2016/2017 Snooker Season Preview

It does not feel like too much time at all since Mark Selby completed the season by winning his second world title and since then of course 12 players have earned two year professional tour cards during Qualifying School, but we're now all set to go again as qualifying for the first three events of next season gets underway.

There is plenty to talk about ahead of this new term. A couple of announcements came out today from the WPBSA about Leo Fernandez and Matt Selt. A lot of exciting players have earned their tour cards for the first time and we have a whole host of new events to look forward to.

Leo Fernandez and Matt Selt

Today we heard two major pieces of news from the tour regarding a couple of it's members. First I will deal with the news regarding Matt Selt. Selt was suspended from participating in the Riga Masters and the Paul Hunter Classic for bringing the game into disrepute after some his choice language on Twitter appears to be the thing that has gotten him into trouble.

Selt has been given the right to appeal.

Then there was the news about Leo Fernandez. Fernandez earned a two year tour card for 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 via the Asian order of merit, but he was able to play in many events last season as a Q School Top up. In World Championship Qualifying he took on Gary Wilson and lost out 10-4. The match was reported to the WPBSA for suspicious betting patterns on the match and it has been decided that Fernandez has a case to answer in relation to a breach of the betting rules. The case will now go to hearing and Fernandez has been suspended until the conclusion of the hearing (date to be confirmed) and the conclusion of the case.

Indian Open, World Open and Riga Masters Qualifying

With that slightly sadder note out of the way, this weekend we have the start of the first three qualifying events of the new season and of course in this early season we have players that will have chosen their events wisely so certain top players will be missing.

Missing from the Indian Open: A lot of players decided not to enter the Indian Open when it was last played in March 2015, so Michael White will finally defend his title. However the likes of Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Mark Allen, Ding Junhui, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Joe Perry and Liang Wenbo are the most notable absentees.

Missing from the World Open: Straight after that is the World Open qualifying, last won by Shaun Murphy in March 2014, so just the two and a bit years to wait to defend his title. As the event will be in China I understand that the matches of the top two Chinese players, defending champion and world champion will be held over to the main venue as is becoming the norm. There are many less absentees from this one but nonetheless Mark Allen and Ronnie O'Sullivan will not be in qualifying for this one.

Missing from the Riga Masters: The Riga Masters for 2016 is conducted on a random draw which is the main change to note, after the European Tour disbanded at the end of last season. Opting out of this one are Shaun Murphy, Ricky Walden, Ding Junhui, Barry Hawkins, Liang Wenbo, Michael White and yet again Ronnie O'Sullivan.


New events and changes for 2016/2017

We have plenty of new events for this season to keep us all excited with the tours development and to make sure we are all on our toes. The home series is the exciting one and my pick of the changes as in addition to the Welsh Open (which retains its usual place in the calendar) we will have the English Open (October), the Irish Open (November) and the Scottish Open (December).

The European Open has also been added to the calendar and this is all set to take place in Romania in October 2016.

The World Grand Prix has been moved to February but will still be for the top 32 on a one year money list up to the German Masters (the week before the Grand Prix). The Players Championship will then take place in March for the top 16 on the one year money list, so that after the Grand Prix there is the Welsh Open and Gibraltar Open to create ranking movement in between these events, along with the Snooker Shoot-Out which has been made into a ranking event for the first time. As I understand it the reason for this is as I mentioned, to create ranking movement in between the Grand Prix and Players Championship. In coming years I can see these sort of events building snookers own end of season series, prior to the World Championship.

For an example of what I mean, take 5 minutes out of your day to read up on the "Fed Ex Cup" in Golf which is hugely successful and adds a lot more excitement to the end of the season than in the years prior to its introduction to the PGA Tour.


Players to watch

As always we have plenty of new players to the tour and a lot of young players now on the tour. I'm going to go ahead and try to pick out players to watch or players that I believe have the most potential to light up the tour in the next year or two.

Yan Bingtao

After having his tour card deferred for a year World Cup winner Yan Bingtao is now on the tour an has at least two years to make his impression and get inside the world's top 64. Based on the rise of his world cup partner Zhou Yuelong it honestly should not be a problem for him, especially given the potential he has already shown. I witnessed live at the venue Yan's win against Shaun Murphy in the Champion of Champions and the feeling you got from watching him was that he could be something special. Later on against Neil Robertson he played well again over the longer format of best-of-11 (as opposed to the best-of-7 earlier in the day). I look forward to seeing this young man's progress.

Zhao Xintong

What is there to say about Zhao Xintong? Well he's proven himself in matches against professionals a number of times already. A year ago he just missed out on qualification for the tour through Q School and earned the "IBSF nomination" for this year after losing in the IBSF amateur final to Pankaj Advani who turned down the tour card that goes with that. In World Championship qualifying no less Zhao overcame Rod Lawler before narrowly losing out to Kurt Maflin. He also beat Stuart Carrington 6-0 in International Qualifying in 2015. In the 2014 Shanghai Masters he beat Matt Selt and then Marco Fu and he is renowned for his heavy scoring which could win him a lot of matches in the next couple of years.

Sam Craigie

Sam Craigie earned his tour card for the next two years during the EBSA play-offs. I like Craigie a lot as a player after watching his held over match in the International Championship against Ding Junhui on the TV. He handled himself well and could easily have gotten over the line there in that match. At a European Tour event earlier in the year he whitewashed Peter Lines before losing 4-2 to Shaun Murphy having taken the early lead. As well as all of this he won the SnookerBacker classic earlier in the year, just prior to competing in those EBSA play-offs, against some of the best amateurs in the country and his heavy scoring helped him out there. The first three qualifying matches coming up this week could really be big, particularly if he can get wins in a couple of them to boost his confidence early on in the season, and set up some good things to come.


I'm looking forward to seeing how plenty of other players go on in addition to this including rookie of the year last year Darryl Hill and my choice in that category Rhys Clark. Also there are another couple of new Chinese players like Wang Yuchen and Fang Xiongman who have earned their tour cards. Young Thai Boonyarit Keattikun could also be worth looking out for, earning his place after winning the World Under 21 title beating Zhao Xintong 6-2 on the way and Wang Yuchen 7-0, in addition to only dropping one frame in six best-of-7 frame matches in the group stages.


That's all for now and I have to say that if some of the new players live up to their billing and these new events capture the imagination then this could be one incredible season of snooker.

New Tour Players Confirmed

Qualifying School for the new tour professionals has come to a close today and we now have the 12 players that have come through.

Christopher Keogan and Chinese players Chen Zhe, Fang Xiongman and Cao Yupeng who fell off of the tour at the end of the 2015/2016 were able to earn two year tour cards from event one.

As for event two this saw another four players come through in the shape of Michael Georgiou, John Astley, David John and Alex Borg.

On top of that four players earned tour cards by a Q School order of merit which combined both event one and event two in terms of frames won. Jamie Barrett, Ian Preece and Adam Duffy earned theirs by getting to the penultimate round of both events before losing out. The final player to come through was Craig Steadman after he lost in the final round of event two to Michael Georgiou.

Some of these players that have come through have been on tour before while others have competed in professional competition before as a top-up or a wildcard, so here are a few thoughts and facts on each.

Chen Zhe - Zhe was on the tour in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons after coming through Q School in 2012. His most notable result was making the semi-finals of the first Asian Tour event of his first season in June 2012 beating Tom Ford and Ben Woollaston along the way. He ended that first season ranked 78 but his second season did not live up to the same standards and he finished well outside of the top 64. Since then he has been unlucky, losing in the final round of Q School in 2015.

Cao Yupeng - Cao Yupeng was a regular on the tour and only dropped off at the end of the season so it is pleasing to see him come back on at the first attempt. It was only one poor season last season that saw him fall just outside of the top 64, having two seasons earlier made the Wuxi Classic quarter-finals as well as a quarter-final on the Asian Tour. It is always worth remembering that Yupeng has also competed at the Crucible where he beat Mark Allen in 2012 to make the Last 16.

Fang Xiongman - The final Chinese player to come through in Fang Xiongman is a 23 year old who is on the tour for the first time. Xiongman has had some victories against professionals previously, beating Jamie Jones as a wildcard in the 2015 Shanghai Masters. Other than that he has mostly completed on the Asian Tour with the odd victory against Chinese professionals like Zhang Anda and Tian Pengfei.

Christopher Keogan - Christopher Keogan has made it on to the tour for the first time having regularly competed in professional events over the last couple of seasons. Impressively he beat recently relegated pro's Joel Walker and Lu Chenwei on the way to earning his tour card in Q School event one. He has competed on TV before playing Shaun Murphy in one of the European Tour events at the back end of 2015, where he lost 4-1. In 2014 World Championship qualifying he beat professional of the time Michael Leslie 10-6 which is one of his rare victories in against a tour player in pro competition.

Adam Duffy - Adam Duffy is one of the more impressive players to have qualified. He has put behind him the disappointment of losing a final frame decider in the final round of the EBSA play-offs in April which saw Sam Craigie earn a tour card. Duffy earned a spot on the professional tour in 2011 and after a good season, was able to climb into the top 64 and stay on for the following season. Despite a poorer season in 2012/2013 he made it up to 60 in the world but dropped off of the tour after another poor year in 2014. He was impressive in the 2014/2015 season playing as an amateur where he reached the final round of World Championship qualifying before losing out 10-8 to Jamie Jones. Then having another go at Q School in 2015 he lost out in a final round decider to Eden Sharav.

Jamie Barrett - Barrett has competed a number of times in Q School and in European Tour events but easily the most impressive thing about his achievement in getting on the tour this year so soon after the death of his wife, which shows a great amount of mental strength and perseverance. Here's hoping that as a tour rookie he does everyone proud.

Ian Preece - Ian lost out in the penultimate round of both Q School events to former tour players in Chen Zhe and John Astley that went on to earn their tour cards back also. He has had stints on tour quite a while ago and is the IBSF Amateur Champion from 1999. His best result in his time on tour came in the 2009 Welsh Open where he qualified for the Last 32.

Craig Steadman - Craig Steadman fell off of the tour at the end of 2015/2016 by a small margin which will have disappointed him after he qualified for the World Championships at the Crucible in 2015. Making the penultimate round of event one and the final round of event two was enough for Steadman to get a place back on tour at the first attempt via the Q School order of merit. A good season in 2014/2015 also saw him make it into the quarter-finals of the Lisbon Open.

John Astley - John Astley made it back on to the tour after beating Peter Lines and Lu Chenwei amongst others in event two, both of whom had only just dropped off of the tour. Astley chose to take some time off after dropping off of the tour at the end of the 2014/2015 season. He even appeared in Comedy Drama 'The Nap' which was staged at the Crucible showing he had more than one string to his bow. Other than the odd good result Astley has not really reached the heights that he would hope to on tour and that could soon change over the next couple of years.

Michael Georgiou - Georgiou is back on the tour at the first attempt after dropping off at the end of last season. He will have been disappointed to fall off as results were very few and fair between after he won three qualifying rounds to make the Last 32 of the Australian Open at the start of the 2015/2016 season. He also made the Last 16 of the Welsh Open in 2015 and on both of these occasions he lost out to eventual champion John Higgins.

David John - On the way to victory in event two, John overcame two players in Tony Drago and Zak Surety who had just dropped off of the tour. The Welshman also had a go at Q School last season and off of the back of that entered Australian Open qualifying as a top-up player and got a 5-1 win against Alfie Burden.

Alex Borg - Malta's Alex Borg is back on tour having most recently fallen away at the end of the 2014/2015 season. He was very over the course of those last couple of seasons he had on tour and he did not come particularly close to staying on after his two years. He will certainly be hoping for a lot more in the next couple of years.


Those are the twelve from Q School then but there are plenty of other new and returning players to the tour who have come from all sorts of avenues and I will mention some of these in a piece I am hoping to do in the coming week previewing the new season, looking at some more of these newbies, players to watch, the new events on the calendar and who will need good runs in tournaments through the seasons to save their tour places.

Fantasy Snooker: FINAL RESULTS

After a fantastic 2016 World Snooker Championships the Cue Action Blog Fantasy Snooker League for the 2015/2016 has drawn to a close. Two of the nineteen players involved managed to pick Mark Selby and Ding Junhui who were the two finalists, but of course only one could win the competition.

Here are the final results:

1st: Michael Coudray: 893 Ding (118) and Selby (114)

2nd: Gorkem Kurt: 878 13 million Ding (118) and Selby (114)

3rd: Igor: 773 O’Sullivan (30) and Higgins (52)

4th: SnookerFollower: 671 Trump (18) and O’Sullivan (30)

5th: Gary: 658 10.6 million Robertson (8) and Higgins (52)

6th: TungstenDarts: 625 16.6 million Robertson (8) and O’Sullivan (30)

7th: Guillermo: 618 11 million Trump (18) and O’Sullivan (30)

8th: Chris Watts: 607 O’Sullivan (30) and Trump (18)

9th: Anthony Ward: 598 8.5 million Trump (18) and Baird (22)

10th: Kjetil: 576 Robertson (8) and O’Sullivan (30)

11th: Josh Cooper: 481 13.1 million Murphy (8) and Robertson (8)

12th: Ezgi Ulutas: 454 17.1 million O’Sullivan (30) and Trump (18)

13th: Kai: 446 Trump (18) and O’Sullivan (30)

14th: LTD: 442 O’Sullivan (30) and Robertson (8)

15th: Andrew Brooker: 436 O’Sullivan (30) and Robertson (8)

16th: John McBride: 433 23.7 million O’Sullivan (30) and Murphy (8)

17th: Spanish Snooker Blog: 431 Murphy (8) and Robertson (8)

18th: Kellie Barker: 387 Robertson (8) and Trump (18)

19th: Phil Mudd: 363 12.1 million Robertson (8) and Trump (18)

Congratulations then to Michael Coudray who walks off with the crown (though there was no actual prize for 2015/2016 Fantasy Snooker).

According to the provisional 2016/2017 calendar the first full tournament of next season should begin on June 22nd with the Riga Masters so that is when I will be back with more Fantasy League action.

Don't forget to tweet or message me @CueActionBlog on Twitter if you wish to be a part of next years Fantasy League and also feel free to get in touch if you want to donate a prize (The Fantasy Snooker League is not a bad way to sponsor my blog...)

McManus rolls back the years to make Crucible Semi's

A stunning display from Alan McManus has seen him get back into the semi-finals of the World Championships at the age of 45, as he came back from 11-9 down with four consecutive frames to beat fellow Scot and good friend John Higgins 13-11. Let's not forget that Angles came through has already beaten another Scot and friend Stephen Maguire in the Last 32 and came back from 9-7 to beat Ali Carter 13-11 in the Last 16. In qualifying he overcame Jimmy Robertson (who I heavily fancied to qualify) 10-2, David Morris 10-6 and Michael Wasley 10-5 so it has been an incredible run and the thing that is most impressive is the scoring. A certain publication that shall remain nameless talked about McManus before his quarter-final match with Higgins saying that he was "Back laying a sneaky snooker or two and cobbling together the odd unconvincing 30 break". I hope the writer of that one was watching his final session against Higgins lets just say that much.

He will now play another qualifier in Ding Junhui who came through his match with Mark Williams without anything close to a test, winning with a session to spare. Many people have tweeted me saying "Ding is not really a qualifier". I recognise that as a man who until this year had been in the top 16 or a long period of time and was world number one not too long ago, it is hard to see him as a qualifier. At the same time these people should recognise that Ding has had to come through three qualifying rounds the same as Alan McManus has done and the same as the other 14 players who qualified at Ponds Forge for their trip to the Crucible. It takes some doing, and it takes a lot of mental strength to deal with such a fall from grace. The wisdom of Terry Griffiths will certainly have helped but the Chinese player has really shown all of the determination that it requires to become a world champion.

In the other semi-final we have Mark Selby and Marco Fu. Firstly, Selby overcame another qualifier in Kyren Wilson 13-8, after leading 6-0 at one stage and in the end it could have been a lot closer in my opinion had Wilson capitalised more on a poor second session from the current world number one.

As for Marco Fu he played out one of the all-time Crucible classics against Barry Hawkins. Hawkins was not at the races after his victory against Ronnie O'Sullivan in round two and soon found himself in a seemingly hopeless position, 9-1 down to the man from Hong Kong. Hawkins came back to just trail 10-6 going into the final session and that deficit was soon reduced further to 10-9. Fu took a very important frame twenty before the final mid-session break to lead 11-9 and then went one away at 12-9. He missed opportunities in the next to seal a 13-9 victory and soon found himself just 12-11 up and almost certain to go to a decider at 60-0 down with just 75 points remaining. A remarkable clearance though saw him avoid any nervous final frames and book his place at the one table set-up in Sheffield for the first time since 2006.

Quarter-Final Results:

Alan McManus 13-11 John Higgins
Ding Junhui 13-3 Mark Williams
Marco Fu 13-11 Barry Hawkins
Mark Selby 13-8 Kyren Wilson

Semi-Final Draw:

Ding Junhui Vs Alan McManus - Prediction: 17-12 victory for Ding Junhui
Mark Selby Vs Marco Fu - Prediction: 17-14 to Mark Selby

I cannot quite get over the brilliant line-up that we have this year. Starting with the first semi-final many people thought that going through qualifying was the kick that Ding Junhui needed to really sort himself out and finally have a run at winning the World Championship. He will not have it all his own way against Alan McManus as we have already seen in this tournament. McManus has plenty of belief in himself and all the experience to undo Ding on the one-table situation at the Crucible. However, I also think there is a bit to be said for the day off that Ding has had compared to Alan's late night battle and whether that will have a bearing on the first session or two in this contest.

As for Selby and Fu that really is a tough one to call. Selby showed more signs of his best against Kyren Wilson and is getting better as each round goes along, as you need to do at the Crucible if you're going to win the coveted prize. Fu though has played well himself. Against Ebdon he was on fire and the final session against McGill in round two he found that same touch after a bit of a slow burner. After Hawkins started slowly Fu was able to put himself a long way ahead and kept his cool brilliantly with a couple of crucial clearances to go 11-9 ahead and then win the match at 13-11. Fu has not been to the one table set-up as often as he should have been for a man of his quality, and for the amount of time that he has been in the game on top of that. He certainly will not be a pushover for Selby. The one up that the 'Jester from Leicester' has on the rest of the field is that he has been world champion. He knows how to handle the 17 days in Sheffield and come out on top. His best asset of grinding out results in sessions and matches when he has not fired on all cylinders has been in full force during this tournament but now is certainly the time for him to step up.


It's going to be a really exciting conclusion to this years World Championship, and with all the twists and turns I would not like to pick the player out of these four who will lift the trophy on Monday evening. Enjoy everyone.

Hawkins defeats O'Sullivan in Crucible second round

Ronnie O'Sullivan is out of the 2016 World Snooker Championships after losing a thrilling deciding frame to Barry Hawkins.

 

Hawkins had led 5-3 after the opening session and 9-7 after the second session before then leading 12-9 in the final session prior to the Rocket's comeback with three on the spin.

 

Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui and Alan McManus are the three qualifiers in the quarter-finals. McManus overturned a 9-7 deficit winning the first four of the session against Ali Carter and sharing the rest to come through 13-11.

 

Wilson had what he described as the strangest match of his career against Mark Allen. Wilson led 7-0 and was dominating the Northern Irishman until 5 in a row clawed him back. Two unfortunate frames at the end of the second session left him 11-5 behind. Allen made a game of it by taking the first four of the final session to trail only 11-9. Wilson held on to win the next two and win 13-9.

Ding Junhui was not quite on top form but it was enough to see him beat Judd Trump. A year ago Trump had thrashed Ding in a best-of-25 quarter-final but a year on and a round earlier it was the Chinese who took his revenge holding off a Trump fight back from 12-7 to 12-10 to fall over the line 13-10.

 

Mark Selby will now be one of the hot favourites despite having to cling on against Sam Baird. Selby lost four in a row from 11-7 to 11-11 before winning the last two to win 13-11 in classic 'Master of brinkmanship fashion'.

 

John Higgins is another of the hot favourites after his 13-8 victory over China Open and Players Championship finalist Ricky Walden. Walden missed chances in the final session to put a lot more heat on the Scot in what you felt could easily have been closer if Walden was on top form.

 

 

He will now take on Mark Williams who overcame his good friend Michael Holt to end a good season for the Hitman. Holt had beaten Neil Robertson in round one and was off to a good start when he took an early 4-1 lead. It did not last as Williams ended the opening session level at 4-4 and then took a 6-4 lead before winning another four in a row from 6-6 to lead 10-6 at the end of session two. Holt missed a golden chance to go into the final mid-session break only 11-9 behind but at 12-8 it was game over as it proved in the frame after the break.

 

The first man through was Marco Fu who beat rising star Anthony McGill quite comfortably in the end. Neither player was at his best after good wins that they both had in round one, and the man from Hong Kong will certainly need to raise his game to beat Hawkins.

 

Last 16 Results:

 

Alan McManus 13-11 Ali Carter

John Higgins 13-8 Ricky Walden

Ding Junhui 13-10 Judd Trump

Mark Williams 13-8 Michael Holt

Marco Fu 13-8 Anthony McGill

Barry Hawkins 13-12 Ronnie O'Sullivan

Kyren Wilson 13-9 Mark Allen

Mark Selby 13-11 Sam Baird

 

Quarter-Final Draw:

John Higgins Vs Alan McManus - Prediction: 13-7 to Higgins

Mark Williams Vs Ding Junhui - Prediction: 13-9 to Ding Junhui

Barry Hawkins Vs Marco Fu - Prediction: Hawkins to win but not easily 13-9 or 13-10.

Mark Selby Vs Kyren Wilson - Prediction: Wilson to keep shining with a 13-12 win.

 

Those are my thoughts then on the next four matches we have to look forward to over the best-of-25 frames. The form that Higgins has shown makes me think that he will beat McManus easily enough, particularly as Carter's poor temperament cost him dearly and Higgins has one of the best temperaments in the game.

 

Ding and Williams should be close, but after Ding's two tight victories so far I think that he is battle hardened and Williams has had two slightly more comfortable games so far despite not playing for me at his complete best. There may be another gear in the Welshman for this contest.

 

Fu's best chance against Hawkins could be in the opening session to take an early lead if Barry shows any signs of a hangover after his win against O'Sullivan. The second session of this match could prove the key as this is the match where the second and third sessions are played almost consecutively in the 2.30pm and 7pm time slots on Wednesday.

 

Finally, Selby has had to grind his way through so far and Wilson has almost ended up doing a similar thing. Kyren very much reminds me of Selby in terms of his great temperament and battling qualities and his long potting so far has been superb in this tournament and that was the key to his commanding early lead against Mark Allen. As for Selby, he felt he was not match sharp early on in Sheffield after missing the tournaments in Manchester and Beijing coming into the World's. Having played himself in now he could be very dangerous but this match has the feel of a very close finish on Wednesday morning.

 

 

There you have it then. That is the line-up for the last 8 fully analysed and scrutinised by myself, though I have hardly been in top form in this tournament so far so let's hope that can change. Much more Crucible drama is coming your way so sit back and enjoy the final week of this years World Championships.

Seeds stumble in round one

The top names have stumbled in the first round of this years World Championships after defending champion Stuart Bingham, UK Champion Neil Robertson and last year's runner-up Shaun Murphy all fell at the first hurdle.

 

Bingham lost on the opening day in a thriller against fellow Essex player Ali Carter. The match went all the way to a decider after Carter had led at 8-5 and in the end it was the Captain that got over the line.

 

Shaun Murphy then fell in a very high quality match with Anthony McGill. In the 18 frames played between them 16 breaks of 50 or above were compiled with both players making two century breaks. In the end the damage was done as McGill won four in a row from 6-4 down to lead 8-6 and the last four frames were shared as the Scot ran through a 10-8 winner.

 

Neil Robertson was also outplayed in another contest that saw both players make two centuries each, against Michael Holt. Holt took an early 3-0 lead only to be pulled back to 3-3. From there though he won another three on the spin to lead 6-3 after their opening session. Coming back that evening the Hitman strolled into a 9-4 advantage and after the Australian got a couple of frames back Holt held himself together well to come through a 10-6 winner.

 

The other seeds to fall so far saw Stephen Maguire lose the all Scottish match with Alan McManus. Maguire took an early 3-1 lead in the match but then lost the next five to trail 6-3 after the opening session. McManus won the first on Sunday too edging 7-3 up but Maguire soon pegged him back to just one ahead. In the end though McManus pulled clear again and went on to win 10-7.

10-7 was also the scoreline when Michael White fell to Sam Baird who is now the lowest ranked player left in the competition.

 

There were wins though for Ricky Walden after he came from behind to beat Robbie Williams 10-8. He now plays John Higgins who had four centuries in thrashing Ryan Day 10-3.

Mark Allen was also a 10-3 winner against Debutant Mitchell Mann, while Mark Williams came through easier than expected against Graeme Dott. Marco Fu was mightily impressive in demolishing Peter Ebdon.

 

2014 champion Mark Selby has made it through as well despite a scare from Robert Milkins. Milkins was 7-2 behind after the opening session but won the first four on Tuesday morning to get back into it at 7-6. Selby though did what he had to and grinded out the remaining frames to win 10-6.

 

 

Judd Trump fought back from 7-3 down against Liang Wenbo to deny an all Chinese Last 16 clash at the Crucible after Ding Junhui came from 8-6 down winning the last four frames of his match with Martin Gould 10-8.

 

The final first round match went the distance in a thriller between Kyren Wilson and Joe Perry. Both players were superb on the night but it was Wilson that just held his nerve to get himself over the line in the final frame.

 

Last 32 Results:

Ali Carter 10-9 Stuart Bingham
Alan McManus 10-7 Stephen Maguire
Ricky Walden 10-8 Robbie Williams
John Higgins 10-3 Ryan Day
Judd Trump 10-8 Liang Wenbo
Ding Junhui 10-8 Martin Gould
Mark Williams 10-4 Graeme Dott
Michael Holt 10-6 Neil Robertson
Anthony McGill 10-8 Shaun Murphy
Marco Fu 10-2 Peter Ebdon
Barry Hawkins 10-5 Zhang Anda
Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-7 David Gilbert
Mark Allen 10-3 Mitchell Mann
Kyren Wilson 10-9 Joe Perry
Sam Baird 10-7 Michael White
Mark Selby 10-6 Robert Milkins

 

Last 16 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Ali Carter Vs Alan McManus
John Higgins Vs Ricky Walden
Ding Junhui Vs Judd Trump
Mark Williams Vs Michael Holt
Marco Fu Vs Anthony McGill
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Barry Hawkins
Mark Allen Vs Kyren Wilson
Mark Selby Vs Sam Baird

 

 

Well plenty of the favourites have bitten the dust so far and you have to wonder whether or not that will continue over the best-of 25 frames second round matches. We are already guaranteed one Qualifier in the quarter-finals with Carter and McManus playing each other and the way that the qualifiers played in round one could suggest that there's more success to come.

 

I was particularly impressed with Mark Allen and Marco Fu in round one as well as Michael Holt who is playing his best snooker in my opinion. John Higgins is one to watch in the top half after his performance against Ryan Day, though Ricky Walden has been in fine form reaching the Players Championship Final and the China Open final where he beat Higgins along the way.

 

It will be interesting to see how Ding continues as he looked really good mentally in his win over Martin Gould, and as that has been his missing link in previous years maybe now that the top half has opened up he could possibly have a run. Anthony McGill was impressive against Shaun Murphy and many will fancy him against Fu in what is sure to be a match that goes close. As I say though Fu played well against Ebdon in round one so he is not to be underestimated. Ronnie O'Sullivan may have had a little tantrum after his win against David Gilbert but Barry Hawkins will seriously have to up his performance from the Zhang Anda game if he is to have any say in the outcome there. Mark Selby looked a bit rusty in his first round win against Milkins after the time he took off but he should beat Sam Baird and then by the time the quarter-finals roll around he would be sharp and a serious contender once again for these championships.

THE BIG WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

The qualifiers have been completed. The draw has been made. Now it's time for the action as the World Snooker Championships get underway on Saturday morning, and boy do we have some cracking first round matches.

When we get going on Saturday morning Stuart Bingham will begin the defence of his World Title against a man in Ali Carter that has been to two World Championship finals himself. Marco Fu will play on table two at the same time against 2002 champion Peter Ebdon.

For the second year running Stephen Maguire plays a Scotsman in round one in his good friend Alan McManus. Shaun Murphy faces a repeat of his quarter-final from last year against Anthony McGill. Judd Trump will play eighteenth seed Liang Wenbo, who came from behind to stun him at the UK Championships. Ding Junhui, the seventeenth seed that no-one wanted to draw will play Martin Gould. Ronnie O'Sullivan starts his quest for another world title against International Championship runner-up David Gilbert. Nineteenth seed and Shanghai Masters champion Kyren Wilson plays the man that he defeated in the Last 32 in Shanghai, Joe Perry.

Debutant Mitchell Mann plays Mark Allen, while Robbie Williams on his third consecutive Crucible appearance as a qualifier takes on recent Players Championship and China Open runner-up Ricky Walden. Fourth seed Neil Robertson starts his bid against Michael Holt, while world number one Mark Selby faces a tough test against Robert Milkins. Plenty of world championship experience sits before the cracking match between 2006 champion Graeme Dott and twice World champion Mark Williams.

All of that comes before we even get to my favourite matches, the best-of-25 last 16 and quarter-final ties. In my opinion this could be a World Championships like no other and I am thrilled to be at the Crucible once more for the first weekend now that we know the line-up.

Quarter 1

Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Stuart Bingham Vs Ali Carter (Saturday 16th April 10am and 7pm UK time)
Stephen Maguire Vs Alan McManus (Saturday 16th April 2.30pm and 17th April 2.30pm)
Ricky Walden Vs Robbie Williams (Sunday 17th April 11am and 18th April 7pm)
John Higgins Vs Ryan Day (Monday 18th April 10am and 19th April 2.30pm)

Stuart Bingham could not have many tougher starts to his world title defence than someone of such quality and experience of Ali Carter. The season has always been building to this point for Bingham in my view. Last year he came to the Crucible as an underdog, but now the hunter has become the hunted and he'll be under the most extreme pressure to perform. Carter played well in qualifying other than the final session of his final qualifier against Dominic Dale when life was made quite a bit harder than it should have been. He knows what it takes to go the distance here in Sheffield having appeared in two finals. In fact, for many years, Carter would have been considered a better player than Bingham but health problems of course took him down the rankings but he is nearly back to the same quality that saw him reach the World final and UK semi's in 2012.

Day one will also see the beginning of this all Scottish tie between good friends Alan McManus and Stephen Maguire. The first thing to note here is that Maguire scrambled over the line in order to even qualify for the Championships, and this is the second year in a row he has done this, only to draw a Scottish player in round one. The last time that Maguire came through a first round match at the Crucible was on the way to the semi-finals in 2012. First round defeats in 2013 to Dechawat Poomjaeng, Ryan Day in 2014 and Anthony McGill will all be disappointing for the same reason. He lost them all in deciding frames. McManus meanwhile has qualified for the fourth season in a row. In 2013 and 2015 he lost in the opening round but the 2014 Championship is the one which sticks out. He beat John Higgins in round one that year before defeating Ken Doherty to make the quarter-finals where he lost to eventual champion Mark Selby. "Angles" has always been a solid player and his renaissance in recent years makes me think he can continue to trouble the seeded players like Maguire.

Ricky Walden will be excited to get going this year in the World Championships more than ever after the last month of play. It takes something really quite extraordinary to get two to ranking finals in two weeks when one tournament is in the UK and the next is in China. A poor season up to that point means that he will also be fresh and ready for the 17 day stint at the Crucible and his confidence will certainly be high. His draw against Robbie Williams in round one is one of only four qualifiers who are not in the top 32 so I am sure that deep down he would take that. Williams will have to score well if he is to trouble an in-form Walden over two sessions. He also now has that experience of appearing in two UK Championship semi-finals, a World semi-final and his first UK ranking event final, which must stand him good stead for the Crucible this year.

John Higgins against Ryan Day is another very tough match to pick. Day has found his form again this year and had quite a solid year, without really breaking through in any event. He has plenty of scoring power and the experience at the Crucible to give Higgins as good a challenge as any of the qualifiers, especially having beaten him in the World Championships previously. John Higgins though has probably had his best season for some time. A winner in Australia and at the International he also reached the UK quarter-finals and the semi-finals of the China Open to just give him an extra boost before Sheffield. If Higgins can really get his game going this year then he has a good chance of picking up another Crucible crown, as he has shown this season he still very much has what it takes. His safety play is probably the one thing that would set him apart from players like Day in what is always a nervy opening round, whoever you play.

Quarter Winner: Ricky Walden

Quarter 2

Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Judd Trump Vs Liang Wenbo (Wednesday 20th April 2.30pm and 21st April 1pm)
Martin Gould Vs Ding Junhui (Wednesday 20th April 10am and 7pm)
Mark Williams Vs Graeme Dott (Sunday 17th April 7pm and 18th April 2.30pm)
Neil Robertson Vs Michael Holt (Tuesday 19th April 10am and 7pm)

I do not think that Judd Trump could have asked for a worse man to play in round one than Liang Wenbo. In the UK Championships he completely lost the plot in losing 6-4 a match that he was cruising at 4-1. It is always worth a mention that no-one that has ever won the China Open has gone on to win the World Championship, though Trump came closest when he reached the final as a qualifier in 2011. The only thing you would say that year is that he was still an underdog and riding high from his maiden success. I get the feeling from many of his interviews after matches (win or lose) this season that the 2015/2016 campaign has been a confidence bashing one for the left hander. The thing that will annoy him will be matches and spells of pure brilliance being followed by average play at best. The China Open may have done a lot to save face this season but Liang could well have his number. The thing for the Chinese player is that having gone through qualifying he more than most will benefit from playing later on in the week, due to the great intensity that he plays with. He earned a lot of crowd support in the UK, as well as all of the confidence he would have gained by reaching the final in York. In the quarter of death, the last thing you want is to have a tough player like Liang in round one.

Martin Gould is by far the unluckiest man in the draw. He has Ding Junhui. Ding showed by how he blitzed through qualifying that he should not really have been at Ponds Forge in the first place. Although his record at the Crucible has never been fantastic, maybe going through qualifying is the kick that he needed to move forward and finally do well in Sheffield. Gould comes here as a ranking winner after winning the German Masters in February but some of his more recent displays will disappoint him. A 5-0 loss to a 15-year old Chinese wildcard in the China Open is probably not the best result you want to take to Sheffield. When he was last seeded in 2012 he lost out in round one to David Gilbert in a match I for one always thought Gilbert would win. For me Martin has to win the first session to have any chance of victory, but as I say going through qualifying may be the kick Ding Junhui needed.

Another tough match comes up between the two former world champions Mark Williams and Graeme Dott. Williams is obviously the seed and the favourite to win this match but he has not had a good year at all. Early exits in many events will not leave his confidence as high as it would have been last year, though he went on to lose heavily to Matthew Stevens in round one. He will be fresh and determined to put right his performances in recent World Championships. As for Graeme he did not convince me with the way that he came through qualifying and I feel he may need to raise his game a little to beat Williams, and as a qualifier having played three matches to reach this stage that is a very tough thing to do.

Neil Robertson should rightly be the favourite to win this quarter and one of the favourites for the title. He may well have gone on to win the title last year had he not lost in a high quality final session in the last eight to Barry Hawkins in which the pair were making centuries for fun. Earlier on in the season he won the UK Championships, Champion of Champions and only lost in the Masters quarter-finals in a match where Judd Trump made four centuries. The Australian seems to have mastered peaking for these big events, just like the Golfers do for the majors, tailoring their games to win the biggest titles. He missed the Players Championship finals and tight early exits in Beijing and Llandudno will leave him fresh having only played a couple of times since his Welsh Open final loss in February. He will be raring to go when he takes on Michael Holt, and is one of the worst draws that Holt could have gotten given that in the last couple of years the 2010 world champion has come out of the blocks like a raging bull.  

Quarter Winner: Neil Robertson

Quarter 3

Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Shaun Murphy Vs Anthony McGill (Saturday 16th April 2.30pm and 17th April 10am)
Marco Fu Vs Peter Ebdon (Saturday 16th April 10am and 7pm)
Barry Hawkins Vs Zhang Anda (Tuesday 19th April 7pm and 20th April 2.30pm)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs David Gilbert (Sunday 17th April 2.30pm and 18th April 10am)

Shaun Murphy is another one of the main contenders for the title this year. After coming so close last year, taking a while to get over the defeat and then coming back to his best he will be determined to go just that little bit better and lift the crown. Murphy is working as hard as ever and knows exactly how he has to play to win a title he won 11 long years ago. The win in Llandudno ended what had been a very poor spell and saw him play the snooker that he showed in last years Crucible campaign. He like Robertson is like a raging bull or a bulldozer when he gets on his form and in these long format matches you have to look at the players that can really get on a roll and reel frames off for fun and there are not that many out there. At last I feel like the Magician is comfortable not only with his game but with life in general. His first round opponent in Anthony McGill is one who he pulled away from in the latter stages of their quarter-final a year ago but over the best-of-19 it could be a tricky little test to get going.

Marco Fu and Peter Ebdon could contest an Crucible epic. Ebdon won his three matches to qualify after coming back from 9-3 down to beat Gerard Greene 10-9 at 2am in the second qualifying round before thrashing Ian Burns to finish. Ebdon's Vegan diet certainly gives him the energy and overall longevity to outlast anyone on the planet on the snooker table. Fu is always a tough player to beat but he will have to score well and put Ebdon under pressure early, because if he falls into Ebdon's trap then this could turn into a long scrappy match and that will rarely disfavour Ebdon.

For Barry Hawkins it is time to awake from his hibernation. Every year since making the final in 2013 he just seems to wake up and play some of his best snooker at the Crucible. It does not seem to matter how he plays for the rest of the season because he will still turn it on when he arrives at Sheffield in April. His season has seen a top quality performance, which came in January at the Ally Pally to reach the Masters final and for anyone underestimating Hawkins there is further evidence of why you should not. In the opening round he plays the second lowest ranked player remaining which is Zhang Anda. I was surprised to see Zhang qualify so fair play to him for that, and it will be interesting to see if he can raise his game for the occasion which he failed to against Joe Perry a year ago. If he rises to the occasion he could well give Hawkins a good game but I expect the Hawk to come through.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is once again many peoples pick for the world title as you would expect. In fact some people on Twitter have gone as far as giving him his place in the final already. It is incredibly foolish to assume that he will stroll through the draw, whether it turns out this way or not. He won the Masters, but no one put up a challenge that week. When he won the Welsh Open he was very close to his best and if he were to play like that for 17 days then that would be a different story altogether. The key factor here is whether Ronnie can keep his game at such a high level, and stay focussed and motivated mentally for the two and half weeks. David Gilbert in round one is not the easiest opponent he could ask for. He scores heavily and will come with as much support as Ronnie will have from the more vocal sections of his fan base.

Quarter Winner: Shaun Murphy

Quarter 4

Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Mark Allen Vs Mitchell Mann (Tuesday 19th April 2.30pm and 20th April 10am)
Joe Perry Vs Kyren Wilson (Wednesday 20th April 7pm and 21st April 7pm)
Michael White Vs Sam Baird (Sunday 17th April 7pm and 18th April 7pm)
Mark Selby Vs Robert Milkins (Monday 18th April 2.30pm and 19th April 10am)

Mark Allen is always an interesting character when it comes to the World Championships. In 2012 and 2013 he lost in the opening round to players that he should beat for a player of his class. In 2014 and 2015 he lost in a couple of tight affairs in the last 16 but this year there is evidence to say that he is playing better than ever. His win at the Players Championship Finals is one point beating Murphy in the semi-finals as he did in the first round of the Masters, historically a player he has struggled against. As well as this he had a semi-final in the Welsh Open where I thought he was fantastic, a semi-final in Shanghai and a final at the Champion of Champions as well as a win on the European Tour. By far his most prolific season. Missing out on the China Open means that he will be rested, prepared and raring to get out there for his first round match. In that match he takes on the only Crucible debutant for this year in Mitchell Mann. These matches against debutants can always go two ways. The player could rise to the occasion show some real quality and win, or he could freeze under the immense pressure and be beaten easily. Allen will be hoping to make it the latter and finish a great season in real style.

Joe Perry has landed one of the toughest draws out there in the confident Kyren Wilson. Wilson came through the qualifying competition fairly comfortably and he now has the time to rest and prepare for a real good slog at going far into this World Championships. He certainly has the belief in his high ability to not only beat Perry but march on far into the event. However, you can never underestimate a player with the experience and class that Perry possesses. Two years ago in the second round in Sheffield he had Ronnie on the ropes at 11-9 in the final session before O'Sullivan took the next four frames to secure victory. The gentleman also reached the semi-finals in both of the Welsh Open and Champion of Champions despite early exits in the UK and Masters this season. This is certainly another match that could go to the wire and there is no ruling the winner out of going on much further in the event too.

Michael White has had to work hard to earn his seeding for the World Championships. Last year he just missed out and then failed to come through the three qualifiers to make the Crucible. In 2013 he made the quarter-finals on debut and in 2014 he took the eventual champion Mark Selby to a first round decider. If he fires he could certainly get through a couple of matches but for me his temperament is still suspect in the sense that he is a very hot headed player and his safety game is still average and it will be difficult to do well here baring those two things in mind. In the opening round he takes on Sam Baird who will be hoping to do better second time around at the Crucible after a resounding first round lost on his debut in 2013. Baird is a heavy scorer and troubled top players in the past so there is no reason why he could not give the Welshman a run for his money here.

Mark Selby is almost a bit of enigma coming into this years World Championships. After a first round exit in the World Grand Prix he decided to withdraw from both of the Players Championship Finals and China Open for "personal reasons" that have remained unspecified. We all know how good a match player Selby is though, and this shone through in 2014 when he lifted this great title. This year he will need to be at his best right from the off when he takes on Robert Milkins. We all know how well Milkins can score and he will need to score heavily and take his chances against Selby who will surely attempt to grind him down in the safety department. Selby has been close with no cigar this season. Semi-finals in the UK and International Championships, quarter-finals in the Masters and Welsh Open all four of which resulted in defeats to the eventual winner. He has played pretty well with no reward for that.

Quarter Winner: Mark Allen

Predicted World Finalist: Neil Robertson

Predicted World Champion: Shaun Murphy


This is one of the most wide open World Championships ever in my opinion, a lot of people fancy Ronnie but it will not be that easy be any means. There are plenty of guys in the draw worth an each way bet that could provide some value and there are certainly going to be some value bets in round one based on how close some of these match-ups are.

Some people have criticised the BBC's coverage in previous years but there is still something special about the way that the World Championships is done by all involved. The punditry of Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and John Parrott will be class again I am sure. By the same token, I am sure that for viewers in Europe, Eurosport will do a good job of their coverage.

Now that you know who my tip is for the 2016 World Championships lets sit back, relax and enjoy 17 days of glorious snooker from the Crucible Theatre, whether you are in Sheffield to watch or viewing it from home. Of course there will be more from me as the tournament progresses with all the big news and my thoughts on the matches in upcoming rounds.