Quarter 1
The top quarter of the Wuxi Classic is probably in the toughest 2 in the draw. Here we saw a disappointing defence of the title by Ricky Walden, who suffered a 5-2 first round defeat to Jimmy White. That was one of White's best results for many years, and he now faces either Robert Milkins or John Astley. Robert has a particularly good record in Chinese events, getting to the quarter-finals last year losing a decider to Ricky Walden. Elsewhere in this section we have Graeme Dott, who will need a quick return to some form this season if he is to remain in the top 16 at the end of it. He will play Jimmy Robertson in the first round after his Wildcard round victory. This could lead to a possible all Scottish Last 32 clash if in form player Scott Donaldson can beat amateur Gareth Green. Scott made the semi-finals of the recent APTC1 and the quarter-finals of the Euro tour event in Bulgaria. Scott was unable to shine in his first year too much, but he has started this season magnificently, beating Tom Ford to reach the venue in Wuxi. He could be a very dangerous player in this section is all that I will say. In the other half of this quarter we have Mark Williams who has a tough draw. He has a tricky encounter with Liam Highfield for a place in the Last 32 against either Jack Lisowski or Tian Pengfei. Williams has been working very hard in the off season, but this is hardly a desirable section for the Welshmen to land in, but if he could get to the quarter-finals it would show how much his hard work has been paying off. In the other half of this section, Stuart Bingham, last year's runner-up, beat Yu De Lu 5-2 who made the quarter-finals of APTC1. Having past that early test, last seasons in form player now plays Anthony Hamilton. Hamilton beat Ryan Day 5-2, which was a slight surprise as I am expecting better things for day this season.Quarter Winner: A very tough call but I think it will be Stuart Bingham after his success here last year.
Quarter 2
This quarter at first glance would appear a little easier, with only Robertson and Hawkins as top 16 players in this section after Shaun Murphy was knocked out in qualifying by talented newbie Alex Davies. He was beaten 5-2 by Joel Walker in Wuxi, who beat Ian Burns in the first round. He now plays Chen Zhe or Ben Woollaston in the Last 32. Out of those 3 remaining players I would expect to see Ben in the Last 16, but that doesn't mean that any of the others could come through and cause upsets in this tournament. Many people will be expecting big things from Michael White this season after his great run at the Crucible last year, and his success this season will be determined by how he can deal with this added expectation. His Last 64 opponent Cao Yupeng, had the same kind of expectation on his shoulders a year ago and struggled slightly in the back end of last season, so he would have been hoping for a better run this season. Cao was the winner on this occasion 5-3, an impressive start making a century along the way. The last match in this little section sees Barry Hawkins play the Fergal O'Brien. I would predict that Barry Hawkins will be in the quarter-finals here, and people will no longer be estimating his ability after his brilliant season that was topped off by a run to the Crucible final in Early May. Elsewhere, Marco Fu had a last 64 tie with Nigel Bond, in a match that I fully expected to see Fu win. Bond like many of the players flying out to Wuxi, hadn't qualified for many venues in recent times and could be a player that may suffer in the new format as the season progresses. Fu was a 5-2 winner in that match and will now face Mark King in a Fu/King Last 32 match-up. That was after King beat McLeod 5-3 in quite a lengthy match. There was another tasty match in prospect as Martin Gould took on Kurt Mafllin. The big Norwegian is a class act, but Gould will be looking to regain his place in the top 16 this season and will be a player that will flourish in this new format in my opinion, showing signs of that. The final match in this section sees World No.1 Neil Robertson take on wildcard Zhu Yinghui, who beat Reanne Evans 5-2. I hoped to see Reanne come through that for the good of the game, but now another lengthy debate about wildcards could be on the cards. Neil Robertson is by far the form horse of this section at the seasons early stage, making a 147 in the Wuxi qualifier and reaching the final of the Bulgarian open.Quarter winner: Has to be Neil Robertson
Quarter 3
Even with the absence of Mark Selby, this quarter will probably turn out to be the toughest of the draw. We start of with Selby's victor Andrew Pagett who took on former Crucible Last 16 maker David Gilbert. Pagett is in fine form at the moment but couldn't cause another upset against Gilbert, who was the 5-2 winner including a top break of 100. He now has a last 32 tie with Alan McManus who had a Titanic match with Ken Doherty who he saw off 5-3. McManus has made a decent start to the season, reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Tour 1 and I think this is a great opportunity for him to make the last 16 of this event. There are some quite big names in the other part of this section including Ding Junhui in his home tournament who beat Jamie Burnett 5-3 for the right to play recent Asian tour 1 winner Joe Perry. Perry beat Jamie Cope 5-2 who's loss of form has been well documented along with the health problems that have caused it. I hope that he can have a good season to regain some confidence that has been badly hit by this as well. However it was always going to be tough for him to beat Perry. The bottom half of this quarter looks very tasty indeed. John Higgins heads it after his Bulgarian Open win and I don't expect him to have any problems against new Australian Vinnie Calabrese. The Scot would then face some Poomjaeng antics. This was after Dechawat beat Dominic Dale 5-1, reeling off 5 frames on the trot. Bet of the round for me has to be Xiao Guodong to beat Peter Ebdon, who if he struggles like he did last year will be in big trouble against the Chinamen. If Xiao were to get through he would play either Judd Trump or Li Hang. Li Hang is a dangerous young player who could cause Judd some trouble, but I'm still going to predict a comfortable win for the World No.3. I will be very interested to see how Judd goes in the early parts of this season as I expect him to have a much more consistent season this time around. A possible Last 16 match between Trump and Higgins could be match of the tournament if it happens, but there are a lot of people that will want to have a say in that.Quarter winner: In his home of Wuxi, a surprising call but Ding Junhui could well end his China woes.
Quarter 4
Quarter 4 doesn't look like the toughest for the top 16 players in it, but there are quite a few good young players that could have a say in proceedings this week. Mark Allen is the main attraction in this quarter. The newly wed has a first round date with Peter Lines who, with all due respect to Lines, should not cause the World No.6 a problem. Allen would then play either Steve Davis or Andrew Higginson. Davis has a decent record against Higginson, but Higginson is a very consistent pro who I still think will come through that encounter. Another Chinaman, Liang Wenbo faces Jamie Jones. That should be a very good match, especially if Jones can find his form that got him to the quarters of the World Championship in 2011. There could be a possible all Welsh Last 32 clash as Matthew Stevens faces wildcard Lu Ning, who won 5-3 against Adam Duffy. Stevens had quite an up and down year last year, and will be hoping for a more consistent and successful season this time around. Elsewhere in this section, Ali Carter plays Alfie Burden in the last 64 for the right to play Lu Haotian, who beat Craig Steadman 5-3 on the first day in Wuxi. Burden is an underestimated pro who can score very heavily when on form. He could cause an upset there, but as long as Carter is fighting fit and on form - I'm sure he'll be in the Last 32. Two good young talents meet in the Last 64 as David Morris (back through Q School) plays Gary Wilson who has had a very impressive start to the season, already notching up victories over Mark King and Peter Ebdon this season. That should be a good, open match and judging by Wilsons form he could well have a good run in this event. The eventual winner will play Michael Wasley or Gerard Greene. Wasley showed a lot of promise last year, while Greene had quite a bad campaign and will be looking to regain some form (starting with this match) to gain some much needed ranking points as he is one player who is in danger of dropping off of the tour, although it is very early days.Quarter winner: Mark Allen is my big favourite to win this quarter.
Tournament winner: As I mentioned earlier I think that this is Ding Junhui's time to end his poor run of form in Chinese events with a win in his home town.
Of course it is very difficult to judge the form at this stage of this season with only 2 small PTC events having been played and not all of the top players have entered those events, so the first ranking event of the season could go to anyone and will offer us a better indicator of player's form.
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