So here's what we can expect in the next 11 days of action from Newport:
Quarter 1
Last 128 Draw: (My picks in bold)Stephen Maguire Vs Elliot Slessor
Robbie Williams Vs Sam Baird
Gerard Greene Vs Li Yan
Marcus Campbell Vs Andrew Pagett
Tom Ford Vs Gareth Green
Rod Lawler Vs James Wattana
Pankaj Advani Vs Joel Walker
Mark Davis Vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Robert Milkins Vs Scott Donaldson
David Gilbert Vs Duane Jones
Jimmy Robertson Vs Luca Brecel
Andrew Higginson Vs Martin O'Donnell
Ben Woollaston Vs Vinnie Calabrese
Alfie Burden Vs Ahmed Saif
Jamie Cope Vs Ryan Clark
Ding Junhui Vs Gary Wilson
This quarter, along with all the quarters really, has plenty of names that could go on and win it, but only a select few that have the form for me to tip to do so. Here we have defending champion Stephen Maguire, winner of 4 of this seasons ranking events Ding Junhui, Mark Davis and Robert Milkins. Out of these guys both Mark Davis and Robert Milkins have struggled lately and both failed to qualify for the China Open just this week. Stephen Maguire meanwhile, will have good memories of winning in Newport last year and has been playing well having won one of the 6 championship league groups this year, and making the Masters semi-finals. However, in actual ranking events, Maguire has been fairly inconsistent, and hard to predict, which is why it is more difficult to predict him to win this quarter, despite the fact I know he's in good form. Ding Junhui meanwhile, has been different class this year, whilst also being very tactical about things, he's won 4 ranking events this year, but has also been very clever about what events he should actually enter. He hasn't entered any of the championship league groups this year, and also missed the recent ET8 event, which means he has been fresher when the big events come around. This means his best form has come out in the ranking events, and he has won a lot more titles this year and I have to say he is one of my favourites to win again this week.
In terms of the end of season money list there are 2 key games between Robbie Williams and Sam Baird and then Gerard Greene and Li Yan where all 4 of those players could do with the win for their respective positions with Greene, Williams fairly close to the Top 64 line either side, and Baird a little further ahead in 61st while Li Yan is looking desperate in 91st. James Wattana in 75th also needs a win or 2, starting against Rod Lawler. However, none of these things should really effect who wins the quarter overall.
Quarter Winner: The machine that is Ding Junhui
Quarter 2
Last 128 Draw: (My picks in bold)Stuart Bingham Vs Daniel Wells
Jimmy White Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Peter Lines Vs Ross Muir
Michael Holt Vs Stuart Carrington
Matthew Stevens Vs Adam Wicheard
Yu De Lu Vs Ian Burns
Liu Chuang Vs Chen Zhe
Joe Perry Vs Allan Taylor
Mark Allen Vs Sydney Wilson
Steve Davis Vs Noppon Saengkham
Aditya Mehta Vs Mike Dunn
Ali Carter Vs Andrew Norman
Dominic Dale Vs Anthony Parsons
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Liam Highfield
Dave Harold Vs Zhang Anda
Mark Selby Vs Joe Swail
This quarter also looks very strong, and much stronger than quarter 1 with former champion Mark Selby, last year's runner-up Stuart Bingham, Joe Perry, Mark Allen, Ali Carter and home favourites Matthew Stevens. Mark Selby has been a little poor since losing in the Masters final to Ronnie O'Sullivan, with poor shows in the German Masters and Championship League groups, but he looked a lot better in his China Open qualifier this week, and looking at Mark's draw and the format of best-of-7's until the quarter-finals (Quarter-finals best-of-9, semi's best-of-11 and final best-of-17) he could save a lot of energy in the early rounds which would be key for him going into the latter stages. As for Mark Allen, he's not been in the best of form lately with round 1 exits in the Masters and German Masters since the turn of the year, and missing the ET8 and Championship League events. So really, he is a little shorter on match preparation coming into this than the likes of Selby and Perry who have played considerably more than Allen in 2014, though this could be to the Northern-Irishman's advantage as he'll be a lot fresher. However, one thing Allen does have against him is a possible Last 32 match with Ali Carter which could go either way. Stuart Bingham has not been in great form of late with early exits in the Masters, German Masters, Gdynia Open and looking far from convincing in his China Open qualifier. For whatever reason, Bingham hasn't quite looked himself lately and I'd like to see that all change this week, but I can't really see it happening. Joe Perry however, has also been in good form lately making the quarter-finals of the German Masters and winning the 2nd Championship League group, and with a nice enough early draw, I could see him making at least the quarter-finals, but it will take some good performances for him to go much further.
In terms of the money list there is one massive game in here with 59th placed Jimmy White taking on 67th placed Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. You fancy that the winner of that match would have an excellent chance of staying on tour, and both players played excellently in their recent China Open qualifiers. 77th placed Liu Chuang takes on 89th placed Chen Zhe elsewhere in the Last 128 and the winner of that would be in a slightly better position, but still in massive amounts of trouble. There are also big games for 60th placed Steve Davis and 70th placed Mike Dunn on the end of season money list who play Noppon Saengkham and Aditya Mehta respectively, with both needing wins to try and secure their tour places.
Quarter Winner: Such a tight quarter and I have changed my mind a few times, but going to go for Mark Selby.
Quarter 3
Last 128 Draw: (My picks in bold)Neil Robertson Vs Lu Haotian
Rory McLeod Vs Dylan Mitchell
Tian Pengfei Vs Alex Borg
Mark Williams Vs Michael Wasley
Graeme Dott Vs Lee Page
Jamie Jones Vs Cao Xin Long
Kurt Maflin Vs Alex Davies
Marco Fu Vs Chris Norbury
Shaun Murphy Vs David Morris
Mark Joyce Vs Craig Steadman
Fergal O'Brien Vs Sanderson Lam
Liang Wenbo Vs Jak Jones
Martin Gould Vs Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon
Jack Lisowski Vs Adam Duffy
Cao Yupeng Vs David Grace
Barry Hawkins Vs Fraser Patrick
This quarter sees the likes of UK champion Neil Robertson, Australian Open champion Marco Fu, recent ET8 Gdynia Open champion Shaun Murphy, Barry Hawkins, Graeme Dott and Mark Williams that are all capable of winning this quarter and the whole event. Starting with Neil Robertson, despite his obvious position as UK champion and world No.1 and making countless centuries this season, he has hit a slight poor patch in his form, being knocked out in the Last 32 in Germany by Tian Pengfei, struggling in his China Open qualifier against Li Yan and finishing bottom of the recent Championship League group 5, and he does seem to be struggling a little (just a tad). If he continues like this I don't see him winning the quarter. Marco Fu has also been struggling a little, just a little, since throwing away a 4-1 lead against Shaun Murphy at the Masters. He had quite a bad Last 64 exit at the German Masters, and seemed to be struggling and giving his opponents plenty of chances in the last 2 Championship League groups. Marco was slightly more impressive in his China Open qualifier, but his opponent there Adam Wicheard did look very poor in that one and didn't pressure Fu enough. It will be very interesting to see how Fu goes under pressure in this event. Meanwhile, Shaun Murphy is on the up and up in recent times, winning the Gdynia Open in Poland recently and then going on to win the 5th Championship League group quite comfortably both in the same week. His scoring in both was superb and he seemed to have gained a lot more confidence, and if he can continue this in Newport, he has a brilliant chance of going on a great run. In this quarter, you certainly wouldn't rule him out. Barry Hawkins on the other hand, hasn't been in poor form, but has lost a fair few matches recently in which he has thrown away big leads. He led Selby 5-3 in the UK quarter-finals before losing 6-5, he led Walden 5-2 in the Last 16 of the Masters before losing 6-5 and he lost 5-4 to Ryan Day in the Last 32 of the German Masters having led 4-1. So really, that all points to form that has been less than sparkling since the New Year. Meanwhile, Graeme Dott is a man that could do some damage in this quarter, while Mark Williams could do the same, but will be under big pressure on his home patch.
In terms of the end of season money list, Tian Pengfei has a nice draw sitting in 68th place and playing Alex Borg in the Last 128. Adam Duffy could really do with a run as well, but playing Lisowski and sitting in 90th place he looks dead and buried.
Quarter Winner: Going on form of 2014 it has to be Shaun Murphy
Quarter 4
Last 128 Draw:Judd Trump Vs Kyren Wilson
Jamie Burnett Vs Ratchayothin Yotharuck
Anthony McGill Vs Jamie O'Neill
Ryan Day Vs Rhys Clark
Mark King Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Alan McManus Vs John Astley
Ken Doherty Vs James Cahill
John Higgins Vs Tony Drago
Ricky Walden Vs Paul Davison
Matt Selt Vs Khailed Abumdas
Anthony Hamilton Vs Michael Leslie
Peter Ebdon Vs Li Hang
Xiao Guodong Vs Hammad Miah
Michael White Vs Chris Wakelin
Nigel Bond Vs Barry Pinches
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Mitchell Travis
In this, the final quarter we have the likes of World and Masters Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and former World Champion John Higgins, recent German Masters runner-up Judd Trump and semi-finalist Ryan Day, UK semi-finalist Ricky Walden and Shanghai Masters runner-up Xiao Guodong, so a load of players that could do plenty of damage in the next week and a half. Starting with Ronnie O'Sullivan, he has had a month off since his phenomenal display at the Masters, where he brushed everyone aside without blinking. I don't know whether this month off will be good or bad for Ronnie, and it will all depend on what he's been doing and how much he has prepared for this tournament and wants to win. But with a potential Last 32 meeting with Michael White or Xiao Guodong very possible, he's not going to have it all his own way and will have some big early tests. Meanwhile, Judd Trump is in decent form at the other end of this quarter, having recently reached the final of the German Masters and looking like getting back to his old self. However, he has a really tough first round draw against Kyren Wilson, and could well find himself in some early trouble there. John Higgins has had some trouble lately with form, and as he has said motivation and enjoyment of the game. All of that, and pretty inconsistent form, points to him not doing too well in Newport either, but you never know with John. Although, I do get the feeling that he really needs a good run before the end of the season for his own confidence. Ricky Walden could be dangerous in this quarter, but his issue has always been consistency, but if he could produce his best form this week, then he has every chance of going far in Wales. As for the likes of Day and Guodong, they both have tough draws facing likely Last 32 ties with Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan respectively, and though the early format lends itself to the odd shock, I don't really see it happening here, but you never know. Guodong probably has the better chance if he Ronnie isn't quite at his best.
In terms of the end of season money list, there are a lot of players looking very desperate and not even worth mentioning at this stage, though Barry Pinches in 74th still has a chance of getting out, and he plays Nigel Bond in the Last 128, so he could've had tougher matches.
Quarter Winner: Thought long and hard on this one but finally gone for Ronnie O'Sullivan
Tournament Runner-up: Ronnie O'Sullivan
Tournament Winner: Ding Junhui
Whatever does happen in the next week and a half, you know it will be a great event down in Newport with plenty of twists, turns and shocks thrown in, along with some classic snooker as we have another ranking event with 128 players at the venue. I hope you enjoy it as much as I surely will.
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