Shaun Murphy to face Ronnie O'Sullivan in Champion of Champions finale

Shaun Murphy will take on Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final of this year's Champion of Champions event in Coventry.

O'Sullivan was the first man into the final after beating Anthony Hamilton 6-2 in Friday night's semi-final. Hamilton got off to an unexpected start though winning the opening two frames on the colours to take a 2-0 lead and stun those that expected it to be a similar scoreline to O'Sullivan's quarter-final whitewash of John Higgins.

From there, O'Sullivan sparked into life though with breaks of 124 and 74 to make it 2-2 at the mid-session interval. Frame five proved to be a moment of history for the Rocket. He compiled a break of 109 to make it 3-2, but this was no ordinary century as he reached a landmark never before seen. The break was the 900th of O'Sullivan's professional career and has now sparked talk as to when (and if) he will make it to 1000 career centuries and what target he could set for the likes of Judd Trump and future generations to chase down.

O'Sullivan was now in total control and as he continued to reel frames off in no time, it was not too long before the match was all done. Runs of 52, 68 and 78 gave him the final three frames and what became a comfortable victory despite the shaky start.

Murphy came through on Saturday night in a much tougher match with Luca Brecel as he rattled off four frames in a row to complete victory from 4-2 down. The first two frames were shared, with Brecel making a run of 68 in the opener before Murphy took the second without reply. Murphy had a chance to clear up and steal the third frame but failure to clear the colours left a relieved Luca 2-1 in front, before a run of 80 then saw him take a 3-1 lead.

It was actually following the mid-session interval though that Murphy could have been a frame better off. After the match I received a message from Shaun where he explained that while the two players were waiting to be re-introduced by the MC, Murphy noticed Brecel did not have his cue with him and reminded him to quickly grab it. But for that intervention, Brecel would likely have entered the arena without it and been docked a frame under the rules for not being ready to start on time.

Despite that, Murphy did win the fifth frame anyway and close the gap to 2-3, but it did not take Brecel long in this free flowing contest to get his two frame lead back again. Breaks of 131 and 73 from Murphy followed in frames seven and eight as he levelled the match at 4-4 without Brecel scoring a single point in those two frames. Murphy also dominated the ninth to take the lead for the first time in the match at 5-4. Brecel had his chances in frame ten but said after the match he was gone towards the end and starting to feel quite tired, and Murphy won the tactical battle on the colours to book his place in the showpiece final.


The Final: 

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Shaun Murphy


If both players play as well as they have been of late then this sets up to be a fantastic contest over the best-of-19 frames. It is fitting that these two would meet in the final of the event that effectively replaced the Premier League (when it was deemed there was no longer calendar space for it) as they played in two Premier League finals previously. Murphy won the 2009 Premier League with a 7-3 win over O'Sullivan, while the Rocket returned the favour the next year with a 7-1 triumph.

If you remove the Premier League and Championship League from the head-to-head though that leaves O'Sullivan with five wins from six against Murphy in ranking events. The most recent of those meetings came in this year's World Championship when Shaun fell 5-1 adrift before eventually losing 13-7. Murphy came back from 4-2 down to beat him 5-4 in the German Masters quarter-finals in 2015 which was a big win at the time, given O'Sullivan had thrashed him 13-3 in the World Championships the season before.

It is hard to build a case against O'Sullivan in this tournament. This is his fourth appearance in the Champion of Champions and also his fourth final, and he will seek title number three against Murphy. O'Sullivan has looked convincing again this week, scoring heavily as always and it will be a real challenge for Murphy to get the better of him.

Murphy is scoring very heavily himself and the key will be to get off to a good start, something he failed to do in some of their previous World Championship meetings. The Coventry Curse is history now with three good wins this week, particularly fighting back to beat Brecel who had already beaten Murphy twice this season, and seen off Trump and Selby this week.

A lot of people will look at O'Sullivan's form and the head to head and have his name on the trophy already, but do not underestimate what an in-form Shaun Murphy can do. This is already his third final of the season and after losing the previous two he will be determined to get his first trophy of the season and we all know that he can beat anyone on his day when his long potting is in good shape and he is scoring heavily.


You can watch all the action unfold on ITV4 in the UK to see who comes out on top between Shaun Murphy and Ronnie O'Sullivan over the best-of-19 frames.

O'Sullivan, Hamilton, Murphy and Brecel are Coventry's final four

Ronnie O'Sullivan, Anthony Hamilton, Shaun Murphy and Luca Brecel will contest the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions in Coventry.

Each came through their groups from Monday through to Thursday in varying ways to make it into the last four as the tournament hots up.

Anthony Hamilton was the first man through to the semi-finals as he won the opening group on Monday by defeating Ding Junhui and Ryan Day. The German Masters champion was by no means at his best, but with Ding being under the weather that match turned into a scrappy affair. A number of frames went down to the colours, but the highlight for Hamilton was a run of 75 that got him over the line in frame six for a 4-2 victory.

Ryan Day was in much better form as he defeated Barry Hawkins 4-2. Day made breaks of 110, 103, 79 and 71 and showing such form made him a big favourite for the match with Hamilton. Day took advantage in the opening two frames but then let this advantage slip as Hamilton made the high break of the group, a 133 on the way to levelling the scores at 2-2. Day won the fifth on the black, and a 63 in the sixth helped him move two clear again at 4-2. Despite having chances in every frame from there onwards, Day lost his way and lost all of the final four frames as Hamilton edged through.

Group two on Tuesday was also a close affair with Shaun Murphy coming out on top. His tight opening match with Mark King was a tough affair. After losing the opener, Murphy was level with 78 in the second. The third went to King with large amounts of fortune on the colours before Murphy crucially levelled again at 2-2. He then dominated the fifth frame and made a superb clearance of 69 in the sixth to clinch the match without heading to a final frame decider.

There was a decider in the other group two game between Michael White and Marco Fu, as White made a 102 break to come through 4-3 having led 2-0 early in the match before Fu came back with some high breaks of his own. Murphy's match with King finishing so late meant it was a short turnaround to the quarter-final, but after losing the opening frame, this seemed to make no difference. The highlight of the match came in frames 2-4 as Murphy compiled superb breaks of 101, 121 and 123 to march into a 3-1 lead. White won the next two, including a long sixth frame to level the match, but a run of 78 in the seventh saw Murphy lead once more at 4-3. White squared it again at 4-4 but could not get in front, as Murphy made another high break, this time a 93 to go one away, and he was soon over the line for a 6-4 win.

There was plenty of drama on Wednesday as Luca Brecel came through a very tough group to make the semi-finals. Despite not having his own cue which was lost on the way back from China, he thumped Judd Trump 4-0 in the opening round. After dominating the opener, he then fired in breaks of 103, 105 and 87 to clinch a quick fire victory and a quarter-final place with the world champion.

Mark Selby was clearly feeling tired and jet-lagged having only landed back in the UK on Tuesday following his International win in Daqing. He managed to come through a scrappy first round encounter with Liang Wenbo who had more than enough chances in the match, but failed to take them at the crucial moments. The group final started well for Selby with a 125 break in the opener, but two 50+ contributions in the next two frames for the Belgian, was followed by a fantastic pot on the re-spotted black in frame four to lead 3-1. Selby closed to 2-3, but then Brecel went 5-2 ahead assisted by breaks of 50 and 53. This looked like game over, but as usual Selby had other ideas. A run of 76 kept him in the match, and he then took the ninth as well to get within one again. It looked like going to a final frame when Selby built a big lead in the tenth, but a superb clearance of 55 from Brecel got him over the line and into the semi-finals.

The final group on Thursday could have been dubbed the "group of death" with the three former champions all in action, but it quickly turned into the Ronnie O'Sullivan show. He dispatched an out of form Neil Robertson 4-1 in the opening round with breaks of 70, 72 and saved his best until last with a break of 134 clinching victory in no time at all.

Defending champion John Higgins became his quarter-final opponent once he had whitewashed fellow Scotsman Anthony McGill with runs of 50, 75, 78 and 85 in the process. That was as good as it got for Higgins though as O'Sullivan thrashed him in the evening. Higgins had chances in the opening two frames but they both went to Ronnie, who then seized his moment with a run of 81 giving him the third frame and dominating the fourth to move 4-0 ahead in quick time. Again, O'Sullivan save the best until last with a break of 101 making it 5-0 and he sealed victory with a superb total clearance of 138, and marked himself as the clear favourite to take the title this weekend.

Semi-Final Draw: 

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Anthony Hamilton (Friday - 7pm)
Shaun Murphy Vs Luca Brecel (Saturday - 7pm)


The semi-finals are both best-of-11 frame affairs and are spread over two days because of ITV4's Saturday afternoon racing coverage commitments. On Friday night, O'Sullivan will face Hamilton in what looks a very one sided affair, at least if you look at the bookies odds. Hamilton was out of sorts despite coming through on day one, and he will need to seriously up his game if he is to have any chance here. This tournament is hand-made for Ronnie O'Sullivan and it has shown in previous years, making the final in each of his previous three appearances, winning two of them. Again he looks so much more motivated on UK soil in front of good crowds and likes this event because it is a "numpty-free zone". After whitewashing someone as good as Higgins, another comfortable victory looks likely here.

Saturday night's semi-final is a much tougher one to call between Shaun Murphy and Luca Brecel. The two have played each other so many times already that they should know each other's games inside and out. After losing their first three meetings, Brecel has hit back well by beating Murphy in four of the last five occasions. The one thing that is perhaps worth adding is, despite Luca winning the best-of-19 frames China Championship final, three of his four wins over Shaun have been over the best-of-7 frames, while three of Murphy's four have been the three previous times they have met in best-of-11 frame matches. It is hard to argue against someone who has beaten Trump and Selby to make it this far, but Murphy and Brecel is becoming a great snooker match-up and it could well be a close contest on Saturday once again. Murphy has been in very heavy scoring form this season, sitting sixth on the century list for the campaign so far and an aggressive game from Brecel could help to suit Murphy also.


Either way, I think the final on Sunday is also going to be a great contest and it is certainly a weekend of snooker to look forward to.

FANTASY SNOOKER: Points Update and Shanghai Masters info

This week in the fantasy snooker league it is time to get picking for the Shanghai Masters with plenty more points up for grabs.

A number of participants were on board with eventual champion Mark Selby and runner-up Mark Allen in the International Championships. There were also a lot of season points handed out with popular pick Yan Bingtao making the semi-finals in Daqing.

The upcoming Shanghai Masters sees a number of top players missing as they lost in the last 128 qualifiers, while others will be coming off of a hectic schedule after the Champion of Champions so it may be a good time to take a punt on more of an outsider for the week. On top of that don't forget the Captains picks, where you can select one of your two picks in an event to earn double points. You have three of these that can be deployed during a season, but they cannot be used in the three Triple Crown (Double points) events.

A few players have already used up their three allocated picks on a given player for the season, so do not forget that you can only pick the same player a maximum of three times throughout the season.

Here is how the table looks after events in Daqing:

Kellie Barker: SEASON: Jack Lisowski and Alex Ursenbacher   Points: 475

PPS: Allen, Fu, Murphy, Higgins, Hawkins, Ding, Trump, Brecel, Carter, Bingtao, Selby (1 Captain pick used)

Couge: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie   Points: 443

PPS: Williams, Ding x3, Murphy, Gilbert, Higgins x2, Bingham, Trump, Selby, O’Sullivan (1 Captain pick used)

Andy Brooker: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie   Points: 410

PPS: Carter, Day, Maguire, Bingham, Higgins x2, Williams, Trump, Yuelong, Hawkins, O’Sullivan, Ding (1 Captain pick used)

TY: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Zhang Anda   Points: 404

PPS: Ding, Robertson x3, Higgins, Allen x2, Ding, Bingham, Selby, Trump, Murphy

Igor Snooker: SEASON: Matthew Stevens and Ken Doherty   Points: 360 

PPS: Ding, O’Sullivan, Maguire, Murphy, Fu, Selby, Robertson x2, McGill, Wilson, Williams, Allen (1 captain pick used)

Ben Summers: SEASON: Noppon Saengkham and Sam Craigie    Points: 351

PPS: McGill x2, Day, Dott, Ding, Selby x2, Trump x2, Holt, Allen, O’Sullivan

Daniela Reich: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie   Points: 344   

PPS: Ding, Fu, Murphy, Allen, Williams, K. Wilson, Trump, Day, Bingham, McGill, O’Sullivan, Selby

Protoursnooker: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Cao Yupeng    Points: 335  

PPS: Ding x2, Allen, Maguire, Murphy, Selby, Robertson, Higgins, Hawkins, O’Sullivan, Wenbo, Williams (1 Captain Pick used)

Alex Abrahams: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and John Astley    Points: 335  

PPS: Carter, Fu, Murphy, Perry, Higgins, K. Wilson, Trump x2, Williams, Bingham, Ding, O’Sullivan (1 Captain pick used)

Munraj: SEASON: Jack Lisowski and Michael Georgiou   Points: 334  

PPS: Ding, Trump, Allen, Ford, Hawkins, Selby, Robertson, McGill, O’Sullivan, Wilson, Murphy, Wenbo (1 Captain pick used)

Colin Delaney: SEASON: Ken Doherty and Yan Bingtao   Points: 320  

PPS: Higgins, Maguire, McGill, Allen, Hawkins x2, Ding x2, Trump, Brecel, Selby, Murphy

Cluster of Reds: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and John Astley   Points: 312  

PPS: Ding, Perry, Allen x3, Ford, Hawkins, Fu, Trump x2, Brecel, Robertson (1 Captain pick used)

Phil Mudd: SEASON: Jimmy Robertson and Sam Craigie   Points: 292  

PPS: Ding x2, Fu, Woollaston, Allen, Robertson, Williams, Brecel, Higgins, O’Sullivan, Selby

FAM147: SEASON: Zhao Xintong and Xiao Guodong   Points: 290   

PPS: Carter, Hawkins, Woollaston, Hossein, Bingham x2, Allen, Yuelong, Lisowski, Selby, Murphy, Trump

John McBride: SEASON: Hossein Vafei and Sam Craigie   Points: 285  

PPS:  Holt, Liang x2, Bingham, King, Murphy, Trump, Allen x2, Selby x2, Hawkins

D. Muckian: SEASON: Tian Pengfei and Zhang Anda    Points: 282  

PPS: Ding x2, Perry, Maguire, Allen X2, Williams, Lisowski, O’Sullivan, Wilson, Zhou (1 Captain pick used)

Gary: SEASON: Ken Doherty and Yan Bingtao   Points: 270  

PPS: Carter, Robertson, Bingham, Gilbert, Fu, Higgins, Wilson, Day, Williams, Murphy, O’Sullivan, Selby

Kjetil: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and John Astley   Points: 269 

PPS: Carter, Perry, Woollaston, Dott, Fu, Allen, Xiwen, Gould, Bingham, O’Sullivan, Ding, Higgins

Voihelevettisua: SEASON: Xiao Guodong and John Astley   Points: 254 

PPS: Ding, Trump, Dott, Allen, Higgins, Murphy, Robertson, Allen, Selby, O’Sullivan

Matthew Lowson: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Alex Ursenbacher   Points: 254  

PPS: Ding x2, Fu, Maguire, Bingham, Hawkins, Brecel, Wilson, Selby, Higgins, Murphy, Trump

Anthony: SEASON: Xiao Guodong and Michael Georgiou   Points: 246   

PPS: Higgins x2, Day, Maguire, Murphy, Ding, King, Trump, Bingham, Williams, O’Sullivan, McGill

GaryOnCue: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Sam Craigie   Points: 241  

PPS: Hawkins, Robertson, Maguire, Murphy, Ding x2, Selby, Higgins, Wilson, Allen, O’Sullivan, Williams (1 Captain pick used)

Isitan Bakar: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Scott Donaldson   Points: 238  

PPS: Wenbo, Robertson x2, Murphy, Bingham x2, Ding x2, M. White, Higgins, Carter, Wilson

LTD: SEASON: Robert Milkins and Ken Doherty    Points: 237  

PPS: Perry, Carter, Holt, Higgins x2, Hawkins, Maguire, Perry, Wilson, Wenbo, Selby, O’Sullivan (1 Captain pick used)

Beat the Boss (Me): SEASON: Hossein Vafei and Robin Hull   Points: 236  

PPS: Maguire, Holt, Allen x2, Ford, Fu, Williams, Robertson, Brecel, Murphy, Hawkins, Ding

TungstenDarts: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie   Points: 228  

PPS: Fu x2, Hawkins, McGill, Allen, Selby, Williams, Day, Gould, Trump x2, Ding

Rob Francis: SEASON: Mark Davis and Cao Yupeng   Points: 210  

PPS: Ding x3, Robertson, Murphy x2, Allen, Higgins x3, Wilson, Trump (1 Captain pick used)

Mark Taylor: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Sam Craigie    Points: 188    

PPS: Allen, Robertson, Maguire, Perry, Hawkins, Higgins, Wilson, Day, Selby, Trump (1 Captain Pick used)

Jake: SEASON: Mark Davis and Zhao Xintong   Points: 159  

PPS: Hawkins, Ding, Murphy, Higgins, Fu, Robertson

SnookerChicago: SEASON: Andrew Higginson and Zhang Anda    Points: 105

PPS: Ding, Dott, Higgins

Picks for the Shanghai Masters must be in before the first matches on Monday 13th November at 1.30am UK Time

Finally, my "Beat the Boss" picks for this week are Ali Carter and Martin Gould. 

Good luck everyone. 

Champion of Champions Preview

Sixteen winners on the green baize from the last year head to Coventry this week to compete for the coveted Champion of Champions title.

This will be the fifth year that the Champion of Champions has been held, since it replaced the Premier League in 2013. Previous all conquering potters include Ronnie O'Sullivan who took the first two titles, Neil Robertson in 2015 and John Higgins who is this week's defending champion.

The Ricoh Arena has been a happy hunting ground for some, and a curse for others. O'Sullivan chose not to play in 2015, and has therefore made at least the final in each Champion of Champions he has played in. Meanwhile, someone like Shaun Murphy is yet to win a match in this event and will be hoping that this week is fifth time lucky on that score.

There are a few debutants in this event this week, with Anthony Hamilton, Luca Brecel, Mark King and Ryan Day all making their first appearances in the Champion of Champions, as all have won their maiden ranking titles in the last 12 months.

With the International Championship in China running so close to this tournament, the draw for this week was not made until Thursday, while the final man in competition was not confirmed until after the final in Daqing on Sunday afternoon.

As usual the event will be played over "groups" from Monday to Thursday, with each day seeing four new players in action. The afternoon sessions will see two last 16 matches over the best-of-7 frames, the winners of which will then compete in a best-of-11 frames quarter-final that same evening.

The winner of Monday's group one will then face the winner of Thursday's group four in the first semi-final on Friday evening, and the winners of groups two and three face off on Saturday evening with both matches again being best-of-11 before Sunday's best-of-19 frame final.

The Ricoh Arena in 2015

Group 1 (Monday 6th November)

Ding Junhui Vs Anthony Hamilton - This is an interesting contest to kick off proceedings in Coventry. Hamilton was on top form in Berlin as he clinched the German Masters title in February to qualify here. Since August though, he has been struggling with a back injury that saw him withdraw halfway through his China Championship match with Shaun Murphy. Since then he has failed to win a match, and withdrawn before the start of both the International Championship qualifiers and European Masters final stages. As for Ding, he confirmed his Coventry place by winning the World Open in September but in the two events since he has been short of form. He looked to be lacking interest at times in his last 64 exit at the English Open, and was poor in a last 64 exit at the International Championship. This could potentially be explained by reports on Twitter that Ding has conjunctivitis and the journeys to and from China will not help that either. While he may be able to see off Hamilton, because of the "Sheriff of Pottingham's" injury and lack of match sharpness, the Chinese number one may struggle with a second big match on the day if he is not feeling 100%.

Prediction: 4-1 win for Ding Junhui

Barry Hawkins Vs Ryan Day - The second match in this group is a very tough one to call. Barry Hawkins booked his place in this event by beating Ryan Day in the final of the World Grand Prix in February. Things at the start of this season could have been a lot better for Hawkins though. He comes into this one off the back of three successive last 64 exits in ranking events, and he has only made the last 32 of a ranking event once in the six he has played in the 2017/2018 campaign to date. In this event he has only managed one win in the three times he has qualified which is also not a huge positive to his chances this week. As for Ryan Day, he overcame Barry Hawkins in the last 64 on the way to his victory at the Riga Masters. The season since that June triumph has been mixed, although he did fightback from 4-0 down to beat Kurt Maflin in a remarkable match in the last 64 of the International Championship this week. However, he fell at the last 32 stage there and in the China Championships to Mark Williams, whilst also losing in the last 32 of the World Open to Joe Perry. I still like Day's form much more than Hawkins, and if he were to make it past Hawkins he also has a very good record in big matches with Ding Junhui.

Day has beaten Ding in the 2015 International Championship, 2015 German Masters, and much more impressively in the 2012 UK Championships and from 9-6 down in the 2012 World Championships. Other than a couple of defeats to Ding in PTC events, his only other two losses to the Chinese star in the period since the 2012 World Championships saw him lose out in final frame deciders. So, if they were to meet in the quarter-finals on Monday night I would certainly expect Day to give Ding a big challenge.

Prediction: Day to overcome Hawkins 4-2

Group Prediction: Ryan Day

Group 2 (Tuesday 7th November) 

Marco Fu Vs Michael White - Marco Fu is in the Champion of Champions for his victory at the Scottish Open last season, but at the start of this campaign so far, his form has not matched that of last season. He has not played in many events as yet, skipping the European and Riga Masters as well as the Indian Open. However, last 128 exits in the English Open and International Championship to lower ranked opposition is not a good sign at all as he comes into this event. Michael White meanwhile has been a winner this season, qualifying for Coventry thanks to his win at the Paul Hunter Classic. He was very impressive in Furth beating Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy on the final day and that should give him a lot of confidence for the rest of the season. Some of that confidence showed as he made the quarter-finals of the recent English Open with a victory against Ding Junhui as well as some other high scoring performances. Given Fu's lack of match action (he has only played three competitive matches since mid-September) I think White may have the edge in this one.

Prediction: White to beat Fu 4-2

Shaun Murphy Vs Mark King - This will be the ninth meeting between Shaun Murphy and Mark King, and Murphy has won seven of the previous eight. King's sole victory was in their last meeting at the 2016 China Open, in what was strangely Murphy's second match of the day (his last 64 match in that tournament was moved to the Wednesday morning to accommodate making the latter stages in Manchester the week before). King of course is here for his win in Northern Ireland a year ago, but aside from one good run, his season so far has been average. In India he played well to make the semi-finals and nearly got through in that match with McGill. However, he fell in the last 64 of the China Championship, World Open and European Masters while not passing the last 128 stage in Barnsley recently. The recent International Championship saw him make the last 32 and nearly beat eventual finalist Allen before losing 6-5.

Even Shaun's wife Elaine was having fun at the expense of him and his record in Coventry

It is well documented (mainly by myself and Shaun on Twitter) that Murphy has not made it past round one in four previous attempts at the Champion of Champions, but fifth time may well be the charm here for him. His qualification was confirmed through March's victory in Gibraltar, and he has two further chances to add to his silverware this season. Finals in the same week at the China Championship and Paul Hunter Classic have been followed by last 16 exits in India, Barnsley and most recently in Daqing. Overall, his form has looked good and if he can finally bring this to Coventry a good run may be on the cards.

Prediction: Murphy to secure a first win in this event, 4-1 over King

Group Prediction: Shaun Murphy

Group 3 (Wednesday 8th November) 

Mark Selby Vs Liang Wenbo -  International Champion Mark Selby has a short turnaround here following his big win out in Daqing where he saw Mark Allen off 10-7 in the final. Selby qualifies for this through winning the UK and World Championships as well as the China Open and last week's International. He was not necessarily in the best form coming into that event in Daqing, but over the longer format best-of-11 games he seems to be so much harder to beat and is perhaps easier to beat over the best-of-7 frames. That is what he faces here with Liang Wenbo who has had a fairly quiet start to the season so far. Liang has not played in too many tournaments yet, and his best two runs have been in the last couple of weeks. At the English Open he made the last 32 and made a maximum 147 break in the last 64 of his title defence there in Barnsley. Last week in Daqing, he made the last 16 before losing out to an in-form Judd Trump and whilst looking a bit scrappy at times he did give Trump a challenge early in that game. If Selby is still heavily jet-lagged from the fact that he will not have been back in the country for more than a day realistically, there is a good chance that given the quality of this group, he is up against it to make it through the day with two wins. Liang may well have his chances here, but his form will need to improve for him to get on a run in Coventry.

Prediction: Liang to edge out a likely jet-lagged Selby 4-2

Judd Trump Vs Luca Brecel - Judd Trump is another of the players in the field who has qualified through victory in multiple events in the last 12 months. Trump was a winner in March at the Players Championship and added to that last month by defending his European Masters title in Belgium. Once again he has looked very sharp at the start of this season, particularly since having laser eye surgery that he is now reaping the rewards of. In the two events since his victory in Lommel he has made the last 16 in Barnsley and the quarter-finals in Daqing, losing out on both occasions in a deciding frame. His scoring has been superb, as he demonstrated by making eight centuries in his 23 frames won at the International last week, and given Selby's much shorter turnaround, he is the favourite for me to win this group. Luca Brecel will not make that an easy ride though. The China Champion is on debut in Coventry but from a couple of items I have seen from him on Instagram I sense that a week off is needed (and may be coming with a non-entry in Northern Ireland). He exited in the last 32 of the International quite comfortably against Mark Joyce and fell to Mark Williams in the last 64 of the English Open. With his maiden ranking title under his belt, it has been a whirlwind few months for him - especially as all eyes were on him just over a month after in his home ranking event. The 2014 Champion of Champions runner-up Trump, may just be a little too strong here at the Ricoh. 

Prediction: In-form Trump to storm through 4-1

Group Prediction: Judd Trump

Group 4 (Thursday 9th November) 

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Neil Robertson - This is probably the tie of the last 16 this week as Masters and English Open champion Ronnie O'Sullivan faces Hong Kong Masters winner Neil Robertson. Robertson's place was not confirmed until Selby had beaten Allen in the International, and the fact that he was always unlikely to make it to Coventry (he would not be here without Stuart Bingham's suspension either) may mean he is able to play with some freedom and no pressure on his shoulders. The pressure of recent weeks will also be taken away in the sheer fact that this is a non-ranking tournament. It is well documented that the Australian's top 16 place, and therefore his spot in the 2018 Masters, is well under threat and he may be finding this added pressure tough. Losses to lower ranked opposition in the last 16 of the International Championship and the Shanghai Masters last 128 qualifier would certainly suggest as much. In 16 proper meetings the head to head is pretty even, and Robertson has won the last two between them to comeback well from two tough defeats to O'Sullivan in 2016.

Ronnie made a flying visit to Daqing where he exited in the last 64 to the incredible Yan Bingtao. I believe it is tough to read much into O'Sullivan's Chinese results because it is clear from comments he has made in the past that he enjoys playing so much more in the UK and the results show that. It is hard to look past someone who has won the first event on UK soil in the 2017/2018 season and that has made at least the final in his three appearances at the Champion of Champions. This is the toughest group of the week in my view, and very hard to call given that the first round is only best-of-7 frames, because that is such a short distance between two top quality players like Robertson and O'Sullivan.

Prediction: O'Sullivan to just see off Robertson in a deciding frame, 4-3.  

John Higgins Vs Anthony McGill - Then we come to defending champion John Higgins who also took home qualifying titles at the Championship League, and the Indian Open where he overcame McGill in the final in September. Since that victory though his results have not been too bad, but some of his performances were not entirely convincing. He fell in the last 16 of both the World and English Opens but not before surviving huge scares in the last 32, something he could not do at the European Masters as he lost out to Mark Davis. Last week at the International Championships he came through against easy opposition despite not being at his best, and when the quarter-finals came around Yan Bingtao was able to punish him for his poor play. Higgins will still be tough to beat, and has a good record against Shoot-Out champion Anthony McGill. McGill has had a pretty consistent start to the season, making quarter-finals in the World Open and European Masters and the semi's in Barnsley since his Indian Open final. His only real poor events so far have seen him lose in the last 64 of the International and China Championships, losing on both occasions to Mark Joyce. This could well be a close contest, but the fact Higgins has beaten McGill comfortably in a big match this season may give him the psychological edge. 

Prediction: Higgins to come through a tough test 4-3

Group Prediction: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Tournament Winner Selection: Judd Trump

It should be another week of exciting action, and all of it will be available to watch on terrestrial TV in the UK with ITV4 continuing to hold the rights. I'm sure the likes of Neal Foulds, Alan McManus and Clive Everton will do another fantastic job on the coverage, and they make the ITV events ones that are some of my favourites of the year. 

Marks Selby and Allen cruise into International final

Mark Selby and Mark Allen will contest the International Championship final after comfortable victories in the last four.

Selby was the first man through in his two session semi-final against Martin Gould. Gould started well with a run of 53 to take the opener, but that was really as good as things would get for him in the opening session. Selby took the next two to move in front, and then made consecutive centuries of 119 and 127 to really start dominating and lead 4-1. Gould had chances in the sixth but once Selby took that too, he was guaranteed a first session lead, 5-1 ahead with two to play.

The world number one kept his foot on the gas though, contributing 59 in the seventh and a 72 break in the final frame of the afternoon to put himself 7-1 up and coming back in the evening requiring just two frames for victory. He carried on from where he'd left off once the second session came around, as a break of 97 made it 8-1. Gould then set about make the score slightly more respectable, taking the tenth in one visit with a 95 making it 2-8 and then taking the eleventh on the black. A run of 56 in the twelfth meant that the inevitable was delayed no more for Selby and confirmed his place in the International final for a second successive year with this emphatic 9-3 win.


Mark Allen meanwhile had the tough task of taming the beast that is Yan Bingtao in Saturday's semi-final. Unlike Yan's wins with Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins in rounds previous, his performance in the first four frames of his maiden semi-final were a little nervy. All four went to Allen as he surged to a 4-0 mid-session interval lead, aided by runs of 55, 64 and 70 in the process. The 17-year-old began to find his game after the short break, settling himself down with runs of 73 and 98 to close the gap to 2-4.

With his opponent threatening to come back into the game, Allen really put his foot on the gas in the final two frames of the afternoon session, making two faultless breaks of 105 and 102 to take the last two frames and take a 6-2 lead into the evening. A run of 50 in the first session of the night made Yan's task a near impossible one as the Northern Irishman surged 7-2 ahead, and from there it did not take him long to complete the job. A break of 90 gave him frame ten and a 72 in the eleventh secured a monumental 9-2 victory, putting him in his first ranking final since winning the 2016 Players Championship, and his fifth ranking final in China overall.


The Final: (Best-of-19 frames) 

Mark Selby Vs Mark Allen - 

The head-to-head between Selby and Allen provides plenty of evidence that this could be a final that goes right down to the wire. In eight meetings outside of the Championship League, Allen has won five overall and each of the last three, as well as winning all three of their games in China. Seven of those eight meetings mentioned have gone down to a final frame decider, the 2012 Antwerp Open final (won 4-1 by Allen) proving the exception to the rule.

Selby may be the defending champion, but Allen has also been in the final of this event before, losing out in 2014 to Ricky Walden. It was at around this time last year when he found form, making the semi-finals of both the China Championship and the Champion of Champions beating Selby in the finals of both events. It may be a coincidence that Allen has played well at this time of the year in 2013 (winning back to back European Tour events), 2014 (making the Shanghai Masters and International Championship finals) and 2016 (making back to back big invitational semi-finals) but he has been in great form leading up to this point and is someone I pointed to at the start of the week as a "clear contender".

Selby though is so tough to beat in the longer format, especially once he has got his eye in - which he seems to have done in the last couple of rounds. After storming through the semi-finals last year he then thrashed Ding Junhui in the final, and even though his opponent here is in form, you cannot completely rule out the possibility of the same happening to complete a magnificent defence. The fact that this is his first final of the season means very little, it is not as if there have been huge amounts of opportunities for him as yet given the events he has actually played in. Once again he appears to have found his form at the perfect time, with a couple of big money tournaments coming in the next fortnight before then heading back to York for his UK Championship defence.

Overall, if you take into account the head to head and the fact that all of those games were pretty big matches it is a tough game to call and if this final lives up to those past encounters, it could well go right to the wire once more.

Yan Bingtao thrashes John Higgins to reach International semi-finals

17-year-old Chinese sensation Yan Bingtao has kept his sensational run going in the International Championship by beating John Higgins 6-2 to make it into the semi-finals.

Yan has already beaten Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ricky Walden and an in-form Jack Lisowski but today was his toughest test in only his second ranking quarter-final. He was off to a quick start though once again as he has been all week, taking the first three frames against the Scotsman looking calm and composed. On the way he made a break of 52 in the opener and added a superb 99 in frame three, before a 55 from Higgins saw him take it to the interval at 1-3, but otherwise the number two seed had been poor.

Yan regained his three frame advantage with another sublime break, a 123 this time making it 4-1. Higgins needed a couple of chances to take the sixth, but Yan again kept the four-times World champion at arms length by taking frame seven and going one away from his maiden ranking event semi-final. He did not have to wait long either to get over the line, thumping in a break of 89 to get over the line at the first opportunity and confirm his spot in the last four.

There on Saturday he will take on Mark Allen as he edged out the third seed Judd Trump. Allen was never behind in the match, and started brightly compiling a 117 in the third frame on the way to securing a 3-1 mid-session interval lead. Trump stormed back with runs of 89 and 58 to level the scores and after the next two frames were squared, a key moment came in frame nine.

Trump had been in early and with a break of 58 had built a very healthy lead in the frame, with the balls in awkward positions. When the Northern Irishman's chance came, he made a number of difficult pots on the way to a unbelievable 60 clearance that delivered a huge blow and put him 5-4 in front. Trump's response was emphatic as he made his first century of the match, a 110, to force the decider without reply. In the final frame, both players had chances but it came down to the final red. Trump's failed double attempt came off the bump of the pocket and was left for Allen, who completed another good clearance under pressure to make it through to the semi-finals.


Earlier in the day, defending champion Mark Selby won each of the last four frames in a comfortable victory over Robbie Williams. It has been a good week for the 61st seed though he bagged victories against Joe Perry and Neil Robertson on the way to the best cheque of his career so far, and he started off reasonably against the world number one. Williams dominated the opener, before Selby hit back with a run of 90. In the third frame, Williams was going well again until an awful kick on the black cost him, and Selby completed a 59 clearance to rub salt into his wound. The left-hander shrugged it off well though and compiled the highest break of the match in frame four, with a 106 squaring the scores at 2-2 going into the mid-session interval.

From there, Selby was dominant and Williams only had a couple of decent chances in the frames to follow. Runs of 60, 81 and a closing 93 got the world champion over the line with some comfort as he made it through to his first semi-final of the season so far.

In that Friday semi-final he will face Martin Gould, who held on to see off Ali Carter in a final frame finish. The match got off to a good start for Carter who took the first frame with an 81 and at this point he looked to be in similar form to his previous two games, where he dispatched Shaun Murphy and Stephen Maguire for the loss of just three frames. The scores were level at 2-2 at the interval, and Carter took a tight fifth frame to move ahead for the third time in the match, before Gould squared the match with a magnificent 105. Carter had chances in both of the next two frames but lost them both, despite an earlier run of 60 in frame seven. A clearance of 66 in the eighth proved critical as Gould built up his 5-3 lead and went to within one of the last four.

Carter hit back with a 62 assisting him to stay in the match, before he dug in further and added the tenth frame to force a final frame decider. Carter again had the first chance in the final frame, but when Gould's chance came he held his nerve to build a brilliant 81 break and book a best-of-17 with the world's best player.


Quarter-Final Results: 

Mark Selby 6-2 Robbie Williams
Martin Gould 6-5 Ali Carter
Mark Allen 6-5 Judd Trump
Yan Bingtao 6-2 John Higgins

Semi-Final Draw: (Best-of-17 frames) 

Mark Selby Vs Martin Gould - (Match to be played over two sessions on Friday)
Mark Allen Vs Yan Bingtao - (Match to be played over two sessions on Saturday)


The opening semi-final sees Gould and Selby face off for the eighth time (outside of Championship League play) and the head-to-head is pretty even. Gould won their last meeting in the first round of this year's World Grand Prix, as well as beating Selby in the last 16 of the same event in 2015. Gould has also beaten Selby in a ranking event semi-final before going all the way back to the 2011 PTC Grand Finals. However, this will be the first time they have met in anything longer than a best-of-9 frames match and it is in the longer format when Selby truly comes into his own.

It was at this stage of the competition last year when Selby thumped Stuart Bingham 9-3 before winning the final 10-1 against Ding Junhui. Gould though will be no pushover, he has been and done it before now in ranking events, taking his maiden title at the 2016 German Masters and he will now be hungry for more having seen off Kyren Wilson and Ali Carter who were had both looked in good form. There is also a carrot dangling on Friday for Gould with a victory here putting him into the top 16 on the provisional Masters seedings and in all likelihood he would be far enough clear to clinch that spot.


Then on Saturday Yan Bingtao will play the first of surely many ranking semi-finals that he will reach in his career. In it he faces Mark Allen who has come through deciding frames in the last four frames and played 43 out of a maximum of 44 frames at the venue this week. It will be interesting to see if this effects his performance in any way but he does have a day off to recover. Allen has shown true grit and determination this week as well as some heavy scoring and it has taken him to consecutive Chinese ranking event semi-finals.

Anyone that thinks Yan might buckle under the big game pressure has not followed his journey to this stage. He is the real deal and showed it in his very first match on UK soil, beating Shaun Murphy in the 2015 Champion of Champions. He has since beaten the world champion on TV, and qualified for the Crucible at the first attempt, before coming close to beating Murphy again on his debut there. This week he has thrashed Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins under the pressure of playing in front of his home crowd, and by the time he played Higgins he was the lone Chinese player left in the event. This match looks like one that could really go down to the wire, like Allen's matches this week and Yan's victories against Walden and Lisowski which were both close affairs. Their only previous meeting at the 2016 English Open saw Yan come through 4-3 and the quality on show in that match gave a taste of what is to come here on Saturday, in what shapes up as another brilliant encounter.

Robbie Williams turns giant-killer to set up Mark Selby clash in Daqing

61st seed Robbie Williams took the scalp of another top name on day four of the International Championship as he thrashed Neil Robertson 6-2 to make the quarter-finals.

Williams has flourished since his first round walkover, beating Joe Perry in the last 32 to set up a last 16 tie with his practice partner Robertson. He was off to a flying start as well with a 74 break in frame two helping him to a 2-0 lead, before Robertson got his first frame on the board with a 104 break. The next three frames all went to the cue of the lower seeded player though, with a break of 65 in the sixth frame making it 5-1 to Williams and putting his Australian opponent in all sorts of trouble.

He did manage a second century of the game, as he extended the match with a 121 but it did not delay the inevitable for too long as Williams quickly completed victory. The win now means that he will pick up the biggest cheque of his career with £21,500 guaranteed for making it to the last eight.

There Williams will face the world number one Mark Selby who kept up his title defence with a good victory against Welshman Mark Williams. After the first four frames of the match were shared, the pair got their heavy scoring shoes on after the mid-session interval. Selby came straight out with a run of 129 to move 3-2 ahead but Williams was swiftly level with a break of 101 which was then followed with a run of 80 to put him 4-3 in front. Things were looking good in the next until a 73 counter break from Selby saw him come from 50 points down to take the frame on the colours. From there he was the stronger player and completed a 6-4 win without Williams scoring another point in the match, finishing with runs of 73 and 67.

Ali Carter completed another impressive victory to put himself into the quarter-finals, seeing off Shaun Murphy 6-2. Carter had made three centuries in a 6-1 thrashing of Stephen Maguire in the last 32 and carried that form on here. The pair traded centuries with Carter's 136 in frame three being followed by Murphy's own 138 to put them all square at the mid-session break. From there, Carter won a series of frames in which both players had chances and each put a dagger into the hopes of Murphy, when a 72 in the seventh helped him to a 5-2 lead. A run of 53 in the eighth frame got the job done and Carter will fancy his title chances strongly if he continues to play as he has been this week.

He will face Martin Gould in the quarter-finals after Gould held off a strong fightback from Robert Milkins. Having fallen 4-0 behind in the last 32 against Kyren Wilson, it was Gould this time who was 4-0 up at the interval, making contributions of 58, 65 and 77 in the process. Runs of 63 and 86 after the break got Milkins back into things at 2-4, but Gould steadied the ship with a 72 break to go within one of victory. Milkins though picked up another two frames aided by a 76 in the ninth frame to get back to within one of Gould at 4-5 and ensure a close finish. The 2016 German Masters champion held strong though and secured his spot in the last eight with a 70 break to win 6-4.

Judd Trump is also into the quarter-finals after making another two centuries (109 and 118) and a further three 80+ breaks (80, 81 and 89) in his 6-3 win over Liang Wenbo. Scoring like this has seen Trump on top so far this week and makes him a huge threat to win a second International Championship crown.

Another former champion also made it through, as John Higgins completed a simple 6-1 demolition of Mark Joyce with a high break of 113. Joyce cannot complain of a lack of chances though, scoring at least 50 points in three of the frames that Higgins would go on to win in the contest.

Chinese sensation Yan Bingtao has put himself into his second ranking event quarter-final in less than a year and a half on the tour, continuing his strong run in Daqing by seeing off in-form Jack Lisowski 6-4. Yan was off to a strong start with breaks of 98 and 103 in the opening two frames. Lisowski's runs of 93, 114 and 50 in the three frames after the interval saw him move 4-3 ahead but the key frame looked to be the eighth, going to the 17-year-old on the colours and that seemed to end the hopes of Lisowski as would only score another four points in the contest.

Mark Allen completed the line-up for the last eight by coming through an epic contest with Martin O'Donnell that featured five century breaks. O'Donnell opened strongly with breaks of 52, 100 and 109 giving him an early 3-0 lead. Allen hit back with consecutive frames including a run of 83 in the fourth to close to 2-3, before O'Donnell's third century, a 118, put him 4-2 in front. The Northern Irishman then made consecutive centuries of 131 and 114 to level a stunning match at 4-4. A 52 in the ninth put O'Donnell a frame from victory, but Allen quickly ensured the match was going the distance with an 86 in frame ten, and took the upper hand in frame eleven with an early 58. O'Donnell came back into the frame but it was Allen that would eventually take out a 6-5 win on the colours.

Last 16 Results: 

Mark Selby 6-4 Mark Williams
Robbie Williams 6-2 Neil Robertson
Ali Carter 6-2 Shaun Murphy
Martin Gould 6-4 Robert Milkins
Judd Trump 6-3 Liang Wenbo
Mark Allen 6-5 Martin O'Donnell
Yan Bingtao 6-4 Jack Lisowski
John Higgins 6-1 Mark Joyce


Quarter-Final Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Mark Selby Vs Robbie Williams
Ali Carter Vs Martin Gould
Judd Trump Vs Mark Allen
John Higgins Vs Yan Bingtao


Tomorrow will be the fifth time that Robbie Williams has faced Mark Selby, and despite the fact that Selby has won all five of these matches, Williams has come close with three of those meetings going down to deciding frames in the best-of-7 frames format. Selby has not been convincing necessarily with tight matches in the last three rounds, but he has come through against strong opposition and once again proves difficult to beat over the best-of-11 frames format. In terms of the money on offer, this is the biggest match of Robbie Williams career so far but he does have strong victories against Neil Robertson and Joe Perry to give him some confidence as he takes on the best player in the world.

Ali Carter has been in strong form so far this week, comfortably dispatching Shaun Murphy and Stephen Maguire to make the quarter-finals, where he faces another tough opponent in Martin Gould. Gould has scored well in his victories over Kyren Wilson and Robert Milkins in the last two rounds and that is usually a mark that he is in good touch and up for the challenge. Amazingly, this will only be the second time that these two have met outside of the Championship League, with the first being the semi-finals of this year's German Masters. On that occasion, Carter came out on top 6-2.

Mark Allen and Judd Trump for me is the pick of the quarter-finals. Trump has been on top form this week, already making seven centuries in his three matches and carrying on from his great performances in Lommell where he would take the European Masters title. Allen has had to battle hard to make it this far, using 32 of a possible 33 frames at the venue this week to make the quarter-finals. He had to come from 5-3 down against Mark King and 3-0 down against O'Donnell but has still scored well in these matches, making three centuries of his own. Allen also has a slight edge on the head-to-head despite losing their last meeting in the European Masters quarter-finals, though Allen fought back well there from 3-0 down to force a deciding frame.

Yan Bingtao and John Higgins are yet to play in Yan's short time on tour, in which he has already made a big impact. His results against top players like Murphy and Selby show he is more than capable of performing at this level, as does the demolition job he performed on Ronnie O'Sullivan in this weeks Last 64. Higgins has had some quite easy wins but has not needed to score heavily as yet, while Yan has been scoring for fun so far and looks very solid. I genuinely think that Yan could break through and win a title sooner rather than later and victory here against a top player like Higgins would be a huge statement that this is possible.



Once again the quarter-finals will be over the best-of-11 as the players compete for places in the best-of-17 frame semi-finals that are to follow on Friday and Saturday.