Champion of Champions Preview

Monday sees the start of another 16-man invitational event as the tour moves back to the UK and the Champion of Champions event at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

It is also the first of the ITV events this season and marks the first of three events in a row on the calendar that will be shown, at least in part, on free to air TV (the Northern Ireland Open will be shown in parts on Quest as the English Open was - prior to the UK Championship on the BBC).

The format is the same as in the three previous seasons that this has been staged with four days of "Group Action" with two best-of-7 Last 16 matches and one best-of-11 quarter-final each day from Monday to Thursday, before the best-of-11 frames semi-finals and the best-of-19 final which will be on Saturday.

The top four seeds for this week were defending champion and UK Champion Neil Robertson, World Champion Mark Selby, Masters Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and the next highest ranked player that had qualified after the Shanghai Masters which is Shaun Murphy.

All the players this week are guaranteed £7,500 for qualifying for the tournament, one match win takes the money up to £10,000 while losing semi-finalists will receive £25,000, the runner-up £50,000 with the winner taking a nice £100,000 jackpot home with the trophy. Now let's see who the contenders are for that prize this week:

Quarter/Group 1 (Tuesday 8th November) 

Neil Robertson Vs Stuart Bingham - This match up at the very top of the draw is arguably one of the hardest to call for me. With this being played on Tuesday, Stuart Bingham does not have the luxury of too much to get home from Guangzhou where he was playing in the China Championship final on Saturday evening, and may only return to the UK within 24 hours of this match beginning so could come into this match jet lagged and very tired from his exertions from the last few weeks regardless. As well as making the final last week, he was a semi-finalist the week before in Daqing and again at the English Open in Manchester so he has played a lot of snooker in the last three weeks and it is a big ask to keep it going, particularly when he has a first round match as tough as this. Neil Robertson's form has gone for a wander a little bit in the last few weeks since his 6-0 European Masters semi-final loss to Ronnie O'Sullivan. The following week in Manchester he lost 4-3 from a comfortable position at 3-0 against Xiao Guodong with a place in the Last 16 all but secured, and then as I mentioned in my China Championship preview, he seemed to lose his cool in a Last 16 defeat to Joe Perry at the International Championship before a narrow first round loss last week to Michael Holt. Coming back to Coventry as defending champion will give him good memories of a big couple of weeks a year ago when he took both the Champion of Champions title and the big one at the UK Championships in York in consecutive weeks. This year the Northern Irish Open is between the two events, but Robertson has not entered that event and seems as if he is going to concentrate solely on these two huge title defences. With this in mind, the fact you can never keep a quality player like Robertson down for long, and of course Bingham's short turnaround, then I think it will be the Australian who takes this tight match. 

Prediction: Bingham's run to end with Robertson winning 4-2

Ding Junhui Vs Ali Carter - Both of these players competed at the recent China Championship which means it is a short turnaround for them having to play again on Tuesday. Ding has had longer off following his first round exit there but he looked in great form prior to that on the way to getting into the International Championship final. Just a couple of tournaments before that he was a winner at the Shanghai Masters and I would expect him to step back up in the next couple of weeks ahead of the UK Championships, after a very disappointing first round loss in the China Championships to Marco Fu. Ali Carter is always dangerous as he showed by beating Judd Trump in the China Championship and he too has been back to winning ways this season by winning the World Open to qualify for this event. In more recent weeks though Carter has had to grind out results and a couple of comebacks early on in the International Championships and English Open stopped him losing earlier than he did, and by no means did he end up going deep into the event on either of those occasions. Carter could well grind Ding down in this one if the Chinese is not on his very top scoring form, but if Ding does become the ton machine that we have seen again this season then he is the favourite. 

Prediction: Ding to win a very tight contest 4-3

Quarter Choice: Neil Robertson

Quarter 2/Group 4 (Thursday 10th November) 

Judd Trump Vs Anthony McGill - Judd Trump has won multiple events to qualify for the Champion of Champions this season, and is a former runner-up at this event from 2014. His form of late has been sensational with a semi-final at the International Championship, and a final at the English Open to follow his European Masters victory. A small blip at the recent China Championship by losing to Carter in round one was to be expected after such a full on run of tournaments that he featured in the latter stages of. The question is whether he has gotten back up for this event or whether his attentions have already turned to the UK Championships at the end of the month. Anthony McGill by contrast has dropped off in the last couple of weeks after a great run of form to start the season. That run of course included his Indian Open victory that got him into this event, but in the last couple of weeks he has been thrashed in the first round of the China Championship, beaten in the Last 64 of the International Championship and at the same stage of the English Open. At the end of the day it is very hard to maintain such high levels of performance throughout an entire season of snooker, and there will be peaks and troughs.  

Prediction: Trump to continue his fantastic form with a 4-1 win. 

Shaun Murphy Vs John Higgins - This is going to be a cracking match as last weeks China Championship winner John Higgins takes on narrow losing semi-finalist Shaun Murphy. Murphy has never won a match in this event in three attempts. The first year he lost out to Mark Selby which you take with a pinch of salt. In 2014 he played out a woeful contest with Marco Fu, Fu winning 4-1 only to lose 6-0 to O'Sullivan later that evening. The loss a year ago would be the most disappointing as he took on Yan Bingtao who at that stage was not even playing on the tour full time. Defeat to Higgins would make it four successive first round exits in this tournament and probably make Murphy never want to set foot in Coventry or the Ricoh Arena ever again. That aside, his form did really improve in the two weeks he was away in China from a point in the first round of the International Championship where he could have been swept aside by Robin Hull, to the stage by the end of the China Championships when he was make big breaks like it was nobodies business and came within a frame of the final. That final was won by Higgins who came from the other side of the draw and finished with the truest of class by knocking in three successive centuries from 7-7 to win 10-7 and he played fantastically all week long to take the £200,000 top prize home and qualify for this event. Playing on Thursday it gives Higgins plenty of time to get home and ready for this event, and at the end of the day his opponent is only an extra day ahead of him. Higgins record may not be spectacular in Coventry either but with a trophy under his belt he will just be looking to carry straight on and when Higgins gets on a roll he is very hard to stop. 

Prediction: Higgins to pick up from Guangzhou winning 4-1. 

Quarter Choice: Judd Trump

Quarter/Group 3 (Monday 7th November) 

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Robin Hull - Here in this contest we have the lowest ranked player in the competition up against a player who is yet to lose a match in this competition having won the first two editions, before not entering last year. Long time followers of the blog will be aware that I am a big fan of Robin Hull and was so pleased to see him win the Shoot-Out in February, knowing what he has been through over the course of his career and also being aware that to someone lower down the rankings the prize money for winning that and the guaranteed prize money for getting into the Champion of Champions is huge. Hull is such a better player than his world ranking suggests and on his day he can cause the top players a lot of problems. Notable efforts for Hull this season saw him beat Mark Williams in the European Masters Last 128. For O'Sullivan he has not yet hit the heights that we would expect from him so far this season. Last 16 exits in both Chinese tournaments came with defeats to Michael Holt in each of the Shanghai Masters and International Championships. He also lost early on in the English Open, while his highlight so far has been a final appearance at the European Masters. This is a tournament that suits O'Sullivan very well though (being referred to by some as O'Sullivan's event when it was first started up) and if he were to win his matches on Monday as he should do so comfortably, he could then have three days off and come back fresh for the semi-finals on Friday and that could be a huge advantage. 

Prediction: O'Sullivan to prove too strong a 4-1 winner

Martin Gould Vs Mark Davis - Martin Gould qualified for the Champion of Champions way back in February as the winner of the German Masters, but at the start of this season he has not got anywhere near those heights. His best showing has been a Last 16 way back at the Indian Open, but he lost in the Last 128 of the European Masters, Last 64 of the International and was beaten by Trump in the Last 32 of the English Open. A low point for Gould would certainly have been his 5-0 loss to Yuan Sijun in the wildcard round of the Shanghai Masters, having already lost to Yuan 5-0 in last season's China Open. Mark Davis has looked a lot more solid this season as is generally his nature. Quarter-finals at the Paul Hunter Classic and more recently in the European Masters before losing to O'Sullivan are an improvement on what was not the best of seasons a year ago. On the day this could go either way, but for me I feel that Gould will have to be on good scoring form to win. Whoever comes through would also have to be very close to their very best to beat Ronnie later on in the evening over the best-of-11 frames.

Prediction: Another match to go the distance with Davis winning 4-3

Quarter Choice: Ronnie O'Sullivan 

Quarter 4/Group 2 (Wednesday 9th November) 

Mark Allen Vs Joe Perry - Joe Perry is the second player in this weeks field that got in without actually having to win an event to do so. His appearance in the final of the World Open was enough to get him high enough on the money list from this season so far, that when Marco Fu withdrew his place was guaranteed whatever the result in Guangzhou. It has not been the best of seasons for Perry since that World Open performance, losing his first match at the English Open, Shanghai Masters and European Masters as well as a first round loss in last weeks China Championship to Shaun Murphy. His only recent highlight was a quarter-final at the International Championship where he also could have lost in the Last 64 (winning from 5-2 down against Andrew Higginson). Mark Allen meanwhile has looked fairly fresh this season after not starting his season until the Paul Hunter Classic, and he qualified for this event nice and early winning the Players Championship in March. Not qualifying for the International in Daqing gave him the week off prior to the China Championship and it seemed to help him. He made five century breaks in his wins over Ricky Walden and Mark Selby (which was a particularly great win given his recent form) before coming up against the better player in John Higgins. After travelling back from China the Northern Irishman should have a couple of days off before having to play in Coventry where he made it all the way to the final a year ago, despite losing in the first round of this event the two years before that. Again I can see this being close, but Allen may have the edge if he can pick up his great Guangzhou form. 

Prediction: Allen to continue his heavy scoring with a 4-2 win. 

Mark Selby Vs Liang Wenbo - Mark Selby has very much been the form man of the 2016/2017 season so far. He has won so many events in the qualifying period for this years Champion of Champions it is difficult to name them all. The World Championship win gets him a place as one of the four seeded players, and he adds to that another major victory at the International Championship along with title winning displays in August's Paul Hunter Classic and February's Gdynia Open. One of the few events left that Selby has not won his is this one, which should spur him on this week. His opponent Liang Wenbo will face him for the second time in three events after they met in the Last 16 of the International Championship with Selby coming out a narrow winner there. Liang has been in great form though, winning the English Open which saw him qualify for this weeks event. Over the course of the last year he has improved a lot as a player and the win in Manchester hallmarked that, but he can still be very hit and miss as he showed in the 6-2 thrashing he took last week against Stuart Bingham at the China Championship. 

Prediction: Selby to march on a 4-2 winner 

Quarter Choice: Mark Allen 

Overall Winner Selection: Ronnie O'Sullivan

That is it for my build-up then ahead of this weeks Champion of Champions event in Coventry, next up on the calendar is the second event in the home nations series as the Northern Irish Open begins next Monday in Belfast. 

Don't forget you can still read my statistical analysis ahead of the Champion of Champions here:

'Stat Attack': http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/champion-of-champions-stat-attack.html

'Tournament Top Ten': http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/champion-of-champions-tournament-top-ten.html 

Champion of Champions: Tournament Top Ten

With a little bit of extra time on my side this week the blog schedule is back to normal and the Tournament Top Ten blog is back out on it's own rather than being a joint blog with the 'Stat Attack'. As there have been three previous Champion of Champions events, building the pre-tournament ranking list is made easier. Taken into account on the list this week are all three previous stagings in Coventry along with the recent China Championship, International Championship, English Open and European Masters as these feel most relevant in terms of players most recent form. Along with that will be the up to date stats on average frame aggregates, average frames per 50+ break, average contribution when 50 or above and the close frames win percentages which are all specific to this season only.

With the Champion of Champions being a 16 man event, like last weeks China Championship I will rank all 16 of the players in this list featuring a lovely looking graph to show what the gaps are between certain players on the list.

16 - Martin Gould - Martin Gould has had a series of early tournament exits in recent tournaments, and only appeared in the Champion of Champions once, just failing to get past the first round. He also failed to get into the top five in any of the four statistics that helped to build the list meaning Gould finishes rock bottom on the list.

15 - Robin Hull - As the lowest ranked player in the tournament you would not expect Hull to be reaching the latter stages of many tournaments which he has not done. Hull is also a Champion of Champions debutant so he has no previous finishes to go on there, but a fourth placed finish in the field this week on the average break when 50 or above list does see him finish above Gould.

14 - Mark Davis - Mark Davis means that the bottom three players are all from the same group (with O'Sullivan). Davis did make the European Masters quarter-finals which sees him on the list above his first round opponent Gould and narrowly ahead of Hull but with nothing to report from his previous Champion of Champions appearance or any statistical high points he is not able to climb any further.

13 - Ali Carter - As his win at the World Open earlier in the season does not count to this weeks list and he has dropped off marginally in his recent results, Carter finishes quite low down on the list. He did make the International Championship Last 16 and beat Judd Trump in the first round of the China Championship last week. However, in three previous showings at the Champion of Champions he has only won one single game which also prevents a higher finish. Statistically his only high point comes with a fifth placed finish out of this weeks field on the close frames win percentage list.

12 - Shaun Murphy - Next up is the man who in three appearances at the Champion of Champions has never won a single match, which seriously impedes his chances of a high finish on this weeks list. If it were not for that his form has actually improved in the last couple of weeks in China, following an International Championship quarter-final up with a semi-final in last weeks China Championship. Statistically, he came close on a couple of lists but failed to break into the top five on any of the four categories which fails to give him an extra little nudge up the table.

11 - Anthony McGill - Narrowly missing out on the top ten this week is Anthony McGill. McGill is a debutant in Coventry so there is nothing to report there. In recent weeks results have not gone the way of the young Scotsman with his only showing of note in this busy run being a run to the last eight of the European Masters. Finally, on a statistical note he does still sneak into the top five on the average frame aggregates despite being in decline on that list. A fourth place finish with an aggregate of 17.63 edging him just ahead of Shaun Murphy who is also in McGill's group on Thursday.

10 - Joe Perry - Marginally scraping into the top ten is Joe Perry who has certainly not had things going his way in recent events. Perry's best display came in the International Championship making the quarter-finals but besides that, he has lost his first match in every other recent event that counted. He does have one good previous finish to shout about, making the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions in 2015 on his Coventry debut. Although, there is nothing to add in terms of a statistical high.

9 - Mark Allen - As the graph demonstrates really well, there is then a big jump on the list to where we find last years Champion of Champions runner-up Mark Allen. Allen also reached the semi-finals of last weeks China Championship which also gives him a big boost on the list as by far his best recent finish. Unfortunately for the Northern Irishman's sake, he had not won a match in Coventry prior to his run to the final in 2015, or else he would be even higher on the list. Another bonus comes with a third place finish on the list of average frames per 50+ where he averages 2.35 frames per 50 which is a very good ratio.

8 - Ding Junhui - If the graph shows the gap between Allen and Perry it will show another equally sized jump up to where we find Ding Junhui. Ding did not qualify for last years Champion of Champions but on his two showings in years previous he has reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively which is not bad form to take into this week, but not winning form either. His best recent finish came at the International Championship where he reached the final, after early exits at the English Open prior to and at the China Championships straight after. Finally, Ding gets an added assist from the stats where he is just behind Allen in fourth place on the average frames per 50+ break with an average of 2.48.

7 - Stuart Bingham - A reasonable amount ahead of Ding is world number two Stuart Bingham. Bingham was of course the runner-up at last weeks China Championship and he has been flying in recent weeks with semi-finals at the International Championship and the English Open to add to that. In terms of his Champion of Champions record he was a runner-up in the first year it was staged but has not won a match in the event since then, else he could have been propelled well into the top five. There is one numerical bonus for Bingham as he sits third amongst this weeks field for average break when 50 or above which is 79.8 having been boosted by his barrage of centuries in Guangzhou last week.

6 - Mark Selby - I actually expected to see Mark Selby much higher on this list given that he was a winner just a couple of weeks ago at the International Championship, and he was a semi-finalist in the European Masters which also counted to this list. Having said that he is a very long way ahead of Bingham so there was no threat of him finishing any lower than this as the graph above will portray. His previous finishes in the Champion of Champions saw him reach the semi-finals in the first year but he fell a round earlier in 2014 before a first round loss a year ago. Statistically he is boosted though finishing at the very top of the pile on the average frame aggregate list and the close frames win percentage list.

5 - John Higgins - Into the top five is last weeks winner from the China Championships in Guangzhou, John Higgins. Higgins was in good form and seemed to be building towards that big display with consecutive quarter-finals in the English Open, European Masters and International Championship. If his record from the previous stagings of this event did not read: first round loss, first round loss and quarter-finalist then he would surely be in the conversation near the very summit of this list. Statistically he looks good on all fronts with fifth placed looks on the average frame aggregate list and on the average break when 50 or above (which certainly got a boost when he finished off the final with three consecutive centuries to leave him with an average break of 78.94 when above 50). He also finishes in fourth place amongst this weeks field for close frames win percentage with a 60.71% win ratio.

4 - Liang Wenbo - Fourth place has a debutant in Liang Wenbo who qualified by winning the English Open which clearly helped him climb up this list as well. The Chinese player also had Last 16 finishes either side of that at the International Championship and English Open but the numbers are where Liang gains a lot of points. Both scoring and tactically he sits very nicely finishing second on the close frames win percentage list with a win ratio of 67.86%. Meanwhile, he is also second on the average break when 50 or above list, with an average break of 80.41 whenever he makes a contribution of 50+.

3 - Neil Robertson - In the first podium position is the defending champion Neil Robertson. Robertson is not only the defending champion but he was also a semi-finalist in both of the two Champion of Champions events prior to his victory. Recently things have not gone the way of the Australian losing in the first round of the China Championship, the Last 32 of the English Open with his recent best being a semi-final in the European Masters (though he did lose 6-0 there to Ronnie O'Sullivan). The figures give Robertson a big boost though with a third place finish out of this weeks field on the close frame win percentage list, with a 62.07% win ratio. Add to that a second place finish on the average frame aggregates and his position in first for the average frames per 50+ break stat, averaging a break of 50 or above every 2.2 frames.  

2 - Judd Trump - In second position is the form man of recent weeks in Judd Trump. We all know his run of Win-Final-Semi's at the European Masters, English Open and International Championship though he did drop off last week with a first round exit in Guangzhou. Trump is of course a former Champion of Champions runner-up from 2014, making the quarter-finals in 2013 and getting knocked out in round one last year by Kyren Wilson. Statistically, Trump is still first for average break when 50 or above with an average of 80.47 following his century barrage at the International Championship. Along with that he comes third on the average frame aggregates list and fifth on the list for average frames per 50+.

1 - Ronnie O'Sullivan - No other man could finish top of this list this week though than the two time Champion of Champions winner Ronnie O'Sullivan. The graph at the top of this post shows just how far he is ahead of everyone else having won this title in 2013 and 2014, and choosing not to play in last years. He also chose not to play the China Championship after three successive tournaments, where he reached the Last 32 at the English Open and the Last 16 of the International Championship with his best being at the European Masters where he lost out in a deciding frame to Judd Trump in the final. If he needed any boosting from the figures he got in the form of a second place finish on the average frames per 50+ break list, averaging a 50 break or above every 2.26 frames.



Things do not always run to form in snooker though so anyone of the 16 could take home the title this week, but as always it will be interesting to see how they ranked on this list coming into the event.

Don't forget you can view my other statistical blog the "Stat Attack" here: http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/champion-of-champions-stat-attack.html

Also my full tournament preview is still to come ahead of the start on Monday so keep an eye out for that.

Champion of Champions: Stat Attack

Ahead of this weeks Champion of Champions there is the usual statistical offering on the blog featuring interesting notes from the three previous stagings of this event in Coventry, head to heads for all of the first round matches and of course my statistics on average frames per 50+ breaks, average break when 50 or above, close frame win percentage and the average frame aggregate. Once again this week I will be enhancing this analysis with graphs and tables to try and make things much more visual once again.

TOURNAMENT SPECIFIC STATISTICS 

- Despite playing in each of the first three Champion of Champions events, Shaun Murphy has never won a match in the tournament losing first round matches to Mark Selby, Marco Fu and Yan Bingtao in his three attempts.

- His first round opponent is John Higgins who has only won one single match over three appearances in the Champion of Champions, getting to the quarter-finals in 2015 but losing in the first round in both 2013 and 2014. Also, two of his three Champion of Champions defeats have been in deciding frames.

- The only two times Ronnie O'Sullivan has entered the event he has won, not entering last year when Neil Robertson took the title, so watch out for O'Sullivan in Coventry.

- Only three players that reached the quarter-finals of last years addition have qualified again for this year. (Defending champion Neil Robertson, runner-up Mark Allen and Joe Perry).

- Stuart Bingham reached the final the first year it was staged (losing to O'Sullivan) but has lost in the first round in both 2014 and 2015 since then.

- Defending champion Neil Robertson has won his 'group' every year in the Champion of Champions reaching at least the semi-finals on all three occasions.

- With a possibility that they could meet in the quarter-finals, Ali Carter lost to Neil Robertson in both of the first two years of Champion of Champions action.

- Three of the 16 players involved this week are Coventry debutants. English Open champion Liang Wenbo, Indian Open winner Anthony McGill and Robin Hull who's victory came in the one frame Snooker Shoot-Out will all be competing in the Champion of Champions for the first time.

- In terms of centuries 2013 produced 21 centuries in Coventry, with 20 following in 2014 before a drop down to just 14 centuries being made in last year's tournament.

- In similar style to Bingham, Mark Allen was runner-up last year having never won a match at the Champion of Champions prior to this (giving hope to players like Shaun Murphy).

- On Mark Davis' only Coventry appearance he lost out 4-0 to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first who he could face if he were to win his first round match this time.

HEAD TO HEADS 

- Ronnie O'Sullivan has beaten Robin Hull on each occasion they have played the most recent being at the 2014 World Championship when he won 10-4.

- Martin Gould and Mark Davis have only met three times outside of the Championship League, with Gould winning the most recent one on the European Tour in 2014, while Davis beat Gould prior to that in the 2012 Australian Open.

- Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham have not played for nearly three years since their classic UK Championship semi-final which was won 9-8 by Robertson.

- The same is true for Ding Junhui and Ali Carter who have not played since the 2013 European Tour event in Belgium.

- Mark Selby and Liang Wenbo will meet in round one for the second time in the last month after their Last 16 clash at the International Championship where Selby came from 5-4 behind to win 6-5.

- Mark Allen has beaten Joe Perry on the last two occasions that he they have played, at the 2015 Masters and on the 2015 European Tour.

- The last two times John Higgins has played Shaun Murphy (outside of Championship League meetings) Higgins has whitewashed Murphy, most recently 6-0 at the 2015 International Championship and then at the 2013 Bulgarian Open 4-0 with Higgins going on to win both of those tournaments.

- In 6 matches between Judd Trump and Anthony McGill, McGill has only beaten Trump once but that was their most recent meeting in the 2014 Riga Masters quarter-finals.

- If Trump beats McGill and Higgins beats Murphy then the pair will meet for the fourth time this season, after meetings at the English Open, European Masters and Riga Masters that were all won by Trump.

- Meanwhile, if Ronnie O'Sullivan and Martin Gould both win their first round games they will meet for the first time in over five years, having only met twice both of which were in UK PTC events in 2011, and both matches were won by O'Sullivan.

- If Mark Selby comes through his match with Liang Wenbo he will play either Mark Allen who he played in last week's China Championship quarter-final, losing out 6-5, or Joe Perry he played the week before in the International Championship quarter-final coming through a 6-3 winner.

PLAYER PERFORMANCE: KEY INDICATORS 

Average Frames per 50+ Break: 

Starting with the average frames per 50+ it is still Neil Robertson that leads the way despite going from 2.12 frames per 50 prior to the China Championship to 2.2 after his first round exit to Michael Holt. Ronnie O'Sullivan follows after skipping events in Guangzhou and taking a week off prior to the Champion of Champions. Mark Allen has also worsened from 2.22 last week to 2.35 which will mainly be due to the 9-3 thrashing he suffered in the semi-finals of the China Championship to John Higgins. First round exits have seen a little worsening of the stats for Ding Junhui and Judd Trump but they are still sitting well in the table. Shaun Murphy is this weeks big improver moving up a few spots in the table (though that will also be helped by the changes to the personnel from the China Championship to the Champion of Champions) and going from 2.77 frames per 50+ to 2.56 after his run to the semi-final.

Last weeks runner-up Stuart Bingham has made small improvements from 2.89 to 2.81 frames per 50+ while winner John Higgins fantastic efforts against Mark Allen and Bingham took him from 2.9 to 2.76. Ali Carter is still very low down the table. Mark Davis and Martin Gould who were both not involved in the China Championship and play each other in round one have similarly average 50+ break stats at 3.3 for Gould and 3.34 for Davis.  Meanwhile the lowest ranked this week is also the lowest in terms of frames per 50+ breaks as Robin Hull sits on 4.16.

Average Break when 50+: 

When it comes to the average contributions that each player makes when they make a break of 50+ the stats are somewhat turned on there heads. The form horses in Trump, Liang Wenbo and Bingham are the table toppers here. Trump has stayed in a similar position to last week, while Liang has made a slight drop but nothing too notable when his average is as high as it is. Stuart Bingham's large amount of centuries over his semi-final and finals at the China Championship have shot him from an average of 78.32 to 79.8. Despite being the lowest ranked player this week by some way, it is no surprise to see a high scorer like Robin Hull at four in the list with an average of 79.47 for every time he makes a 50+ break. Mark Allen's mountain of centuries early on in the China Championship make him the big mover of the last week going from 75.14 to 78.27 as his average contribution when 50 or above. Shaun Murphy has also made his move from 75.25 to 78.13 after his high scoring run to the semi-finals in Guangzhou.

Martin Gould's poor start to the season puts him at the very bottom of the average break weight table with an average of just 70.17. Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson and Ronnie O'Sullivan are all in the opposite end of the table that you would expect to see them in for the enormous century makers that all three of them are, while there is not a whole lot in the averages in the middle of the table.

Close Frames Win Percentage: 

Now we move on to the close frames win percentage (with close frames being determined as those with 20 points or less between the end of frame scores). It is no surprise to see Mark Selby still leading the way with a healthy 70% win rate despite taking a slight drop after last week. Liang Wenbo has also dropped around 2.5% on last week, but just as before the China Championship Neil Robertson, John Higgins and Ali Carter complete the top five. Mark Davis has an incredibly low percentage at 23.08% winning less than 1 in 4 close frames which does not bode well for his upcoming events.

Ironically, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Robin Hull who play each other in round one, have exactly the same close frame win percentage. Mark Allen has taken a big drop from 60% to 53.85% while fellow China Championship semi-finalist Shaun Murphy was not involved in one close frame all week long. For players that have been in good form this year Ding Junhui and Judd Trump still have very low close frame win percentages, which shows just how good their scoring has been to counteract that.

Average Frame Aggregate: 

After first round exits for all of last weeks top three in Judd Trump, Neil Robertson and Anthony McGill it is now Mark Selby who leads the way for average frame aggregate (average points scored per frame - average points conceded per frame). Mark Allen has dropped off by over 4 points on his average frame aggregate after a 9-3 semi-final loss at the China Championships. John Higgins has made a small gain after winning the title last week, while first round exits for Chinese duo Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo have also seen them drop a little.

Robin Hull's narrow minus aggregate says more about his lower world ranking than anything else to be honest, while Martin Gould has not had the best of starts to the season and is second bottom on the list for that reason. Joe Perry was low on the list for average frame aggregate last week and has now dropped from 8.33 to 6.86 after a first round exit to Shaun Murphy and that is a reflection of all of his first round exits from this season.



That is my first statistical offering this week but still to come will be the tournament top ten blog where these statistics together with past finishes in tournaments will come together to help us see which players should perform best this week.

Following that will also be my full preview where every first round match will be analysed and the tournament prospects of each player discussed before I choose the player I think will win at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

FANTASY SNOOKER: Champion of Champions

Another week has passed and after the China Championship we are now five tournaments and what is nearly a third of the way into the this seasons Fantasy Snooker League.

The tournaments keep on coming thick and fast which keeps me and all of you that are playing in the league on our toes, and next up is the Champion of Champions event in Coventry and the deadline for picks is before the first match on Monday 7th November at 1pm UK Time. Before you pick your two players though it is always worth having a check on the table and more importantly, who you have picked.

DON'T FORGET you can only pick any given tour player a MAXIMUM of 3 times throughout the whole of the Fantasy season and there is still a very long way to go with all three Triple Crown Double Points events still to come.

Fantasy League Table: (After the China Championship)

1^st: Gary: Ding, Bingham, Murphy, Trump, Allen, Robertson, Higgins x2, Selby, Fu 303

2^nd: Anthony: Selby, Ding, Robertson, Hawkins, O’Sullivan, Trump, Higgins, Maguire, Allen, Bingham 261 

3^rd: Kellie: Selby, Wilson, Trump, O’Sullivan, Robertson, Bingham, McGill, Walden, Murphy, Higgins 260

4^th: Daniela Reich: Ding, Selby, Robertson x2, Trump, O’Sullivan, Allen, Gould, Walden, Bingham 238

5^th: Isitan Bakar: Bingham x2, Maguire x2, Allen x2, Trump, Higgins, Robertson, Selby 234

6^th: John McBride: Selby, Trump, Robertson x2, Maguire, Murphy, Higgins, Bingham 232

7^th: Igor: Murphy x2, Carter, Selby, Trump x2, Higgins, Ding, Robertson, Bingham 215

8^th: TYIO: Gould, Bingham, Carter, Walden, Higgins, Trump x2, Maguire, Ding, Murphy 198

9^th: P. Mudd: Ding, Trump, Holt, McGill, Higgins, Gould, Robertson, O’Sullivan, Murphy, Bingham 194

10^th: Couge: Carter, Holt, Murphy, Selby x2 Robertson, Higgins x2, Trump, Ding 192

11^th: M. Lowson: Murphy, Carter, Robertson, Selby, Higgins, Ding, McGill, O’Sullivan, Allen, Bingham 184

12^th: TungstenDarts: Perry, Bingham x2, Carter, Trump, Allen, Wilson, Higgins 175

13^th: LTD: Wilson, Selby x2, Hawkins, Walden, Allen x2, Robertson, Murphy, Bingham 163

14^th: SnookerFollower: Bingham, Ding, Carter, Holt, Allen x2, Higgins, McGill, Maguire 151

15^th: Andrew Walker: Allen, Trump x2, Robertson x2, Selby, Bingham, Ding 147

16^th: Munraj Pal: Ding, Trump x2, Murphy, Allen, Robertson, Wilson, McGill, Walden, Fu 128

17^th: FAM147: Bingham, Perry, Robertson, Allen, Higgins, Wilson, Walden x2, Gilbert, Trump 127

18^th: Gorkem: O’Sullivan, Selby, Hawkins, Murphy x2, Ding, M. White, Robertson, Allen 125

19^th: Andrew Brooker: Wilson, Maguire, Murphy x2, Carter, Allen, Ding, McGill, Bingham, Trump 117

20^th: Ezgi Ulutas: Wilson, Robertson, McGill, Higgins, Robertson, Fu x2, Wenbo, Allen 108

21^st: Mark Taylor: Robertson x2, Bingham, Holt, Carter, O’Sullivan, Selby, Maguire, Trump x2 107

22^nd: Kjetil: Wenbo, Bingham, Murphy, Bingtao x2, Allen, Ding, Hang 81 

There you have it then, your all up to date here in the Cue Action Blog Fantasy Snooker League for the 2016/2017. Don't forget your picks for the Champion of Champions as I mentioned above and most of all...Happy picking!!!

Shaun Murphy thrashes Marco Fu to make China Championship Semi's

A barrage of heavy scoring from Shaun Murphy saw him thrash Marco Fu 6-2 to make the semi-finals of the China Championship in Guangzhou. Joining him are Stuart Bingham who came through a final frame decider with Michael Holt, John Higgins who thumped Ali Carter and Mark Allen who saw off World Champion Mark Selby in a tense battle.

Murphy started off with a century in his match with Fu and then added breaks of 69 and 66 before a century of 101 joined his earlier 129 break and gave him a resounding 4-0 lead at the interval, with Fu only scoring 33 points in the opening four frames. Fu did not add to his total in the fifth as Murphy cruised further clear with breaks of 63 and 64. The man from Hong Kong did put up a little fight by taking the next couple of frames. After Murphy saw his 4-0 lead against Perry turn into a level game at 4-4 in the first round before he came through, he would have been relieved to seal the win with by taking a scrappy eighth frame before Fu could threaten a comeback.

Murphy will now face a repeat of the final from his last tournament victory as he plays Stuart Bingham who came out on the right side of another tough battle with Michael Holt. Just a week ago the pair played out another match in the International Championship quarter-finals which went all the way to a decider with Bingham coming out on top and the same happened here in Guangzhou. Holt took a close opening frame, but then saw all of the next three go to his opponent who offered runs of 52, 56 and 66 to take a 3-1 interval lead. Following the break Holt was resurgent and took each of the next three himself contributing with breaks of 51, 72 and 90 to lead the match at 4-3 and turn it on it's head. Bingham was able to stop the rot and level the contest, prior to making his highest break of the match, a 118 in frame nine, putting him ahead once more at 5-4. Both players had chances in the tenth, but Bingham squandered his match winning opportunities and Holt made sure the contest went the distance once again. Unfortunately for Holt he did not score a point in the decider as a 57 from Bingham assisted him in his victory charge and put him into the semi-finals.

World Champion Mark Selby was beaten in a decider by Mark Allen, despite coming from 2-5 behind to do so in his true 'master of brinkmanship' style. Early on the two players were evenly matched, with Selby making a 61 in the second before Allen made his first century, a 114 in the third frame and the match was level at 2-2 going into the intermission with Selby winning the fourth on a re-spot. When the players returned the Northern Irishman went into overdrive. Kicking off in frame five with a break of 100 he then made that consecutive centuries with a 131 in the sixth and took a closer seventh to go one away at 5-2. Things are never simple against Selby though. An 89 in the eighth frame kept him in it, but Allen missed his chance to win it 6-3 and was severely punished when the match went to 4-5. Selby sensed his chance and rattled in a 127 break to force the decider. Under huge amounts of pressure it was Allen who responded getting in first with a run of 60 that nearly got him over the winning line and when his reprieve came on the colours he was able to get over the line.

Allen's semi-final opponent is John Higgins who won the last three frames of his match against Ali Carter to go from 3-2 to a 6-2 winner in no time at all aided by high breaks of 77 and 78 along the way, while Carter was only able to grind out a couple of close frames in the match and did not repeat the same form from his match against Judd Trump.

Semi-Final Draw and Schedule: 

Matches played over the best-of-17 frames:
Mark Allen Vs John Higgins
Shaun Murphy Vs Stuart Bingham

Both matches to play first session of eight frames at 6.30am UK Time before playing to a conclusion from 11.30am UK Time.

Mark Allen and John Higgins will meet for the first time since the 2015 Masters, and despite their sporadic meetings it is in fact Allen who has won all of their last three major matches. Allen has also made five centuries this week which shows how well he has played so far compared to Higgins who unusually for him, has not made one century in his two victories this week.

Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham could well play out another close contest after their last two meetings in March's World Grand Prix final (a 10-9 win for Murphy) and the 2015 World Championship final (18-15 to Bingham). Bingham will have to hope for a good start tomorrow though after Shaun Murphy has gone 4-0 and 5-0 up in his two respective matches this week and started both of his matches with a century break so certainly looks to be in better form.

The matches will be played over two tables to set up the final, which is played over the best-of-19 frames on Saturday.

Holt beats Neil Robertson while Higgins is also through in Guangzhou

Michael Holt added to his World Championship victory against Neil Robertson from back in April by beating him 6-5 in the first round of the China Championships. Also on the day John Higgins came through against Mark Williams, while Shaun Murphy survived a scare to beat Joe Perry and Stuart Bingham recorded an easy win against Liang Wenbo.

There was never more than a frame in the match between Michael Holt and Neil Robertson, and Holt was never behind as he won every one of the odd numbered frames to edge back in front after the Australian levelled. The 'Hitman' saved his highest break of the match for the deciding frame, making a 74 there that was added to other breaks of 69, 68, 61 and 54 in the match. Neil Robertson made the match high break with a 76 in the second frame but he could never really get going thereafter affording Holt a number of opportunities through the match. 

The Nottingham man will now play 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham as Bingham avenged his 6-5 English Open semi-final defeat with a 6-2 win over Liang Wenbo. Bingham started as he meant to go on with a flawless 122 break on the way to taking a 3-1 lead at the mid-session interval. A tight frame after the break extended Bingham's lead and despite being pulled back to 2-4, he was soon over the line dominating the final two frames as Liang only scored another four points in them and Bingham added a break of 71 to his earlier century. 

Shaun Murphy won a very up and down encounter with Joe Perry (who will now have to rely on Holt and John Higgins NOT winning this event in order to secure a place in the Champion of Champions - where he would play Murphy again). Starting with a century of 121, Murphy added runs of 80, 83 and 85 in the next three frames to storm into a 4-0 intermission lead and look very comfortable. A break of 75 in the fifth got Perry on the board and despite needing more than one chance in each of the next three, Perry had soon clawed his way back to all square at 4-4. From there the Magician had to dig in and pull a rabbit out of the hat to turn his fortunes around winning the ninth before making a clearance of 62 (much to his relief I'm sure) and take a 6-4 win. 

John Higgins was the over winner on day two in Guangzhou in a high quality match with Mark Williams. The Welshman won the opening frame on the colours pulling out some brilliant pressure pots after earlier chances for both players. Higgins dominated the next two with runs of 68 and a match high 88 to lead 2-1 before Williams made 54 and tied the contest going into the break. He then edged ahead at 3-2, before the Scot hit back with another two frames in a row, including taking the seventh frame on the black to lead 4-3. The left hander made a swift 69 to level again at 4-4 but in the end Higgins was just too strong with contributions of 68 and 58 assisting him in the last two frames to secure a 6-4 win. 

Quarter-final Draw and Schedule:

6.30am UK Time:

Mark Selby Vs Mark Allen
John Higgins Vs Ali Carter

11.30am UK Time:

Shaun Murphy Vs Marco Fu
Stuart Bingham Vs Michael Holt

World Champion and last week's International Championship winner Mark Selby continued his strong form by beating Anthony McGill in round one and he will be very hard to beat this week. Mark Allen looked in great touch against Ricky Walden though coming from 1-3 down with a couple of centuries and he will fancy his chances here, particularly with a good overall record against Selby.

John Higgins meets Ali Carter yet again, for what will be their fifth match in the last 12 months. Higgins won the first two at the back end of 2015 at the Champion of Champions and then the UK Championships. Carter however won the last two both of which were in China, and he has had the benefit of an extra days rest over Higgins.

Shaun Murphy has lost to Marco Fu on the last three occasions that they have played each other but he played well against Joe Perry, particularly early on in the match. Fu's win against Ding featured a lot of tight frames later on in the match and that will be something Murphy will want to avoid tomorrow, particularly based on their more recent encounters.

Finally, Stuart Bingham will meet Michael Holt for the second tournament in succession after Bingham's 6-5 win in the International quarter-finals. Bingham was 4-0 up there before being pegged back to 4-4 in a tense affair, so Holt will not be coming into this with trepidation after his recent results and having beaten the World Number 2 in June's Riga Masters.

Once again the quarter-finals are played over the best-of 11 frames and two tables on Thursday.

Ding Junhui and Judd Trump are out of China Championship

Last weeks International Championship runner-up Ding Junhui and semi-finalist Judd Trump could not keep their good form going, as they both lost in the first round of the inaugural China Championship.

Marco Fu overcame Ding 6-3 in their Last 16 match which (along with Trump Vs Ali Carter that was going on at the same time) was played in front of a packed crowd in Guangzhou, and involved two vital black ball frames that went the way of Fu. The man from Hong Kong stopped his opponent getting on the scoreboard in the first two frames with breaks of 74 and 83 to storm into an early two frame lead. That became 3-0 when he took the first of those black ball frames, despite an earlier 51 break from Ding. The International finalist was on the board before the interval as he took what was another closely fought frame and a break of 58 helped him close the gap further to 2-3 following the intermission. Crucially, Fu took a tight sixth frame to stop Ding from squaring the match and then capitalised to stretch his lead back to three and go one away at 5-2. A run of 56 kept Ding in it, but when it came down to the black once more in the ninth both had chances before Ding left it in the jaws of the pocket and that was the match and a much needed win for Fu who has struggled in the first half of this season.

Meanwhile, Judd Trump lost out to Ali Carter in a very closely contested match that Carter eventually edged 6-4. Only at the end of the contest was there more than a frame in it as Carter kept battling to keep in the match at certain points. He won two straight frames after losing the opener to a run of 64 from Trump, who also made a 63 in the fourth to square the match at 2-2 going into the mid-session break. A tight fifth went his way to make it consecutive frames and lead at 3-2. Carter's match high break of 92 squared things again but he soon found himself behind once more at 4-3. This time he managed to get on a roll though winning all of the last three frames aided by breaks of 77 and 53 along the way.

However, last weeks International Champion and World number 1 Mark Selby has kept his fantastic form going with a very comfortable against Anthony McGill. McGill exited in the first round of the International Championship in Daqing and received another early bath here as he simply did not get going early on. Selby took a 4-0 lead into the intermission helped by breaks of 74 and 52. The Scotsman did have a run of 50 to get on the board following the break but any hopes of a comeback were short lived when Selby made 72 to move a frame away from the quarter-finals at 5-1. Despite the Indian Open champion keeping it going for a frame at least, Selby soon had things finished with a match high break of 81 to clinch a 6-2 victory.

Selby will play Mark Allen in Thursday's quarter-finals after the Northern Irishman overturned a 1-3 deficit against Ricky Walden with two centuries in an eventual 6-4 victory. The 3-1 interval lead for Walden was after losing the opening frame to Allen and despite the left hander having chances to steal both the third and fourth frames. A break of 106 hauled Allen back into it and he was soon level at 3-3. Walden did take the lead again with a 63 to make it 4-3 but breaks of 140, 74 and 70 saw Allen win all of the last three frames and book his place in the last eight.


The remaining four Last 16 matches will be played tomorrow with Shaun Murphy playing Joe Perry and Stuart Bingham taking on Liang Wenbo in the session at 6.30am UK time, while John Higgins meets Mark Williams and Neil Robertson is up against Michael Holt in the 11.30am UK time session.

You can still read my thoughts on those matches and all sorts of other things in my two preview blogs.

This is my combined "Stat Attack" and "Tournament Top Ten" blog:
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/china-championship-stat-attack-and.html

While my full tournament preview with match by match analysis is here:
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/china-championship-preview.html


I'll be back tomorrow with a round-up of the final wave of first round play and all the information you need before the quarter-finals.