Selby and Murphy out while O'Sullivan and Trump scrape through in Manchester

World Champion Mark Selby was knocked out on a long third day at the English Open. Each of the Televised Last 64 games went to a deciding frame finish starting with Mark Selby who lost out to Liam Highfield in what is one of the bigger wins in his career so far. 

Shaun Murphy fell to Liang Wenbo in a Last 64 match that was a product of the unseeded draw and a very unfortunate draw for Murphy. Despite a valiant fightback from 3-1 behind and being in a healthy position in the decider, Liang pulled it out of the back to march on in what was one of the highlights on my first of two days at the snooker in Manchester this week. 

Ronnie O'Sullivan managed to get through in a decider against Zhao Xintong who made two centuries and an 80 clearance in that contest. O'Sullivan will now play Chris Wakelin in this afternoon's Last 32 after Wakelin saw off Anthony McGill for another of the days more surprising results, given the form of McGill. 

Judd Trump survived a scare in a match that was moved to a non-TV table after the others had overrun. Taking on English Amateur champion Jamie Bodle, he went 2-0 and 3-2 down before coming back to win 4-3 and set up a Last 32 match Martin Gould who have a few cracking matches in their past head to heads. 

Ali Carter also came through a decider against Akani Songsermsawad. Joining this match at 3-1 to Songsermsawad it seemed as though Carter was getting thoroughly frustrated, having a couple of hit and hopes out of snookers in frame five that were not fully punished by Songsermsawad who did have a couple of chances to win. After stealing that frame, Carter grew in strength and completed the comeback. Although, having seen Akani for the first time he looks like another of the young Asian players who has a bright future. 

Kritsanut Lertsattayatthorn could be another of these as he showed in a promising 4-1 victory over Michael White, while Yan Bingtao from China was an easy 4-0 winner against John Astley, going from strength to strength after potting a good long black to win the re-spot in frame one. 

Tom Ford put in a good performance in another great match against Marco Fu, both were scoring heavily in a match that looked like it could go to a decider before Ford made a cracking clearance to win the match 4-2 and send Fu out for another early tournament exit. 

Two more performances that were very impressive came on the streamed table two. First up was John Higgins against Mark King and Higgins scored very heavily and looked like he could be a real contender for the tournament as it goes on, if he carries on playing as he did for the most part there. Then came Ding Junhui in an all Chinese clash with Mei Xiwen. Ding also scored heavily and despite the odd unexpected miss he was not punished and created an easy path for himself into the Last 32. 

The Last 32 is one of two rounds being played today at Event City, as the Last 16 follows in the evening to get ready for Friday when the tournament gets down to the quarter-finals and a two table set-up. 

Last 32 Draw and Schedule: 

12pm Starts: 

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Chris Wakelin - Streamed Table

Neil Robertson Vs Xiao Guodong - Streamed Table

Mark Allen Vs Yan Bingtao 

Ricky Walden Vs Kritsanut Lertsattayatthorn 

Ding Junhui Vs Jak Jones

Barry Hawkins Vs David Grace

Ryan Day Vs Liam Highfield 

Stuart Carrington Vs Anthony Hamilton

Not before 1pm: 

Judd Trump Vs Martin Gould - Streamed Table

Stuart Bingham Vs David Gilbert - Streamed Table

Ali Carter Vs Ben Woollaston 

Liang Wenbo Vs Fergal O'Brien 

Kyren Wilson Vs Rhys Clark

Tom Ford Vs Joe Swail

Not before 2.30pm: 

John Higgins Vs Fraser Patrick - Streamed Table

Mark Williams Vs Ian Preece - Streamed table

As I will be at the venue I will be bringing out a Live Blog/Commentary which will most likely see Mark Allen Vs Yan Bingtao as my feature match in what is probably one of the highlights on the non-televised tables today with Yan being one of my players to watch from the start of the season. Depending on the table numbers of the other outside table matches I hope to keep updated on Ding Junhui's progress in the same session and Ricky Walden against Kritsanut who overcame Michael White yesterday. 

Following that I hope to watch Carter against Woollaston but again this is all dependant on what table that goes on and when some of the 12pm matches finish. Kyren Wilson will also be on my radar while Bingham Vs Gilbert is one of the highlights of the round for me and is also on a streamed table for you to watch at home and this will most likely be the Table 2 on Eurosport Player. 

All of these matches are played over the best-of-7 frames, along with the Last 16 matches that are to come in the evening session. 

Four of these matches will begin at 7pm on tables 1-4, and another 4 are scheduled to start at 8pm according to the format released before the start of the tournament. Which matches will be when and on what tables will not be determined until after the afternoon session. 

To give an idea, this is the last 16 draw so you can pick out potential match ups: 

Liam Higfield/Ryan Day Vs Barry Hawkins/David Grace

Ricky Walden/Kritsanut Lertsattayatthorn Vs Mark Allen/Yan Bingtao 

John Higgins/Fraser Patrick Vs Tom Ford/Joe Swail 

Mark Williams/Ian Preece Vs Judd Trump/Martin Gould

Liang Wenbo/Fergal O'Brien Vs Ali Carter/Ben Woollaston

Ding Junhui/Jak Jones Vs Anthony Hamilton/Stuart Carrington

Neil Robertson/Xiao Guodong Vs Ronnie O'Sullivan/Chris Wakelin

Kyren Wilson/Rhys Clark Vs Stuart Bingham/David Gilbert

There could be some real cracking contests in there but we will have to wait and see what the afternoon session serves up first. 

Look out for my live blog, the link should be set-up and ready to go by 11.45am this morning and by then the matches with live updates will be confirmed at least for the 12pm session of eight games. Either keep looking on here or the link to the blog will be tweeted regularly on @CueActionBlog 

English Open: Top stars blitz through first round

The world's best have been out in force in the first round of the English Open, and the large majority had simple route's through into the Last 64. Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shaun Murphy and Ding Junhui all went through with 4-0 wins, while there were also easy wins for Judd Trump against Ken Doherty, Ricky Walden, Mark Allen and Neil Robertson.

John Higgins was a 4-2 winner against Michael Wild, while Anthony McGill dropped the same number of frames in beating Jamie Cope. Stephen Maguire made a century in the decider to see off Gareth Allen, while Stuart Bingham came from 3-1 down to beat Robert Milkins in a high quality opening encounter. Marco Fu also had to turnaround his match from 2-0 behind to beat Martin O'Donnell 4-3, while Ali Carter won his match against Luca Brecel having been in the same situation in that tricky first round tie. Mark Williams had tip problems early on in his match with David John, but he was still more than good enough in the end winning 4-2. Barry Hawkins held on after losing a 3-1 lead against Jack Lisowski, eventually winning his match 4-3. In one of the toughest of the first round matches, Joe Perry lost out 4-2 in a high quality match with Matt Selt.

In some of the other matches Michael White only conceded one point against Jason Weston winning 4-0 there. Alfie Burden made a maximum 147 break against Daniel Wells, which was also his 100th career century. However, Burden ended up losing the match to Wells 4-3. There were two walkovers in round one as Jamie Jones pulled out of his match against Rhys Clark, posting on social media that he has been suffering from food poisoning. Meanwhile, Sam Craigie was a no show for his match against Liam Highfield. Aditya Mehta lost his first round match to Lee Walker from 3-0 up in a lengthy affair on Monday evening. Two non-tour players made it into the Last 64, Peter Lines beating Paul Davison and more surprisingly, Jamie Bodle beating Matthew Stevens.

The unseeded draw has set up plenty of high quality matches in the Last 64, and here is the draw:

Last 64 Draw: 

Mark Selby Vs Liam Highfield
Stephen Maguire Vs Ryan Day
Barry Hawkins Vs Mark Davis
David Grace Vs Andrew Higginson
Michael White Vs Kritsanut Lertsattayatthorn
Ricky Walden Vs Li Hang
John Astley Vs Yan Bingtao
Mark Allen Vs Scott Donaldson
John Higgins Vs Mark King
James Wattana Vs Fraser Patrick
Marco Fu Vs Tom Ford
Joe Swail Vs James Cahill
Ian Preece Vs Craig Steadman
Mark Williams Vs Ian Burns
Martin Gould Vs Zhou Yuelong
Judd Trump Vs Jamie Bodle
Shaun Murphy Vs Liang Wenbo
Fergal O'Brien Vs Ross Muir
Ali Carter Vs Akani Songsermsawad
Ben Woollaston Vs Zhang Anda
Rod Lawler Vs Stuart Carrington
Matt Selt Vs Anthony Hamilton
Elliot Slessor Vs Jak Jones
Ding Junhui Vs Mei Xiwen
Neil Robertson Vs Duane Jones
Xiao Guodong Vs Noppon Saengkham
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Zhao Xintong
Anthony McGill Vs Chris Wakelin
Rhys Clark Vs Lee Walker
Kyren Wilson Vs Daniel Wells
David Gilbert Vs Peter Lines
Stuart Bingham Vs Alan McManus

The top players were fairly impressive in round one, but things certainly move up a level in the Last 64, especially with unseeded draw which sees games like Murphy Vs Liang and Bingham Vs McManus. Marco Fu's game has been vulnerable and Tom Ford will certainly be no pushover for him. Ronnie O'Sullivan takes on exciting young Chinese talent Zhao Xintong in what is a match many will look forward to. Stephen Maguire faces Ryan Day in another brilliant example of the unseeded draw throwing up some quality contests, and Jamie Bodle's reward for beating Matthew Stevens is a match with last week's European Masters champion Judd Trump.

All Last 64 matches are in Wednesday's play over the best-pf-7 frames ahead of Thursday's play which sees both the Last 32 and Last 16 matches.

Judd comes up Trumps to win European Masters

Judd Trump came back from 3-1, 5-3 and 8-6 down to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final of the European Masters in Romania.

The final was a classic from start to finish with both players scoring heavily and it times it felt like they were running around the table, such as how quickly both were playing. O'Sullivan went into the first mid-session break with a 3-1 lead, capitalising on some misfortune from Trump in parts of the first four frames and his high breaks at this point were a 53 in the third and 62 in the fourth. Trump then clung on to the coattails of O'Sullivan with a 120 break to get back to 2-3, before the two frame advantage was restored. 82 from the left hander in the seventh made it 3-4 and kept alive his hopes of getting out of the first session all square. Those hopes were dashed when a 55 break from O'Sullivan supported him in winning the final frame of the session and regaining his two frames advantage once more at 5-3.

The evening session set off with the same tone of the afternoon with Trump's high scoring and dominance turning the match on it's head. The first three frames of the session all went his way as "the rocket" only scored 26 points, breaks of 105 and 67 underlined this dominant spell and gave Trump a 6-5 lead. O'Sullivan halted the turnaround and levelled the match at 6-6 going into the final mid-session break with a 93, which was his highest break of the match. His second highest was the 72 in the frame following the break that put him ahead at 7-6 and when he took the next to go 8-6 it looked like Trump would have to do something special again if he had any chance of winning the £56,250 first prize.

From that moment though, he played with the same style that he had in the first three frames of the evening, O'Sullivan only scoring a combined 16 points in the final three frames. A 109 to make it 7-8 was Trump's 400th career century, and after needing a couple of chances to force the decider, he only needed one chance when it came as a break of 74 gave him a famous victory in what was a truly classic contest.


Can the English Open live up to that? Well it will be a tough act to follow when another week of snooker begins tomorrow in Manchester.

If you have missed any of my preview blogs for the English Open here they are:

Stat Attack: http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/english-open-stat-attack.html

Tournament Top Ten: http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/english-open-tournament-top-ten.html

Overall Preview: http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/english-open-tournament-preview.html


Once again there will be updates on the blog throughout the week, as the players get up and go again in this busy part of the season.

English Open: Tournament Preview

We may still have the European Masters final to come between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump at the time of writing but tomorrow will see things get going at the English Open in Manchester in the first of the home series events for the 2016/2017 season. The Welsh Open is the only one of those four events which was on the calendar and that remains in its usual February slot and will be the last in the series. Meanwhile, the Northern Irish Open is in November, and the Scottish Open will be the final event in December before the Christmas break.

All 128 will be at the venue of Event City this week, and Event City played host to the Players Championship Finals as recently as March (and that event was won by Mark Allen), so it will be interesting to see how the venue will be set for an eight table set-up, compared to the two tables that were required in March. With all of the major players in the game in attendance it is going to be a star-studded week, and thanks to the new un-seeded draw which sees the top 16 players placed in the draw and the remainder drawn at random, some cracking matches are in store right from the off.

The whole event will be broadcast live on Eurosport, but for people that do not have Eurosport, coverage will be on Freeview channel "Quest" in the UK during the afternoons from what is available of the TV schedules, so that is some more good news for Non-Eurosport TV viewers.

In terms of format, the first two days will see the 64 first round games which will be played over the best-of-7 frames, it is best-of-7's once again for Wednesday's Last 64 and on Thursday when both the Last 32 and Last 16 will be played. Then the tournament takes the Welsh Open format of roll on, roll off quarter-finals for the afternoon with two matches being played then, while the evenings two quarter-finals will be played over a two table set-up. Sunday's eventual champion will walk away with a £70,000 winners cheque, and a place in November's Champion of Champions should they not yet have already qualified.

Quarter 1

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold) 

Mark Selby Vs Gary Wilson

Sam Craigie Vs Liam Highfield

Stephen Maguire Vs Gareth Allen

Ryan Day Vs Kurt Maflin

Barry Hawkins Vs Jack Lisowksi 

Mark Davis Vs Tian Pengfei

Dominic Dale Vs David Grace

Andrew Higginson Vs Nigel Bond

Michael White Vs Jason Weston

Kritsanut Lertsattayatthorn Vs Boonyarit Kaettikun

Li Hang Vs Alex Borg 

Ricky Walden Vs Robin Hull

Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs John Astley

Yan Bingtao Vs Sanderson Lam

Sean O'Sullivan Vs Scott Donaldson

Mark Allen Vs Jamie Barrett 

Mark Selby is always going to be one of the major contenders given the form that he has been in of late, making the latter stages of the last three events. However, the short turnaround from the European Masters to this event is something he will have to deal with and he could have some very tough early matches. Stephen Maguire is a possible Last 32 opponent for Selby and he found some form at the Shanghai Masters by making the semi-finals before losing to eventual winner Ding Junhui and despite failing to qualify for the European Masters there is no reason why, following a weeks rest, he could not hit form again this week. Ricky Walden had a mixed time at the European Masters, looking very sharp in his first round win before then being outplayed in a scrappy match with Alfie Burden in the Last 16. Walden has not had the best start to the season and he does have a tough opener this week against Robin Hull who qualified for the Last 32 of the European Masters. If he could come through that one though there is no reason Walden could not start firing again at a venue where he made the final, at March's Players Championships. Meanwhile, Mark Davis and Michael White could both be seen as the dark horses in this quarter. Davis comes into this off the back of a quarter-final at the European Masters which featured good victories against Shaun Murphy and Liang Wenbo before he lost out to an on fire Ronnie O'Sullivan. White was also a quarter-finalist a couple of weeks earlier, as he beat Walden and Judd Trump to get to the last eight in Shanghai and he too will be looking to kick on.

My opening quarter choice though is someone who won at this venue in March in Mark Allen. Allen has entered three events this season and lost in the Last 16 of each, once to Ding Junhui who went on to win the Shanghai Masters, while he ran Ronnie O'Sullivan close in the European Masters playing very well but for the odd miss that proved costly, and O'Sullivan is preparing for the final there at the time of writing. His draw this week for the early rounds does not look too bad either, if he strikes the ball as well as he did in Romania and he should be fresh from the time off taken before he started the new season. Of course he was a winner at this venue in March at the Players Championships, and he has looked in good touch throughout 2016 so there is no reason why he cannot start to convert some of these Last 16's into semi-finals, finals and get some more trophies.  

Quarter Choice: Mark Allen 

Quarter 2

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold) 

John Higgins Vs Michael Wild

Mark King Vs Thor Chuan Leong

Fraser Patrick Vs Zak Surety

James Wattana Vs Eden Sharav

Marco Fu Vs Martin O'Donnell 

Tom Ford Vs Rory McLeod

Joe Swail Vs Itaro Santos

James Cahill Vs Adam Stefanow

Oliver Lines Vs Ian Preece

Mark Joyce Vs Craig Steadman 

Ian Burns Vs Christopher Keogan

Mark Williams Vs David John 

Martin Gould Vs Sydney Wilson

Zhou Yuelong Vs Jimmy White 

Matthew Stevens Vs Jamie Bodle

Judd Trump Vs Ken Doherty

As we move into the second quarter we find players like Marco Fu, Martin Gould and Mark Williams who have all been in poor form this season so far. Fu has not made it past the Last 32 of any event so far this season which is very poor for a player of his known quality. and something he needs to turn around heading into this busy stretch of the calendar to avoid being left behind. Mark Williams was knocked out in the Last 128 of the European Masters to follow another first round exit in the Shanghai Masters, while Gould lost in the Last 128 of both the Paul Hunter Classic and the European Masters, while a 5-0 loss in the Shanghai Masters wildcard round was sandwiched in between. Improvements will be needed from all of those three if they are to contend this week. Like Selby, it will be tough for Judd Trump to get straight back up for this week especially as he has gone a step further than Selby and made it into the European Masters final. If he could keep that form going from Romania though, he is going to be a major threat once again. That could open the door for an outsider, though it is hard to pick someone out with Tom Ford possibly being the best shout, following his run to the Last 16 of the European Masters.

For me that leaves John Higgins as the quarter choice. Higgins has started the season nicely with a couple of quarter-finals in just four tournaments played, and one of those was at the European Masters before Trump got the better of him. The most impressive match was his against Holt in the Last 32 of that event, with Holt in good form. Higgins won 4-0 and made two centuries and it is that sort of play that will make him a contender in Manchester .As I have mentioned there are a lot of players in this section who have not had a great start to this season, with Trump being the only player playing well away from Higgins. If Trump does not march on from his brilliance in Bucharest, then Higgins is the man for me in this quarter. 

Quarter Choice: John Higgins 

Quarter 3

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold) 

Shaun Murphy Vs Chen Zhe

Liang Wenbo Vs Graeme Dott

Robbie Williams Vs Fergal O'Brien

Ross Muir Vs Zhang Yong

Ali Carter Vs Luca Brecel

Akani Songsermsawad Vs Kurt Dunham 

Ben Woollaston Vs Cao Yupeng

Zhang Anda Vs Josh Boileau

Rod Lawler Vs Yu De Lu 

Peter Ebdon Vs Stuart Carrington

Adam Duffy Vs Anthony Hamilton 

Joe Perry Vs Matthew Selt

Sam Baird Vs Elliot Slessor

Jak Jones Vs Brandon Sargeant 

Mei Xi Wen Vs Darryl Hill

Ding Junhui Vs Mitchell Mann

This third quarter has some very tough looking matches thanks to the unseeded draw for these events that is coming into play this season. Stand outs are Ali Carter Vs Luca Brecel, Liang Wenbo Vs Graeme Dott and Joe Perry against Matt Selt. Carter has been in good form so far this season, why Brecel has struggled to get going so far so that does not necessarily bode well for the Belgium. Liang Wenbo and Dott is a very tough match to call over the best-of-7 frames, though the rise of Liang over the last year may just give him the edge. Perry against Selt is arguably the toughest with seed 11 playing seed 24 in the Last 128. Perry made the World Open final in July, yet since then he suffered a Last 64 exit at the Paul Hunter Classic before losing his opening matches in both the Shanghai and European Masters events. Selt meanwhile will want to win this one to get back on track also after losing in the Last 128 of the European Masters and was suspended from both the Riga Masters and Paul Hunter Classic. Shaun Murphy is one of the big guns in this section, though he has not necessarily been in the best of form in the last couple of tournaments. Maguire whitewashed him 5-0 in the Last 32 in Shanghai, and despite making a 147 in the qualifying rounds of the European Masters, this form did not carry over to the venue where he was beaten in the Last 32 once again. A potential meeting in the Last 64 with either Liang Wenbo or Graeme Dott is not going to make life any easier, but other than that match if he is in good form the draw may not be a bad one to make a charge this week. 

The quarter choice here is a man who had last week off and appears to be in the section least packed with high ranked properties, and that is Ding Junhui. It is obviously tough to follow up an ranking win closely, with Ding taking the title in Shanghai, but having withdrawn from the European Masters he has had two weeks off from that win to prepare for this week. That win in Shanghai completes the return to form for Ding, having made the World Championship final and having a few good results earlier in 2016. It was only three years ago that Ding won the Shanghai Masters and then went on to win another four events that season, so he is certainly no stranger to that. I also think his section of the draw is a little more favourable than some of the other top players who have very difficult matches lurking early on in the week. 

Quarter Choice: Ding Junhui 

Quarter 4

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Neil Robertson Vs Hamza Akbar 

Mike Dunn Vs Duane Jones

Noppon Saengkham Vs Michael Georgiou 

Michael Holt Vs Xiao Guodong

Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Jimmy Robertson 

Zhao Xintong Vs Wang Yuchen 

Anthony McGill Vs Jamie Cope

Chris Wakelin Vs Allan Taylor 

Lee Walker Vs Aditya Mehta 

Jamie Jones Vs Rhys Clark

Alfie Burden Vs Daniel Wells

Kyren Wilson Vs Wayne Townsend 

David Gilbert Vs Hammad Miah

Paul Davison Vs Peter Lines

Alan McManus Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh

Stuart Bingham Vs Robert Milkins

Once again this bottom quarter is packed with top stars with guys like Neil Robertson, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Anthony McGill all in the top half of this section along with Michael Holt who has started the season well. Robertson will have to pick himself up following a 6-0 loss to O'Sullivan in the European Masters semi-finals, though with the good form he was in prior to that loss that should not be an issue for a player of the Australian's quality. McGill incidentally lost to Robertson a round earlier and if his magnificent run continues he is a big contender. As mentioned earlier with Trump, the short turnaround could work one of two ways for O'Sullivan as he could struggle to get himself back up again so soon, or flourish and go on another blazing run through the field. Guys like Zhao Xintong and more so Thepchaiya Un-Nooh could be a couple of dark horses to keep an eye on, even if Un-Nooh faces a tricky opener against Alan McManus who could also go far if were to win that one. Stuart Bingham and Kyren Wilson could also be major contenders, with Wilson having a slightly more favourable draw than Bingham who has to play Robert Milkins in round one. Wilson though needs to pick himself up from losing his first match in the European and Shanghai Masters, as well as whitewash loss in the Last 64 of the Paul Hunter Classic. Bingham was in good form in Shanghai losing narrowly in the semi-finals, but with the tough draw he faces right from the off in Manchester, he could do with channelling that form again.

The player who I think will come on strong this week though is David Gilbert making him my outside quarter choice for the week. Gilbert has not got the worst draw with McGill, Robertson and O'Sullivan all in the upper half of this section, meaning that Gilbert would only have to play one of those upon, if the situation arose, in the quarter-final. I have spoken very highly of Gilbert in the last few months, such is the confidence he seems to have now which is letting his power scoring form and quality play come to the fore. With the short best-of-7 frames format someone outside of the big guns in the top 16 could certainly make the latter stages, and following a promising start to the early season there is no reason why Gilbert could not be that man. 

Quarter Choice: David Gilbert  

Winner Selection: Ding Junhui 

That's all of the build-up for the English Open. Don't Forget you can see my other two pieces, starting with the Stat Attack here:
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/english-open-stat-attack.html 

And the Tournament Top Ten here:
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/english-open-tournament-top-ten.html

I'll be back through the week with updates on the events unfolding in Manchester. 

Trump and O'Sullivan to resume rivalry in European Masters final

Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan will do battle once again in the final of the European Masters after both won comfortably in today's semi-finals.

In the afternoon session Trump had to see off the World Champion Mark Selby and did so with ease, outscoring Selby from start to finish. Opening up with a magnificent break of 135 and then followed with a 72 in the second to take a 2-0 lead in style and stopping Selby from scoring a point in these two frames. A tactical third saw Selby get onto the board, but a 66 in the fourth assisted Trump in taking a 3-1 lead at the interval.

Following the mid-session break, the left-hander stormed even further ahead winning the fifth frame thanks to a run of 58 to make it 4-1. It could well have become 5-1 to Trump but Selby snatched another tight frame to keep him in it but still two frames behind. Any threat of a trademark Selby comeback was dampened when Trump did go a frame away from victory supported by a contribution of 70 in the seventh. The final frame turned out to be another closely contested one, and after a battle on the blue it was Trump that came out on top and after outclassing Selby in all aspects he was a deserved 6-2 winner and into the final.

Then it was the turn of Ronnie O'Sullivan as he took on Neil Robertson in the evenings semi-final. Robertson was not quite at the races and he never had the chance to get going thanks to the sheer dominance of O'Sullivan who was on top form. He opened up with a break of 118 and then followed that with 79 in the second to swiftly go 2-0 ahead. The third was the Australian's best chance to get a frame on the board, despite O'Sullivan taking an early advantage before the reds ran safe, and it was he that eventually took the frame to extend his lead. When Robertson's early opportunity in the fourth went astray, the Rocket capitalised with a 92 to rush into a 4-0 lead at the mid-session interval. Following the break things just got worse for Robertson as O'Sullivan kept on running along with a 63 in the fifth to go one away from victory. The sixth frame put the left hander out of his misery and saw things finish in style with a 96 break giving the five times World Champion a thumping 6-0 victory.

Final Schedule: 

First session: 11am UK time (1pm in Romania) First eight frames

Final session: 5pm UK time (7pm in Romania) remaining frames


So, after their battles over the summer with a series of exhibitions, Trump and O'Sullivan will resume battle on the biggest stage for the European Masters final over the best-of-17 frames for the first prize of £56,250, while the runner-up will receive £26,250. The pairs last three major meetings were all in big finals, with Trump winning the 2015 World Grand Prix final 10-7, after O'Sullivan had beaten him twice earlier on in the season, 10-9 in the 2014 UK Championship final and 10-7 in the Champion of Champions final just a few weeks before that.

On the whole they're fairly even on the head to head front with both getting important wins over on the other in the past. This week they have both had a lot of comfortable matches, but it has to be said that if O'Sullivan plays the way he did in the semi-finals against Robertson then Trump will have a lot to contend with. With a short week, and plenty of easy matches both should have plenty left in the tank for the final, and for next week at the English Open in Manchester which begins on Monday.

English Open: Tournament Top Ten

While the European Masters is ongoing in Romania, Monday sees the start of the English Open in Manchester, another of the new events that has been added to the calendar and the first of the home series events in the 2016/2017 season. Following my "Stat Attack" the build up to this event continues with the Tournament Top Ten which will rank the contenders based on the statistics that were also mentioned in the Stat Attack, as well as the most recent events with the Shanghai Masters, Paul Hunter Classic and the European Masters (which is down to the semi-finals at the time of writing). As always I have tried to put similar events into this generator as well, and the one that sticks out is the Welsh Open as all of the home series events this year are based on the format of the Welsh Open from 2014 to 2016.

The statistics used in the generator were the average frames per 50+ break, average break when above 50, close frames win percentage, average frame aggregate and the quarter-finals or better since the start of 2014/2015 list, which were all explained in the first two tournament top ten blogs, and my Stat Attack blog from earlier in the week.

With all of that in mind, here is who the stats and facts think the major contenders will be in the upcoming English Open.

10 - Joe Perry - Just making it on to the top ten list for the upcoming week is Joe Perry. Perry started the season well by getting to the final of the World Open, though by this point in the season this should get less of a consideration. When taking into the account the similarity between this event and the Welsh Open, particularly between 2014 and 2016, you find that in 2014 and 2016 Perry was a semi-finalist. This could mean that his game suits this kind of format of the short matches, but not having to play multiple times in one day like on the old European Tour. However, there has been little else to cheer for Perry in the most recent events which is why he finds himself so low on the list.

9 - Anthony McGill - Anthony McGill has had a brilliant start to the season, winning his first ranking event at the Indian Open, though like the World Open, this one has been given slightly less importance in the generator as it was so early in the season and there have now been a few events in quick succession through September. McGill was boosted by a run to the quarter-finals of the ongoing European Masters beating Ali Carter along the way (who very narrowly missed out on making the top ten). The Scotsman has shaped up well statistically in this first part of the season so far, sitting fifth in the frames per 50+ break statistic and topping the average frame aggregate (when these statistics were calculated before the European Masters quarter-finals). Without a quieter period through the Paul Hunter Classic and Shanghai Masters, and no notable finishes in the most recent editions of the Welsh Open, McGill would be much higher on this list.

8 - Mark Allen - Next up on the list is Mark Allen who won the Players Championship in March, at the venue where the English Open is being played. Having only played in three events this season at the Paul Hunter Classic, Shanghai Masters and European Masters Allen has made the Last 16 in them all and will be looking to push on this week. When it comes to the Welsh Open's relation to this event, you will see that Allen was a losing semi-finalist at the most recent edition in Cardiff back in February. He also stands highly in a couple of statistics coming into this week, sitting third in frames per 50+ break when the statistics were calculated before the quarter-finals of the European Masters, and also coming in third place for the average frames aggregate. All of this puts Allen comfortably in the top ten at eighth, without threatening the top spots.

7 - Stephen Maguire - Stephen Maguire is a player who has found some form of late with his run to the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters, which is one of the main reasons that he features on the list this week, despite an early exit at the European Masters and not entering the Paul Hunter Classic. When it comes to similarity with the Welsh Open, Maguire was a quarter-finalist in Cardiff back in 2015 which also improves his standing for this week. He also has the backing of the numbers, sitting joint fifth for Quarter-finals or better over the last two and a bit seasons, whilst he was first for close frames win percentage when the statistics were calculated ahead of the week. Overall, seventh is a very handy good position on the list given who is ahead of him.

6 - Judd Trump - One of four guys still competing at the European Masters is Judd Trump who has made it through to the semi-finals this week. He also made the Last 16 of the Shanghai Masters, as well as repeating this finish in the last three stagings of the Welsh Open from 2014 to 2016 in the familiarity stakes, which slightly improves his position on the list for the upcoming week. Trump is present in the top five on a couple of statistics additionally, leading the tour for quarter-finals or better since the beginning of the 2014/2015, including his semi-final appearance in the ongoing European Masters. In addition, he was fifth on the average frames aggregate list when all of these statistics were calculated for the upcoming week.

5 - John Higgins - Higgins may have been beaten by Trump in the quarter-finals of the European Masters, but he still finishes just ahead of him on the tournament top ten list for the English Open. As well as a quarter-final place in Romania, Higgins made was in the Last 16 of the Shanghai Masters, but the bulk of the reason for his standing this week is the fact that in the similarly structured Welsh Open he was a winner back in 2015, and a quarter-finalist in 2014 on top of that. He joins his fellow Scotsman Maguire in joint fifth on the quarter-finals or better list, as well as sitting in second place on the average break when 50 or above list. With quite a gap between fifth and sixth on the tournament top ten list in terms of the points each player gains from their finishes in tournaments and all of these list, but the narrow gaps from fifth to the top spot, this is where the top contenders are.

4 - Neil Robertson - Neil Robertson is another of the semi-finalists in the ongoing European Masters in Bucharest, and has already been a tournament winner this season at the Riga Masters, though the prominence of this win so early in the season has been downgraded for this week. Robertson's high placing on the tournament top ten list is assisted by a runners-up finish at the most recent Welsh Open in February, with it's mirror image format and on top of that he features in the top five in more of the key statistics lists than anyone else. He sits in joint second position on the quarter-finals or better tally, together with a top of the table finish in the frames per 50+ break list. Finally, Robertson is second in the average frame aggregate (which is a combination of average points scored per frame and average points conceded per frame) so there are plenty of reasons why Robertson could be the top man in Manchester. 

3 - Ronnie O'Sullivan - Having committed to playing in all four of the home nations events at this stage, O'Sullivan will want to be the top man and there is no reason he could not manage this looking at his finishes. He is another of the players still competing at the European Masters having made the semi-finals there. The greatest quantity of O'Sullivan's points ahead of the English Open comes from the similarly structured Welsh Open where he was champion in both 2014 and 2016, showing there is something about that style of event that certainly suits his game, and allows him to apply himself fully mentally as well. Statistically, O'Sullivan also features in second spot on the average frames per 50+ break statistic at the time those were calculated before the quarter-final stages in Romania. All in all O'Sullivan is one of the big favourites coming into this event. 

2 - Mark Selby - The runners-up position on the list this week belongs to Mark Selby. Selby appears to be very close to the top of his form at the moment, having made it to the European Masters semi-finals at the time of writing, in addition to making the final of the Shanghai Masters and winning the Paul Hunter Classic. Twice in the last three years of the mirrored Welsh Open, Selby has reached the quarter-finals and will be looking to translate that and all of his current form to the English Open. Lastly, the current world champion is joint second on the quarter-finals or better tally since the start of the 2014/2015 season, but his form this season alone will see him as a contender for every event he is in.

1 - Ding Junhui - That leaves Ding Junhui to be the table topper in the tournament top ten for the English Open. Ding pulled out of the European Masters and did not enter the Paul Hunter Classic but in between those he was the champion at the Shanghai Masters marking his full return to form over the course of 2016. In the Welsh Open, which really is one of the key indicators for this week in my view, Ding was a runner-up to O'Sullivan in 2014 and made the quarter-finals this year so he will be hoping that translates to Manchester. When it comes to the numbers, the Chinese number one is in joint fifth on the quarter-finals or better tally, in addition to a fourth place standing in the frames per 50+ break statistic and that scoring could be the key to success for a fresh Ding Junhui in Manchester.  


That's who the main contenders should be, but that is not to say that someone will come from out of the pack and upset the odds to take victory over the next week. The tournament top ten has worked well so far with 2nd place on the list winning in Shanghai and ahead of the European Masters semi-finals, the four remaining players ranked at 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th on the tournament top ten before the week.

Don't forget, the Stat Attack is out and can be viewed here:
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/english-open-stat-attack.html

Tomorrow, all of the pre-tournament analysis will be rounded off with the overall tournament preview where the Quarter choices will be made and the winner selection will be finalised so watch out for that.

Selby, O'Sullivan, Trump and Robertson lead into European Masters semi-finals

Four of the games leading stars have made it through to the semi-finals of the European Masters, after some comfortable matches on quarter-finals day in Romania.

First up was another chapter in the battles between Judd Trump and John Higgins, but on this occasion there was no close contest, instead it was Trump who dominated and ran out a comfortable winner. It was not necessarily a match of big breaks galore from Trump but he did win a couple of scrappy frames and made a 74 break in the second, and he clinched a thumping 4-0 win with his highest break in the match, a 105. 

Then it was the turn of World Champion Mark Selby to turn on the style in his match with Alfie Burden, who was the lowest ranked player coming into the last eight. Burden was full of praise for Selby on social media after the match. Overall it was a victory that certainly would have had the 'Jester from Leicester' smiling as he opened up with a contribution of 84, and then followed this with century breaks of 136 and 102 to take frames three and four in another 4-0 victory. 

Rocket Ronnie O'Sullivan soon raced to victory against Mark Davis in the evening session, despite Davis being the first player on the day to claim a frame in defeat after the earlier whitewashes. O'Sullivan opened up with a 54, before winning a tight second frame in which both players had chances. Davis came onto the board in the third frame with a magnificent 124 century break to keep himself in proceedings. O'Sullivan took his opportunity in the fourth to go one away, and he soon sprinted to the finishing line aided by his first century of the season, and the highest break of the match, a 129, putting him in the semi-finals with a 4-1 win. 

The closest and equally the most drawn out match of the day was the last quarter-final between Neil Robertson and Anthony McGill. Things started well for the Australian in this one, as a break of 61 supported him in winning the first frame. The second frame was when the match started to get a little bogged down, a lengthy encounter eventually seeing McGill level the scores. It looked for a while in the third that McGill would then edge in front, but a very nice colour clearance from Robertson after the Scotsman had missed his chance turned the tables. That and a supposed "soft warning" from referee Marcel Eckardt to McGill about the speed of his some of his play did not effect him as he soon squared the match again at 2-2, assisted by a break of 56. Another tight frame in the fifth went the way of Robertson as he went one away from victory at 3-2 and after some missed chances from his opponent in the sixth he got over the line with a 4-2 victory which will now see him play Ronnie O'Sullivan 

Semi-Final Schedule: 

11am UK Time (1pm in Romania): Mark Selby Vs Judd Trump

5pm UK Time (7pm in Romania): Ronnie O'Sullivan 

The semi-final matches are played over the best-of-11 and with the best of the bunch through to the last four these could well be two cracking contests that are both incredibly tough matches to call.

Selby has hardly dropped a frame this week having played an extra match at the venue, while Trump did have one scare against Ben Woollaston otherwise it has been plain sailing for him as well. The two most recent meetings between Selby and Trump saw Selby beat Trump 5-4 in the quarter-finals of the 2015 German Masters, in a match where Trump made a 147 break, while in the 2014 Champion of Champions Trump thumped Selby 6-1. 

Ronnie O'Sullivan did have a tough contest with Mark Allen and he had to play at the top of his game to through there and in his other matches he has done the job required, brushing tricky opposition like David Gilbert and Mark Davis aside in double quick time. Neil Robertson will be no easy match for him over the best-of-11 frames and the pair are pretty even in the head to head. The most recent meeting saw O'Sullivan blow Robertson away in the latter stages of this years Welsh Open final, while Robertson won 6-1 in the 2015 Masters semi-finals prior to that.