Mark Selby and Gary Wilson to contest Beijing finale

Mark Selby and Gary Wilson will play out the best-of-19 frames China Open final in Beijing after Selby won a brilliant match against Kurt Maflin while Gary Wilson overcame home favourite Ding Junhui in a classic encounter.

Selby's semi-final was the first and at 3-3 in his match with Maflin, Kurt had already made two centuries with one to Mark's name, but the seventh frame was a very nervy frame with the Norwegian leading until the colours, and after missing a chance on the black to the middle to force a re-spot, Selby finished the frame off to go 4-3 in front. That seemed to kill the game from there and when Mark followed up with a 106 to make it 5-3 the writing seemed to be on the wall as the world champion soon completed his win.

The second semi-final between Ding Junhui and Gary Wilson was certainly one that had more swings than a pendulum. After winning the opener with a 68, Wilson was dominated by Ding in the next three frames as the Chinese surged into a 3-1 mid-session interval lead. Gary took the first after the break with a run of 50, while Ding then didn't score a single point in frames 6,7 and 8 as contributions of 60, 68 and 70 put Wilson one away from his maiden full ranking event final at 5-3. Ding wasn't going to let him do it the easy way however, and he followed that up with breaks of 97 and 72 to force the deciding frame, but when Gary's chance came he took and a cool 72 booked his place in his first ever ranking final.

Semi-Final Results:

Gary Wilson 6-5 Ding Junhui
Mark Selby 6-3 Kurt Maflin

Final Preview:

Mark Selby Vs Gary Wilson - On paper once again this final looks like a bit of a miss-match with the World Champion and this seasons German Masters champion taking on a man who coming into this week had only made one full ranking event quarter-final in his career. However, that could've been said with Gary Wilson in a number of his matches he's had this week having to beat the likes of Liang Wenbo, Ricky Walden, Barry Hawkins and Ding Junhui just to get this far, and his scoring in doing so has been superb in every single match and he will need to shrug off any early maiden ranking final nerves, in order to continue taking his chances, winning frames in one visit to truly Mark under any pressure in this final.

Mark Selby may have not had to beat the same sort of names in getting to the final, as Gary Wilson has done, but whoever he has come up against he has played very well indeed. His opening round win against Mark Joyce saw him go off the boil in the middle after a good start and he finished the match off well eventually, but Selby did also have some neck troubles in the early week which would've been a huge worry after the severity of the neck problems he suffered this time 3 years ago. However, he was very clinical in then beating Elliot Slessor and David Gilbert pretty comfortably, before digging in again to come from never being ahead in the match, but also never being more than a frame behind, to beat Robert Milkins 5-4. Even today when he had Kurt Maflin coming at him with big breaks including two centuries, he hit back as true champions do with the big breaks of his own including two centuries himself, just showing that throughout this week he has been able to handle whatever has been thrown at him, whether the game has been heavy scoring and open, or scrappy and in need of one of his grinding "master of brinkmanship" displays. That just makes me believe that whatever Gary Wilson can throw at Mark Selby tomorrow in terms of big breaks, he simply doesn't have the same experience on the big stage that Mark Selby does over several years and big tournament wins, to deal with what Mark Selby will be able to come up with in response over the best-of-19 frames.


Prediction: 10-6 to Selby

Whatever the outcome is tomorrow though both guys have played brilliantly though as Mark looked for a good event here ahead of the defence of his World Championship, while Gary Wilson can be immensely proud of his run to his maiden ranking event final, which has now taken him up to 37th at least in terms of his seeding for the World Championships, while victory tomorrow would put him up to 22nd in the regard. The snooker played all week has just gone better and better as the rounds have gone on and the standard has been set here ahead of the World Championship Qualifiers and the main event itself, which I expect now to be up there with one of the best in the Championships long history.

Murphy out, Selby and Ding scrape through

It was an eventful day on Good Friday at the China Open as the four quarter-finals all went right down to the wire. Shaun Murphy bowed out as Kurt Maflin played some simply superb snooker in coming back from 3-1 and 4-3 down to win the first of the days three deciding frames. Robert Milkins led throughout his match with Mark Selby at 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 but the "Master of Brinkmanship" did what he does best to get into the semi-finals and secure that Stephen Maguire will be at the Crucible as the 16th seed.

In the afternoon session Ding Junhui and John Higgins played out a thriller with the home favourite taking out Higgins in yet another deciding frame to make only his second semi-final of the season. Finally, Gary Wilson having already matched his best ever full ranking performance that he set in Cardiff this season, went one better by seeing off Barry Hawkins 5-3.

Quarter-Final Results:

Ding Junhui 5-4 John Higgins
Gary Wilson 5-3 Barry Hawkins
Kurt Maflin 5-4 Shaun Murphy
Mark Selby 5-4 Robert Milkins

Semi-Final Preview:

Ding Junhui Vs Gary Wilson - This is certainly a mismatch between a player in Ding Junhui who is looking to defend his title after a poor year since winning this event last year, but all the same he's really showed some great form and all of his class this week, especially in today's match against John Higgins. Gary Wilson meanwhile is in his maiden full ranking event semi-final, having only reached his maiden quarter-final in full ranking event a month and a half ago. With the players Gary has beaten this week he's showed he is well capable of going on further this week and beating Ding, but to play in a major semi-final against Ding in China will be a whole new experience for him and it will be interesting to see how he deals with that. Ding does look very relaxed this week though and he's playing as well as he has done all season now and if he keeps that up I can't see him slipping up in this contest.

Prediction: Ding to win 6-2

Mark Selby Vs Kurt Maflin - On paper this may look like a match that should be won comfortably by Selby as he is the better player and certainly more consistent than Kurt Maflin. However, I for one thought that Kurt Maflin was absolutely superb after the interval barely missing a ball in the four frames he won from 3-1 down to win 5-4 and Shaun Murphy didn't have a chance to win the match really at any stage. Kurt has played well and scored heavily all week, and when he plays like that he is one of the most dangerous players outside of the top 16, and even though he has had a poor season he seems to have come into form just when he needed to here. It's certainly been a battle at times this week for Mark Selby, having to use all his fight to keep coming back today against Robert Milkins, as he did in round one against Mark Joyce when he was struggling with neck pain. Talk about his neck has died down now but you still feel that Mark could be vulnerable this week if someone comes up against him and really takes his chances and Maflin is a player that has been doing that this week. The only thing that may stand in Kurt's way is that every now and again he throws in an unforced error or just goes for one shot too many and things like that could turn this game into Selby's favour.

Prediction: 6-4 to Selby

These should be two great semi-finals and set-up a really enthralling best-of-19 final on Sunday so I looking forward to coming back and previewing that one tomorrow.

Selby, Murphy and Ding into Beijing Quarters

Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and Ding Junhui are into the quarter-finals of the China Open in Beijing after wins in today's Last 16. In the first session of the day, Robert Milkins kept his hopes of an automatic Crucible seeding alive by beating Michael White, ending White's own hopes of getting into the top 16 on the provisional World Championship seedings. Meanwhile, Kurt Maflin put a dent in Robin Hull's tour survival hopes by landing a comfortable victory there. Mark Selby was made to work hard in his match with David Gilbert, despite still coming through a comfortable winner, and Shaun Murphy beat his nemesis Jamie Jones whilst also making a 143 break. However, neither of those two games were televised after the first hour after a fire in the TV truck at the venue wiped out the cameras.

Later in the evening session, TV coverage was back for us to see a decider in the match between Judd Trump and John Higgins which went the way of Higgins. Meanwhile, Gary Wilson reached only his second ever ranking event quarter-final as he beat Dechawat Poomjaeng very comfortably. Home favourite Ding Junhui looked better once again as he was pretty comfortable in the end beating form horse Mark Williams. Finally, Stephen Maguire's fate is now in the hands of Robert Milkins as he lost to Barry Hawkins who seems to be in much better form this week also.


Last 16 Results:

Ding Junhui 5-2 Mark Williams
John Higgins 5-4 Judd Trump
Barry Hawkins 5-3 Stephen Maguire
Gary Wilson 5-1 Dechawat Poomjaeng
Kurt Maflin 5-1 Robin Hull
Shaun Murphy 5-3 Jamie Jones
Robert Milkins 5-1 Michael White
Mark Selby 5-2 David Gilbert


That sets up another intriguing day of action in the quarter-finals tomorrow with still plenty to play for in terms of World Championship seedings as well as the overall tournament.

Quarter-Final Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Ding Junhui Vs John Higgins - This should be a good match between two players that have struggled at times this season, but have equally won some very good games this week. Ding Junhui seems to be playing a lot better now and I expect him to continue playing confidently and scoring well for the rest of this week now that the tables seemed to have turned for him. His win against Mark Williams the form player right now, was a very convincing one where he seemed to dominate most of the match. John Higgins meanwhile did struggle at times against Judd Trump, showing again some of his inconsistencies in a match, and needed a lot of chances in the middle of the match, the chances that you don't always get as many of against Ding. However, John is cueing well though and the decider he played against Trump showed that once again and that will give him even more confidence to go with that he's picked up from winning in Cardiff in February, but I fancy Ding to just edge out this match.

Barry Hawkins Vs Gary Wilson - Barry Hawkins was another guy that was struggling coming into this event but, again, he has played well this week to start to turn things around heading into the World Championships and he certainly isn't finished yet. Good performances at the back end of his match with Greene and then scoring well against Dale before a good win against Maguire will give him some more confidence and that is really all that Barry needed to start turning things around. Gary Wilson meanwhile will also be full of confidence having reached only his second ever ranking quarter-final with both coming in the last 6 weeks. Gary scored well against Ricky Walden, Liang Wenbo and again today against Dechawat Poomjaeng, so if he gets enough chances against Hawkins then he can certainly beat him. However, as with Ding, I feel like Hawkins is turning a corner this week and I expect that to continue.

Shaun Murphy Vs Kurt Maflin - This should be a brilliant quarter-final between two big hitters here in Murphy and Maflin. Shaun has been tested at times this week against McGill and Jones, but he's hit back well and scored very nicely in the last two games in particular. Shaun is also full of confidence after the season he's had and is playing as well as he's ever done and is striking the ball superbly. Kurt Maflin had very little form coming into this tournament but that hasn't stopped him going on far. The first match of the week when he came from 4-2 and 66-0 down to beat Carter would've been a huge confidence boost and he's been back to his heavy scoring self ever since with three centuries amongst his wins with Dunn and Hull. The one thing that could let Kurt down in this match against such a clinical player is that sometimes if Kurt gets a little over confident he starts to attack a little too much and perhaps leave his opponents too many easy chances, which if he does this tomorrow Shaun will make him pay heavily for.

Mark Selby Vs Robert Milkins - This match now has a lot of weight attached to it as Robert Milkins is eyeing two more wins to reach the final, leapfrog Stephen Maguire in the seedings for the Crucible which would see him qualify automatically. He started the week off poorly against Bond and then having to come from 4-1 down against Surety, but his week seems to have turned around with the match in the Last 16 with Michael White, where White was out of sorts and Milkins sensed an opportunity to perhaps win this and really push for an automatic Crucible spot. That will make him incredibly fired up and determined for the rest of the week, especially now he knows it's in his hands and that two more wins would definetly do. Mark Selby is always a determined character in any match that he plays but he has been struggling at times this week with a sore neck which could be a small occurrence of some of the pain he felt in 2012 around this time in the season. However, Mark is a battler and will still be determined to win this week, but if his neck starts restricting things, it will do so more as he goes deeper and deeper through the week, and the same high breaks he showed against Slessor and Joyce were not matched against Gilbert where he needed plenty of chances, and that is not something you can always rely on against Robert, who sensed an opportunity and scored well in truly determined fashion to take his chances against White today.


So, after a rather strange day in the end at the China Open with some of the goings on off the table with TV coverage, hopefully we can find some normality tomorrow for the quarter-finals as there should be four cracking games. As usual following tomorrow's play i'll have my semi-final preview to come in the evening.

Walden and Fu exit in Last 32

Ricky Walden, Marco Fu and Stuart Bingham were the casualties of the top 16 players in today's Last 32 in Beijing. Stuart Bingham playing in the morning session out in China had a tough opponent in Michael White, who took the win there having been 4-3 behind. That keeps alive White's automatic Crucible qualification hopes, just as Robert Milkins did by beating Zak Surety from 4-1 behind. Meanwhile, Mark Selby's neck pains have eased slightly after his whitewash over Elliot Slessor whilst David Gilbert came from 2-0 down to win 5-2. Stephen Maguire kept his Crucible hopes in his own hands by beating Ryan Day and Barry Hawkins recorded a nice victory against Dominic Dale.

In the second session of the day Kurt Maflin was the victor against Mike Dunn, while Dechawat Poomjaeng whitewashed Jack Lisowski and Mark Williams did the same against Michael Leslie. Shaun Murphy meanwhile saved his best until last to overcome Anthony McGill from 4-3 adrift, while Robin Hull did the same against Mark King.

Finally, the evening session saw birthday boy Ding Junhui called out to renditions of Happy Birthday ahead of his comfortable win over Mark Davis, while Judd Trump was also a comfortable winner against Peter Ebdon and John Higgins beat Graeme Dott in the all-Scottish clash. However, Ricky Walden suffered a surprise exit to Gary Wilson, while a comeback from 4-2 to 4-4 from Marco Fu wasn't enough to put Jamie Jones off as he secured another fine victory.

Last 32 Results:

Ding Junhui 5-1 Mark Davis
Mark Williams 5-0 Michael Leslie
John Higgins 5-2 Graeme Dott
Judd Trump 5-1 Peter Ebdon
Barry Hawkins 5-2 Dominic Dale
Stephen Maguire 5-4 Ryan Day
Gary Wilson 5-2 Ricky Walden
Dechawat Poomjaeng 5-0 Jack Lisowski
Robin Hull 5-4 Mark King
Kurt Maflin 5-3 Mike Dunn
Jamie Jones 5-4 Marco Fu
Shaun Murphy 5-4 Anthony McGill
Michael White 5-4 Stuart Bingham
Robert Milkins 5-4 Zak Surety
David Gilbert 5-2 Zhou Yuelong
Mark Selby 5-0 Elliot Slessor

So, another busy day is finished and from here on in things are a lot less hectic as we get down to just two sessions of play across four tables for some more fascinating action in the Last 16.

Last 16 Preview: (Picks in Bold)

Ding Junhui Vs Mark Williams - This really is the stand our game of the draw with the home favourite Ding Junhui taking on the tours form horse at the moment in Mark Williams. Ding seems to be playing a lot better in the first couple of games this week but he hasn't really been pushed this week so far by Marcus Campbell or Mark Davis but it will be a very different story against Williams. After reaching several last 16's, quarter-finals and semi-finals in the last couple of months which is something Ding has failed to do, with this being his first Last 16 appearance since Shanghai last September. Mark is so full of confidence that he'll believe he can beat Ding and he knows exactly how dangerous Ding is despite the run he's been on coming into this.

Judd Trump Vs John Higgins - This should be another good game as they always are between Trump and Higgins. Higgins has been slightly more inconsistent in his performances in the last couple of years but he always seems to push Trump hard and run the games close whenever they meet. Judd meanwhile is in really good form this week having made three centuries across his two games so far this week against Higginson and Ebdon and even though Higginson pushed him in round one he responded really well and is in great form at the moment to deal with anything that anyone can throw at the 2011 champion in Beijing.

Barry Hawkins Vs Stephen Maguire - These two guys have been threatening to meet in tournaments now in a while but because of Hawkins poor form they haven't as yet until now. Barry seems to be playing a lot better this week and scoring very nicely so he will be a little more confident of turning his fortunes around after a very poor run of form. Stephen Maguire meanwhile is under a lot more pressure as he tries to secure his top 16 seeding for the Crucible and that will make him more determined to get the result here but he's in for a very tough match again.

Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Gary Wilson - This match is another one with two players with a great opportunity. Gary Wilson reached his first ranking event quarter-final just last month at the Welsh open and will be looking for more of the same here having already beaten Liang Wenbo and scored heavily today to thrash Ricky Walden today. Meanwhile, Dechawat Poomjaeng has played well also this week to come from 3-1 down to beat Neil Robertson before whitewashing Jack Lisowski in round two. I think Wilson is playing slightly better of the two though and I think he will edge this match which is a very close one to call.

Kurt Maflin Vs Robin Hull - This all Nordic clash between Norway's Maflin and Finland's Hull should be a good one, and it is a very important one for Robin Hull. Robin of course has benefited this week from a bye into the Last 32 after Ronnie O'Sullivan's withdrawal but he still had to win his wildcard match against Yan Bingtao to get there and then beat Mark King today. In the process Hull has made a couple of centuries and played well to win both games and keep his hopes of tour survival alive. At the start of the week Hull was just over £12,000 adrift of 64th place Tom Ford, while now he is just over £7,000 behind, but another victory here against Maflin would certainly open things up for him more. Kurt meanwhile has already beaten Ali Carter and Mike Dunn this week, coming from 4-2 down against Carter and making two centuries against Dunn. This match is a tough one to call, but in the events he's entered this year Hull has been much more consistent than Maflin, but when Maflin plays well he's very tough to beat just as Robin is.

Shaun Murphy Vs Jamie Jones - The only way to start previewing this match is by pointing out that Jamie Jones is turning into a bit of a nemesis on the table for Shaun Murphy having beaten him again recently at the Welsh Open after several wins against him previously as well and he always proves a tough player for Murphy to beat. Jones will be confident having already overcome Stevens and Fu this week and knowing that he can beat Murphy and that he's playing well, there's no reason why he can't produce the result tomorrow. Shaun meanwhile played very well in his match today against Anthony McGill making 50+ contributions in every frame that he won in his 5-4 victory including a century to force the decider and a very cool 72 in that decider. Shaun continues to strike the ball well and will be confident that he win when he's put under pressure and given a good game as he was today, and he knows that he'll get a good game against Jones tomorrow.

Robert Milkins Vs Michael White - This match just stands out for me in this round as one of such huge importance when it comes to the seedings for the Crucible. Whoever the winner is from this game will have their hopes kept alive of qualifying automatically for the World Championships while the loser will definetly have to go through three qualifying rounds. Michael White has been able to put himself in this position by going on a roll to win his first ranking title at the Indian Open and having already come through two deciders this week, one very impressively from 4-3 down to Stuart Bingham, he will fancy his chances and be confident of going on a lot further this week. Robert Milkins meanwhile seems to be struggling just a little bit more having to come back from 4-1 down against much easier opposition on paper at least, than Michael White's and having lost 4-0 to Chris Wakelin at the Players Championship after a busy month or so, he may be starting to feel the effects of such a busy schedule.

Mark Selby Vs David Gilbert - Mark Selby may be struggling with a little bit of neck pain but he is still going strong in this tournament and he says that from the Last 64 to the Last 32 the pain has eased and he is playing very well when he is getting in and amongst the balls, which is always a good sign of how Mark's game is looking. Meanwhile, David Gilbert has had two very fine wins already this week to beat Players Champion Joe Perry and score very well from 2-0 down in his match against Zhou Yuelong to take all of the next five. David as I say is a very dangerous player and a great scorer on his day, and he's beaten Selby before so he can certainly cause the world champion some trouble.


We may be down to 16 players now but it is still no easier to pick a winner of this weeks China Open because to me it just looks so open as a whole and i'll be intrigued to watch how all of this unfolds again tomorrow and come back later on in the day to preview the action for the quarter-finals.

Robertson out in Beijing first round

The major big name casualty in the first round of the China Open was fourth seed Neil Robertson as he lost out in a decider to Thailand's Dechawat Poomjaeng who came back from a 3-1 interval deficit. Elsewhere on day one, Barry Hawkins got a much needed win over Gerard Greene as did Ding Junhui against Marcus Campbell. Stephen Maguire kept his Crucible seedings battle under control beating David Morris, while Ricky Walden thrashed Cao Yupeng. Ali Carter was unlucky to see Kurt Maflin come back from 4-2 and 66-0 down to win 5-4. To end the day (or begin the next take your pick) Peter Ebdon managed to hold off Zhang Anda who came back from 4-2 to 4-4, and in the end Peter came through the decider at 12.40am Beijing time.

Day two began with John Higgins having a bit of a battle with Yu De Lu before coming through to win there, whilst Robert Milkins was also at 3-3 with Nigel Bond at one stage before coming through to win there. Marco Fu whitewashed amateur player Ashley Carty, whilst Jamie Jones won the battle of the Welsh stars with Matthew Stevens. Joe Swail lost an important match for his top 64 hopes as Zak Surety beat him from 4-2 down. Michael White came through a decider later on in the afternoon session against Ken Doherty while new Players Champion Joe Perry was beaten by David Gilbert. Mark Selby struggled in the second half of his match against Mark Joyce but still managed to scrap through in that one, whilst things were much more simple for Stuart Bingham against Peter Lines. Meanwhile in the final session Judd Trump survived a slight scare to beat Andrew Higginson while Mark Williams beat wildcard Zhao Xintong from 2-0 down and Shaun Murphy was a comfortable winner against Jamie Cope.


Last 64 Results:

Ding Junhui 5-1 Marcus Campbell
Mark Davis 5-3 Kyren Wilson
Mark Williams 5-2 Zhao Xintong
Michael Leslie 5-1 Joe O'Connor
John Higgins 5-3 Yu De Lu
Graeme Dott 5-3 Daniel Wells
Peter Ebdon 5-4 Zhang Anda
Judd Trump 5-3 Andrew Higginson
Barry Hawkins 5-2 Gerard Greene
Dominic Dale 5-3 Jimmy Robertson
Ryan Day 5-1 Liam Highfield
Stephen Maguire 5-1 David Morris
Ricky Walden 5-0 Cao Yupeng
Gary Wilson 5-3 Liang Wenbo
Jack Lisowski 5-4 Alan McManus
Dechawat Poomjaeng 5-4 Neil Robertson
Robin Hull W/O Ronnie O'Sullivan
Mark King 5-3 Jamie Burnett
Mike Dunn 5-3 Fergal O'Brien
Kurt Maflin 5-4 Ali Carter
Marco Fu 5-0 Ashley Carty
Jamie Jones 5-3 Matthew Stevens
Anthony McGill 5-1 Alfie Burden
Shaun Murphy 5-1 Jamie Cope
Stuart Bingham 5-1 Peter Lines
Michael White 5-4 Ken Doherty
Zak Surety 5-4 Joe Swail
Robert Milkins 5-3 Nigel Bond
David Gilbert 5-3 Joe Perry
Zhou Yuelong 5-1 Anthony Hamilton
Elliot Slessor 5-3 Matt Selt
Mark Selby 5-3 Mark Joyce

So, despite a couple of upsets in round one we still have a fantastic line-up for tomorrow's last 32 games in Beijing and there should be some exciting snooker to come once again. But will there be any fools on April 1st?

Last 32 Preview: (Picks in Bold)

Ding Junhui Vs Mark Davis - Ding Junhui's comfortable victory over Marcus Campbell in the opening round was his first at the venue stages of an event since the UK Championships and to be fair he wasn't punished whatsoever for his mistakes and didn't seem to be looking all that confident either after a confidence bashing few months. Mark Davis meanwhile is in good form at the moment with quarter-finals in all of the last three events (Indian Open, World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals). He's beaten some good players in those events (including Neil Robertson twice) and he'll be a lot more confident than Ding Junhui will be at the moment as he's been playing a lot better and more consistently and he's really under no pressure in this match with Ding Junhui again having all of the home expectation.

Mark Williams Vs Michael Leslie - Even though Michael Leslie has beaten Mark Allen in qualifying, and then amateur Joe O'Connor 5-1 in the first round, he's going have to be at the very top of his game to beat an in form Mark Williams here. Michael hasn't really done much in his time on tour so far, so this could be a good tournament to go prove to people he can cut it on tour. Mark meanwhile after a couple of poor frames at the start of his opening round match against Zhao Xintong, he soon warmed into the task and won five on the bounce for victory. Mark's in good form over the last month and a half particularly and on that run these are the matches he's been eating for breakfast.

John Higgins Vs Graeme Dott - This is a repeat of the World Grand Prix last 32 tie from just a couple of weeks ago where Dott beat Higgins in a deciding frame despite Higgins playing the better snooker of the two on that day. Graeme seemed to struggle a little today as he lost three frames in a row to go 3-2 down to amateur Daniel Wells at one stage and it took three frames in a row for Dott to win. John meanwhile was also pegged back from 3-1 to 3-3, but he played two very impressive last two frames to get the victory and I think if he can play well for a large part of this match again then he'll probably scrape the victory, but one thing is for certain, not an inch will be given in this match and I expect it to be closely fought.

Judd Trump Vs Peter Ebdon - Judd Trump has been in really good form of late, and today in round one he was happy with conditions making two centuries against Andrew Higginson who made one of his own and gave Judd a very tough match. A new mature Judd has been able to dig in hard when things start to turn around in matches and go against him as he showed throughout the World Grand Prix and that will be an important trait against Peter. Ebdon made very hard work of his first round win against Zhang Anda where he once led 4-2 before winning 5-4 in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Peter has been pretty inconsistent in the last couple of weeks with a poor performance against Anthony McGill in Thailand and he doesn't seem to have been much better in the first round and even though he made the Grand Prix quarter-finals, he did play very poorly in parts of both matches. Any weakness shown by him tomorrow will be pounced on by Judd, that is for certain.

Barry Hawkins Vs Dominic Dale - Barry Hawkins got an important win the other day after a series of poor results in previous events, and he actually played some good snooker to beat Gerard Greene in round one so that will boost his confidence. Dominic Dale also seemed to play well in parts of his first round match against Jimmy Robertson. However, Dominic has been pretty inconsistent of late, playing well at times in tournaments and matches, but also playing pretty dire snooker at others as he did against Selby in Thailand. I think this could be yet another confidence boosting match if Barry can knock in some decent breaks and if Dale isn't at his best then I feel that Hawkins will probably edge the victory.

Stephen Maguire Vs Ryan Day - Stephen Maguire firstly has a little bit extra to think about this week and that is his Crucible seeding. Will he secure the 16th seed or have to qualify? Well, a comfortable victory against David Morris in round one will help things as it leaves the likes of Michael White needing a semi-final if he is to lose this game. Stephen has been in good form for large parts of the time since the UK Championships and his record here at the China Open is pretty good so he'll be feeling confident coming into this match. Ryan Day meanwhile had a good win in round one against Liam Highfield and will want to do better this week after losing a couple of first round deciders in Bangkok and Llandudno. I think this will be close but I fancy Maguire to just edge through here.

Ricky Walden Vs Gary Wilson - Ricky Walden played good snooker and was very convincing against Cao Yupeng as he very often is in China as one of the best players in Asian conditions currently playing on the tour in my view. He seems to find his rhythm so much easier in China which helps him to some good results and he always seems to be in good form out there. Gary Wilson played well in round one and showed some of the form that saw him get to the Welsh Open quarter-finals in his win against Liang Wenbo and he'll be a tough opponent here for Walden. I'd fancy Wilson a lot more if this was in the UK where Walden is a lot more inconsistent, but Wilson certainly doesn't have as much experience in China as I feel Ricky has now so I fancy him to win this.

Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Jack Lisowski - Both of these guys had good wins in deciders in round one with Poomjaeng beating Neil Robertson, while Lisowski came from 4-2 down to beat McManus. Lisowski is long overdue a good week after struggling quite a bit since he got to the China Open quarter-finals in impressive fashion two years ago, so he will have good memories of Beijing. Dechawat is a player who continually seems to get results but to me he isn't a particularly impressive player in terms of very much that he does apart from his general potting. Throughout his match with Neil his positional play wasn't particularly good and he over hit a large number of shots unable to get to grips perhaps with the pace of the table. Lisowski on his day is the much better player of the two here and as I say it's about time he started showing it more often starting with this week.

Mark King Vs Robin Hull - Robin Hull may have had a Last 64 walkover over Ronnie O'Sullivan but he did have to play a wildcard match so has still got here by winning a match, and in that match against tough young wildcard Yan Bingtao he played some superb snooker. A series of impressive breaks (including a maximum attempt that broke down on 112) saw him breeze through a potentially difficult match and again make many ask questions of how his tour card is in any danger at all. A win in this match tomorrow would again help his cause as he is still around £9,000 behind 64th place Tom Ford in the rankings. Mark King came through a battle today against Jamie Burnett but he was in good form at the Players Championships in Thailand playing good snooker beating Hawkins and pushing Trump close. However, if Hull plays how he did against Bingtao in this match, King will need to show all of this form once again.

Kurt Maflin Vs Mike Dunn - Both of these guys had to come from behind in their opening round encounters to get this far. Kurt Maflin was seemingly dead and buried at 4-2 and 66-0 against Carter but somehow he ended up winning 5-4, but he still didn't knock in many impressive breaks and he's been in very poor form all season long. Mike Dunn meanwhile played very well from 3-1 down against Fergal O'Brien and he has the good memories of last years run to the semi-finals to inspire him on as he looks to try and repeat some of that again this week. It should be a close game this and is a very tough one to call, but Kurt just doesn't seem to have very much form behind him at all at the moment where Mike has played some decent stuff in the first round.

Marco Fu Vs Jamie Jones - Marco Fu is due for a good run this week and wasted no time in knocking out amateur Ashley Carty in round one 5-0 including a good 133 break and I think this could be the week he regains some form after a couple of early round exits. Jamie Jones won't make things very easy for him though as he played decent snooker to get to the Last 16 of the Indian Open and beat Matthew Stevens in the first round, as well as beating Shaun Murphy in the Welsh Open. Jones is an impressive young lad, but Fu is very underrated when he's in good form and if he can play well this week he could go really far once again.

Shaun Murphy Vs Anthony McGill - This should be a very close game, especially as Anthony McGill has been pushing a lot of the top players all the way in recent times. In the German Masters he came from 4-1 to 4-4 before losing 5-4 to Selby, he came from 3-0 to 3-3 before losing 4-3 to both Mark Davis at the Indian Open and Stuart Bingham at the World Grand Prix, while Joe Perry needed a comeback from 3-1 down to beat him 4-3 at the Players Championship. Shaun Murphy meanwhile is still cueing well as he did to win the Masters and reach the German Masters final earlier in 2015, but he has had a lot of recent complaints about the table conditions and he needs to start putting that out of his mind as it seems to affect him more than any other player in the game. If Shaun can concentrate on the game then I'm sure he will play well because as I say he is striking the ball very well and feels very confident.

Stuart Bingham Vs Michael White - This again is another tough match to call between two very much in form players. Michael White has very much broken through on to the big stage now after winning the Indian Open three weeks ago, and he'll be feeling full of confidence despite a couple of blips since then. He had to go through a decider to beat Doherty in round one while he also lost in the Grand Prix and Players Championship first round, so he may still have a bit of a hangover from that India win. Stuart Bingham meanwhile has come close in the last couple of events with a Players Championship and Grand Prix semi-final to his name since winning the Championship League in February and the hunger will very much be there for Stuart to have a good run and then convert that at the end of the week into some more glory. When the pair met at the Welsh Open Bingham was a comfortable winner there, and while I don't think this will be comfortable I do think Stuart is the favourite to edge it.

Robert Milkins Vs Zak Surety - Robert Milkins is the clear favourite in this match as a much higher ranked player than Zak Surety, but that doesn't mean to say he will win. Zak had a good win against Joe Swail from 4-2 down in round one and even though he has struggled a little for results this year on tour he's also had some very tough matches just as this one is for him. Robert Milkins still has a slight carrot dangling for him here as the provisional 18th seed for the Crucible and even though he is a way behind Michael White as the closest challenger to current 16th seed Stephen Maguire, he could still make it if he got to the final and Maguire goes out in the next round or two, so it is important for Robert to keep going and believing, which another victory tomorrow will help.

David Gilbert Vs Zhou Yuelong - Both of these players had good wins in the Last 64. Zhou Yuelong has had some good results all season and seems to be a very strong scorer when on form which he showed in abundance today against Anthony Hamilton and if he keeps that up tomorrow it'll be incredibly tough to beat. David Gilbert meanwhile came from 3-2 behind to beat Players Champion Joe Perry 5-3 today and he is a very solid and dangerous player to come up against with a lot of experience. Gilbert was in good form in the Championship League earlier in 2015 and I felt that he would eventually convert that into a good run in a ranking event and thus far he has failed to but this week could be his week for a few more good results as he is a solid player and a very heavy scorer like Yuelong is when they're both in form so I expect this to be a good match and one that comes down to the scrappy frames.

Mark Selby Vs Elliot Slessor - On paper this looks like it should be a very comfortable win for world champion Mark Selby. However, Mark had to battle hard today after playing some good snooker to lead 3-0 at one stage, Mark Joyce took advantage as Selby went off the boil and he could be seen rubbing and holding his neck a few times, and he has confirmed that he had a neck twinge yesterday and is suffering some pain, particularly after slipping during the interval. As a fellow sufferer of bad neck pains in the past (which it personally took me a long time to get rid of and I still suffer with now on occasions) these things can crop up at any time it seems and still be as painful as before and are particularly horrible as a snooker player so hopefully he won't suffer as badly as he did three years ago. Elliot Slessor meanwhile had a good win against Matt Selt in round one but with all of Mark's experience and battling qualities against a player that hasn't impressed in his last two years on tour and still appears to be inexperienced, the only way I can see Slessor winning is if he plays brilliantly or Mark continues to struggle badly with his neck.


Things really start to hot up now in Beijing with one round a day from here until the completion of the tournament and with still much to play for in terms of seedings for the Crucible, you can expect it to be another exciting day tomorrow in the last 32, and i'll be back again tomorrow with a preview of the Last 16 matches.

China Open Preview

Straight after another week of snooker out in Thailand where Joe Perry won the Players Championship Finals event, the players now move on to Beijing in China for the China Open, with plenty to play for in terms of players getting into the top 64 on the end of season rankings list and of course the cut-off for the Crucible seedings comes after this event and there is still plenty to play for in terms of top 16, 32 and top 48 places which all makes a difference to the qualifying draw. The way that the money is set out, anyone in the Last 64 is guaranteed £3,000 to their ranking, but if you win your first match at the venue, the money jumps up to a guaranteed £6,500 making a big difference to those down the rankings. Last 16 losers get £8,000 and it's £12,500 for losing in the quarters, £21,000 for getting to the semi's, while the runner-up gets £35,000 and the winner walks away with the £85,000 top prize.

The early news from the China Open this week is that Ronnie O'Sullivan has withdrawn through health issues, which is apparently a return of his glandular fever, after suffering with that in 2012 I believe. That means the winner of the wildcard match between Robin Hull and Yan Bingtao gets a bye into the Last 32. We still have most of the rest of the top players out in Beijing with the exception of Mark Allen who failed to qualify, and that could potentially damage his Crucible seeding too.

Thankfully following the Players Championship Finals the best-of-7's are over for the season and we are up to best-of-9 frames for the opening matches of this week with an interval after the first four, while the semi-finals are over the best-of-11 frames and next Sunday's final is played over two sessions and the best-of-19 frames. Of course the one thing that has been apparent in recent years is the China Open curse, with the winner going on to do very little at the World Championships in Sheffield. All of the 2012, 2013 and 2014 winners have failed to get past round one at the Crucible, while the 2011 Beijing champion Judd Trump did make the World Championship final. There's no real reason for this China Open curse as such and to be fair when Peter Ebdon won it in 2012 he still had to qualify and lost to eventual champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in round one, but if the winner this week is seeded through to the Crucible they should still have a nice two week period to rest and fully prepare ahead of the start on Saturday April 18th.

Enough talk about the World's for now though as there is still a job to be done this week, so here is how the draw shapes up in Beijing:

Quarter 1

Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Ding Junhui Vs Marcus Campbell
Mark Davis Vs Kyren Wilson
Mark Williams Vs Alex Davies or Zhao Xintong
Michael Leslie Vs Joe O'Connor
John Higgins Vs Yu De Lu
Graeme Dott Vs Daniel Wells
Peter Ebdon Vs Zhang Anda
Judd Trump Vs Andrew Higginson

In this quarter we have the struggling defending champion Ding Junhui along with the likes of Players Championship runner-up Mark Williams, Welsh Open Champion John Higgins, Championship League runner-up Mark Davis and the new World Grand Prix champion Judd Trump. In terms of seedings for the Crucible here we have Andrew Higginson and Yu De Lu who are provisionally seeded 49th and 51st respectively and both are within a first round win of Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in 48th who didn't qualify. The only down side for these two guys is that they are big underdogs to win their first round games with Higginson playing an in form Trump and De Lu playing John Higgins. Meanwhile, on the provisional end of season money list Marcus Campbell is 67th and around £8,000 away from 64th placed Tom Ford, who hasn't qualified, but again Campbell could've had easier draws than Ding Junhui, even if Ding is in very poor form.

Ding Junhui as I say is in frankly rubbish form at the moment, and if you think that is harsh then here's a stat for you. Other than his semi-final at the Shanghai Masters, Ding Junhui has not gotten past the Last 32 of a full ranking event all season and he still hasn't won a match at a main venue in a big event since the Last 64 of the UK Championships. Are there any signs that he could begin to play well? Not in terms of the way he's been playing but if something suddenly starts to click in one match and his confidence starts to build up again then who knows, and even though he is a top player, this is a real confidence flushing season.

Mark Davis meanwhile is in decent form at the moment. He's had two good wins lately against Neil Robertson to reach the quarter-finals of both the Grand prix and Players Championship Finals, as well as making the quarter-finals in Mumbai this month too. It's worth remembering that Davis was in the top 16 for a year or two until this season and that he can beat the very top players and have these good runs in events and there is certainly nothing from stopping him doing that again in Beijing this week, especially after some of the performances he's put in in the last few weeks.

Mark Williams on the other hand is the form man of the entire tour at the moment. He's played lorry loads of matches in all sorts of tournaments left, right and centre in the last month and a half and in those tournaments he can boast a Welsh Open and Indian Open semi-finals, Gdynia Open and Players Championship runners-up positions, a World Grand Prix quarter-final and even a small win at the World Seniors. Mark is certainly riding on a high at the moment in terms of confidence and his results show not only his confidence but his combination of determination but also that laid back attitude that can make things that are so much to him, actually seem like they're worth very little. This is thanks in part to the work he's put in on and off the table in the last year. Working with his personal trainer he's found a new way of living it would appear and in the process lost 2 and a half stone to become a lean Welsh potting machine. What this also means is that he's still relatively fresh and in great shape coming into all of these tournaments despite all of the travelling that he's had to do, hence the consistency in his results that he is starting to show now making him a contender for every event.

John Higgins meanwhile has had no consistency to his results at all. Since winning the Welsh Open he hasn't reached another quarter-final, and he didn't get past the last 16 in events much before taking the title in Cardiff either. What this shows is a lot of inconsistency from John and not only is it showing throughout tournaments from event to event and even match to match, but even from frame to frame where he could follow up two fantastic breaks by missing a load of easy balls by his standards. This will worry John and stops him from being as big a contender as he was when playing the really top players (something he didn't have to do much at the Welsh Open with all due respect to most of the lower ranked players that he did play) and he'd like to find some of that consistency back ahead of the World Championships.

Judd Trump meanwhile is another one of the form horses on the snooker tour and has been really for most of the season. After winning the World Grand Prix he got his first final victory against Ronnie from three attempts this season and followed it up by getting to the Players Championship semi-finals before losing out to Mark Williams, someone he has played four times in the last month and a half. This event will also bring back hugely special memories for Judd as it was by winning this title in 2011 that he made his real breakthrough and took his first ranking event title, and I'm sure it would mean a lot to him if he could repeat that success again this year.

Quarter Winner: Judd Trump

Quarter 2

Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Barry Hawkins Vs Gerard Greene
Dominic Dale Vs Jimmy Robertson
Ryan Day Vs Liam Highfield
Stephen Maguire Vs David Morris
Ricky Walden Vs Cao Yupeng
Liang Wenbo Vs Gary Wilson
Alan McManus Vs Jack Lisowski
Neil Robertson Vs Dechawat Poomjaeng

Completing the top half of the draw we have the likes of Neil Robertson, Ricky Walden, Stephen Maguire and a badly out of form Barry Hawkins as the biggest of the names, whilst again there is something to play for here in terms of Crucible seedings. Stephen Maguire still has work to do this week in terms of staying in the top 16. He is currently around £9,000 clear of Michael White in 17th, so if Stephen gets knocked out in the early rounds he could be left squirming come the back end of the week. Meanwhile, his first round opponent David Morris is 50th provisionally hoping to get into the top 48 to be seeded in round two of qualifying if he could win his first round match at Ponds Forge, and a win against Stephen would more than likely get him into that top 48.

Barry Hawkins comes into this event with absolutely no confidence at all following yet another first round exit at the Players Championship, which follows a first round exit from Llandudno, and a Last 64 exit in Cardiff too. He looks a shadow of the player that reached the World Championship final in 2013 and the semi's in Sheffield in 2014, and I can't really see him going on much of a run this week unless he is able to grind out a couple of good results early on in the week.

Stephen Maguire meanwhile was in good form at the very start of the year and looked to be playing well after missing the Indian Open and turning up at the World Grand Prix. However, slightly surprising results in the Last 16 in Llandudno and Thailand this week do raise small questions about his form and of course this could be caused by the huge amount of pressure he has put himself under to retain his top 16 seeding for the Crucible. David Morris isn't the easier first round opponent you could ask for, as Mark Selby found out in the Last 64 of the UK Championships, and if he were to lose that match it would leave him sweating for the rest of the week waiting to see if anyone overtakes him. However, if he could land a couple of early wins this week and see those around him exit before he does, expect to see him loosen up a bit and start to play some more fluent snooker.

Neil Robertson is on quite an inconsistent run of form at the moment. He may have gotten to the Masters final at the start of the year but after that he exited the German Masters in a quarter-final decider, the Welsh Open in a shock Last 16 exit to Gary Wilson before winning the Gdynia Open. However, since that win he's again exited the last two tournaments at the Last 16 stage both of which have seen him lose to Mark Davis. It's tough to tell what the reason for these defeats is, and it could simply be the lack of consistency he's showing in his game right now, or maybe the pressure to live up for the heights of last season where he played well throughout the year, but he hasn't gotten too close to doing the same this season.

Ricky Walden has had a very good season this time around meanwhile, and that has been particularly evident once again in Asia. Winning the International Championships in November provided his biggest career title in terms of prize money, while he's also made a final at the recent Indian Open and still got to the Welsh Open quarter-finals, despite also suffering at times this season with a shoulder problem. One of Ricky's traits is how well he seems to adapt to the more sticky conditions in China and all of the humidity as China is the scene of all three of his ranking event triumphs. Overall, Ricky has had one of his best ever seasons as a professional and he'll be keen to finish off well now with a good run at this event to try and set-up a performance that can at least equal his World Championship semi-final in 2013.

Quarter Winner: Ricky Walden

Quarter 3

Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Robin Hull or Yan Bingtao W/O Ronnie O'Sullivan
Mark King Vs Jamie Burnett
Fergal O'Brien Vs Mike Dunn
Ali Carter Vs Kurt Maflin
Marco Fu Vs Ashley Carty
Matthew Stevens Vs Jamie Jones
Anthony McGill Vs Alfie Burden
Shaun Murphy Vs Jamie Cope

After Ronnie O'Sullivan's withdrawal the top players in this section of the draw are now Masters champion Shaun Murphy, Marco Fu and Ali Carter. However, there are many other guys in quarter number three with loads to play for in terms of Crucible seedings and tour survival. The main candidates to get into that all important top 32 are all in this section with Anthony McGill provisionally 32nd and around £1,000 clear of Matthew Stevens, with McGill playing Burden and Stevens playing Jones and both are tough games. Mark King sits around £3,000 behind McGill with an equally tough game himself against Jamie Burnett but once again there is still potential for him to get into the all important top 32. In terms of tour survival and the end of season money list, Robin Hull may possibly have been helped out as his wildcard round match is effectively a Last 64 game thanks to Ronnie O'Sullivan's withdrawal and he is around £12,000 behind 64th on the end of season list so the extra £3,500 for winning against Yan Bingtao would be enormous if he could do it. Jamie Cope in 62nd and Alfie Burden in 63rd aren't save yet either with Burden roughly £6,000 and Burden £7,000 clear of 65th placed Joe Swail, while Swail has also qualified for this tournament.

Mark King as I've already identified could do with a good run this week to get back into the top 32 ahead of the World Championships. He played well at least weeks Players Championship finals where he saw off Barry Hawkins before pushing in form Judd Trump very close, and was actually distracted in frame five when looking good to win it, by a power cut at the venue. Mark is a very gritty player, but when he's confident he's as good as anyone else in the top 32 and it's easy to underestimate him as a player given his not so easy on the eye style, but he is a former top 16 player, and with no O'Sullivan to face in the Last 32 now if he were to beat Jamie Burnett, who knows he could have another good run this week.

Ali Carter of course still has his seeding frozen at 13 as it will be for the World Championships after the amount of tournaments he's missed this season due to his treatment for cancer at the back end of 2014. Since then Ali has struggled really to get a foot in the door results wise, and suffered yet more misfortune by not being able to get a visa for the Indian Open, which means in turn that he's not particularly 100% match sharp having not played now for a full month in competition and he's not actually played in China since last years China Open where he did make it to the latter stages. However, when you consider that everyone else he's coming up against at the moment is so match sharp and perhaps not as rusty as he will be, then i find it tough to tip him to do overly well in this event as a whole.

Marco Fu is struggling as well just a little bit at the moment. After several unconvincing performances at the Welsh Open he's not made it past the Last 32 of the Gdynia Open, Grand Prix or Players Championship (where he actually lost from 3-1 ahead against Neil Robertson on Tuesday), and the fact that he was forced to pull out of India with visa issues has not helped him, as he too hasn't really played as much snooker in 2015 as most of the other players, having failed to qualify for February's German Masters. The thing with Marco is that he always tries 100% and can come into decent form really at any time because of this if things just click for him, and perhaps this could be the week for him.

Shaun Murphy was the form man on tour before skipping the Indian Open to stay fresh for the seasons remainder, but since then while he's still striking the ball pretty well, he's not quite getting the luck and results that he needs. A poor performance at the World Grand Prix was followed by a Last 16 exit at the Players Championship where as i say, he was striking it well but not quite getting things to go his way, while also being rather disgruntled with the playing conditions. However, he's still very confident after the season he's had so far and i expect him to come good this week and show us all once again why he's one of the main contenders for this years World Championships. The form he's showed this year as well as the self-belief and improvements to his all round game, make him a big force to come up against.

Quarter Winner: Shaun Murphy

Quarter 4

Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Stuart Bingham Vs Peter Lines or Yuan Sijun
Michael White Vs Ken Doherty
Joe Swail Vs Zak Surety
Robert Milkins Vs Nigel Bond
Joe Perry Vs David Gilbert
Anthony Hamilton Vs Zhou Yuelong or Zhang Yong
Matt Selt Vs Elliot Slessor
Mark Selby Vs Mark Joyce

The World Champion Mark Selby and recent Players Championship winner Joe Perry along with Championship League champion Stuart Bingham in this bottom quarter may be safe in terms of their spots at the Crucible but there are still players in this quarter with something to play for in terms of that and of course the end of season listings for tour spots. Michael White and Robert Milkins both in this quarter have chances of making the top 16 if Stephen Maguire slips up this week. Both would need big runs though and as they are due to meet in the Last 16 they can't both get them. White is presently about £9,000 behind and Milkins is even further away trailing by £19,000. As for Joe Swail he currently sits in 65th place on the end of season money list and is only £6,000 behind 64th placed Tom Ford who he needs to leapfrog before the end of the season and of course, Tom is not in the tournament so with a good result or two he could be breathing right down his neck by the end of the week.

Michael White comes into this week as a recent ranking event winner in India but after two tough games against Robert Milkins at the World Grand Prix and Martin Gould in Thailand last week, he's still looking for his first win as a full ranking event winner. He also has it in the back of his mind that he can still qualify for the Crucible with a run this week and that is surely something that will spur him on, which is of course dangerous to those around him with the confidence he'll be oozing after that Mumbai triumph. After those tough couple of weeks since that I've mentioned, hopefully now he'll have come back to Earth following the March that he's had, and if he is as focussed and determined as ever, who knows what this week could bring.

Robert Milkins is in the same boat as Michael White, although a much bigger amount of money adrift from Maguire, thanks in part to a 4-0 thrashing he received in a big surprise exit to Chris Wakelin in Thailand. Prior to this Milkins seemed to be playing decent snooker with an Indian quarter-final and a Gdynia quarter-final under his belt, but he really needs to get a couple of early wins this week to start building his confidence back up, and momentum too after admitting that he was tired following that shock Players Championship finals defeat last week. It was a miraculous semi-final at the International Championship semi-finals that helped him to get in the top 16 for the Masters though, so who knows... he could always do the same again this week.

Joe Perry meanwhile will be on cloud nine after achieving his "dream" of winning a full ranking event by taking home the £100,000 top prize as the Players Champion beating Mark Williams 4-3 from 3-0 down in Thailand. He thoroughly deserves to have gotten that first full ranking title under his belt after working so hard over the course of his long career as a professional and it's only now that he's starting to play his very best snooker. You could certainly see this coming after winning an Asian Tour event in January and reaching the Indian Open quarter-finals, coupled with the series of good runs he has in ranking events across 2014 as a whole. Although, thinking about his chances in this event, with such a short turnaround for Joe it may be tough for him to come straight back down to Earth and ready to play in yet another event after a busy month for him, and with a tough draw with David Gilbert in the first round and a possible Last 16 with Mark Selby he'll have a tough ride ahead this week if he is again to make the latter stages.

Mark Selby has had a rough season as World Champion, with this now being his last event before he goes back to Sheffield to defend his title. Other than a German Masters title, Shanghai Masters semi-finals and a European Tour win right at the very beginning of the new season, Mark has had some relatively poor results by his usually consistent standards. Recently he's suffered Last 16 exits at the Welsh Open, Players Championship Finals and the World Grand Prix with two of those being against opposition he would normally dispatch in Brecel and Gould, while he had several chances to beat Mark Williams in Thailand last week as he lost 4-3 from 3-1 up. He struggled too at the Gdynia Open losing in the Last 32 and he seems to not be playing with anywhere near the same confidence with which he started the season, following his Crucible crowning moment. Mark is still a very gritty and determined character though and there is certainly no ruling him out of winning this title or at least running deep through the draw this week.

Finally, Stuart Bingham is another man that will be high on confidence after yet another good season on tour. His Asian dominance has been there for all to see again this season as he won the Shanghai Masters but also another Asian Tour event, and just last week he reached the Players Championship semi's which followed making the last four at the Grand Prix and his gruelling Championship League win earlier in the year. Overall, Bingham has been in good form throughout the year despite the odd blip in form here or there and with the likes of Ricky Walden and Joe Perry he seems to have dominated things in China and Asia as a whole this season as the three of them have been winning or thereabouts in many of the major Asian events. The only thing missing from a good second half to he season that's seen a number of semi-finals in major events since making another UK semi-final, is of course another major title to go with Shanghai Masters triumph of earlier in the season. For me, Bingham is becoming now one of the tours most consistent players and that will surely yield more titles as he seems to play in almost every event and turns up to each event pretty match fit and raring to go, making him more of a contender now that he's ever been.

Quarter Winner: Stuart Bingham

Tournament Runner-Up: Ricky Walden

Tournament Winner: Stuart Bingham


Whoever the winner is this week it will fill them with confidence ahead of the big one next month, and with the amount of players fighting for different things all over the place this week, it's certainly going to be a hard fought victory for whoever comes through and another good week of snooker for us fans to watch on Eurosport once again. I'll be back throughout the week with regular round by round updates, and I hope you all enjoy the event wherever you are.

FANTASY LEAGUE: Points Update and China Open Info

First things first it's been a while since the last update with the Players Championship following the World Grand Prix so quickly and not giving me time to do a proper update and with the China Open following closely I've had time to update things this time around along with releasing information on how players will be priced up for China.

First up here is the latest points table along with the money each player has leftover in the Piggy Bank:

1st: Andrew Brooker 585 points (+ 5.1 million Leftover)
2nd: Gary 487 points (+ 1.3 million Leftover)
3rd: Ezgi Ulutas 472 points ( + 2.2 million Leftover)
4th: Michael Coudray 463 points  (+ 2 million Leftover)
5th: Sean 438 points (+ 7.4 million Leftover)
6th: Gorkem Kurt 429 points (+ 1.1 million Leftover)
7th: SnookerFollower 428 points (+ 2.8 million Leftover)
8th: Guillermo 401 points (+ 0 million Leftover)
9th: Anthony Ward 388 points (+ 4.6 million Leftover)
10th: LTD 387 Points (+ 0 million Leftover)
11th: Kjetil 337 points (+ 11.7 million Leftover)
12th: TungstenDarts 301 points (+ 4.2 million Leftover)


So, with two tournaments left of the season then, it's looking close everywhere apart from between 1st and 2nd place but that can still all change with the World Championships being a double points event of course. Anyway, it's time to get on to this weeks China Open up first.

China Open (Deadline Monday 30th March at 3.30am UK Time)

For this event you will have the usual 8 million to pick your two players plus anything you have leftover and as there are 64 players I'm not going to price them up individually, but will say that they will be priced up in the usual way, by current world ranking with the same pricing brackets used for the Welsh and Gdynia Opens in February.


Otherwise, if you have any questions please tweet me in the usual way, otherwise enjoy another week of tipping.