German Masters Qualifying Preview

As the last job for the snooker players before they can enjoy the Christmas break, it's time for them to head off to Robin Park and attempt to qualify for February's German Masters. For most of the lower ranked players this will be their last action until February, whether they qualify or not. The final stages of the event run from February 3rd to 7th, roughly a month and a half after we finish up in Wigan on the 20th. If not the China Open qualifiers practically follow Berlin, taking place from the 9th-11th.

Only three players inside of the top 64 are non-entries and for the first time this season one of them is NOT Ronnie O'Sullivan who makes his comeback to play for the first time since the World Championships. The three that are missing from the top 64 are Matt Selt, Tom Ford and Gary Wilson.

The format for qualifying sees two rounds which will end up taking 32 players over to the Tempodrome in Berlin, the same as last year. That in my opinion is probably the best thing for this particular event at this particular venue and I like the format of the 32 at the venue and it's really not too strenuous to hold two rounds of qualifying in a flat 128 draw. It does give the potential for further shocks and less top 16 players at the venue especially as the minds of some may switch towards Christmas with qualifying ending just a few days before Father Christmas falls down everyone's chimneys.

The easiest way to preview the qualifying is to split the draw into the 32 sections which will generate the 32 qualifiers, as I will attempt to predict the Last 128 round winners and who will make it through from the four players in each qualifying section.

Qualifying Section 1

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Mark Selby W/O Kuldesh Johal
Sam Baird Vs David Morris

At the top of the draw, I do not feel that Mark Selby should have too many problems in qualifying to defend his German Masters title in Berlin. Kuldesh Johal's withdrawal means a first round walkover. His second round opponent will come through what looks a tight match between Baird and Morris, but right now Sam has to be favourite with David struggling, to the point that the Irishman is 65th on the provisional end of season seedings and under a lot of pressure. Meanwhile, for Baird it took eventual winner Marco Fu to see him off in the Last 64 in Gibraltar making a 147 in that match to win 4-2 so Sam gave him a good run. However, you would still not expect Mark to lose and Sam is really his greatest threat.

Predicted Qualifier: Mark Selby

Qualifying Section 2

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Dominic Dale Vs Andy Hicks
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Steven Hallworth

This section is an interesting little one in the draw. Andy Hicks of course came very close to beating Barry Hawkins at the UK, but Barry was in poor form on that occasion. On this occasion his opponent is Dominic Dale who I make the favourite to qualify from this section after Last 16 and quarter-final appearances in his last two European Tour events, showing some good form on those runs. Steven Hallworth has struggled badly for victories in all of the time he has been on tour so you wouldn't think Thepchaiya Un-Nooh would have many problems winning that match, but will have tougher ride against Dale. That would certainly be a close call if it happened but Thepchaiya struggled to a first round exit in Gibraltar while Dominic's form looks good and I would give him the slightest of edges.

Predicted Qualifier: Dominic Dale

Qualifying Section 3

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Stephen Maguire Vs Chris Wakelin
Andrew Higginson Vs Joe O'Connor

Stephen Maguire of course is the stand out name in Section 3, with his first round opponent Chris Wakelin a potential sticking point. Maguire's form has been mixed at best this season, while Wakelin does have a good habit of picking up good and important results so Stephen will certainly have a match on, and a potential upset could loom there. Andrew Higginson looked pretty good in making the Gibraltar last 16 over the weekend and while Joe O'Connor could cause him some trouble I think Andrew will be efficient enough to come through that. If Stephen Maguire does make it through his first match, he will be at short odds to beat Higginson and make it through to Berlin, where he was a semi-finalist back in February.

Predicted Qualifier: Stephen Maguire

Qualifying Section 4

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Michael White Vs Sanderson Lam
Ken Doherty Vs Michael Georgiou

Following a run to the final in Gibraltar Open on Sunday, Michael White is the stand out man in this section and he is a heavy favourite to qualify for the Tempodrome. If he carries on that form you would not think Lam will do anything that he cannot counteract and, as for Ken Doherty and Michael Georgiou I expect their match to be quite a scrap with Georgiou's end of season seedings position looking pretty precarious. Neither Ken or Georgiou's form is too good at the moment, and therefore it would surprise me if White did not follow a runners-up finish at the weekend with qualification for the German Masters.

Predicted Qualifier: Michael White

Qualifying Section 5

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Jamie Burnett Vs Zak Surety
Graeme Dott W/O Fraser Patrick

Next up we have a section dominated by Scottish players with Zak Surety proving the odd one out of the four. Unfortunately, Fraser Patrick as one of those four has withdrawn to hand Graeme Dott a first round walkover. I also do not think this section is too clear cut and is certainly one where my prediction could be proven badly wrong. Jamie Burnett of course made the last 16 of the UK Championship and played very well to do so, nearly defeating Higgins when he got there. Surety does not have too much form behind him but Jamie is not the most consistent so it certainly would not surprise you if he was beaten here. Graeme Dott has not got too much form behind him either and whether he ultimately has a trip to Berlin coming in February is down to whether he can add something to his recent performance levels, or if Burnett can carry on his run from York.

Predicted Qualifier: Graeme Dott

Qualifying Section 6

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Tian Pengfei Vs Lu Chenwei
Ding Junhui Vs Gareth Allen

From a Scottish dominated section to a Chinese dominated section, Gareth Allen is the odd one out on this occasion, but all the focus will be on one Chinaman in particular and that of course is Ding Junhui. After a first round exit at the UK Championship he really struggled to a defeat in the second round in Gibraltar, after a first round walkover after the withdrawal of Shaun Murphy. The way he is playing right now I just think he will find a way to lose one of the two games he has to play to qualify for the venue and for me the obvious beneficiary of that is Tian Pengfei. Tian has been in decent form this season picking up more results than previously and his match against Lu Chenwei is one he should come through comfortably. Gareth Allen has a chance against Ding the way things have been going, but if he does not beat Ding I certainly think Tian will to qualify for Berlin himself.

Predicted Qualifier: Tian Pengfei

Qualifying Section 7 

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Mike Dunn Vs Sydney Wilson
Alan McManus Vs James Wattana

Without wanting to totally right off Sydney Wilson or James Wattana, the qualifier from these four is one you would expect to be a fight between McManus and Dunn. Over recent times Dunn probably has the slightly better form on Alan who has not fared quite as well at the start of this season. Mike has particularly impressed on the European Tour with some good results there and I certainly would not expect him to lose against Wilson in the first qualifying round. It is never an easy game against Alan, but as I say his form has not been too impressive of late, so Mike has to be the favourite for qualification and rightly so.

Predicted Qualifier: Mike Dunn

Qualifying Section 8 

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Zhou Yuelong Vs Zhang Yong
Barry Hawkins Vs Luke Simmonds

This looks like another section where it is all about the two seeded players. Zhang Yong has failed to impress at any stage of his time on tour so far, and Zhou Yuelong has been playing very well over the course of this season so you would expect him to come through comfortably. Luke Simmonds is not an amateur I know a lot about, which mean he has not had too many memorable results and as long as Barry shows a slight improvement on his UK Championship showing he should win that match easily. It will not be an easy match against Zhou Yuelong though and as I say, he will really have to improve on his poor York performances or the young Chinese player will be going to Berlin. This was certainly a tight call between Zhou and Hawkins and while I have put Barry to come through it would not shock me if I was wrong.

Predicted Qualifier: Barry Hawkins

Qualifying Section 9

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Judd Trump Vs Peter Lines
David Grace Vs Rhys Clark

When you're in Peter Lines' position needing regular results to have any chance of saving your tour spot, the first round draw you don't want is Judd Trump. Judd hasn't been the most consistent player of the season but he should beat Lines comfortably. David Grace meanwhile is riding a wave at the moment and his draw against Rhys Clark is one that he should win if his good form continues. While Grace will cause problems for Judd, I just can't see Judd missing out on Berlin.

Predicted Qualifier: Judd Trump

Qualifying Section 10

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Ali Carter Vs Barry Pinches
Jimmy Robertson Vs Jason Weston

Again this looks very much like a section of two players. With no offence to Barry Pinches or Jason Weston but you would expect both Carter and Jimmy Robertson to come through those respective first round games. Jimmy has had some good results this season in patches, although a recent first round exit in Gibraltar does not keep with that pattern. Ali has been playing decent stuff but is still not back to his best. Pinches shouldn't be a problem but Jimmy will cause him some problems and I would expect a match between those two guys to go quite close. Spurred on by the memories of his win in 2012 at the Tempodrome and still playing good stuff as I say, I think Ali will edge this one.

Predicted Qualifier: Ali Carter

Qualifying Section 11

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Ricky Walden Vs Alfie Burden
Robin Hull Vs Paul Davison

This is one of the most interesting sections involving a higher seeded player. Ricky has been struggling recently, which is to be expected after the birth of his first child in September. There are a lot of easier first round draws out there than the one he has landed against Alfie Burden, especially after Burden showed good form to make the quarter-finals of the Gibraltar Open and narrowly lose out to Michael White in the end. If he keeps that up then I can certainly see him beating Ricky. Then of course you have Robin Hull who beat Barry Hawkins on the way to the Last 32 of the UK Championships and is certainly ranked a lot lower than he should be. I'm always impressed by Hull and he was unlucky last year in German Masters qualifying losing out narrowly to Mark Allen. If he's in good touch he should beat Paul Davison (who is usually a tough player to beat also). There is certainly the potential in the section that Hull has here for him to win the two matches required to qualify for Germany.

Predicted Qualifier: Robin Hull

Qualifying Section 12

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Robert Milkins Vs Zhang Anda
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Tony Drago

With Dechawat Poomjaeng playing Tony Drago this is by far the most fun section of the entire draw. In reality Poomjaeng should beat Drago comfortably these days but with those two anything could happen. The other match in this section has a similar feel as Zhang Anda takes on Robert Milkins. Robert has been in very poor form this season, and while he ended last year contending for a top 16 seed at the Crucible, he is now slipping further away from that and Zhang could certainly take advantage. I would actually say that out of the four Zhang probably looks like the strongest of the four in terms of their form over the course of the season, as he has picked up some decent results.

Predicted Qualifier: Zhang Anda

Qualifying Section 13

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Gerard Greene Vs Nigel Bond
Martin Gould Vs Joel Walker

Gerard Greene is the name to look out for in this section as he hovers in 64th position on the provisional end of season seedings. That shows how much he is struggling and no match against Nigel Bond is an easy one, particularly after he had a confidence boosting run to the Last 16 at the weekend. Martin Gould is the stand out favourite for this section, in the best form out of everyone. Joel Walker is a very talented player but like most young players seems to be struggling with confidence after failing to live up to good results achieved earlier on in their careers. I would be surprised if it isn't Martin who is on the plane to Berlin come February.

Predicted Qualifier: Martin Gould

Qualifying Section 14

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Li Hang Vs Hatem Yassin
Mark Williams Vs Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon

This section is really between two players again you have to believe. Hatem Yassin is yet to show any signs of quality whatsoever while I'm not even sure how Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon is still on the tour. Li Hang though can cause problems for Mark Williams in the Last 64 as Mark's form has dipped just a little over the last month since the Bulgarian Open where he made the semi-finals. I still expect Williams to be on the plane to Berlin but there is still some potential for an upset here.

Predicted Qualifier: Mark Williams

Qualifying Section 15

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Xiao Guodong Vs Lee Walker
Ben Woollaston Vs Sam Craigie

This is another very interesting section of the draw. First off, Xiao Guodong has been struggling this season for any form or results and is certainly vulnerable against Lee Walker who has picked up some very nice results against higher ranked opposition already this season so I have no hesitation in saying that Walker is my pick to win that game. Ben Woollaston would be the most likely of the four to qualify but again, there are far easier matches in the first round than Sam Craigie. Sam is a very impressive amateur player and he'll be a main tour pro in no time at all if he carries on working hard. Woollaston though has the quality and experience to get through and qualify for the Tempodrome in Berlin.

Predicted Qualifier: Ben Woollaston

Qualifying Section 16

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Oliver Lines Vs Lu Ning
Shaun Murphy Vs Michael Wasley

Obviously, the main man in this section is world number 4 Shaun Murphy. Shaun was the runner-up in Germany last year and is desperate to get back to the Tempodrome and go one better. His first round opponent Michael Wasley has been struggling for a long time now for results and that has battered his confidence but going into this match that could do him good as he might be able to relax if he is expecting another defeat. Oliver Lines also presents another tough hurdle to get over if Shaun can beat Wasley, as I expect Lines to beat Lu Ning comfortably. Lines showed good form in making the Last 16 in Gibraltar but the experience of Shaun could be the decisive factor in these qualifiers.

Predicted Qualifier: Shaun Murphy

Qualifying Section 17

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Neil Robertson Vs Ashley Hugill
Cao Yupeng Vs Zhao Xintong

Looking at this section with Neil Robertson, his biggest threats come from the amateurs Ashley Hugill who has been unlucky to constantly draw top 16 players when playing in pro events this season but he looks like a strong player nonetheless. Zhao Xintong of course is another top quality player and with Cao Yupeng struggling this season it looks like another opportunity for him to pick up a win after qualifying for Daqing whitewashing Stuart Carrington. With Robertson's great experience and superb recent form to win the UK Championship with a 147 I would be stunned if he isn't in Berlin.

Predicted Qualifier: Neil Robertson

Qualifying Section 18

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Jamie Jones Vs Adam Duffy
Luca Brecel Vs James Cahill

It's all about the youth in this section with the likes of Brecel, Jones and Cahill all battling for a place in Berlin. Luca Brecel has been looking in good form lately making the Last 16 of both the UK Championships and Gibraltar Open and he is more than capable of the two wins required to qualify. With Cahill struggling for results this season his greatest threat probably comes from Jamie Jones. Jones doesn't have the easiest of first round ties against Adam Duffy who of course beat Ding Junhui at the UK Championships. He is certainly playing well enough to get through to the Last 64 where, if he plays Luca it will be a tough match and one that could go all the way.

Predicted Qualifier: Luca Brecel

Qualifying Section 19

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Marco Fu Vs Hammad Miah
Yu De Lu Vs Liam Highfield

The star man as we move on to the next section is clearly Gibraltar Open champion Marco Fu. He faces Hammad Miah in the first round who has picked up some top results this season as an amateur but with the form Fu is in he should get through comfortably. Then he would play Yu De Lu or Liam Highfield. Both need results for their standings on the end of season seedings, with Highfield in the most trouble. Yu is probably in the best form out of the two, but if it goes close it is anyone's game. Whoever does win, Marco will be a big favourite once again to get through and it would surprise me if he failed to win his two matches in Wigan this week.

Predicted Qualifier: Marco Fu

Qualifying Section 20

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

David Gilbert Vs Martin O'Donnell
Kurt Maflin Vs Jamie Barrett

This section is an interesting one indeed. Starting off with Kurt Maflin, he has been struggling a lot this season but I know little about his opponent Jamie Barrett in round one, and he should get through that comfortably. David Gilbert had been in good form prior to a first round exit to an amateur in Gibraltar which was a great surprise. That may have been down to conditions that were less than top class, and I would still expect him to beat Martin O'Donnell in round one, and if Kurt is struggling for confidence as well as form then you have to make Gilbert the favourite to come through the whole section.

Predicted Qualifier: David Gilbert

Qualifying Section 21

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Mark Joyce Vs Alex Taubman
Mark Davis Vs Ross Muir

Mark Davis is the strong favourite to qualify out of these four players in my opinion. Mark Joyce followed up defeat from 5-0 up in the UK Championships with a loss to an amateur qualifier in Gibraltar and I don't expect his struggles to ease anytime soon. Alex Taubman will give Joyce a good game and has a chance of victory but I would be surprised if he won the two matches to qualify. Muir is probably the biggest threat to Davis as he has picked up a decent result or two over the last few months, so he will have to be on his game to get past Ross but if he does he should be booking a flight to Germany for the beginning of February.

Predicted Qualifier: Mark Davis

Qualifying Section 22

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Robbie Williams Vs Noppon Saengkham
Mark Allen Vs Duane Jones

This looks like another section that is a two horse race for the qualifying spot. Duane Jones has struggled since getting a tour card from Q School and with the form Allen is in that should be quite comfortable for the Northern Irishman. Robbie Williams is in good enough shape to beat the inconsistent Noppon Saengkham. Allen has been in good form over the last couple of months and despite the fact I don't think it will be a cake walk, he should qualify for the Last 32.

Predicted Qualifier: Mark Allen

Qualifying Section 23

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Mark King Vs Jimmy White
Anthony McGill Vs Michael Wild

A two horse race looking section once again, I can't see Jimmy White or Michael Wild causing problems for King and McGill between which it will be a tough fight for qualification. If Mark carries on from his form in Gibraltar he will take some beating, while Anthony is always a difficult player to get past. Overall, it's a coin flip of a prediction as I go on the most recent form in Gibraltar.

Predicted Qualifier: Mark King

Qualifying Section 24

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Stuart Carrington Vs Jamie Cope
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Hamza Akbar

All about Ronnie in section 24. If he turns up and plays like he can then there isn't a foreseeable problem in this section. Hamza Akbar should be a breeze while Stuart Carrington is most likely to be his second round opponent, as Jamie Cope's form still looks quite shaky despite good results earlier in the season. Stuart could slow Ronnie down and frustrate him, but as long as is playing well and can deal with that then the Rocket will be at the Tempodrome for the second consecutive year.

Predicted Qualifier: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Qualifying Section 25

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

John Higgins Vs Ian Glover
Aditya Mehta Vs Ian Burns

John Higgins is the clear favourite in this section as Ronnie was in the last. Ian Glover shouldn't prove much opposition for a player in John's form while Aditya Mehta and Ian Burns will have a dogfight in round one that will more than likely need at least eight of the nine frames available either way. Higgins has been playing far too well and with Christmas in sight and the great Tempodrome venue the incentive to keep all of that going it would shock me if the Scotsman fails to qualify.

Predicted Qualifier: John Higgins

Qualifying Section 26

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Michael Holt Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Rod Lawler Vs Craig Steadman

Arguably one of the toughest sections of the draw, all four players have a genuine chance against the others on their respective strong days. Sean O'Sullivan has been going really well this season, picking up results against the lower ranked players and he can easily cause a slight upset against Holt. Michael has showed signs of improvement under Griffiths but is far from invincible in this section. Rod Lawler beat Judd Trump in Gibraltar before losing in the Last 32 to eventual runner-up White and is part of the "pint of blood" brigade who give every shot their upmost to make it difficult for their opponents. Craig Steadman is also a tough player to beat and needs results to keep in the top 64 on the end of season rankings to remain on tour so Rod has certainly got a game on there. As I say it was very tough to pick anyone out in this section to qualify as it is a little bit like flipping coins or drawing straws.

Predicted Qualifier: Rod Lawler

Qualifying Section 27

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Joe Perry Vs Chris Melling
Rory McLeod Vs Vinnie Calabrese

Joe Perry is obviously the stand out in this section. Chris Melling has been badly struggling for results and will have to play a lot better if he is to beat Perry in the first round. Rory McLeod has failed to win a single match since winning the Ruhr Open in October so he will need to improve, but Vinnie Calabrese is another who has barely won a game all season. Overall, you'd say McLeod should beat Vinnie but that is far from guaranteed while Perry is a huge favourite to be playing at the Tempodrome in the Last 32.

Predicted Qualifier: Joe Perry

Qualifying Section 28

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Kyren Wilson Vs Jake Nicholson
Jack Lisowski Vs Thor Chuan Leong

Kyren Wilson is obviously a clear favourite to beat amateur Jake Nicholson while the winner of the second Last 128 game making up this section is not so clear. Thor Chuan Leong has not impressed in a ranking event as yet but in the European Tour events he has a habit of getting a few surprise wins every now and again, while Jack Lisowski has shown improvements under Terry Griffiths but needs to sort out his consistency. With that match very much a tight call it leaves only one man that I can pick out to qualify, and I think Wilson would be disappointed not to the end year with a couple of wins in Wigan.

Predicted Qualifier: Kyren Wilson

Qualifying Section 29

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Matthew Stevens Vs Itaro Santos
Ryan Day Vs Scott Donaldson

Similarly, this section looks like having a clear favourite in Ryan Day. He may not have had the results at the UK Championships and in Gibraltar that he would want but is still in decent enough form to get through this section. Scott Donaldson is Ryan's first round opponent and he lost to Anthony Hamilton in the first round of Gibraltar by a wide margin and that has the feel of a match Ryan could run away with too. The other Welshman occupying this section is Matthew Stevens and he takes on Brazilian Itaro Santos who we have not seen too much of yet on tour. If Stevens continued decline is anything to go by, Itaro has a chance there but I don't believe he has much chance of winning two matches to qualify and for that reason my choice is obvious.

Predicted Qualifier: Ryan Day

Qualifying Section 30

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Joe Swail Vs Allan Taylor
Liang Wenbo Vs Eden Sharav

Liang Wenbo is by far the in form man in section 30 as he looks to complete the year with German Masters qualification after making the semi-finals there last year, and recently reaching the UK final and Gibraltar Open semi's. His opponent Eden Sharav in round one has done little of substance since coming through Q School in May but he could pose a problem or two for Liang but you would expect the in form Chinaman to come through. Joe Swail regained some form with a run to the Last 16 of the UK Championships after laser eye surgery in recent times. He should come through his match against Allan Taylor who has failed to impress me again this year. Overall, I think Wenbo will really take some stopping and his closest competition for a spot in Berlin comes from Joe Swail if they meet in the Last 64.

Predicted Qualifier: Liang Wenbo

Qualifying Section 31

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Fergal O'Brien Vs Hossein Vafei Ayouri
Peter Ebdon Vs Mitchell Mann

Up in the penultimate section of the draw we have 4 very interesting players. Fergal O'Brien is always tough to beat but as we know Hossein Vafei Ayouri is very talented and was actually beaten 4-3 by Ryan Day in Gibraltar at the weekend despite two breaks of 51, a 53 and a 101. I think that will be a close one, but you always have to favour Fergal a little more on that basis. Peter Ebdon takes on Mitchell Mann in the other first round tie and that could be quite one sided if Mitchell doesn't get a good start. Ebdon made the Last 16 in Gibraltar and York while Mann has struggled to get even a single win at times throughout the season so far. If Peter can show the form of the early rounds in York with some consistency again here then I think he would slightly edge out Fergal to qualify for Germany where he was beaten by eventual champion Mark Selby in the last 16 in February.

Predicted Qualifier: Peter Ebdon

Qualifying Section 32

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Anthony Hamilton Vs Darryl Hill
Stuart Bingham Vs Daniel Wells

Finally, we have the draw of our world champion Stuart Bingham. He faces Daniel Wells in the first round which is a relatively tough game if Wells scores like he can there, and he actually would have met Bingham in the Last 16 at the weekend had he have beaten Nigel Bond in the Last 32. Stuart though looked like he was back to some form with a run to the semi-finals which should now get him into the Players Championship finals. As world champion he would not want the annoyance of not qualifying for the venue in Berlin. Anthony Hamilton against Darryl Hill is the other first round match in this section. Anthony has had a confidence boosting couple of weeks after beating Peter Lines at the UK Championship, before losing to Stuart Bingham on the TV although he did put up a very good fight and looked in decent shape. In Gibraltar he overcame both Scott Donaldson and Michael Holt before losing out to Andrew Higginson and he will have to continue showing form like that if he is to get back into the top 64 and stay on tour. I think we will have a repeat of the Last 64 in the UK Championship here between Hamilton and Bingham and I would still fancy Stuart to win again although it could certainly be a close run thing.

Predicted Qualifier: Stuart Bingham


As you know, that's not it for the blog in 2015 as the Christmas features will soon be upon. The Player of the Month and Moment of the Month countdowns will begin on December 20th, while the Classic Matches of 2015 Countdown begins on December 21st. If you are in the Wigan region it is also worth mentioning that the German Masters Qualifiers are free entry to watch down at Robin Park so head down and see the worlds best for absolutely nothing.

Gibraltar Open Preview

Following Neil Robertson's fantastic performance to win the UK Championships in York, there is no rest for the majority of the players as they all move on to the fifth European Tour event of the season, which is the Gibraltar Open. This is the first professional snooker event to be held in Gibraltar Open and it boasts a reasonable field by European Tour standards.

There are usually a few absentees which (alongside Ronnie O'Sullivan who will make his comeback at the Masters in January) are Shaun Murphy who withdrew a few weeks ago, otherwise the Magician would have played Ding Junhui who himself has entered his first European Tour event of the season here. Neil Robertson has also chosen to withdraw after his York triumph, meaning he will have to enter and get to the Gdynia Open final as defending champion there in February in order to get to the Players Championship finals. This comes after Neil will now not have played in four of the five events and lost in the first round of the one he did play. Three of the four winners on the European Tour this season are also not in the draw, with Riga champion Barry Hawkins, Paul Hunter Classic winner Ali Carter and Ruhr ruler Mark Allen choosing to give it a miss, which makes Rory McLeod the highest seeded player on the European order of Merit in the draw after his win in Bulgaria.

Other than that the usual suspects are here and could do with some results, Stuart Bingham has struggled on the European Tour this season and has two events left to try and get himself into the Players Championship, which having played in all of the events and being world champion would be a big miss for Stuart. Stephen Maguire is also struggling after a combination of missed events and poor results sees him low down on the European order of merit. Marco Fu again has not had the best of runs on the European Tour and needs to pick that up, while Ricky Walden is low down on the order of merit, although by getting to the final of the Asian Tour event has secured his place in the Tour finals.

On a quick side note, the Players Championship Finals has now got a venue, after it was announced last week that Event City in Manchester will be hosting the 32 who qualify. This follows the announcement that the event will also be broadcast on ITV4 in March and with Easter in 2016 being early, the event starts on Tuesday 22nd and finishes on Easter Sunday - March 27th. In the event information that was released with the tickets going on sale last Thursday, it was also announced the format has been changed for the Tour finals. As opposed to the previous editions where all matches were best-of-7, it is now only best-of-7 to the quarter-finals with the semi-finals switching to the best-of-11 frames and the final being the best-of-19 over two sessions, which is much more appropriate for a big money event.

There is still plenty of time for guys to play themselves into the qualifying positions, and here's a look at the draw and the guys whose chances I rate higher than others.

Quarter 1

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Rory McLeod Vs Zak Surety
Aditya Mehta Vs Amateur Qualifier
Joel Walker W/O Neil Robertson
Liang Wenbo Vs Matthew Stevens
Joe Perry Vs Amateur Qualifier
Jamie Cope Vs Amateur Qualifier
Eden Sharav Vs Yu De Lu
Mark Selby Vs Sydney Wilson
Alan McManus Vs Amateur Qualifier
Jamie Jones Vs Gareth Allen
Zhou Yuelong Vs Darryl Hill
Peter Ebdon Vs Michael Wasley
Jimmy Robertson Vs David Grace
Stephen Maguire Vs Sanderson Lam
Fergal O'Brien Vs Rhys Clark
Mike Dunn Vs Amateur Qualifier

At the very top of the draw, like every quarter in the draw, we have plenty to talk about. I'm going to start by looking at the tour card situation. As you may or may not know, the top 8 players not already qualified for next season (players in the second year of a tour card not provisionally ranked inside the top 64, or any amateurs) get a new tour year tour card. Mitchell Mann is currently the benchmark as he is in the eighth of those positions with £1,950 to his name on the European Order of Merit. Aditya Mehta is the first man to mention on this front as he presently sits in 70th position on the end of season seedings, around £4,500 from safety on that front. Meanwhile on the order of merit he is currently in the 5th of those 8 tour card spots £525 clear of Mitchell Mann. Joel Walker is another key part of this, sitting just over £10,000 behind 64th place on the end of season seedings, but with his walkover against Neil Robertson he would provisionally go £250 above Mitchell Mann before he plays his first round match.

In terms of making the top 24 and qualifying for Tour finals,  Liang Wenbo could do with a good week as he currently sits in the jointly held 24th spot as little as £75 ahead of the competition on £4,050. Joe Perry the defending Players Champion has plenty of work to do, currently positioned in 36th spot, £1,200 behind Liang. Jamie Cope still has half a chance if he can put two or three wins together, standing £1,800 behind Liang which can still be caught up realistically in my mind with two events left, but there are a lot of other players between him and Wenbo. Again, Jamie Jones is struggling with a £1,950 gap between him and placing in the top 24, but with a run to the Last 16 this weekend he could put himself right back into it. Peter Ebdon is also right there, just £475 behind the top 24, which could be important as another 6 guys look likely to qualify by a combined order of merit with the Asian Tour where only one event has been held, so it's not all over if you finish in 25th spot for example. Stephen Maguire really does need a good week as he would be expected to qualify, but with two events to go the difference he needs to make up is already £1,725, but he could easily win the event. Fergal O'Brien in this quarter is also still in the hunt £1,275 behind the top 24 mark. Jimmy Robertson has a very nice position in 27th place on the order of merit only £75 behind the three guys occupying 24th. Although, on the combined list he would have an additional £3,500 from making the Asian Tour semi-finals so is a near certainty for Event City.

In terms of the main contenders to go out and win the quarter, the likes of Joe Perry and recent UK runner-up Liang Wenbo will certainly be amongst those you have to look to, while guys like Jamie Jones and Jimmy Robertson could pose threats as outsiders. The following two players are who I believe will make it the furthest in this quarter.

Stephen Maguire's last tournament victory came in the fifth European Tour event last season as he gave himself a Merry Christmas with a win at the Lisbon Open. Since then it's been a little shaky for the Scot in terms of his form. At the recent UK Championships he played quite well to make the Last 16 and started with a century against Neil Robertson before barely having a look in after that. The break he had before the Champion of Champions did him a little bit of good in my opinion as he seems to be playing better since, and the carrot for him this week is that he has a lot of work to do if he is to be playing his part in the Players Championship finals, and certainly would not want to leave too much to do in Gdynia. His draw could be a lot worse so he certainly has the opportunity to run deep over the weekend.

Mark Selby has been in pretty decent form of late. Some people have said he is struggling but semi-finals at the International and UK Championships would certainly not suggest that to me, losing both of those semi's to the eventual champion. On the European Tour he made the quarter-finals at the Ruhr Open and the Last 16 losing a tight match to Mark Williams in Bulgaria so he has been going along nicely and can expect to qualify for the Tour finals. Other than a possible Last 32 meeting with Joe Perry (who has been a little hit and miss form wise this season, particularly in ET events) he has a pretty comfortable draw and there would probably be a good performance from Joe or a surprise from someone else to see Mark off in this quarter on Friday or Sunday.

Quarter Winner: Mark Selby

Quarter 2

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Tian Pengfei Vs Vinnie Calabrese
Mitchell Mann Vs Amateur Qualifier
Michael Leslie W/O Fraser Patrick
Dominic Dale Vs Noppon Saengkham
Kyren Wilson Vs Amateur Qualifier
Kurt Maflin Vs Amateur Qualifier
Zhang Anda Vs Cao Yupeng
Graeme Dott Vs Ross Muir
David Gilbert Vs Amateur Qualifier
Mark Joyce Vs Amateur Qualifier
Marco Fu W?O Tony Drago
Sam Baird Vs Paul Davison
Luca Brecel Vs Barry Pinches
Gary Wilson Vs Hamza Akbar
Lee Walker Vs Amateur Qualifier
Mark Williams Vs Amateur Qualifier

The big man in this quarter in terms of tour card information is of course Mitchell Mann. He holds over the eighth tour card currently and needs a winner against the amateur qualifier he will face in round one to hold on to that at the very least, but a couple of wins would do him the world of good. Michael Leslie certainly has a chance of catching him after receiving a walkover against Fraser Patrick which will plug the £525 gap he faced there. Zhang Anda and Cao Yupeng in round one looks like a big game, with both battling survival. Cao Yupeng has little chance of regaining his tour card via the Order of Merit route but is only £3,000 behind 64th place on the provisional end of season seedings and every pound helps from now until the end of the season. Zhang meanwhile is set to regain his tour card via one of the two spots for those not already qualified on the Asian Order of merit. Lee Walker could do with a win or two in Gibraltar as he holds the sixth of eight tour cards and is currently only £375 clear of Mitchell Mann and with £525 for a first round victory in a European Tour event that's not much at all.

As for tour finals spots, there are plenty of guys in this quarter still in the hunt. Dominic Dale is currently 23rd on the order of merit, £450 clear of the jointly held 24th place so another run to the Last 16 as he managed in Ruhr last time out would almost see him guaranteed a spot at Event City. Kyren Wilson is just £375 behind the 24, so he is still at the front of the race, and with a couple of wins this weekend he could edge ahead going to Gdynia in February. Again, you would expect a guy like Marco Fu to make the Tour finals, but this weekend he could do with a run to the Last 16 to realistically keep him in the fight. A £2,625 deficit at this stage is hardly ideal for the top 16 player. Luca Brecel goes into his match with Barry Pinches knowing that he is one of the three guys currently in joint possession of 24th place on the order of merit and he will want two or three wins to separate himself and give himself the best chance going into Gdynia.

These are the two guys you should be looking at from this quarter to go on a good run this weekend.

Mark Williams has been flying on the European Tour this season and has the most money out of anyone that has failed to reach the final of one of the events. He made the Last 16 in Riga not too long after shoulder surgery, and then he lost to eventual winner Carter in the Paul Hunter quarters. It was another quarter final in Bulgaria where he lost out surprisingly to Mike Dunn having beaten Mark Selby just a couple of hours before. The Ruhr Open was his best performance as he made the last 4 before losing out again to the overall winner Mark Allen, who was absolutely flying. His record in the European Tour events has been good throughout 2015, making the Gdynia Open final at the back end of last season and after making the Players Championship final as well, you have to say that Marks game in recent times appears to suit the shorter format.

Marco Fu again is another of the top players who would be expected to make the Tour finals, but is not currently set to do so. That is due in most part to a couple of non-entries in the early events and when he has entered he suffered an early exit against Ali Carter in Bulgaria. In recent times he has showed a little bit of improved form however. His scoring has looked more solid, and he only lost out in the quarter-finals of both the International and UK Championships in deciding frames. Over in Hong Kong he came out on top in the General Cup invitational, but that doesn't necessarily mean a great deal but his other results would back up my view that he is more than capable of a massive run in Gibraltar. His draw for the early stages looks reasonable and he would be disappointed if he didn't still have a chance on Sunday.

Quarter Intro: Marco Fu

Quarter 3

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Ryan Day Vs Amateur Qualifier
Gerard Greene Vs Hossein Vafei Ayouri
Chris Wakelin Vs Michael Georgiou
Oliver Lines Vs Xiao Guodong
Matt Selt Vs David Morris
Alfie Burden Vs Amateur Qualifier
Robbie Williams Vs James Cahill
Stuart Carrington Vs Ian Glover
Michael Holt Vs Duane Jones
Scott Donaldson Vs Anthony Hamilton
Anthony McGill Vs Amateur Qualifier
Andrew Higginson Vs Amateur Qualifier
Michael White Vs Peter Lines
Ken Doherty Vs Liam Highfield
Rod Lawler Vs Lu Ning
Judd Trump Vs Zhang Yong

As we enter the bottom half of the draw, there are still plenty of guys battling for their tour survival. Gerard Greene is the first as he faces a tough match with Hossein Vafei Ayouri, currently sitting in 64th place on the end of season seedings presently set to survive relegation by less than £1,000 of David Morris, who faces a tough match himself against Matt Selt. Stuart Carrington is in 66th on that list just over £1,000 behind, but he is also at the forefront for a tour card via the European order of merit in the first of the eight spots and well clear of his rivals. It would be a bonus if he could qualify for the Tour finals, as that would help him attempt to break the top 64 and he is currently £1,200 clear of the jointly held 24th place, in 19th position on the euro order of merit. Scott Donaldson's match with Anthony Hamilton takes on some importance. Anthony's win in the UK Championship first round just about leaves him hanging on but £11,000 behind the top 64 and with plenty of ground to make up on the European Tour for a tour card, he could do with more than one win in Gibraltar. His opponent Scott, is in the seventh of those eight tour card positions and only £300 clear of Mitchell Mann in eighth but with all that set to change courtesy of Walker's walkover, that lead accumulates to very little. Peter Lines faces a very tough test against Michael White in round one currently sitting £11,000 behind the top 64 on the end of season list, and around £1,000 away from where he needs to be to gain a tour card on the order of merit. Finally, Liam Highfield hasn't won a match on the European Tour this season so has very little chance of gaining a tour card via the order of merit without making at least one Last 16 in the final two events. However, a win or two would be a big step on the end of season seedings where he is currently 67th and £2,000 adrift only.

Meanwhile, there is a whole new battle when it comes to a trip to Event City in March for the Tour finals. Oliver Lines has a shot at making the top 24 just about, sitting £900 adrift which is only a couple of wins in a European Tour event making his tough tie with Xiao Guodong massive for those hopes. Matt Selt is also hovering. He is in 22nd place £525 clear of the jointly held 24th spot which is again only a first round win ahead of the game. Robbie Williams remains in the hunt £1,275 adrift but will need at least a couple of wins to keep those hopes going. Andrew Higginson is the remaining one of the three guys in joint 24th, with Luca and Liang in the top half and set to compete in their first few games on Friday. Michael White's struggle this season is highlighted when you notice that he is on the wrong side of the top 24, by £750. That still gives him a great chance but he could do with making the Last 16 to put him in any kind of dominant position heading out to Poland in February.

When it comes to the main contenders for a quarter win, Michael's White and Holt can't be ruled out as outsiders along with Matt Selt, but these two guys are the front runners.

Judd Trump as I keep saying has had a very shaky and inconsistent season. On the European Tour he has done reasonably well with a Last 16 and two quarter-finals (to go with a first round exit at the Bulgarian Open which followed a 6-0 defeat in International Qualifying to Michael Wild). In the Champion of Champions he looked poor and was punished by Kyren Wilson, while in the UK Championships Last 32 against Liang Wenbo he completely switched off and lost his game to end up losing 6-4 from 4-1 ahead. If he makes a bright start to the tournament though he could easily pick up and fly through his matches. The draw for the first couple of rounds looks simple enough for him, though the possibility of playing Michael White is probably the only slight trouble he could run into and you would still very much expect him to make it through to Sunday again at least, such is his record over the last few seasons on the European Tour.

Ryan Day will be hoping to carry on from where he left off in Mulheim where he made the final of the Ruhr Open. On the way to that final he whitewashed Mark Selby and looked in really great form. This hasn't been his only good run on the European Tour this season making the quarter-finals in Riga. In terms of ranking events he has been playing reasonably despite a disappointing last 64 exit in York recently. At the Shanghai Masters he made the Last 16 before narrowly losing out to Ding Junhui, while he also made the Last 16 of the International Championship after narrowly beating Ding in the last 32. If he can get into his stride early this weekend, his draw looks reasonable and he would certainly be a favourite out of the eight guys in the top section of this quarter to make the quarter-finals for the third time in five European Tour events.

Quarter Winner: Ryan Day

Quarter 4

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Tom Ford Vs James Wattana
Robert Milkins Vs Amateur Qualifier
Ricky Walden Vs Amateur Qualifier
Ian Burns Vs Steven Hallworth
Mark Davis Vs Amateur Qualifier
Li Hang Vs Allan Taylor
John Higgins Vs Dechawat Poomjaeng
Mark King Vs Amateur Qualifier
Ben Woollaston Vs Joe Swail
Jack Lisowski Vs Nigel Bond
Martin O'Donnell Vs Chris Melling
Daniel Wells Vs Amateur Qualifier
Thor Chuan Leong Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Jason Weston Vs Jimmy White
Stuart Bingham Vs Craig Steadman
Ding Junhui W/O Shaun Murphy

On to the final quarter of the draw now and there are still plenty of guys here in the tour survival fight. Ian Burns is the first man to look to, as he is 69th on the end of season list just £4,000 away from making the top 64 so every little helps. In 31st on the Euro order of merit and holding the second of eight tour card spots for those not already qualified his guaranteed to be a professional one way or another. There is also still a chance that he can make Event City in March, adrift of Wenbo, Brecel and Higginson in 24th spot by just £525, the price of a first round win (if this was Bruce's Price is Right or any non-UK equivalants). Chris Melling's only hope of being on tour (without going to Q School) next season is to make up the £1,050 gap between himself and Mitchell Mann which is a tough ask without making at least the Last 32 in one of the last two events. Thor Chuan Leong is in a very healthy position for now in the third of eight tour card spots on the Euro tour with no chance of making the top 64 in the rankings at the end of the season. Craig Steadman has a very tough first round against the World Champion in round one here. Craig is currently just over £2,000 clear of 65th place in his present position of 63rd on the provisional end of season seeding list.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of players in the battle to make Event City and the Players Championship Finals in March. Robert Milkins may not look too great for now £1,350 behind the top 24 but he still has a great chance of getting into there with two events, and besides that he would look good on the top 6 not already qualified on an AT/ET combined list after making £3,500 by making the Asian Tour semi-finals. Mark Davis is in 21st place and looking strong with a £675 advantage but that certainly doesn't mean he can let his guard down and still requires plenty of wins. John Higgins has a gap of £1,425 to make up if he is to gain direct qualification, which is more than doable for him. However, on the combined list he does boast an additional £1,300 from the Asian Tour last 16 round that he made it to. A couple of wins can keep Daniel Wells realistically in the race, £900 adrift coming into this event. The biggest doubt though is the place of Stuart Bingham at Event City. He has only won £1,425 and sits 64th on the order of merit a whole £2,625 adrift and 40 places away from where he needs to be.

There are plenty of contenders in this section to go on and win the quarter, with Stuart Bingham as well as Ding Junhui, Ricky Walden, Robert Milkins and Mark Davis, but below are the two guys who I believe will go furthest of the lot in this section over the weekend.

John Higgins is a contender for any event he plays in at the moment and has to be one of the favourites to come out on top again in Gibraltar. This season has already seen him win the Australian Open, International Championship and lose out in the a deciding frame quarter-final at the UK Championship to eventual winner Robertson. It has not been such plain sailing on the European Tour however, and as I said he has ground to make up if he wants to feature in March at Event City. He lost out in the Last 16 at the Ruhr Open, didn't enter Bulgaria, made the Last 32 in Furth, prior to the first round exit he suffered in the first round of the Riga Open to an amateur qualifier. Securing Players Championship qualification is the carrot that has been dangled to the Scot this weekend and it wouldn't surprise me if he made the very latter stages on Sunday to have a nibble of that carrot.

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is one man that I have picked to come out of the pack in this European Tour event. There is always one surprise name in the latter stages this season, or so it seems and the Thai certainly fits the bill. We all know that he can blow his opponents out of he water with his heavy scoring and if he can get over the fact he missed the black for a £44,000 maximum against Neil Robertson in his Last 32 exit at the UK Championship then I expect him to be back on form straight away here. The only European Tour event he has actually played in this season saw him lose out in round one to Liang Wenbo shortly after his run to the International Championship semi-finals. That followed a quarter-final exit on the Asian Tour and a win at the 6 Reds event in Thailand. All of these results and his semi-final at March's Indian Open all demonstrate that he is starting to show the potential that we all know he has by the bag full. His draw this week in this quarter sees plenty of players that he would be favourite to beat, with the only top players standing between him and the quarter-final are really Stuart Bingham and Ding Junhui who he could meet one of in the Last 32, but neither has particularly good form so he could easily make his way through to Sunday, and from there it is always anyone's game. He certainly has the form and potential to go all the way this weekend.

Quarter Winner: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh

Tournament Runner-Up: Thepchiaya Un-Nooh

Tournament Winner: Marco Fu


This is also the last full event before Christmas, with the German Masters qualifiers to come from December 17th-20th, while the qualifiers for the World Seniors Championship for those interested are on 21st-22nd of December and these are all being held in Wigan.

Hopefully the tournament in Gibraltar will be a success as snooker travels out to another new part of the world for a professional event, which is a sign of the great success that the European Tour has been in all.

Fantasy Snooker: Points Update and Gibraltar Open players

After a long double points event at the UK Championship it's time for a points update on the Fantasy Snooker league, and of course the announcement of players and pricings for the upcoming Gibraltar Open which is the final event before a well deserved Christmas break (not for me as i'll be doing my Christmas features but the players can enjoy some time off!!!)

As I say it was double points at the UK Championship and that led to some huge scoring, particularly or anyone who picked eventual winner and maximum maker Neil Robertson, while the likes of Mark Selby and John Higgins also proved to be high scoring players:

1^st: Gorkem Kurt: 463 +0.6 million Mavis (36) and N.Robertson (160)
1^st : Igor: 463 +0.9 million N. Robertson (160) and Fu (64)
3^rd: Chris Watts: 401 +0.4 million Selby (82) and N. Robertson (160)
4^th: SnookerFollower: 396 -1.6 million Allen (44) and Higgins (76)
5^th: Michael Coudray: 374 +3.1 million N.Robertson (160) and Higgins (76)
6^th: Gary: 338 +0.2 million Ding (0) and J.Jones (40)
7^th: Kjetil: 329 +2.9 million Maguire (46) and Dunn (18)
8^th: Anthony Ward: 320 +2.1 million Trump (40) and Dott (18)
9^th: TungstenDarts: 313 +7.5 million Trump (40) and N.Robertson (160)
10^th: LTD: 291 +-0 million Perry (18) and Higgins (76)
11^th: Josh Cooper: 275 +0.1 million Murphy (58) and J.Jones (40)
12^th: Guillermo: 267 -1.7 million N.Robertson (160) and K.Wilson. (28)
13^th: Phil Mudd: 262 +2.9 million Murphy (58) and K.Wilson (28)
14^th: Spanish Snooker Blog: 260 +0.1 million Ding (0) and M.Williams (14)
15^th: John McBride: 239 +10.2 million Murphy (58) and Trump (40)
16^th: Andrew Brooker: 222 +14.4 million Murphy (58) and Hawkins (10)
17^th: Kai: 205 +0.4 million Higgins (76) and Higginson (0)
18^th: Ezgi Ulutas: 194 +2.2 million Selby (82) and Hawkins (10)
19^th: Kellie Barker: 184 +0.4 million M. White (0) and K. Wilson (28)


A small gap has opened up at the top between the two leaders and the chasing pack for the first time in the competition. However, with plenty of tournaments to come there is time for all of that to change yet. Next up is the fifth European Tour event as the players fly out for the Gibraltar Open. As usual it is two picks with £8 million plus any leftover money displayed next to your name above. So here are those players ordered by world ranking following the UK Championships:

Mark Selby - 6 million
Stuart Bingham - 5.8 million
Neil Robertson– 5.6 million
Judd Trump – 5.5 million
John Higgins – 5.4 million
Ding Junhui – 5.3 million
Joe Perry – 5.2 million
Ricky Walden – 5 million
Mark Williams – 4.9 million
Marco Fu – 4.8 million
Liang Wenbo – 4.6 million
Stephen Maguire – 4.5 million
Michael White – 4.3 million
Ryan Day – 4.2 million
David Gilbert – 4.1 million
Robert Milkins – 4 million

Players ranked 22-32 – 3.5 million
Players ranked 33-48 – 3 million
Players ranked 49-64 – 2.5 million
Players ranked 65- 80 – 2 million
Players ranked 81 or below – 1 million


There you have it then, the deadline for picks is before the first Last 128 round matches on Friday. Enjoy and good luck!!

Overwhelmed Wenbo and Ruthless Robertson into UK Final

Liang Wenbo and Neil Robertson will contest the final of the UK Championships after contrasting victories today in the semi-finals. Liang Wenbo fought hard for his win in the afternoon against David Grace in what was a lengthy match to the extent that it delayed the start of the Neil Robertson match by 30 minutes. After winning the opening frame after Grace missed an easy pink, Wenbo struggled badly and you could sense his nerves and tension playing for a spot in the top 16 and to get into January's Masters as well as his second ever ranking event final. He went 3-1 down at the interval before a 110 break pulled him back to 2-3. Grace dominated the next to move 4-2 ahead but he barely had a chance as Wenbo levelled at 4-4 in what was a match littered with errors, as you would expect from two players in a major semi-final who are both outside of the top 16 and lack experience at this level. The break of 50 in frame nine from Wenbo in my mind was a huge psychological boost, as it came out of nothing really and was to put him ahead at a crucial stage of the match. The Chinese took an early lead in frame ten but Grace came back at him and after brilliant pots much later on, on green and brown, he missed a tricky pink to extend the match and Liang knocked in the pink, black and jumped for joy in celebration of his amazing triumph to both get into the UK Final and next months Masters.

The celebration caused a bit of a stir on Twitter, with people saying it was bad conduct. It would be interesting to see if these are the people that call for "more characters" in the game of snooker, because that is the kind of emotional release that shows a good character as you can see what it meant to him, just like his wins against Judd Trump, Tom Ford and Marco Fu. It also must be tough for him to be living in the shadow of Ding Junhui back home in China, and now with the younger prodigies coming through as well, it is tough for him to come over here and earn the respect and recognition that he already deserves. Anyone that doesn't respect that and how hard it is for players to come from overseas and challenge the huge crop of top British players in their own back yard, won't be able to respect what was going through Wenbo's mind today and how much it REALLY means to for him to win that match.

The second semi-final was much less eventful as Neil Robertson was rampant thrashing Mark Selby 6-0. It was not one way traffic in terms of Neil totally out scoring his opponent, but what he did was play the better safety from the very start to the finish and knock in some very good trademark long balls which against Selby is so important. Mark had the best of the early chances in almost every frame but he could not take advantage as Neil won three of the six frames on the black and a further one on the pink to ease through to the final.

Semi-Final Results:

Liang Wenbo 6-4 David Grace
Neil Robertson 6-0 Mark Selby

Final Preview:

Neil Robertson Vs Liang Wenbo - 128 guys started out in this event but now we are down to the final two and for me they have been the best and most entertaining of the week. Starting with Liang Wenbo, most people will not give him a chance because of his lower ranking and experience, but he has had to earn his right to get here all the same by beating top players in Judd Trump (from 4-1 behind) and Marco Fu in a deciding frame, as well as comebacks from 4-2 today against Grace and 5-3 against Tom Ford. He has showed a lot of grit and determination but also scored very well and shown a great amount of mental strength throughout the week. The tension of getting to the final and into the top 16 for the Masters next year will be gone and as he said he can relax and enjoy the experience now in his second ever ranking final, and first in a major triple crown event of course.

With Neil Robertson in fantastic form and absolutely flying, it really is tough to give anyone a chance against him to be honest. The very dangerous Thepchaiya Un-Nooh was extinguished with no problem whatsoever. Stephen Maguire was seen off 6-1 despite opening up with a century, as Neil punched in three tons of his own. Three centuries from John Higgins could not get him across the line as Neil edged a decider there, and he totally dominated Mark Selby in all aspects and put the world number 1 under immediate pressure on the way to a whitewash win. He has all of the experience as a triple crown winner to deal with anything that his Chinese opponent will throw at him tomorrow, and his form in my mind makes him totally unstoppable. You would not like to rule out Wenbo after the sheer determination he has displayed this week but it is hard to see him beating someone playing this well in his first really big final. Even if he did get close as we saw today the pressure can take hold and really affect him more than it will Neil.

Prediction: Neil to romp home again a 10-4 winner.


It really has been a fantastic week of snooker, made particularly special by the exploits of David Grace, and all credit to him for his achievements, and of course those of Liang Wenbo to get himself into the Masters. Mark Selby has missed out on a third UK final in four years, while Robertson is into his second in three years which in itself is phenomenal going and he has lit up the Barbican with the sort of displays that saw him capture the 2013 UK crown and get 100 centuries in the 2013/2014 season.

With the end of the UK Championship in sight that also means that Christmas is nearly upon us and with that will bring my usual Christmas features for you to enjoy. The same as last year can be expected with my countdown of the best players and most magical moments of 2015 (on a month by month basis from January through to December) and of course my 12 days of Christmas classic matches of 2015 countdown (counting down my favourite matches from the start of the 2014 UK Championships until the end of the Champion and Champions last month - I know it's a bit of an odd system). I hope you have all enjoyed following the blog in 2015 as much as I have enjoyed writing each and every piece.

Selby, Robertson, Wenbo and Amazing Grace make up York final four

Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Liang Wenbo and David Grace are through to the semi-finals of the UK Championship in York after a thrilling Friday of snooker in the quarter-finals at the Barbican. Mark Selby had by far the easiest day of the four winning his evening match with Matt Selt 6-1. Selby was clinical and capitalised on his opponents errors after winning a lengthy opening frame. The fourth frame looked key as Selt had a chance to square things up at 2-2 but when it went 3-1 to Mark at the interval you felt that was game over, and despite chances for Matt in the remaining frames he could not put the world number one under any pressure.

Selby will now play Neil Robertson who came through an exciting deciding frame finish against International champion John Higgins. John started with a century but Robertson made a century of his own and a break of 71 along with two other 50+ breaks to take a 4-1 lead. John hit back with a 69 and his second century to close in at 3-4. Neil edged one away at 5-3 but another 134 from Higgins and a 66 break forced the decider. Both guys missed key balls but it was Neil that made the early running in the decider and a missed green from the Scot cost him a chance at one of his "classic" clearances, as the Australian goes through to his third meeting in four years against Selby at the UK Championship.

Liang Wenbo also came through a final frame in his match against Marco Fu to put himself into the last four. Wenbo was on fire early on starting the match with three magnificent century breaks to lead 3-0 and it looked like it could be four centuries on the trot before he missed on 49 and Fu cleared with 64 to get his first frame on the board. Marco also took the first frame after the break but Liang was soon back on top and a run of 67 helped him to go one away and seemingly cruising to victory at 5-2. Liang had chances to get over the line in frames eight and nine, but Marco stayed strong to win three on the trot and make it 5-5. Liang had the best chances of the decider and a magnificent long pot gave him the opportunity needed to finally cross the line and make the semi-finals.

The final match to finish on the day was by far the best as David Grace came from 5-1 behind to beat Martin Gould 6-5. Gould was on fire in the match making two centuries on the way to securing such a commanding lead in the match and it very much looked like Dave's run would be over. Grace cleared to win on the black in the next, before an in-off in frame eight on the brown cost Gould his chance at the match. He had plenty of other chances thereafter but could not put anything substantial together. The decider was the most amazing phase of the match as David put a 61 point lead together and only needed one of the remaining five reds to win the match but he missed a pretty straightforward shot and let Martin back into it. He then made 30 but failed to get on the final red but did collect 28 points in fouls after a couple of difficult snookers Grace couldn't get out of. Eventually it was Martin who potted the final red but missed the black to the middle and David cleared the five colours he needed to clinch a superb comeback victory.

Quarter-Final Results:

David Grace 6-5 Martin Gould
Liang Wenbo 6-5 Marco Fu
Neil Robertson 6-5 John Higgins
Mark Selby 6-1 Matt Selt

Semi-Finals Preview

Liang Wenbo Vs David Grace - Quite simply the biggest game of both players lives. Wenbo is aiming for his second major final, and first in the UK while Grace had never made a ranking quarter final before this week. For Liang Wenbo it also comes as a chance to get himself in the top 16 for the Masters and knock Michael White out of 16th position with the £70,000 he would be guaranteed for making the final. As for David Grace he has already massively boosted his chances of saving his tour spot, which before the UK Championships looked pretty bleak. Another win here would guarantee his safety. Liang Wenbo has had arguably the toughest draw and has already come through some real nail biters. Against Judd Trump he came from 4-1 down with five frames in a row to win 6-4, before winning three in a row from 5-3 down against Tom Ford. Today against Marco Fu he was in sensational form starting with three consecutive centuries, but after he missed on 49 in the fourth things began to go backwards and even though he consolidated from 3-2 to lead 5-2 he lost the next three but somehow held his nerve once again. You cannot question the bottle of either of these players, but in terms of putting themselves into the winning position tomorrow you have to say that Liang has been scoring much the better of the two players and will certainly go out as the favourite tomorrow. With some of the displays we've seen from Liang i'm starting to think that this is his week.

Prediction: Wenbo to end Grace's dream 6-3.

Mark Selby Vs Neil Robertson - This is the one we have all been waiting for. Another potentially classic meeting between Mark Selby and Neil Robertson. These two players met in the quarter-finals of the 2012 UK Championship and what happened there with Robertson crumbling to a 6-4 defeat from 4-0 up, and then at the Masters just a month later as Selby recovered from a past midnight finish against Graeme Dott, got a few red bulls in him and went on to thrash Robertson really 10-6, shaped a new Neil. He came back a lot stronger and showed his metal by beating Selby to land the 2013 UK title, as well as also beating him in the World Open quarter-finals, the China Open final and the Australian Open semi-finals in the lead up to that. They've not met as much since then with Selby grabbing their last two major meetings in the 2014 World Championship semi-final, and more recently in the quarter-finals of this years International Championship. Neil Robertson Vs Mark Selby is probably my favourite fixture in modern snooker especially when they're both in the form of this week. Robertson has been flying and scoring for fun against the top players Maguire and Higgins particularly. Selby has been scoring pretty well at times, but has also taken advantage of his opponents mistakes when he's had to and been in grinding mode at times. The thing with these two is that you always fancy Neil Robertson as the favourite, but there is just something about Selby that is able to get these results. Many would have expected him to win the 2012 UK quarter final, 2013 Masters final and 2014 world semi-final but he managed to win neither of those and I simply think that is because Neil can get caught up with playing the player some times. It seems like he gets caught into Selby's game plan to grind him down and Mark knows deep down that he can beat him this way. The only worry for Mark is whether he can take his chances but he has been going pretty well on that front this week and if he can stop Robertson from having his trademark long pots then he has a chance.

Prediction: Selby to edge a late night thriller 6-5.


A cracking line-up is left for the semi-finals, with Selby and Robertson the particular highlight on Saturday evening (possibly what Saturday nights were made for) while Liang Wenbo and David Grace are battling for the right to make it through to have a crack at winning their first ever ranking event knowing that they will be playing a former UK champion if they are to do so. It remains best-of-11 for the semi-finals and I will be back for more to preview the best-of-19 frames final which is to come over two sessions on Sunday with my usual correct score prediction.

Selby and Robertson ease through, while Murphy is beaten by Fu

Mark Selby and Neil Robertson eased into the Quarter-Finals of the UK Championship with simple victories over Dechawat Poomjaeng and Stephen Maguire. The pair seemed to be very close to their best in 6-1 victories over their respective opponents. Robertson made three centuries after losing the first frame to a century against Stephen Maguire, while Selby looked like a changed man to the one who nearly went out to Jamie Jones, while Poomjaeng could not complete the same heroics that saw him come from 5-0 down in the Last 32 against Mark Joyce.

Shaun Murphy lost 4 of the last five frames from 3-2 ahead against Marco Fu to go out to an impressive performance from his opponent for the second year running, and at the same stage of the UK Championships for the third year in a row. Liang Wenbo is Fu's next opponent after he completed more comeback heroics against Tom Ford. He was 2-0 down early on before levelling at 2-2 at the mid-session break, but soon found himself 5-3 behind. Ford had chances in the remaining frames but Liang was dominant and came back to win 6-5, inducing load cries of "COME ON".

David Grace has gotten to the quarter-finals of a full ranking event for the first time after he beat a very under par Peter Ebdon 6-2. Ebdon could not get into the match early and despite levelling at 1-1 he lost all of the next four missing straightforward shots and failing to put anything together. In fact at 5-1 up David Grace's pot success was only 84% which is very low for the last 16 of a major but it didn't matter as he was able to hang on and get the win. Meanwhile, Matt Selt has also made it into the quarter-finals to deny young Luca Brecel his second appearance in the last 8 of the UK's. Brecel started brightly taking a 3-1 interval lead before losing all of the next four frames as his long potting in particular went astray. He did manage to pull a frame back to trail 4-5 but was not able to take his chances to force a final frame and Selt ran out a 6-4 victor.

Martin Gould was pretty comfortable in the end as he beat Joe Swail 6-3. Martin trailed after a scrappy opening 2-1, but started to find his range as he took the next four in a row to lead 5-2. Swail was able to get one frame back, but despite the chances he had in the match, could not make it any closer. John Higgins was not as comfortable when he took on Jamie Burnett. The signs were good early as John took 3-0 and 4-1 leads but he started to lose focus and Jamie took advantage of his failings to win the next three and level at 4-4. He had good chances in frame nine and frame ten but John capitalised on his opponents errors with a century and a cool clearance to take out the match, much to his relief.


Last 16 Results:

David Grace 6-2 Peter Ebdon
Martin Gould 6-3 Joe Swail
Liang Wenbo 6-5 Tom Ford
Marco Fu 6-4 Shaun Murphy
Neil Robertson 6-1 Stephen Maguire
John Higgins 6-4 Jamie Burnett
Matt Selt 6-4 Luca Brecel
Mark Selby 6-1 Dechawat Poomjaeng

Quarter-Final Preview: (Picks in Bold)

Martin Gould Vs David Grace - You would not have necessarily made these two the favourites to get to the quarter-finals at the start of the event but they have both played well and come through some tight matches to make it here. Gould has beaten Mark Allen most notably and looked in good form scoring well but also looking sharp in the safety department, which is one of his biggest recent improvements. David Grace has come out of nowhere in the sense that I have not really expected him to win a single one of his matches as yet, and his ranking event best was the Last 16 which he made in the Shanghai Masters in September as the beneficiary of a Last 32 walkover. He has played well this week at times, though he did not really have to in the last round against Peter Ebdon who was incredibly under par. Grace is going to have to step it up if he is to beat Martin here as he has been improving all year, as shown by his appearances in the World Grand Prix semi-finals and the Australian Open final and another couple of wins in this event are certainly not out of reach.

Marco Fu Vs Liang Wenbo - Marco Fu and Liang Wenbo have both been very impressive in this tournament so far but particularly in the last couple of rounds. Fu played very well in defeating Shaun Murphy, though was aided by his opponent missing a few of his usual attacking shots. Liang Wenbo has been the comeback king so far this week in his wins over Judd Trump, 6-4 from 4-1 behind, and Tom Ford, 6-5 from 5-3 down. In fact in every single one of his matches he has won at least three frames in a row so can reel frames off with big breaks as well as any player. Both players will have their eyes on not just the semi-finals but making it to a major final and you would not begrudge either one of them of that. Marco deserves another crack at a major final, particularly after his heart breaking loss in the 2008 UK final, while it would be great to see a character like Liang go on and get to major final and go on to win it also. Wenbo is a quality player and it is not as often as others that he actually shows this. He is playing well this week and proving very tough to beat this week, while Marco did miss a few balls against Murphy looking to close the match out which is very unusual for Fu. This is certainly one match that could go either way.

Neil Robertson Vs John Higgins - This is by far the match of the round, and amazingly the first time that these two guys have met each other in a ranking event since the 2013 Wuxi Classic final. That almost shows the timeline of John in the year in a half after that final, as it took him so long to get back to his best. Now he seems to be there though he is proving a tough match for everyone and will certainly be so again here for Neil. Robertson has been flying in the last two rounds against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Stephen Maguire making centuries for fun, just as did on the way to winning the title back in 2013, and blowing his opponents out of the water. For me Robertson is a massive favourite to win the title if he can carry his form on for the next three rounds and John knows his safety and scoring will have to be on top form which they were not in the middle of his match against Jamie Burnett when he lost four out of five frames from 3-0 and 4-1 to 4-4. Only the consistent levels of performance shown in the International Championship will do here otherwise it will be Neil making the semi-finals.

Mark Selby Vs Matt Selt - Right at the bottom of the draw world number 1 Mark Selby seemed to be back at the top of his form against Dechawat Poomjaeng as he was in the first two rounds, before what can only now be seen as a blip against Jamie Jones. His scoring and safety have looked good in the matches he has won convincingly while his battling qualities have been outstanding once more when they have had to be, making him very hard to beat. In fact he is probably playing better now than when he won the UK title in 2012, where he had to hang on in a number of matches throughout the competition. Matt Selt has reached another ranking event quarter-final, but is yet to go one better than that in a full ranking event so it will be interesting to see what he does on this occasion. Selt has not really played his best this week and has had to grind and scrap his way through the draw, waiting for dips in his opponents performances which he got against Robbie Williams and Luca Brecel as it appeared that they both had chances throughout the match. One thing he will have to do here is play much better as there is no way to really grind Selby down and his experience in the latter stages of tournaments is far too great to lose to anything over than Matt's very best game.


Again, with four non-top 16 players into the quarter-finals there are still some huge opportunities for certain players to really make a move in the rankings with £30,000 guaranteed for those making the last four, a jump of £10,000 on what quarter-final losers will take home. With all of these matches taking place on Friday we will soon have a fantastic idea of who the favourites are for this tournament, with 2012 and 2013 champions Mark Selby and Neil Robertson standing out so far, but plenty of others (particularly in the top half of the draw) have a great chance to stake their claims and put a new name on the trophy as the 2015 champion.

Bingham and Trump beaten, while Selby survives

Stuart Bingham was knocked out in the Last 32 of the UK Championships by former champion Peter Ebdon in what was an excellent performance from Peter after finishing his Last 64 match at 1.30am on the same day. Ebdon started well and went into an early 3-1 lead. From there though Bingham came within a single frame on two occasions but Peter managed to keep his nose in front winning a key frame eight to go 5-3 up before finishing the match with a century.

Judd Trump was a victim to a performance that you could describe as a machine like one. For the opening few frames he played wonderful stuff and Wenbo was unable to pot a ball in the opening three frames as he went 3-0 down. A 78 from Liang kept him in it at the interval but another 50+ break put Judd 4-1 ahead and seemingly cruising. That was when the machine turned off. From there Judd missed plenty of easy balls and bad positional shots and gave Liang plenty of chances (particularly in the last two frames) in order to come back and fall over the line a 6-4 winner.

Mark Selby meanwhile pulled off a Houdini like performance to beat Jamie Jones, despite two centuries from Jones and a very poor performance of his own. Selby was 2-0 down early and could have lost the opening four frames but somehow found himself level at 2-2. He then trailed 3-2, and 4-3 and could've trailed 5-3 but he managed to win the eighth frame after needing a snooker on the pink. In the tenth he managed to escape from a poor position again as Jamie Jones needed only the last red and after laying a nasty snooker he must have thought he was in with a great chance but it wasn't to be as Selby cleared and then made a nice break to win the decider.

On Tuesday, Mark Allen fell to Martin Gould after a good performance from Martin who is trying to better his runners up position in the seasons opener in Bendigo. His next opponent is Joe Swail who was a surprisingly comfortable winner against Michael Holt 6-1, showing that Joe's recent laser eye surgery has worked wonders on his game while Holty was very disappointed with his display in that one on Monday night.

Monday afternoon also saw a comfortable win for John Higgins 6-2 against Ali Carter, who said afterwards that he was suffering from abdominal pain caused by the Chrone's disease he suffers with and said that that makes a big difference against players like John. Roughly 24 hours afterwards Shaun Murphy was a comfortable 6-2 winner himself against Ben Woollaston in another good performance from the Magician as he has now only dropped 4 frames on the way to the Last 16.

As well as the drama with Judd tonight, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh missed the final black for a 147 in his match against Neil Robertson which would have been worth £44,000 to the Thai player. Overall, it was a good display that included a new tournament high break of 145 to come through a 6-2 winner. Marco Fu also came through avenging his International Championship quarter-final loss to David Gilbert winning 6-3.

The big result though was the final one to come in after Dechawat Poomjaeng with his brilliant character and all the rest of it beat Mark Joyce from 5-0 behind. This was a result that Nigel Bond achieved against Barry Hawkins last year and it really affected Barry's game and without Mark Joyce having the same liberties of being ranked so high and having that to fall back on, I hope the same does not happen to Joyce now.

Last 32 Results:

Peter Ebdon 6-3 Stuart Bingham
David Grace 6-4 Jack Lisowski
Martin Gould 6-4 Mark Allen
Joe Swail 6-1 Michael Holt
Liang Wenbo 6-4 Judd Trump
Tom Ford 6-1 Kyren Wilson
Marco Fu 6-3 David Gilbert
Shaun Murphy 6-2 Ben Woollaston
Neil Robertson 6-2 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Stephen Maguire 6-4 Mark Davis
Jamie Burnett 6-3 Li Hang
John Higgins 6-2 Ali Carter
Luca Brecel 6-2 Robin Hull
Matt Selt 6-3 Robbie Williams
Dechawat Poomjaeng 6-5 Mark Joyce
Mark Selby 6-5 Jamie Jones

Last 16 Preview: (Picks in Bold)

Peter Ebdon Vs David Grace - To lead the Last 16 draw we have a big match for both players. One of Peter Ebdon, David Grace, Martin Gould or Joe Swail will be in the semi-finals of this years tournament and given where each player is ranked they could get a huge boost with a minimum of £30,000 for getting to the last 4. David has been flying so far in the tournament with crushing wins against Higginson and Milkins before beating Jack Lisowski and so far he seems to be riding a wave, playing without a care in the world. On TV in a the biggest match of his entire career by a long stretch this is going to be hugely different though. Peter has the experience needed to get over the line in these situations and by beating Stuart in the last round he has shown that he still has what it takes to cut it on TV at the top level and you have to make him the favourite to win here because once again he appears to have found some form.

Martin Gould Vs Joe Swail - This is the second of many massive matches in the draw, for reasons I mentioned above and these two are pretty evenly matched. In the last round Martin was able to get on top of Mark Allen with good safety play and then take his chances as they came along, scoring well as always. Joe Swail was on form as well against Michael Holt as he was in round one against Joel Walker and it can be put down to the laser eye surgery that has not only improved the key to snooker of eyesight, but also must have really raised his self-confidence. He knocked in some great long pots against Holty but still needed plenty of chances to kill it off. If Martins safety is as good as it was against Allen he will not necessarily get those chances and have to score much better otherwise Gould's good form will carry him through.

Liang Wenbo Vs Tom Ford - Yet another significant game here for two guys outside of the top 16 to get into a major quarter-final and both will be feeling the pressure. Liang certainly felt it needing six good chances in the final frame against Trump to take care of the match, and Judd's poor snooker and easy misses really let him right back in from a position where the situation looked pretty helpless. Tom Ford has been flying this week so far. He has scored heavily in every single round, coming from 5-3 down to beat Mark Williams and then thrashing in form Kyren Wilson 6-1. He says he is feeling as good as he has in a long time and the results and breaks he is knocking in really are showing that. Even though Liang has been good in the tournament to this point, and Ford will be under a different kind of pressure and expectation in a big TV match, you feel Wenbo will have to bring it up a notch to get victory here.

Shaun Murphy Vs Marco Fu - This is a big match for a totally different reason. If either play has looked at the draw (Shaun always says he doesn't look too far ahead and sometimes I have to tell him who he is playing in the European Tour events) they will know that if they can come through here they would certainly be a favourite in every match between now and the final, not that things are ever that easy. This is also a repeat of an epic match from the Last 16 of last years event where Shaun was 5-3 up and lost, after snookering himself on the yellow when he looked certain to win the decider too. That was a big moment for Shaun in my opinion and he has channelled the frustration created by that loss into winning the Masters and making the World Championship final since then. Now he has a chance to complete the cycle almost as he was playing great coming into that match with Fu last year, but he is striking it even better this year and just as well as he did during the Masters and World's this year. Fu has been going along nicely this week away from the TV tables and has gotten to this stage dropping 5 frames to the 4 that Murphy has. I think Shaun is as focussed and pumped up for this as he was on those Masters and World runs, and when he gets like that he can be unstoppable and will not be underestimating Fu so will have to be at the top of his game to come through, but that almost makes the job even clearer.

Neil Robertson Vs Stephen Maguire - Another blockbuster awaits here between Stephen Maguire and Neil Robertson with both guys playing very well. Both were pushed in their Last 32 encounters, with Robertson having to sit and watch as Thepchaiya nearly made a maximum and came out the next frame with a 145 break, and there has been no problem with his scoring at all. The same is true for Maguire who had to fight hard both in the first round against Jimmy White scoring well to come back into the match, but he made two centuries on the way to victory against Mark Davis. After failing to score a point from 1-4 to 4-4 to finish strong with two more breaks of 50 and above showed that Maguire is certainly not here to make up the numbers in York this week. Since losing to Neil at the last 8 stage in the 2013 UK Championship, he has beaten Neil in the quarter's of the 2014 Masters, 2014 Ruhr Open and the 2015 German Masters so his recent record is good and after a semi-final at last years event I think he could go a lot further this year.

John Higgins Vs Jamie Burnett - John Higgins is still flying with his new found form that saw him win the International Championship a month ago, and he has only dropped 5 frames in reaching this stage of the UK Championships. You would think this match with Jamie should be a breeze but it will not be as simple as that. Jamie has been playing nicely and won his first three matches pretty comfortable with some heavy scoring and he has plenty of experience in these big matches just as John has. Burnett has not had a big match like this for some time though and John will not be in the mood to be giving hand outs as he appears to be on a serious mission in York.

Matt Selt Vs Luca Brecel - This is another incredibly important match for two ever improving players with a place in the quarter-finals at stake. Luca Brecel was on fire in 2012 to make the quarters, while Matts best was a run to the Last 16 last year before running into Ronnie O'Sullivan who whitewashed him with a maximum. Matt has been steadily on the up since then and this would be another big step but to get to this stage he has had to really grind out some results, particularly when nearly losing from 5-2 ahead to Zhang Yong and against Robbie Williams in a tough match. Luca Brecel however is flying. Conditions were tough in his match with Anthony McGill which may have played into Anthony's hands as Luca would prefer a freer flowing game. That was what he got against Robin Hull where he may have benefitted from a couple of Hull's errors but he scored very well to take advantage with a century and two breaks of 80+ to finish the match off after losing the sixth on the black, showing his ability to block these events out. We all know how talented Brecel is and this could the tournament where he really breaks through from the pack. Getting to the latter stages was not something that happened regularly after he nearly made the semi's here in 2012 but a semi-final at this years Welsh Open and some good results on the European Tour has pushed him well and truly back in the right direction and I was impressed with his safety in that run. He is developing nicely and Selt is going to have a real handful here to win.

Mark Selby Vs Dechawat Poomjaeng - This is going to be a fascinating match after two great escapes from both players to get here. Neither should have won in the Last 32 quite frankly as Mark was much the worse player against Jamie Jones, while Dechawat was five down with six to play against Mark Joyce. Mark played very well in his first two games, so I am not entirely sure what happened against Jones. If it is only a minor blip and after coming so close to losing, if he can kick on from here he could easily win the tournament, as his display of grit and determination last night showed two things. The first is how very tough Mark is to beat and the second is how reminiscent it was to some of his displays of character in 2012 when he went on to lift the title. Dechawat Poomjaeng is a tough player to take seriously at times. His results are inconsistent and the 2013 World Championships introduced many of us to his amazing antics and all the rest of his character but he is a good player on his day. Not only was there the comeback against Joyce but he thrashed in form Ryan Day 6-2 in the Last 64 so is clearly going along strongly but Selby may be a step too far.


Now that we are down to a two table set-up for the Last 16, every match will be on TV. This is a massive opportunity for guys like David Grace, Tom Ford, Luca Brecel and Matt Selt amongst others whose appearances on the BBC are few and far between and it will be good for the public to see some new faces on their screens across the next couple of days. With it being two tables, this also means it really feels like we are coming towards the business end of the tournament as the crowd closes in and that should create a great feel for these last five days of the event. With some real quality left in the draw it is still very tough to pick out who will come out on top on Sunday night, and you will all have your favourites wherever you are watching from and I hope you are all enjoying the event.

Next up from me will be a preview ahead of Friday's quarter-finals.