English Open: Stat Attack

The English Open is the first in snooker's new "home series" that has seen this event along with Northern Irish and Scottish Open's added to the calendar to join the long running Welsh Open. Monday sees the English Open get underway at Event City in Manchester, and this is the first of a few events in the calendar that will almost overlap, as the European Masters in Bucharest does not conclude until Sunday evening. 

Once again I will be having a statistical look at this event with a few head to heads and possible head to heads for the rounds beyond the Last 128 stage, with the usual help of sites such as snooker.org and cuetracker.net. Then will come the "Player Performance: Key Indicators" which will see my brand of statistics that include close frame win percentages, average frames per 50+ break and all of these numbers come into play to suggest who the form men of the season so far have been. All of these statistics that you will see later on will be up to date at the time of writing, ahead of the European Masters quarter-finals, and they will all exclude the 6 Reds World Championship as usual, as well as the International Championship qualifiers as that event is yet to conclude. 

However, as this is a new event (like the ongoing European Masters) there is no way to use any "event specific" statistics from any previous stagings. 

HEAD TO HEAD 

- The first head to head points out what is essentially an unseeded draw for this week with only the top 16 placed into it. That sees games like Mark Selby against 39th seed Gary Wilson in the Last 128, and their last meeting came in the China Open final of 2015, which was a resounding victory for Selby. 

- Mark Davis faces Tian Pengfei in the Last 128 which should be an interesting game given that three of the four matches they have played have gone down to a deciding frame, Davis winning two of those three deciders while the overall head to head is level at 2-2. 

- Tom Ford and Rory McLeod will face off in round one just a couple of weeks after Ford saw off McLeod in the Last 64 round of the European Masters, in the qualifiers played in Preston. 

- The unseeded draw also sees two quality players in Liang Wenbo and Graeme Dott playing in the Last 128 round. Liang won their most recent meeting at the World Grand Prix, but Dott has beaten Liang on every other occasion they have met in ranking competition, giving Dott five victories. 

- Cao Yupeng comes into his first round game with Ben Woollaston with a 3-1 winning record which is quite surprising given that Woollaston is the much higher ranked player of the two, although the pair have not met for three years since the 2013 Shanghai Masters qualifiers. 

- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh will be looking to keep up his 100% winning record against Alan McManus when they meet on Monday. The Thai has won three out of three against McManus in ranking competition, the most recent of which was a 5-0 whitewash win in this years World Open. 

- Mark King could meet John Higgins in the Last 64 on Wednesday if both win in round one, and if that were to happen it would be their third meeting inside of a year with each getting a victory. However, if you go back to 1999 and 2001 you find two meetings between the pair in the old "British Open" which saw two whitewash wins for Higgins, with the 2001 victory being in the semi-finals. 

- If Shaun Murphy comes through his opening round match with Chen Zhe he will play the winner of the aforementioned Dott Vs Wenbo game. The most recent matches between Dott and Murphy have all been close one's with Dott winning 5-3 at the 2014 Shanghai Masters, before two 5-4 wins for Murphy sandwiched between his 13-11 victory from the 2013 World Championships. Meanwhile, Murphy and Liang would be meeting for the third time in 2016 after two victories for Murphy back to back in March in the Grand Prix (which he went on to win) and in the Players Championship (which was held at the same venue as this weeks event). Prior to these matches, Liang had a 4-2 winning record against Murphy in ranking competition. 

PLAYER PERFORMANCE: KEY INDICATORS

- The first indicator to look at this week is to see how the players have been going when it has gone down to the wire, which can so often happen in best-of-7 frame contests which this tournament is until the quarter-final stages. Once again, all of these statistics are correct at the time of writing (ahead of the European Masters quarter-finals on Friday). 

Scott Donaldson is a player to watch for a possible close match, having already been involved in ten deciding frames this year, winning half of them. John Higgins 4-3 victory against Tom Ford in the Last 16 in Bucharest sees him retain his 100% record in deciders this season with five wins from five. David Gilbert and Mark Selby are still at 100% from three deciders that each have played, while Michael Holt and Kurt Maflin have very strong records with four wins from five deciders at the start of the 2016/2017 campaign. Watch out for guys like Mark Joyce if matches run close, Joyce has not yet won a decider this season, despite four of his matches already going the distance, while Sam Craigie, Peter Ebdon and Ricky Walden are all winless from three deciders played in the early season. 

- Neil Robertson leads the tour in average frames per 50+ contribution at the time of writing, averaging a break of 50 or above every 1.83 frames played, which is the only average on tour to be less than 2. Ronnie O'Sullivan follows that with an average of exactly 2, while Mark Allen makes one every 2.16 frames, Ding Junhui every 2.38 frames, before Anthony McGill completes the top five with a break of 50 or above in every 2.44. Falling just outside of the top five are two players to possibly keep an eye on from slightly further down the rankings in Tom Ford and Jack Lisowksi, who are sixth and seventh when it comes to this statistic on "scoring frequency". Neil Robertson and Mark Allen also lead the tour in frames per century break at this stage of the season with one century every nine frames on average. 

- Now that we have dealt with scoring frequency, the next thing to look at is scoring weight, which brings me to the average break when a player has a contribution of 50 or above. Marco Fu leads the tour from the players who have made a reasonable number of 50+ breaks, with his average of 85.71 every time he has made a 50 break or above, from the 24 he has made (excluding any 6 Reds or International Championship qualifiers action). John Higgins comes in with an average of 83.31 per 50+, while Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Robin Hull both have an average of 82.07 as their average break when making 50+ contributions. David Gilbert is next with an average of 81.07, while Stuart Carrington and Ryan Day also sit well in this regard. 

- Scoring though is only one aspect of the game, and winning close frames is also important, so the next piece of analysis is on the players who lead the tour in close frame win percentage (close frames being judged to be when there is 20 points or less in the end of frame scores). Stephen Maguire is the leader here with a brilliant percentage of 84.62, and at the time of writing Alfie Burden is second with a percentage of 83.33. A close frame win percentage of 81.82 puts Kyren Wilson in third position, while lower ranked players in Michael Georgiou and Mark Joyce follow closely in fourth and fifth positions. Sixth to ninth in the table is then made up of four Chinese players with Li Hang, Liang Wenbo, Yan Bingtao and Xiao Guodong all having high close frames win percentages. 

- Then there is the average frame aggregate which takes into account every point scored and conceded in the necessary competitions (6 Reds World Championship and International Championship qualifiers aside), calculating an average points scored per frame and an average points conceded per frame which is then subtracted from the former to leave an average frame aggregate. Anthony McGill leads the tour in this respect with an average aggregate of 24.45, while Neil Robertson is a very close second with 24.25, Mark Allen again finishes highly with 20.27, while Shaun Murphy is in fourth with an average frame aggregate of 20.08, before Judd Trump makes up the top five. Mark Selby, Ding Junhui and John Higgins come further down in the top ten but not before David Gilbert and Jimmy Robertson feature on the list. 

The five lowest on the average frames aggregate list (having played at least 20 frames) are Darryl Hill, Jak Jones, Sydney Wilson, Kurt Dunham and Paul Davison showing their poor starts to the 2016/2017 season. Also low down on the list are names such as, Alex Borg, Christopher Keogan, Fraser Patrick, Jason Weston and Josh Boileau. 

- Finally, it is also worth taking a look at who has been making it into the latter stages of events, which my quarter-finals or better (in full ranking events) since the start of the 2014/2015 season displays. Judd Trump leads the tour with 11 quarter-finals in full ranking events over this period. while Mark Selby, Stuart Bingham and Neil Robertson all sit on 10 ranking quarter-finals in the time frame. In joint fifth with 9 ranking quarter-finals from the start of the 2014/2015 season is Ding Junhui, John Higgins and Stephen Maguire and this statistic does include the European Masters which is at the quarter-finals stage at the time of writing. 

That concludes the first part of statistical analysis ahead of the English Open, but do not forget to look out for my "Tournament Top Ten" which offers a second part on the statistical analysis, before everything is bought together for the full preview ahead of the start of the event on Monday.  

Davis, McGill, Trump and Selby complete Quarter-final line-up

Mark Davis, Anthony McGill, Judd Trump and Mark Selby have joined yesterday's winners John Higgins, Alfie Burden, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals, following the second day of Last 16 action at the European Masters in Bucharest.

Mark Davis was the first man through on an almost non-stop day of action, as he came through a tight match with Liang Wenbo. This match was a rather high quality one as both players traded big breaks in the early stages. Liang won the opener an 81, before Davis went one better with an 82. China's number two did not relent, recording a 103 century break in the third to move ahead once more. Again Davis drew level, but frame five looked like a vital one after a closely contested frame saw Liang move in front for a third time. A chance came for him to clinch the match 4-2, but Davis was up to the task of clearing to force a decider. Then his bottle and brilliance shone through (having at no stage been ahead in the match) to make a deciding frame century break and set up a quarter-final clash with Ronnie O'Sullivan. 

Anthony McGill came through the all-Scottish clash with Scott Donaldson next, in a match that also went right down to the wire. McGill looked good in the early stages taking a 2-0 advantage, with a closely fought second frame under his belt. Donaldson did not drop his head though, grabbing the next two to square things up at 2-2. McGill's highest break came in the fifth, a contribution of 55 helping one frame away from victory, but Donaldson hit back again to take the sixth in one visit with a run of 86. In the end the experience of the Indian Open champion helped him over the line, dominating the deciding frame to book his place in the last eight, but after coming through four matches to qualify for the recent Shanghai Masters, this has been another good week for Donaldson. 

There was only a very short turnaround before the evening session, and in contrast to the opening couple of matches, Judd Trump came through with a whitewash of Andrew Higginson in under an hour. Higginson never settled into the match despite having plenty of chances in the first couple of frames. He allowed Trump in for a 61 to take the first, and in the second a missed black when things were looking good for 1-1 was the vital error as Trump doubled his advantage. Higginson did not ease off on his attacking game plan though, and again the chance was handed to the left hander, and he duly took it with a break of 118 to move one away from the next round. There was no trouble for Trump in crossing that line as another classy effort of 94 sealed his simple progression into the quarter's. 

Completing a day of two halves was Mark Selby who also recorded a 4-0 win in his match against the struggling Barry Hawkins. Hawkins has not had the best start to the year, and is sliding down the rankings as other players have picked up their games, and things did not get any better for him in this match. Hawkins certainly had chances, though Selby had some bits of good fortune but it was the misses from the Masters runner-up that are damaging his ambitions of returning to the Alexandra Palace for the Masters next January. Selby got ahead early in frames, putting the pressure on Hawkins despite not killing any of the frames off in one visit, and his highest break of 63 coming in the fourth and final frame. World champion Selby will now play the lowest ranked player left in the competition in Alfie Burden. 

Quarter-Final Draw and Schedule:

11am UK time: Judd Trump Vs John Higgins
To follow: Mark Selby Vs Alfie Burden
5pm UK time: Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Mark Davis
To follow: Neil Robertson Vs Anthony McGill

The cream has risen to the top with top players like Trump, Higgins, Selby, O'Sullivan, Robertson and McGill all through to the last eight, while Alfie Burden and Mark Davis will come in as outsiders. O'Sullivan started to look very good in his match with Mark Allen on Wednesday and that could be a sign of him starting to move up through the gears and making a dash for the title. Selby will be happy to be into the quarter-finals after replacing his tip between the Last 32 and Last 16 and will now look to kick on and go one better than his runners-up finish to Ding Junhui in the Shanghai Masters. The games between Trump and Higgins up first on Friday, and with McGill and Robertson who will complete the action look very tough to call and could go down to the wire, as we have seen with a number of matches this week. For me Robertson has looked very impressive this week and all season so far, while the head to head between Trump and Higgins will only tell you to expect a high quality, close encounter.  

All quarter-final matches are played over the best-of 7 frames. 

O'Sullivan, Robertson, Higgins and Burden into European Quarters

Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, John Higgins and Alfie Burden are the first four players into this weeks European Masters quarter-finals after the first day of Last 16 action was completed in Bucharest.

The tournament remains best-of-7 frames for the Last 16 but is now down to a one table set-up, and the first match on this afternoon saw John Higgins against Tom Ford. Leicester's Ford played well in this one with breaks of 61, 72 and 79 seeing him lead 2-1 and then 3-2 and one away from the last eight. Higgins forced the decider with a gritty 71. Chances came and went in the decider as Ford failed in his attempts to get over the line and it is the Scotsman who marches on.

Following that was the exit of Ricky Walden as he was also beaten in a decider, with Alfie Burden getting taking an impressive victory. Walden started in promising fashion with a run of 73 to move 1-0 in front, but after that he lost his rhythm and Burden was much the better player and worthy of the three frames in a row that took him 3-1 ahead. Walden hung on in the fifth before a swift 69 break forced the second final frame shoot-out of the day. This was where Burden saved his best for last with a decisive 64 to send his fellow Englishman packing.

The first match of the evening session between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Allen always looked like being a cracking contest and it certainly did not disappoint. Allen certainly kept up with O'Sullivan's pace of play in amongst the balls as both players were rapid when scoring, and were both around the 15 seconds a shot mark for much of the play. The Northern Irishman made all of the running in the early stages with a sparkling 121 to take a 1-0 lead, and he looked like doubling his advantage when on 65 in frame two. A poor positional shot and a very risky plant attempt ended up costing him as O'Sullivan cleared with 64 to level things up. The Pistol also made the early running in frame three with a 55 that was looking like becoming a frame winner again until he missed a crucial black and once again O'Sullivan was up to the task with a 60 clearance to pinch a 2-1 lead. However, Allen hit back by winning another black ball fourth frame, with Rocket Ronnie going in-off on his brown ball safety. From a level game at 2-2, O'Sullivan stepped up a gear with breaks of 77 after a missed long ball from Allen and then an 80 in the sixth to clinch a 4-2 victory and remain a worthy favourite for the title this week.

Last up in Romania was Neil Robertson against Rhys Clark. Clark is a little bit of a stranger to the TV tables despite this being his second year on tour and being one of the rookies of the year in his first. On the night he struggled to match the Australian's scoring. Robertson took the opener with a run of 82, before Clark hit back with 73. The crucial moment came in frame three as, after an early 61 from Robertson the Scottish youngster had a chance to clear but his miss on the final pink allowed his opponent a major let off and a simple frame ball to move ahead 2-1. That lead was then extended to 3-1 with a trademark Robertson ton, and despite a cluster of misses early in frame five an eventual contribution of 67 took the Riga Masters champion into yet another quarter-final, though Clark should have plenty more chances in his career once he gets used to this big stage.


Here's a quick reminder of the schedule of play for the second half of the Last 16 coming up on Thursday:

11am UK time: Liang Wenbo Vs Mark Davis
To follow: Anthony McGill Vs Scott Donaldson
5pm UK time: Judd Trump Vs Andrew Higginson
To follow: Mark Selby Vs Barry Hawkins

Another good line-up in prospect then and that will then set the stage for the best-of-7 frame quarter-finals that are to come on Friday.

European Masters Day 2: Ronnie Races Through to Last 16

Ronnie O'Sullivan sped through his match against David Gilbert on day two at the European Masters in Bucharest, winning 4-1 in 55 minutes. Breaks of 87, 77, 68 and 50 saw O'Sullivan playing pretty close to his best, while Gilbert made a classy break of 74 in the only frame he was able to win on a day where there was very little else he could have done, despite a couple of half chances. O'Sullivan will now play again on Wednesday evening against another quality player in Mark Allen. Allen was also a winner on day two seeing off non-tour player Daniel Womersley with a 4-0 whitewash. Breaks of 51, 53 and a closing 112 saw the Northern Irishman through in what was an impressive display and in true Allen style he was racing around the table by the end of the match and looking confident.

Liang Wenbo started the day on table one with a victory of his own against a non-tour player in Zak Surety, though Surety was a tour player over the last couple of seasons before this. Liang looked good in a 4-1 win that included an 80 as well as runs of 50, 51 and 61 in a simple mornings work. Wenbo will now take on Mark Davis who overcame Shaun Murphy 4-1. Neither player was at his best in this one with plenty of shots missed and some lacklustre tactical play through the match. Davis came out on top in the two tight opening frames before Murphy got his name on the scoreboard taking the third frame. The highlight of the match was a 100 break from Davis in frame four before he took another fairly close frame to clinch victory and get into the Last 16.

Judd Trump came through a close match with Ben Woollaston in the afternoon. They went hit for hit in this one as Woollaston held 1-0 and 2-1 and 3-2 leads with breaks in the match of 55,66 and 59. Trump had a 105 in the second to level up the match at 1-1 and then to square it again at 2-2 he made 64. The sixth seemed decisive at the time as Woollaston certainly had his chances to win the match 4-2 but lacking a bit of killer instinct he let Trump back into it and after some good tactical play from Trump it was 3-3. The decider was all Trump with Woollaston not getting the chance that every player hopes for in a final frame shoot-out, a contribution of 89 sealing things for the left hander.

Mark Selby followed that match as he took on Dominic Dale. The first three frames were all close affairs as Selby took a 2-1 advantage, before a 72 break from Dale dominated the fourth, helped by a run of 72, to level the match at 2-2. Selby then made 66 to regain the lead, and while the sixth went down to the colours it is indeed the world champion that marches on into the Last 16 in Romania.

Prior to Mark Allen's match on table two Alfie Burden beat Yu De Lu 4-1 thanks to breaks of 87, 78 and 61 to make it into the Last 16, while in the evening Scott Donaldson came from 2-0 down to beat Belgium's Luca Brecel 4-3 as the German Masters runner-up from February continues his poor form at the start of this new season.


Last 16 Draw and Schedule

Wednesday 5th October:
11am UK time: John Higgins Vs Tom Ford
To follow: Ricky Walden Vs Alfie Burden
5pm UK time: Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Mark Allen
To Follow: Neil Robertson Vs Rhys Clark

Thursday 6th October:
11am UK time: Liang Wenbo Vs Mark Davis
To follow: Anthony McGill Vs Scott Donaldson
5pm UK time: Judd Trump Vs Andrew Higginson
To follow: Mark Selby Vs Barry Hawkins


All matches are still best-of-7 frames, local time is UK + 2 hours. The players that appeared most impressive in round one were certainly Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins, though I do not think that Allen will be a pushover for O'Sullivan. Ricky Walden also looked in good shape in round one, while Liang Wenbo certainly played better for his win than Last 16 opponent Mark Davis. The all Scottish clash with McGill and Donaldson is one where you would certainly favour McGill after his early season form. The most intriguing match could be Mark Selby and Barry Hawkins, Hawkins has not been at his best so far this year and Selby has been in fine form. However, the world champion has put a new tip on his cue after not being too impressed with the one he had on in his match with Dominic Dale (in fact it was Dale who performed the replacement after the match upon Selby's request) but with a day off to knock it in with some practice, it should not be an issue.

O'Sullivan and Selby unscathed in Romania

Mark Selby and Ronnie O'Sullivan both made it through their heldover Last 64 matches at European Masters with no issues to put them into the Last 32 on Tuesday. Selby took on Fergal O'Brien and dominated from start to finish completing a 4-0 victory with a century, and also recording breaks of 88, 71 and 50. Ronnie O'Sullivan followed that match straight after and put down his marker with a 4-0 whitewash of Daniel Wells. Wells had his chances but O'Sullivan was just one better on the day despite his highest break 'only' being 51.

In the eight Last 32 matches on Monday in Romania, there were victories for John Higgins who impressively beat in form Michael Holt 4-0, recording two century breaks along the way. Fellow Scotsman Anthony McGill came through a tight contest 4-3 against Ali Carter. The match was even throughout and Carter was looking good when he took a 3-2 lead. McGill then made an impressive century to force a final frame shoot out, and despite an early chance for World Open champion Carter it was the Indian Open champion that forced his way across the line.

Neil Robertson came through a very high quality affair with Graeme Dott on the other main table match during the afternoon. Despite the scoreline being 4-2 in Robertson's favour, both he and Dott recorded four breaks of 50+. The Australian saved his highest for the sixth and final frame putting together a century. Dott's high was an 87 in winning the fifth frame, while both players made 50's in both frames one and two which were shared.

Out on table two, which oddly seems to be in a different location in the arena, Tom Ford started the day by beating Robin Hull 4-1 in a decent performance that included three breaks in the 50's from Ford though Hull had his chances to make that one a closer game.It was much tighter affair between Barry Hawkins and Michael Wild, where Hawkins managed to avoid an upset coming through a 4-3 winner. The highest break there was a 93 from Hawkins in the sixth to force the decider from 2-3 adrift after some tight early frames.

Andrew Higginson then kept his very impressive record against Marco Fu which I pointed out in my Stat Attack, having not lost to Fu in matches with any major or minor ranking importance. On the day it was a whitewash 4-0 victory for Higginson completed with breaks of 61 and 70 in the last two frames.

In the evening session Rhys Clark overcame David Grace with a 4-1 win to make it into the Last 16 of a ranking event for the first time. Breaks of 101, 61, 52 and 50 were too much for Grace on the day. Following that was a game many would have looked forward to all day with Ricky Walden taking on a star of the future in Yan Bingtao. Walden was absolutely racing around the table in this match and that is usually when he is at his heavy scoring and simply superb best. In the opening couple of frames it was Walden who went into a 2-0 lead with breaks of 71 and 91. Yan hit back taking a scrappy third before weighing in with a 79 break in the fourth to square the match. That did not knock the higher ranked favourite off of his stride though moving in front thanks to an 86, and after Yan missed a chance in frame six with the balls open to force a seventh and deciding frame, Walden cleared with a century in double quick time to clinch a 4-2 victory and get into the Last 16. 

Tomorrow will see the second half of the Last 32 matches over the best-of 7 frames including Mark Selby taking on Dominic Dale and Ronnie O'Sullivan playing David Gilbert after their two wins in heldover Last 64.

European Masters Preview

Monday morning will see the first of many new events on this season's calendar and one that should excite everyone, as snooker arrives in Romania for the European Masters. From what information and images are available of the arena for next week, it looks like a similar set up to the very popular Berlin Tempodrome that hosts the German Masters in early February, and the event on the whole has a similar format too.

32 players will battle it out for a top prize of £56,250, and each of these 32 has come through two matches to qualify a few days ago at the Preston Guildhall and as a flat draw it means there are a few top players missing. Notable absentees include Shanghai Masters champion Ding Junhui (who had to withdraw before the qualifiers with visa issues), along with Stuart Bingham, Joe Perry, Kyren Wilson, Mark Williams, Stephen Maguire, Martin Gould and Michael White who all fell in the qualifying rounds.

Mark Selby and Ronnie O'Sullivan both had their Last 64 matches held over to increase their chances of making the venue, and this was presumably done at the sponsors request with no other reason seemingly given. On the whole I think that is good for the event and there are not too many top names missing which makes for an exciting lot of matches coming up.

The whole event will be covered on Eurosport once again, and the format for the week sees the Last 32 and Last 16 played over the best-of-7 frames and two tables in the arena, before we go down to a one table set-up for the quarter-finals which will still be best-of-7 frames, before the semi-finals over the best-of-11 frames and the final which is a best-of-17 frames affair.

Quarter 1

Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold) 

Mark Selby or Fergal O'Brien Vs Dominic Dale

Barry Hawkins Vs Michael Wild

Yu De Lu Vs Alfie Burden 

Ricky Walden Vs Yan Bingtao

There are quite a few non-top 32 players in this section with Yu De Lu, Alfie Burden, Yan Bingtao, Michael Wild and Dominic Dale all having qualified. That could mean we have a big outsider come through this section, and if I had to pick someone out it would be Yan Bingtao. Yan has had a brilliant start to his debut season beating plenty of players ranked higher than him and in just a handful of events he has climbed up provisionally to 80 in the world. Ricky Walden will obviously have something to say about that but he has not had the greatest start to the season not getting past the Last 32 in either the Indian Open, World Open, Paul Hunter Classic or Shanghai Masters. Barry Hawkins has also had a hit and miss start to the season having just failed to qualify for the International Championships. He has lost twice in the Last 16 at the Indian Open and Shanghai Masters to Stephen Maguire, as well as a Last 32 exit at the World Open.

That really only leaves me one man to pick for this quarter and that is Mark Selby. Selby has had his Last 64 match bought over to the venue, but having to play an extra match should make little difference to him and his incredible stamina. Selby is the one of the few men on tour who can get a result from anywhere no matter how he plays and this is the key to him winning so many events. He was not necessarily at his best in Shanghai but he still made it all the way to the final and a win at the Paul Hunter Classic should bring him into this week full of confidence. It is about time he started winning more events for the talent and determination that he possesses, and with more ranking events this season and greater incentives we could well start to see Selby get his rewards. 

Quarter Choice: Mark Selby

Quarter 2 

Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold) 

John Higgins Vs Michael Holt

Tom Ford Vs Robin Hull

Marco Fu Vs Andrew Higginson 

Judd Trump Vs Ben Woollaston

The second quarter is packed with quality. There are a few non-top 32 players who could be outsiders this week with Tom Ford, Robin Hull and Andrew Higginson all qualifying. Higginson has a good record against Marco Fu, but you have to say that Ford and Hull have the best chance given that they're playing each other in the Last 32 and both will see it as an opportunity to go far in what could well be a very close match. Judd Trump was not at his best in qualifying for this event scraping past Aditya Mehta and Duane Jones, whilst also losing from 3-0 up in the Last 16 of the Shanghai Masters so it will be interesting to see how he progresses this week. He will feel comfortable playing Ben Woollaston in round one given that Woollaston lost to Trump 5-0 in Shanghai and has not been close to his best of late. Marco Fu has had very little form so far this season, while John Higgins best so far this season is the World Open quarter-finals be he too is not at his complete best and certainly has a tough outing in the Last 32 over this short format.

My choice in this quarter, which some of you may find surprising, is Michael Holt. Holt has been much improved over the last year or so with the help of Terry Griffiths, though all Griffiths is helping Holt do is get the results he has always had potential to. This season already he has made the Riga Open final and the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters, and there should be plenty more to come now that he has the confidence and belief to beat the top players consistently on the big stage. Last week in his two qualifiers for this event and his qualifier for the International Championship he recorded 4-1, 4-0 and 6-1 victories to brush aside his lower ranked opposition. Twice this year he has beaten Ronnie O'Sullivan, he was always in control when he beat Neil Robertson at the Crucible and with confidence like we have never seen from Holt great things should be on the horizon. 

Quarter Choice: Michael Holt

Quarter 3 

Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold) 

Shaun Murphy Vs Mark Davis 

Liang Wenbo Vs Zak Surety

Ronnie O'Sullivan or Daniel Wells Vs David Gilbert 

Mark Allen Vs Daniel Wormsley

The third quarter sees the two non-tour players in Zak Surety and Daniel Wormsley who have qualified for this week. That does not by any means suggest that Mark Allen and Liang Wenbo will have easy rides in round one. Allen and Wenbo have not played all that much yet this season so this week offers an opportunity for them to get some momentum ahead of a big stretch, with the English Open next week and the International Championships closely following that. Ronnie O'Sullivan plays in his second tournament of the season. He looked a little rusty at the Shanghai Masters and has had his second qualifying round this week bought to the venue. David Gilbert has had a really good start to the season and with Last 16's in Shanghai and Riga and a quarter-final at the World Open and he is probably the most improved player of the last year. If O'Sullivan gets through his extra match the Last 32 contest between him and Gilbert could be a cracker.

My third quarter choice though is Shaun Murphy. Murphy impressed in the qualifiers making a 147 maximum break and he negotiated some tricky opposition well. He may have been thrashed 5-0 at the Shanghai Masters by Stephen Maguire, but Maguire was on fire there. In the earlier part of the season he made the semi-finals of the Indian Open and the quarters of the World Open. The 147 in the qualifiers came with his wife and newborn son in the crowd watching and the changes in his life, becoming a father for the first time, could be the inspiration he needs to kick on and add more titles to his collection. 

Quarter Choice: Shaun Murphy

Quarter 4

Last 32 Draw (Picks in Bold) 

Neil Robertson Vs Graeme Dott

David Grace Vs Rhys Clark

Ali Carter Vs Anthony McGill

Luca Brecel Vs Scott Donaldson

Even when a number of top players lose in the early rounds of these events we do still get cracking matches and that is the case in the Last 32 with Ali Carter and Anthony McGill. Both are tournament winners already this season and over the best-of-7 frames it is very tough to pick a winner between the two, but whoever does come through that one they could go very far in Romania. This event does feel very similar to that of the German Masters and Graeme Dott and Luca Brecel did very well in Berlin in 2016 which could make them outsiders in this quarter. It would be good to see Brecel do well in continental Europe as he is the number one continental European player and his efforts may inspire many others on the continent. Neither he or Dott have had good starts to the season though so it is tough to see them as major contenders. Again, there are three non-top 32 players in this section with David Grace playing Rhys Clark in round one, while Scott Donaldson has again qualified after coming through four qualifying rounds to qualify for the Shanghai Masters. Clark has had a poor start to the season, after being one of the best rookie players a year ago. Grace has come on a lot in the last year since his big run at the UK Championships so he is probably the best of the outsiders.

My final quarter choice has to be Neil Robertson. Robertson has been in great form at the start of the year winning the Riga Masters and then reaching the semi-finals of the World Open. His draw for this week does not look too bad, compared to his draw where he lost in the Last 32 of the Shanghai Masters to Ryan Day. Robertson has always been in the group with Murphy and Selby for me that could all easily win multiple ranking titles a season, and that is something they all seem to be starting to do now - like in the Golf where Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Jason Day are dominant players that can win three big tournaments a year. Robertson is very much like McIlroy in that he may not be in great form all year round but when he is in form he's too hot for anyone to handle. 

Quarter Choice: Neil Robertson

Winner Selection: Shaun Murphy


That completes the analysis ahead of the European Masters next week, but if you have missed anything from earlier in the week it's not too late to take a look.

This was the "Tournament Top Ten" from Friday:
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/european-masters-tournament-top-ten.html

Meanwhile, here is the "Stat Attack" from Saturday: http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/european-masters-stat-attack.html


Next up on the blog will be updates through the weeks snooker and build-up for the English Open in Manchester which directly follows next week after the action in Romania. 

European Masters: Stat Attack

After yesterday's "Tournament Top Ten" blog, it is time to keep the build-up for the European Masters with a full statistical preview on certain elements that could point to who the winner next weekend will be or simply picking out some interesting points or head to heads for the early rounds.

Some statistics will come from the CueTracker.net and Snooker.org sites, while in the "Player Performances: Key Aspects section" you will find some statistics that I have been bringing together and working on. These numbers should help pick out who the men in form have been so far this season, even if some have not necessarily been winning tournaments and what we can expect from certain players moving forwards. As this is essentially a brand new event to the calendar in an arena never seen before for a professional event, there will obviously not be any event specific stats like most money earned in a tournament, or others of this nature.

HEAD TO HEAD

- The last three times Mark Davis has played Shaun Murphy in full or minor ranking competition he has come out on top. Those wins came in the 2015 Shanghai Masters, the 2014 Australian Open and on the European Tour in 2013. Davis will be looking to keep that up in the Last 32 in Romania.

- John Higgins will take on Michael Holt in round one knowing that he has beaten him in their last two meetings despite having come from behind to do so. Higgins won the last two frames in the World Open, and in the International Championship in 2015 he came from 3-1 down to win 6-3.

- When Andrew Higginson meets Marco Fu in round one at the venue he will be hoping to keep up a run of six wins out of six against Fu in ranking events or PTC events, or the last of these came in 2012.

- Ben Woollaston will meet Judd Trump for the second ranking event in succession having lost 5-0 to Trump in the Last 32 in Shanghai.

- David Grace and Rhys Clark have an even more recent meeting having played last week in the International Championship qualifiers, with Grace running out a 6-1 winner.

- The only time Luca Brecel has previously played Scott Donaldson was in the early qualifying rounds for the 2012 UK Championships. Brecel won in a decider, and ended up going on to the quarter-finals which at the time was his best ranking performance.


PLAYER PERFORMANCE: KEY ASPECTS 

- The first of my calculated statistics that should give a good indication of who the players to watch for this week are, is the average frames per 50+ break, the closest thing there is to a "scoring frequency" stat. All of these numbers were calculated prior to the European Masters and International Championship qualifiers of the last week. The numbers also do not take into account the 6 Reds World Championship because of it's non-ranking format and change in format.
Top of the list for average frames per 50+ is Neil Robertson. The Australian averages 2.02 which is a far lower number than anyone else. Anthony McGill is the next best from this 32 man field (plus 2 holdovers) with 2.42 frames per 50 break or above, while Tom Ford follows in third for this weeks field with 2.47 frames per 50 and it is interesting to see someone ranked outside of the top 32 so high up this list. Shaun Murphy is in fourth for this weeks field with exactly 2.5 frames per 50 break, while Mark Allen is closely behind with 2.57.

- The next category is one that compliments the previous one nicely. Now that we know who is at the top for 50+ breaks frequency, the next obvious place to look at is 50+ breaks weight with average break when a player makes a 50 break or above. Liang Wenbo leads the field for this statistic this week averaging 85.67 whenever he makes a 50 break. Directly after Wenbo is David Gilbert with 84.16, while John Higgins comes closely after in the list with 83.05 while Fu is in fourth with 82 before Robin Hull lands in fifth place for this weeks field with 79.18. Remember that was calculated after the Shanghai Masters and prior to the European Masters qualifiers so the Last 128 and Last 64 stages of this event were not included in the stats.

- Now that we know who is scoring heavily and winning frames with the big breaks, it's time to see who is winning the close frames. The close frames win percentage classes frames as anything with 20 points difference or less at the end of the frame, because I felt that a conservative approach was needed for this one. Alfie Burden leads the field in this one with a percentage of 77.78, Liang Wenbo is next with 75%, with Robin Hull and Yan Bingtao also on 75%. Mark Selby is then in fifth place with 72.22%, while Anthony McGill and Dominic Dale also have close frame win percentages of 70 or above. The lowest percentages out of the 32 (plus holdovers) heading to Romania see Mark Davis with a one in four 25% hit rate in close frames, and Michael Wild only has a one in three 33.33 percentage.

- On my statistics for average frame aggregate (which is average points scored per frame - average points conceded per frame) there are a number of the top ranked players in the field this week are at the top of the list in this statistic. Anthony McGill leads with an average aggregate of 25.36, with Neil Robertson at 22.25 in second. Shaun Murphy follows in third at 18.96 for average frame aggregate, while Judd Trump is fourth and David Gilbert is fifth from the 32 man field for the European Masters. Michael Wild's poor start to the season left him at a frame aggregate of -26.16 prior to the qualifiers for this event and the International Championship qualifiers that followed.

- John Higgins comes into the European Masters with four wins out of four in deciding frames, while Mark Selby and David Gilbert are both 100% from three matches. Ali Carter and Michael Holt have also shown good pressure play with four wins out of five in final frame shoot-outs.


This should provide a great insight into who the key players and aspects to keep an eye on, are throughout the tournament and, with the heads to heads particularly, pick out who the early casualties could be as well as the trends for who will go far.

Tomorrow will see my full tournament preview, rounding up the build up from both this blog and the tournament top ten blog and give you my personal choice to take the title next week.

It is also not too late to read my "Tournament Top Ten" blog which can be found here: http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/european-masters-tournament-top-ten.html