With plenty of time ahead of this week's Scottish Open in Glasgow the blog schedule is back to normal and the Tournament Top Ten blog is back out on it's own rather than being a joint blog with the 'Stat Attack' which it has been at times earlier in the season. Taken into account on the list this week are the two home nations events that have taken place already in the English Open and Northern Irish Open. On top of that is February's Welsh Open, as well as the recent UK and International Championships and the European Masters as these feel most relevant in terms of players most recent form. Along with that will be the stats on average frame aggregates, average frames per 50+ break, average contribution when 50 or above, the close frames win percentages which are all specific to this season only, and the quarter-finals or better statistic which takes into account all full ranking events since the start of the 2014/2015 season.
All of these statistics are up to date from the end of the UK Championships but do not include the German Masters qualifiers as this is an "incomplete" event.
So with all of that in the generator lets count down this weeks top ten:
10 - Mark Williams - Starting off with Mark Williams we have a man who has made a couple of quarter-finals in his last two tournaments. Both at the UK Championships and the Northern Irish Open Williams played better than he had in recent tournaments and therefore he has made it into the this weeks top ten. He also reached the Last 16 of the English Open which was the first home nations event, with the Irish Open being the second, on top of a Last 16 appearance in February's Welsh Open. Statistically Williams appears on the quarter-finals or better list in joint fourth place with 10 quarter-finals in the last two and a half seasons.
9 - Shaun Murphy - Shaun Murphy is just a tiny bit above Mark Williams to put him ninth on the list. Murphy has not gone well in the first two home nations events, but he did make the semi-finals of the UK Championships most recently, as well as the quarter-finals of the International Championships a month or so ago. In terms of the statistics Murphy is also in joint fourth with Mark Williams on the quarter-finals or better list, but he also comes in third for this weeks field for average frames per 50+ break list.
8 - Stuart Bingham - World Number 2 Stuart Bingham comes in at 8 on the list for the Scottish Open. He was a semi-finalist at the first home nations event in Manchester, and did not enter the Northern Irish Open. An early exit at the UK Championships has cost Bingham a higher finish on the list, but he did make another semi-final at the International Championships. Statistically Bingham comes in joint second on the quarter-finals or better list which helps him finish just above Murphy and Williams.
7 - Liang Wenbo - Next up is the winner of the first home nations event, English Open winner Liang Wenbo. That is the main reason that he is on the list, adding only a couple of Last 16's at the European Masters and International Championship to that. Early exits at the UK Championship and the Northern Irish Open have prevented him reaching further heights on the list and he also does not rank inside the top five on any of the statistics lists prior to this event.
6 - Mark Allen - Allen finishes just outside of the top half on this weeks list. He has made a couple of Last 16's in events that counted to this weeks list. Those were the European Masters and much more recently the UK Championships. Neither of his semi-finals in the Champion of Champions or China Championship count towards this week as that was obviously a "restricted field". Having reached the quarter-finals of his home event in Belfast, as well as the Welsh Open semi-finals in February he has a decent home nations record. Statistically, Allen comes fifth on the frames per 50+ break statistic and second on the average break when 50 or above list, after making a 147 maximum break among a number of centuries in the UK Championship.
5 - Barry Hawkins - Hawkins enters the list in the top half, having not appeared on many of the lists this season. This comes after Last 16's at the Welsh Open in February and the European Masters. More recently he was a semi-finalist in the English Open and that was upgraded by a final appearance in the Northern Irish Open final. That run to the Irish Open final helped Hawkins into fifth position on the average frame aggregate list for this week on a statistical note and based on his recent form he is worthy of being a top five contender this week.
4 - John Higgins - John Higgins has been in fantastic form this season so far. His wins at the China Championship and Champion of Champions do not count towards this list. However, he made the Last 16 at the Northern Irish Open and has had four quarter-finals from the European Masters, English Open, International Championships and the UK Championships. His overall season performances have put him fourth on the average aggregate list for this week. Meanwhile, on the quarter-finals or better statistic he is joint second with Stuart Bingham. With all of this in mind Higgins is certainly one of the main contenders for this week.
3 - Neil Robertson - Neil Robertson makes it on to the podium of this weeks list ahead of the Scottish Open. This is mainly thanks to an appearance in the Welsh Open final in February. As well as this he was a semi-finalist at the European Masters, but has not done as well recently. In terms of the home nations he did not enter the Northern Irish Open which helps to boost his average, and he also goes well on a statistical front. In terms of the quarter-finals or better statistic he is in joint fourth position with Williams and Murphy, while he is second on the average frames per 50+ break statistic which is a list he has been very high on all season.
2 - Ronnie O'Sullivan - In the runners-up spot on the Scottish Open list is Ronnie O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan was also a runner-up at the recent UK Championships as well as the European Masters back in October. In terms of home nations events O'Sullivan won the Welsh Open in February, but was knocked out in the Last 32 of the English Open and the Last 16 of the Irish Open. As for the numbers coming into this week, O'Sullivan ranks as one of the best. He is third on the average break when above 50, such is the number of centuries he has made in recent events. Meanwhile he leads the field this week for average frame aggregate and the average frames per 50+ break statistic thanks to his frequency of big breaks and the amount of big victories he had in the UK Championships.
1 - Judd Trump - Judd just Trump's O'Sullivan into first place this week purely on average after skipping the Northern Irish Open. However, at the first home nations event in Manchester, Trump was a losing finalist against Liang Wenbo. Trump won the European Masters title in October prior to the English Open, and following that he made the semi-finals of the International Championships. An early exit at the UK Championships did not prevent him from finishing as the top dog here. Trump also goes strong with the stats, leading the field for quarter-finals or better since the start of the 2014/2015 season. On top of that is a third place standing in the average frame aggregate list and a fourth place finish on the average frames per 50+ break. Therefore it is easy to see how he tops the Tournament Top Ten for Glasgow.
The Tournament Top Ten for the UK Championships was a great success with number 1 in the list player Mark Selby beating number 2 in the list Ronnie O'Sullivan in the big final, so I can't wait to see how this weeks statistically led predictions get on.
If you're a fan of my statistics there will be more stats and facts in my upcoming Stat Attack, and my full tournament preview blog will be up shortly after that.
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