Haikou World Open Preview

It's already been an eventful start to all things surrounding the Haikou World Open which starts on Monday with the Last 64 at the venue (and some wildcard matches) with the format of best-of-9 frames until the semi-finals which are the obligatory best-of-11 frames and the final next Sunday which is a best-of-19 affair. In the first 2 years of this event being staged there has been some controversy or problems of some kind as Mark Allen has won the event both years it has been held. Last year the story was that a lot of players cues and baggage and cues went missing, as Andrew Higginson lost to a wildcard without his cue, Ricky Walden had to borrow Stephen Maguire's cue and clothes (which were far too big), and Matthew Stevens saw off both David Gilbert and Shaun Murphy without his own cue, coming from behind in both games before eventually losing in the final once he'd got his cue back.


This year though the thing seems to be car crashes and dodgy taxi drivers who drive too fast and don't have seat belts in the back. Craig Steadman was the first to be involved in one, posting a photo on Twitter of a badly mashed up vehicle, but quickly reassuring snooker fans that he got out with just a few scratches, while Kurt Maflin now has a sore neck and shoulders having been involved in a car crash with some poor taxi driving at the centre again. I'm hoping World Snooker can find the players a safer way of getting around, having had 2 warnings already, a third could be fatal so I'm praying that we won't have to hear about any more of it.


Off table matters aside, let's have a look ahead to on table matters this week:

Quarter 1

Last 64 Draw: (picks in bold)


Mark Allen Vs Mike Dunn
Yuan Sijun Vs Mark Williams
Ken Doherty Vs Barry Pinches
Alfie Burden Vs Ricky Walden
John Higgins Vs Alex Davies
Aditya Mehta Vs Michael White
Matthew Stevens Vs Yu De Lu
Sanderson Lam/Chen Zifan Vs Judd Trump


In this quarter we have the twice defending and only Haikou World Open champion Mark Allen, this years UK Championship semi-finalist Ricky Walden, Championship League champion Judd Trump and John Higgins that are all well capable of winning the quarter this week as well as the title itself. The welsh pair of Matthew Stevens who was a runner-up in Haikou last year and Mark Williams both have outside chances of winning the quarter, but in one filled with such quality it will be tough for them unless they can re-find their best form.


In terms of tour survival at the end of the season, Mike Dunn could do with a win, but has to start up against Mark Allen, while Barry Pinches also needs a win or two this week, but could have easier matches, but also much tougher ones than his Last 64 opponent Ken Doherty.


In terms of winning the quarter, the only in form man in the entire quarter is Judd Trump who played very well last week to win the Championship League and he seemed to be continuing on from the German Masters where he re-discovered his best and reached the final. If he's at his best again here this week, I can't see anyone beating him from this quarter, though you can never right off John Higgins who beat Trump in the recent Welsh Open and Mark Allen who hasn't yet lost a match in Haikou, but hasn't been at his best in the big events this year so far.


Quarter Winner: Judd Trump

Quarter 2

Last 64 Draw: (picks in bold)
Stephen Maguire Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Craig Steadman Vs Andrew Higginson
Ryan Day Vs Michael Wasley
Tian Pengfei Vs Graeme Dott
Shaun Murphy Vs Jimmy White
Mark King Vs Cao Yupeng
Xiao Guodong Vs Pankaj Advani
Ding Junhui Vs Li Yan


This quarter sees the likes of 4 times ranking winner of the season so far Ding Junhui, Gdynia Open champion Shaun Murphy, Scottish duo Stephen Maguire and Graeme Dott as well as Shanghai Masters runner-up Xiao Guodong and German Masters semi-finalist Ryan Day. It looks like a very tight quarter and an incredibly tough call, particularly with 2 massive home favourites due to meet in the Last 32.


There are other matters to think about though, with a lot of players in this section looking for a win to boost their money ranking positions. Jimmy White is still in a good position in the top 64 for now, but a win against in-form Shaun Murphy wouldn't be sniffed at by him. Meanwhile, Tian Pengfei, Li Yan, Craig Steadman, Michael Wasley and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh are all in need of wins if they are to keep their tour places, but none of them seem to have easy draws at all.


In terms of winning the quarter, you have to favour Ding Junhui who has won 4 ranking events this season and made the final of the Welsh Open recently as well, and he has been far and away the most consistent player only really failing in the Masters of late when he was beaten in the first round by Shaun Murphy. Speaking of Shaun, he'll be looking forward to this event and he's in good form having made the semi-finals of the Championship League, only being denied by some Trump brilliance, and when he won the Gdynia Open he received a huge boost of confidence which could spur him on to winning a full ranker very soon. Maguire meanwhile will fancy his chances of making at least the quarter-finals and he's been lacking a title this season so this could well be his week if he can play well. However, seeing how good Ding is on a regular basis and how much better he is now than 99% of the players on tour, it is so tough to see past him winning every event.


Quarter Winner: Ding Junhui

Quarter 3

Last 64 Draw: (picks in bold)


Mark Selby Vs Anthony Hamilton
Noppon Saengkham Vs Gerard Greene
Liang Wenbo Vs Scott Donaldson/Lin Shuai
Adam Wicheard Vs Mark Davis
Rod Lawler Vs Robert Milkins
Alan McManus Vs Martin Gould
Dominic Dale Vs Michael Leslie
Stuart Bingham Vs Steve Davis


This quarter sees the likes of UK and Masters runner-up Mark Selby, recent Asian Tour 4 winner Stuart Bingham, another Asian Tour Winner Liang Wenbo, shoot-out champion Dominic Dale, Mark Davis, Robert Milkins and Championship League runner-up Martin Gould.


For me though, only 2 of those players are in any kind of form to win this quarter and they are Stuart Bingham and Mark Selby. Mark Davis and Robert Milkins are both in very poor form at the moment and as good as they may be, I can't see either having significant runs this week. Mark Selby though has been playing ok of late without winning the big titles that he is after, and he will be desperate to get a win before the end of the season after a very lean year by his standards. Having made the UK and Masters finals, and more recently the Welsh Open quarter-finals, there are signs there that he could have a good week and return to some better form. Stuart Bingham meanwhile, having just won the Asian Tour event 4 yesterday, he will really fancy his chances of victory this week and it would be good to see him return to his best form after going missing for a few months snooker wise since making the UK semi-finals and the final of the Champion of Champions.


Quarter Winner: Mark Selby

Quarter 4

Last 64 Draw: (picks in bold)
Barry Hawkins Vs Matt Selt
Mark Joyce Vs David Morris
Ali Carter Vs David Gilbert
Kurt Maflin Vs Joe Perry
Marco Fu Vs Anthony McGill
Nigel Bond Vs Michael Holt
Tom Ford Vs Rory McLeod/Zhao Xintong
Neil Robertson Vs Jamie Jones


Again this quarter is packed with brilliant players, including UK Champion Neil Robertson, Australian Open champion Marco Fu, recent Welsh Open semi-finalists Joe Perry and Barry Hawkins, as well as Ali Carter. So some brilliant players in good form ahead of this one and it's going to be tough to call this quarter.


Neil Robertson has been in good form all season, but has just gone off of the boil in the last month or so, and the last week off may help him or it may not if he has just rested and not put enough practice in, which may be why he has struggled in the last month anyway. Barry Hawkins meanwhile, had had a very lean year since his world championship final last season, and it was good to see him play well again in Wales to make the semi-finals, and with some time off since then I think he'll be able to carry on his form into this event with no problem. Joe Perry played well in the Welsh Open to reach the semi-finals and give Ding a run for his money, but than he had to go straight from there to the Championship League finals where he struggled and finished bottom of the 7 man group, and with a short turnaround before this and a tough first round game, it will be interesting to see what form he is in. Marco Fu has been consistently inconsistent and unpredictable all season, following good performances up with poor ones, and poor ones up with brilliant ones. At the Welsh Open he made the quarter-finals with some good performances, but he has been knocked out in the opening round at the venue a couple of times already this season to players he should be beating in his sleep, so anything can happen with Marco.


As I say it's a tough call, but I think there's one man that's in slightly better form coming to Haikou than everyone else in this quarter.


Quarter Winner: Barry Hawkins


Tournament Runner-up: Ding Junhui


Tournament Winner: Mark Selby


Whatever happens, I hope it will be a very enjoyable week of snooker, without anymore classic Haikou off-table incidents to report and i'll be back throughout the week with daily updates on results and previews of the upcoming rounds.