Australian Open champion Marco Fu and 4 times ranking winner of the season Ding Junhui, while we also have 2 Euro Tour winners from this season with John Higgins winning ET1 and Mark Williams winning ET2. Meanwhile, young Lu Haotian was the runner-up of AT3 and Gary Wilson could cause an upset having had a brilliant season so far.


Ding Junhui will be one of the favourites for the quarter and the event having won 4 ranking events this season, and he's as good in the short format (winning the Indian Open with that being best-of-7 until the best-of-9 final) as he is in any other format, and he's played brilliantly all season through in all conditions, and form like that will make him very hard to beat again this week. As for Marco Fu, he has been a little inconsistent at times this year with a Last 128 exit in the UK Championship and a Last 64 exit at the German Masters being spread out with his Australian Open win, International Championship final place, and a semi-final appearance in the recent Haikou World Open. He could be vulnerable in the opening round to Gary Wilson, but if he can get through that he will be a massive challenge to Ding Junhui in this quarter, as he was in the International final where he only just fell short. It would be very easy to underestimate John Higgins and Mark Williams in this quarter, with the feeling now certainly being that their best days are behind them, but John showed glimpses of his former self in victories at both the Welsh Open and World Open against Judd Trump, while Mark Williams highlighted how dangerous he can still be when he beat Neil Robertson in his home event. Both of those men could certainly win this quarter, but these days it is about consistency, which seems to be one of the things that these 2 have lost nowadays.


Quarter Winner: Ding Junhui

Quarter 3

Last 32 Draw: (Picks in bold)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Scott Donaldson
Liang Wenbo Vs Yu DeLu
Stephen Maguire Vs Barry Hawkins
Stuart Bingham Vs Ryan Day


This quarter looks incredibly tasty with the likes of current World, Masters, Welsh Open and ET4 Paul Hunter Classic champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, AT3 winner Liang Wenbo, AT4 winner Stuart Bingham, AT4 semi-finalist Yu DeLu, Welsh Open semi-finalist Barry Hawkins, German Masters semi-finalist Ryan Day, Stephen Maguire and young prospect Scott Donaldson completing a section packed with potential quarter and event winners.


Ronnie O'Sullivan is always favourite by a mile for any tournament he enters these days and deservedly so as he is playing some of the best snooker of his life right now, with nobody being able to come close to him when he's on top form. The only chance there is of anyone beating him this week is that anything can happen in the shorter best-of-7 format, not that that has had much effect in the ET events he has entered this season, nor did it have an effect in the Welsh Open. Meanwhile, Liang Wenbo will fancy his chances of first beating DeLu and then beating Ronnie as he did at the International Championship, and Wenbo's game has seen particular improvements this season after he went off of the boil after the previous few seasons. He could be a dark horse in this section.


Stuart Bingham is another man coming back to form having won the AT4 event recently, and he's now into the top 4 in the rankings which shows how far he has come in the last 2 seasons, but he has a very tough draw here and with possible distractions away from snooker Ryan Day, who has been playing very well since the turn of the year, will definetly think he has a good chance of victory. Stephen Maguire and Barry Hawkins looks another spicy Last 32 encounter between 2 men who are very evenly matched and could easily go on and win the quarter. Maguire has been a little inconsistent this season, but I don't think that Hawkins enjoys the shorter format as much as Maguire after he only just made it here thanks to Bingham winning the AT4 spot and the extra spot on the European Order of merit going to Barry, however that could well spur him on, despite his own inconsistency and possible lack of motivation this season.


Quarter Winner: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Quarter 4

Last 32 Draw: (Picks in bold)
Shaun Murphy Vs Neil Robertson
Judd Trump Vs Ju Reti
Joe Perry Vs Mark Davis
Mark Selby Vs David Gilbert


This quarter sees some incredibly big names, but also a lot of guys in form in what is certainly the quarter of death. We have recent Haikou World Open and Gdynia Open champion Shaun Murphy, UK Champion Neil Robertson, Asian Tour 1 winner Joe Perry, Antwerp Open winner, UK, Masters and World Open runner-up Mark Selby, AT2 winner and amateur Ju Reti, Mark Davis and David Gilbert.


Shaun Murphy has to be the form man coming into the event, but that really means nothing in a short best-of-7 format where he has Neil Robertson in the first round in what would be one of the matches over a longer format. Neil's recent record against Shaun is superb, but Murphy will have a lot of friends and family behind him in what is effectively his home tournament which could spur him on or add to the pressure. Either way that looks a very tough game.


Judd Trump should really beat Ju Reti in the opening round, but his Last 16 will be very tough so he'll want to not use up too much energy beating Ju if he can. His form has been decent in the second half of the season, but he just hasn't had the luck that you need sometimes to go and win the bigger events, but if that could turn around this week, his game is in a very good shape for him to have a good week. The short format is also good for Trump as it means that he can breeze through matches pretty quickly if he's playing at his very best, which he will need to do in order to win this section.


Mark Selby has had some good results recently without playing at his best all the time, and grinding out a lot of results, and I don't suspect that he can get away with such a thing in a quarter filled with top stars, if he has big aims for the week. However, I saw someone suggest during the World Open that Selby's so called "B Game" of grinding out results has actually become his "A Game" now because what used to be his best is shown so little that you could actually forget it exists, and that he is truly at his best when his safety game is on form and he is able to grind wins out.


Joe Perry's game with Mark Davis will be another interesting game, but one that I have a very clear favourite for on the seasons performances. Joe has improved so much this season, and it seems like he has re-discovered his best form again and is looking very confident. However, despite the start to the season Mark made and the improvements to his game in the last couple of years, he has had quite a poor few months on the table, losing games you would have expected him to win 12 months ago and not showing any kind of form. If Davis can't improve that this week, there is only one winner here.


Quarter Winner: Think Judd Trump can do the business in the short format.


Predicted runner-up: Ding Junhui


Predicted Winner: Ronnie O'Sullivan




Whatever the outcome at the end of the week, it will be another quality week of snooker, with a lot of brilliant matches to look forward, just in the Last 32 alone, and a bottom half packed with great players lends itself to a thrilling and fast-paced event. I'm really looking forward to this one, and I'm sure the people of Preston are too on snookers return to the area.

Shaun Murphy is World Open Champion

It was Shaun Murphy today that ended his 3 year drought for a ranking title, by seeing off the battling challenge of Mark Selby who finished runner-up once more this season as he has done many times since his 2012 UK Championship win. It was a very good performance from Murphy and one that was well deserved.


Let's have a look at how Shaun got a magical win:


Shaun Murphy 10-6 Mark Selby - The final started off very well for Shaun after he gained the first chance of the match and made 64, before missing a tricky black with the rest with still 67 on, but after Selby missed an easier black the frame was Murphy's. The second frame was big in the context of the first mini session as Selby got in first and was on 46 with the reds open before he covered the red he wanted to play and had to play a red up to the baulk corner which he missed. Without a tough ball on the table Murphy made a superb clearance of 80 to punish Selby brilliantly and make it 2-0. Both players had chances in the third frame, and the frame eventually came down to a battle on the last red. Murphy won the battle though and a clearance of 32 from Murphy made it 3-0 with one frame left before the interval of the first session. It was an early break of 52 in the fourth that was eventually enough for Murphy after Selby battled for a long period for snookers on the last red, and The Magician led 4-0 at the first mid-session break.


Selby looked like he might start to dictate the pace of things after the break, breaking Murphy's rhythm by controlling a very scrappy fifth frame, where Mark controlled the safety exchange, needing several chances to score, but eventually he got his first frame on the board at 1-4. It did seem to upset Shaun's rhythm after he missed an awkward red on 13 in the sixth cueing over the black, and the man from Leicester was able to capitalise to close to just 2 frames behind at 2-4 with a run of 91. After that frame you thought that Mark was right back into it and he'd put Murphy right back under pressure again in this final. Shaun though had other ideas as he dominated an early safety exchange to put Selby consistently in a lot of trouble, and when he did get his opportunity he made the most of it as a break of 98 restored some of the 2005 World Champions comfort at 5-2. Shaun Murphy really teed off after that and didn't really miss a ball of any importance making consecutive centuries of 105 and 112 (missing the last black there for a possible 146) showing the great confidence and form which he has showed all week in taking a 7-2 lead after the first session, needing just 3 more frames to become the Haikou World Open champion.


The second session began with both players having early chances but missing early balls as the session started off in a very tense manner, but after a Murphy miss it was Selby that took the first frame of the evening session with a run of 77. Again both players had chances in the next frame, and it was Murphy that really should have won it, but a good clearance of 33 from Mark Selby closed the gap once more to 4-7 with Shaun feeling the pressure. The next frame again saw chances for Shaun Murphy, but he kept handing chances for Selby and he hadn't settled as quickly as he did in the opening session as contributions of 43 and 34 from Mark put the pressure on "The Magician" as his lead was cut to 5-7. The last frame before the interval was key for both players, with 7-6 being a big collapse from 7-2 for Murphy, while 8-5 would still be a very good lead. After a couple of early chances, Shaun soon had a very good opportunity and with a good run of 60 he'd secured an 8-5 interval advantage. Selby continued fighting though and he won the first frame after the interval, after Murphy went on a lengthy hunt for a snooker. The 15th frame was key though with Selby making an early 49 break, but a great pot from Murphy got him in for a big steal and a fantastic clearance of 78 not only punished Selby but put Shaun a frame from victory at 9-6. Murphy had a few early chances in the next frame but he kept breaking down after unsuccessful attempts to split the pack, but some uncharacteristically poor safety shots from Selby kept giving Murphy chances an eventually Selby needed 3 snookers on the last red. He got 2 of them, but a long battle soon began on the colours as Selby searched for the last snooker and Murphy tried to get the pot he needed to put the match beyond doubt. Eventually it came down to the pink, and Selby left Shaun a chance too many to pot it as Shaun Murphy secured a 10-6 win over Mark Selby to take the Haikou World Open title, and his first ranking win for 3 years.




Brilliant stuff from Shaun Murphy who was by far the best player of the week, scoring well looking confident and being positive throughout the week. His win shows that not only does hard work on and off the table, working hard at his game and his fitness, but also that the change to go back to his naturally attacking style has worked and that players should always try and play their natural game. It also is reward for a player that is an incredible ambassador for the game of snooker on and off of the table, and the perfect role model for the younger generations. Credit also needs to go to Mark Selby, who was an exemplary professional again this week, giving it his all once again however tough times got throughout the week, and if he can find his best form soon he will win another ranking event before you know it.


It's been a brilliant week of snooker in Haikou this week with a lot of exciting and tense matches with good quality snooker played throughout the week. My only complaint would be that the crowd numbers don't really support what is otherwise a very good event. Next up it's the PTC Grand Finals after an upcoming 8 days that are free from any snooker.

Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy to contest Haikou World Open final

Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy will play out tomorrow's best-of-19 Haikou World Open final after both men won tense semi-finals today. Mark Selby won the first semi-final, but he was far from his best in the match and ended up grinding out a win against a Marco Fu that didn't find his game until it really was a little too late. Selby's highest break of the match was a 74 in the opener, followed by 33 which he made twice in the second frame but he still went into the mid-session break 4-0 ahead of a badly out of sorts Fu. Fu made a 70 to get his first frame on the board, but Selby grinded out the sixth frame to go a frame from victory at 5-1. However, Marco then dominated the next 3 frames with breaks of 50 and 104 along the way as Selby continued to struggle and Fu started to find his form. Fu missed the last red to force the decider in the tenth and after a long safety battle, it was eventually Fu that left it on for Mark after a snooker and Selby duly cleared up to fall over the line a 6-4 winner.


Shaun Murphy found himself at 1-1 early with Mark Allen, after they shared the 2 opening tense frames. Murphy though took a boost from winning the second after a good pot on the last red, and he quickly went 3-1 up at the interval with breaks of 74 and 69. Murphy quickly got to 57 in the fifth frame and looked like going 4-1 up, but he missed a trickier black and a great 66 clearance from Allen got him back into the match at 2-3. However, a terrible safety from Allen in the next gifted Murphy a chance which he took this time to go 2 clear again at 4-2 with a run of 67. Allen controlled a very scrappy 7th frame to close again to 4-3, and he had a chance to level at 4-4 but he missed a tricky last pink to the middle, which Murphy then made a nice pot on to go 5-3 ahead and 1 frame from the final. Murphy had an early chance to win, but could only make a break of 22 before going in-off and Mark punished him with a 100 clearance to close once more to 4-5. The tenth frame was incredibly tense, but good pots on brown and a great long pot on the blue to get on the pink gave Murphy a 7 point lead with the black left. After a short battle it was Mark that potted it to force a re-spot and after 10 minutes or more of fantastic safety play from both players, it was Allen that made the costly error, going in-off on a missed double attempt to give the victory to Shaun Murphy in lucky (or unlucky for Allen) circumstances.


Semi-final results:


Shaun Murphy 6-4 Mark Allen
Mark Selby 6-4 Marco Fu




Final Preview:


Mark Selby Vs Shaun Murphy - Both of our two finalists have been playing really well at different points this week, and have dealt with the pressured situations well when they have come along. Still I think Mark Selby has really not been playing at his absolute best for the whole of the week, only showing some of his best off against Liang Wenbo, and he was very lucky that Marco Fu played as badly as he did in the semi-finals for him to get through to tomorrows final. However, this isn't too dissimilar to the 2012 UK Championship, where Selby was far from his best for the whole tournament but still managed to grind out a win in the final against Shaun Murphy. Murphy though has been scoring well this week, and I think his safety play is actually much improved from the start of the season and he has been attacking the balls well. Shaun has also said that he has started to learn from his mistakes that he kept repeating in the last few years. He has had a poor record against Selby in major matches, and one of the mistakes he has made is letting Selby take control of the game and let the game go scrappy. If Murphy can get off to a good start and attack, as he has done all week, I believe he has a brilliant chance of victory.


Prediction: 10-7 to Shaun Murphy




Whatever the outcome it will be a good final, to finish a decent work of snooker, that has seen some great matches and exciting finishes. But will we have one more tomorrow? Well I can't wait to find out.

Selby, Fu, Allen and Murphy make up World Open semi-finals.

Mark Selby, Marco Fu, Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy were the victors on quarter-finals day at the Haikou World Open and will now make up a superb semi-final line-up tomorrow, with some thrilling semi-finals in store. Mark Selby came through what could've been a much closer match against Alan McManus, after Alan McManus missed frame ball brown in the fifth to close to 2-3 and Selby forced a re-spot, which he then won to make it 4-1, by which time McManus was dead and buried. He now plays Marco Fu who was made to work slightly harder for his win against Mark Joyce.


Meanwhile, Shaun Murphy beat Graeme Dott on the final black in the deciding frame with a quite extraordinary fluke which left the Gdynia Open champion quite embarrassed. Murphy had led 3-0 before Dotty fought back in his classic style to go 4-3 in front with some great snooker, before Shaun forced the decider which he then won on the amazing fluke. He'll now play Mark Allen who beat John Higgins for the second year running in Haikou to keep up his hopes of a Haikou Hat-trick.


Quarter-Final Results:


Mark Allen 5-3 John Higgins
Shaun Murphy 5-4 Graeme Dott
Marco Fu 5-3 Mark Joyce
Mark Selby 5-1 Alan McManus




Semi-Final Preview: (picks in bold)


Mark Selby Vs Marco Fu - Both of these 2 guys have been playing brilliantly this week, with Mark Selby playing better in the last couple of games against Liang Wenbo and Alan McManus to show why I predicted him as tournament winner before the event started. However, he will have to pick up his performance another notch and bring out his really best form to beat Fu tomorrow. Marco has been playing sublimely in his last 2 games against Neil Robertson and then Mark Joyce, scoring amazingly and that will be tough for Selby to contend with so he will have to take his chances and show is usual brilliance in the safety department to have any chance.


Shaun Murphy Vs Mark Allen - Again here we will have another very close match between 2 players that are very evenly matched and have both been playing equally well this week so far. Shaun has good victories and produced some good performances to see off Jimmy White, Mark King, Ding Junhui and Graeme Dott and with some good scoring in these matches his confidence will be very high ahead of a very important match for him here. As for Mark Allen, he has probably played slightly better so far and been slightly more clinical in beating the likes of Mark Williams, Ricky Walden and John Higgins, and he is probably the slight favourite here to beat Shaun Murphy. Mark Allen has the better record in the Haikou World Open, having never lost a match in the tournament (with this being it's 3rd staging) and coupled with Murphy's poor record in major semi-finals, I fancy that Allen will just edge what will be a very entertaining and tense match.




Whether my predictions for the weekend are right or not, we are in for a very entertaining and exciting weekend of snooker with 4 very evenly matched players that could all easily win the event if they produce there best snooker. I'm really looking forward to it.

Higgins, Fu and Murphy come through deciders in Haikou

John Higgins produced a superb display of snooker to beat Judd Trump 5-4 from 4-0 down in one of the matches of the season I should think, while Shaun Murphy broke Ding Junhui's record of decider wins this season, beating him 5-4 on his own turf, and Marco Fu made 3 centuries in beating century machine Neil Robertson 5-4 on a re-spotted black.


Meanwhile, Mark Selby cruised to an easy victory against Liang Wenbo making 2 centuries to win the match, and there were also easy wins for Alan McManus over Dominic Dale, Graeme Dott over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Mark Allen over Ricky Walden.


Last 16 results:


Mark Allen 5-2 Ricky Walden
John Higgins 5-4 Judd Trump
Graeme Dott 5-2 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Shaun Murphy 5-4 Ding Junhui
Mark Selby 5-1 Liang Wenbo
Alan McManus 5-1 Dominic Dale
Mark Joyce 5-3 Kurt Maflin
Marco Fu 5-4 Neil Robertson




Quarter-Final Preview: (Picks in bold)


Mark Selby Vs Alan McManus - Alan McManus has been brilliant this week, picking up some brilliant results against Martin Gould, Robert Milkins and Dominic Dale to get to this stage and his game is very similar to Mark Selby's which will make tomorrows game even more interesting. However, Mark Selby seemed to be nearing something like his best form today with consecutive centuries to finish his match with Liang Wenbo and he's gradually improving throughout the week, so I really fancy him for the job tomorrow.


Marco Fu Vs Mark Joyce - Mark may have pulled off some very good results and performances this week against the likes of Barry Hawkins and a Kurt Maflin who was in very good form, but he hasn't yet had to play on the TV tables which may take some early adjusting to. Marco Fu meanwhile was on fire today against Neil Robertson, with 3 century breaks and if he can find that relentless form again tomorrow it will be too much for Mark Joyce to handle, and many of the players remaining in the tournament.


Mark Allen Vs John Higgins - Mark Allen may be the twice defending champion in Haikou and in the quarter-finals again this week, but it doesn't seem as though he's playing great stuff this week, and I think he'll need to step up his performance if he's to beat John. John Higgins meanwhile played absolutely sublimely today in coming from 4-0 down to beat Judd Trump 5-4, making 2 centuries along the way and he'll be very tough to beat if he can find that form on a consistent basis for the rest of the week. However, with consistency being Higgins problem these days we are in for a very close and tense snooker match.


Shaun Murphy Vs Graeme Dott - Shaun Murphy has been playing brilliantly this week, and he had to again today to beat Ding Junhui, as he will have to again tomorrow to beat Graeme Dott, but with his confidence high he'll really fancy his own chances of winning both this match and the event as a whole. Graeme Dott meanwhile has been playing well again this week and has slightly gone under the radar to reach this stage, and Shaun will be well aware that this is going to be an incredibly tough match against a very gritty player like Dotty who has also been scoring well this week. Although the head to head heavily points in Shaun's favour after he beat Dott in last seasons UK Championships, German Masters and World Championships as well as this years Championship League, but the majority of those matches were very close, just as tomorrows contest will be.




Looking at the players we have left this week, and the form that they are in, we have a great 3 days of snooker ahead of us with some close, entertaining and very tense matches as we reach the climax of the World Open in Haikou.

Ding comes back to get into the Last 16, Hawkins and Bingham crash out.

Ding Junhui came from 4-2 down to beat Pankaj Advani 5-4 in the Last 32 of the Haikou World Open, while Mark Selby, Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy all had easy victories and Judd Trump came from 4-3 down to beat Matthew Stevens 5-4. Barry Hawkins lost 5-4 to Mark Joyce from 4-2, and Stuart Bingham lost to Dominic Dale 5-4.


Meanwhile, John Higgins had a good win against Michael White, while defending champion Mark Allen had a nice win against Mark Williams and Liang Wenbo enjoyed a good victory against Mark Davis.


Today's Last 32 results:


Mark Allen 5-3 Mark Williams
John Higgins 5-0 Michael White
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-1 Andrew Higginson
Graeme Dott 5-2 Ryan Day
Alan McManus 5-3 Robert Milkins
Dominic Dale 5-4 Stuart Bingham
Ding Junhui 5-4 Pankaj Advani
Mark Selby 5-2 Noppon Saengkham
Liang Wenbo 5-3 Mark Davis
Mark Joyce 5-4 Barry Hawkins
Kurt Maflin 5-2 Ali Carter
Judd Trump 5-4 Matthew Stevens
Shaun Murphy 5-1 Mark King
Ricky Walden 5-1 Ken Doherty
Marco Fu 5-3 Michael Holt
Neil Robertson 5-1 Rory McLeod


Last 16 Preview:


Mark Selby Vs Liang Wenbo - This will be a good match with Mark Selby having done what he's had to do so far, without being pretty impressive and Liang Wenbo has been playing relatively well also. The thing with Mark Selby is that what he always seems to find a way to do, is find a way to win, and I just feel that that is what he will do a lot this week, whilst not showing his best that much. Certain to be a close contest.


Alan McManus Vs Dominic Dale - Dominic has not played particularly well this week, but has found a way to come through 2 deciders having been in a bit of trouble. Alan McManus has played the better of the 2 and had 2 very good wins against Martin Gould and Robert Milkins, so the Scot will be very confident coming into this match and I fancy his chances of winning it.


Mark Joyce Vs Kurt Maflin - Kurt Maflin has been brilliant this week, scoring 2 superb wins against Joe Perry and Ali Carter, playing some truly brilliant snooker given the fact he picked up neck and shoulder injuries in a car crash on Saturday, so fair play to him- he deserves everything he gets this week. Mark Joyce scored an equally good win today against Barry Hawkins, from 4-2 down, but I honestly don't think he will have enough to deal with Kurt Maflin's scoring with the mood he's in this week.


Neil Robertson Vs Marco Fu - Neil Robertson seems to be nearing his brilliant best again this week, after a slightly dull patch from him. He made 2 more centuries into todays Last 32, taking him up to 3 for the week and 91 for the season. Marco is always hard to beat though and he won't give Neil an easy game, as Neil has found out this season already. However, I think if Neil Robertson is back to his best again after a mini blip, he will edge this close game.


Mark Allen Vs Ricky Walden - I don't think either one of these players has been sparkling this week, and tomorrows contest could be quite scrappy. Walden is always a little inconsistent, and matches involving him always seem to go a little scrappy for one reason or another. Allen I think has the slight edge on this weeks form though and that could well see him through, though it will be very close, particularly if Walden can grind Mark down.


Ding Junhui Vs Shaun Murphy - I really think you could flip a coin on this match and still not find a winner. Both players are playing superbly and scoring brilliantly. If anything Ding Junhui has been slightly off at times, which is why he ended up 4-2 down to Advani today, but under pressure he's performing superbly. The head to head this season is even with 1 win apiece for the 2 players, with Ding's coming on Chinese soil which means that he has the slight (and only slight) upper hand.


Graeme Dott Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh- Both players have been playing fairly well this week, but I think Graeme will be able to grind Un-Nooh out with a lot of  safety play tomorrow, and if he can make frames go scrappy then he will be a big favourite. I think this match could well come down to Un-Nooh's temperament and how he deals with the match if it gets a bit dis-jointed, and he'll need to take his chances.


John Higgins Vs Judd Trump - John and Judd have played alright this week, Trump played a lot better in the Last 64 than he did against Stevens, though he did say it was a bit muggy and conditions were a little tougher. Higgins I don't think has scored as well as the score lines he's winning by would suggest, and he could be vulnerable to Judd, if Judd is scoring like he did in round 1 and the Championship League finals, and if John can't take his own chances.




Whatever happens here, I think that we have some brilliant matches here, including a big one for the "father of the blog" Shaun Murphy. Looking forward to it.

Favourites through in Haikou, Maguire and Perry suffer Last 64 exits.

The majority of the hot favourites and top 16 players made it into the Last 32 of the Haikou World Open, with stars like Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui, Mark Selby, Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy all having relatively easy wins, while Stephen Maguire fell in a decider to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Joe Perry was beaten by injured Kurt Maflin. The likes of Barry Hawkins and Ricky Walden meanwhile survived final frame deciders to book their Last 32 places.


Ding Junhui wasn't all that impressive, but he didn't need to be as he was let off of the hook several times by Li Yan, while the likes of Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy and then Judd Trump did put in impressive shifts, while twice defending champion Mark Allen was as good as he needed to be against Mike Dunn, and Selby's match with Hamilton was quite a scrappy affair.


Last 64 Results:


Mark Allen 5-2 Mike Dunn
Mark Williams 5-1 Yuan Sijun
Ken Doherty 5-2 Barry Pinches
Ricky Walden 5-4 Alfie Burden
John Higgins 5-1 Alex Davies
Michael White 5-3 Aditya Mehta
Matthew Stevens 5-0 Yu De Lu
Judd Trump 5-0 Chen Zifan
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-4 Stephen Maguire
Andrew Higginson 5-2 Craig Steadman
Graeme Dott 5-2 Tian Pengfei
Ryan Day 5-4 Michael Wasley
Shaun Murphy 5-1 Jimmy White
Mark King 5-2 Cao Yupeng
Pankaj Advani 5-4 Xiao Guodong
Ding Junhui 5-1 Li Yan
Mark Selby 5-3 Anthony Hamilton
Noppon Saengkham 5-2 Gerard Greene
Liang Wenbo 5-1 Scott Donaldson
Mark Davis 5-0 Adam Wicheard
Robert Milkins 5-2 Rod Lawler
Alan McManus 5-1 Martin Gould
Dominic Dale 5-4 Michael Leslie
Stuart Bingham 5-3 Steve Davis
Barry Hawkins 5-4 Matt Selt
Mark Joyce 5-2 David Morris
Ali Carter 5-3 David Gilbert
Kurt Maflin 5-1 Joe Perry
Marco Fu 5-3 Anthony McGill
Michael Holt 5-1 Nigel Bond
Rory McLeod 5-4 Tom Ford
Neil Robertson 5-1 Jamie Jones


Last 32 Preview:


Mark Allen Vs Mark Williams - This match sees the battle of the Mark's in the Last 32, and I think this will be a fairly even contest between 2 players that are only separated by a couple of places in the rankings these days. Allen seemed to start off more positively in the Last 64, and I think he'll be the firm favourite for this one, having good memories of Haikou and having never lost there to this day.


John Higgins Vs Michael White - This will be a very interesting game with both players coming through scrappier matches in the Last 64, but Higgins seemed to be coming back into something nearer his best form in the Welsh Open and in Championship League group 7 so I think he will have the edge in this one over the up and coming Michael White.


Andrew Higginson Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh - This match could be decided on the flip of a coin, and could well go to a deciding frame. Higginson had a routine Last 64 win and his form seems to be improving over the last month or so. As for Un-Nooh, he had a brilliant win against Maguire in the Last 64 and he is so dangerous when at his best. With Thepchaiya needing the wins to hold on to his tour place, the extra pressure will be on him and that may increase Higginson's chances if Un-Nooh can't respond.


Graeme Dott Vs Ryan Day - This is sure to be another close match, between another 2 very evenly matched players. Ryan Day had to come from 4-1 down to beat Michael Wasley in the Last 64, which doesn't bode well for his chances of having a good run. Graeme meanwhile, had a much more routine win against Tian Pengfei, and you'd have put him as the slight favourite on paper anyway, and i'll think he'll just edge this one.


Robert Milkins Vs Alan McManus - This will be another interesting game, with Alan beating Martin Gould convincingly today and having a good season so far, while Milkins has had a pretty poor season since semi-final appearances at the Australian Open and Wuxi Classic. I think Alan is the kind of player that can grind Robert down, and when that happens Milkins can let things get to him pretty quickly. I fancy McManus to win this one.


Stuart Bingham Vs Dominic Dale - Stuart seems to be back into some good form, winning the Asian Tour event 4 last week, and playing well in his win against Steve Davis in the Last 64. Meanwhile, Dale had to scrape through from 4-2 down to beat Michael Leslie (who I've been less than convinced with in his 2 years on tour). If Stuart is playing well here, and is back to his Pre-Christmas self, I can't see Dale stopping him.


Ding Junhui Vs Pankaj Advani - Ding Junhui has been absolutely awesome all season, and showed again in his match today against Li Yan that he does what he needs to do on the day. He also says that he's relaxed playing in this tournament which will make it even tougher for anyone to beat him and make him a more dangerous animal. I simply can't see Advani having a chance of beating him here.


Mark Selby Vs Noppon Saengkham - This will be a tough game for Mark who came through a scrappy game against Hamilton in round 1 here, while Saengkham had a good (but expected) win against Gerard Greene. However, I did say Selby would win the tournament from the start, and as good a player as Noppon is, I don't see any reason to change that prediction just yet.


Mark Davis Vs Liang Wenbo - Liang Wenbo has been playing really well lately, and he showed this again in the opening round against Scott Donaldson, while Mark Davis came into the tournament in reasonably poor form, and didn't seem to be that impressive in a convincing win against amateur Adam Wicheard. I fancy that Liang is getting back to something like his best form, and when he does he really is a top top player.


Barry Hawkins Vs Mark Joyce - Mark Joyce played well today it seemed against David Morris, while Barry Hawkins Last 64 match saw him hold on, having let a 4-0 lead slip, to beat Matt Selt 5-4. That is not particularly convincing from Barry, but I don't think he'll repeat those mistakes again tomorrow against Mark.


Ali Carter Vs Kurt Maflin - This could be another case of beware the wounded beast as, despite shoulder injuries picked up in a car accident a few days ago, Kurt still got his scoring boots on again to beat Joe Perry 5-1 in the opening round. As for Ali, his start didn't seem convincing against David, but I still make him favourite to beat Kurt tomorrow, especially if his injuries catch up with him the further the week goes on. Will still be a very close match though.


Ricky Walden Vs Ken Doherty - Ken hasn't had the best season so far, struggling for large parts of it, and it's not getting any easier for him here against Walden. Having scrapped hard to beat Pinches I round 1 Ken now has to play a Ricky Walden who didn't have a great start, but still made a deciding frame century to beat Alfie Burden today, which could be a good measure of how he's playing this week.


Judd Trump Vs Matthew Stevens - Both players here had 5-0 wins in the Last 64, and will be pleased with how they've played in those games. Judd scored heavily in his win over Chen Zifan, and will be high in confidence after his Championship League tournament win last week, and I think he can run deep in this event. Matthew had a run to the final here a year ago, beating Trump along the way, but Trump was very much out of form at the time, and playing a lot worse than he is now, while Stevens will need to improve a fair bit if he is going to match his performances from 12 months ago.


Marco Fu Vs Michael Holt - Marco Fu had a good start today against Anthony McGill, seeing off the Scotsman's late charge to record a 5-3 win, while Michael Holt had a simple win and did what he had to do to beat Nigel Bond. I think Marco is in slightly better form coming into this, and Holty will need to raise his game a notch if he is to beat Fu here, but it should be a close game either way. If it goes scrappy though, there is only one winner in my mind.


Shaun Murphy Vs Mark King - Shaun was sublime today against Jimmy White, in what I thought was a very impressive performance, coming off the back of some good recent form. King meanwhile, did what he had to against Cao Yupeng, and will need to step it up quite a bit if he is to really trouble Shaun tomorrow and make it a close game.


Neil Robertson Vs Rory McLeod - These 2 met at the Welsh Open on the TV table a couple of weeks back and Rory really looked quite poor, while Robertson did enough to win the game quite comfortably in the end. I can't really see a lot changing here, with the match being on a TV table again tomorrow, and Robertson playing very well against Jamie Jones and looking hungry for more century breaks. McLeod seemed to be playing ok in the Wildcard round and the Last 64 on outside tables against easier opponents but he will be right up against it here.




It should be another good day of snooker though tomorrow with a lot of close matches in the Last 32, and a lot more thrilling snooker in prospect as the draw starts to thin out. I'll be back tomorrow to preview the Last 16 action and quickly look back at what happened in the Last 32.