English Open: Tournament Top Ten

While the European Masters is ongoing in Romania, Monday sees the start of the English Open in Manchester, another of the new events that has been added to the calendar and the first of the home series events in the 2016/2017 season. Following my "Stat Attack" the build up to this event continues with the Tournament Top Ten which will rank the contenders based on the statistics that were also mentioned in the Stat Attack, as well as the most recent events with the Shanghai Masters, Paul Hunter Classic and the European Masters (which is down to the semi-finals at the time of writing). As always I have tried to put similar events into this generator as well, and the one that sticks out is the Welsh Open as all of the home series events this year are based on the format of the Welsh Open from 2014 to 2016.

The statistics used in the generator were the average frames per 50+ break, average break when above 50, close frames win percentage, average frame aggregate and the quarter-finals or better since the start of 2014/2015 list, which were all explained in the first two tournament top ten blogs, and my Stat Attack blog from earlier in the week.

With all of that in mind, here is who the stats and facts think the major contenders will be in the upcoming English Open.

10 - Joe Perry - Just making it on to the top ten list for the upcoming week is Joe Perry. Perry started the season well by getting to the final of the World Open, though by this point in the season this should get less of a consideration. When taking into the account the similarity between this event and the Welsh Open, particularly between 2014 and 2016, you find that in 2014 and 2016 Perry was a semi-finalist. This could mean that his game suits this kind of format of the short matches, but not having to play multiple times in one day like on the old European Tour. However, there has been little else to cheer for Perry in the most recent events which is why he finds himself so low on the list.

9 - Anthony McGill - Anthony McGill has had a brilliant start to the season, winning his first ranking event at the Indian Open, though like the World Open, this one has been given slightly less importance in the generator as it was so early in the season and there have now been a few events in quick succession through September. McGill was boosted by a run to the quarter-finals of the ongoing European Masters beating Ali Carter along the way (who very narrowly missed out on making the top ten). The Scotsman has shaped up well statistically in this first part of the season so far, sitting fifth in the frames per 50+ break statistic and topping the average frame aggregate (when these statistics were calculated before the European Masters quarter-finals). Without a quieter period through the Paul Hunter Classic and Shanghai Masters, and no notable finishes in the most recent editions of the Welsh Open, McGill would be much higher on this list.

8 - Mark Allen - Next up on the list is Mark Allen who won the Players Championship in March, at the venue where the English Open is being played. Having only played in three events this season at the Paul Hunter Classic, Shanghai Masters and European Masters Allen has made the Last 16 in them all and will be looking to push on this week. When it comes to the Welsh Open's relation to this event, you will see that Allen was a losing semi-finalist at the most recent edition in Cardiff back in February. He also stands highly in a couple of statistics coming into this week, sitting third in frames per 50+ break when the statistics were calculated before the quarter-finals of the European Masters, and also coming in third place for the average frames aggregate. All of this puts Allen comfortably in the top ten at eighth, without threatening the top spots.

7 - Stephen Maguire - Stephen Maguire is a player who has found some form of late with his run to the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters, which is one of the main reasons that he features on the list this week, despite an early exit at the European Masters and not entering the Paul Hunter Classic. When it comes to similarity with the Welsh Open, Maguire was a quarter-finalist in Cardiff back in 2015 which also improves his standing for this week. He also has the backing of the numbers, sitting joint fifth for Quarter-finals or better over the last two and a bit seasons, whilst he was first for close frames win percentage when the statistics were calculated ahead of the week. Overall, seventh is a very handy good position on the list given who is ahead of him.

6 - Judd Trump - One of four guys still competing at the European Masters is Judd Trump who has made it through to the semi-finals this week. He also made the Last 16 of the Shanghai Masters, as well as repeating this finish in the last three stagings of the Welsh Open from 2014 to 2016 in the familiarity stakes, which slightly improves his position on the list for the upcoming week. Trump is present in the top five on a couple of statistics additionally, leading the tour for quarter-finals or better since the beginning of the 2014/2015, including his semi-final appearance in the ongoing European Masters. In addition, he was fifth on the average frames aggregate list when all of these statistics were calculated for the upcoming week.

5 - John Higgins - Higgins may have been beaten by Trump in the quarter-finals of the European Masters, but he still finishes just ahead of him on the tournament top ten list for the English Open. As well as a quarter-final place in Romania, Higgins made was in the Last 16 of the Shanghai Masters, but the bulk of the reason for his standing this week is the fact that in the similarly structured Welsh Open he was a winner back in 2015, and a quarter-finalist in 2014 on top of that. He joins his fellow Scotsman Maguire in joint fifth on the quarter-finals or better list, as well as sitting in second place on the average break when 50 or above list. With quite a gap between fifth and sixth on the tournament top ten list in terms of the points each player gains from their finishes in tournaments and all of these list, but the narrow gaps from fifth to the top spot, this is where the top contenders are.

4 - Neil Robertson - Neil Robertson is another of the semi-finalists in the ongoing European Masters in Bucharest, and has already been a tournament winner this season at the Riga Masters, though the prominence of this win so early in the season has been downgraded for this week. Robertson's high placing on the tournament top ten list is assisted by a runners-up finish at the most recent Welsh Open in February, with it's mirror image format and on top of that he features in the top five in more of the key statistics lists than anyone else. He sits in joint second position on the quarter-finals or better tally, together with a top of the table finish in the frames per 50+ break list. Finally, Robertson is second in the average frame aggregate (which is a combination of average points scored per frame and average points conceded per frame) so there are plenty of reasons why Robertson could be the top man in Manchester. 

3 - Ronnie O'Sullivan - Having committed to playing in all four of the home nations events at this stage, O'Sullivan will want to be the top man and there is no reason he could not manage this looking at his finishes. He is another of the players still competing at the European Masters having made the semi-finals there. The greatest quantity of O'Sullivan's points ahead of the English Open comes from the similarly structured Welsh Open where he was champion in both 2014 and 2016, showing there is something about that style of event that certainly suits his game, and allows him to apply himself fully mentally as well. Statistically, O'Sullivan also features in second spot on the average frames per 50+ break statistic at the time those were calculated before the quarter-final stages in Romania. All in all O'Sullivan is one of the big favourites coming into this event. 

2 - Mark Selby - The runners-up position on the list this week belongs to Mark Selby. Selby appears to be very close to the top of his form at the moment, having made it to the European Masters semi-finals at the time of writing, in addition to making the final of the Shanghai Masters and winning the Paul Hunter Classic. Twice in the last three years of the mirrored Welsh Open, Selby has reached the quarter-finals and will be looking to translate that and all of his current form to the English Open. Lastly, the current world champion is joint second on the quarter-finals or better tally since the start of the 2014/2015 season, but his form this season alone will see him as a contender for every event he is in.

1 - Ding Junhui - That leaves Ding Junhui to be the table topper in the tournament top ten for the English Open. Ding pulled out of the European Masters and did not enter the Paul Hunter Classic but in between those he was the champion at the Shanghai Masters marking his full return to form over the course of 2016. In the Welsh Open, which really is one of the key indicators for this week in my view, Ding was a runner-up to O'Sullivan in 2014 and made the quarter-finals this year so he will be hoping that translates to Manchester. When it comes to the numbers, the Chinese number one is in joint fifth on the quarter-finals or better tally, in addition to a fourth place standing in the frames per 50+ break statistic and that scoring could be the key to success for a fresh Ding Junhui in Manchester.  


That's who the main contenders should be, but that is not to say that someone will come from out of the pack and upset the odds to take victory over the next week. The tournament top ten has worked well so far with 2nd place on the list winning in Shanghai and ahead of the European Masters semi-finals, the four remaining players ranked at 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th on the tournament top ten before the week.

Don't forget, the Stat Attack is out and can be viewed here:
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/english-open-stat-attack.html

Tomorrow, all of the pre-tournament analysis will be rounded off with the overall tournament preview where the Quarter choices will be made and the winner selection will be finalised so watch out for that.

Selby, O'Sullivan, Trump and Robertson lead into European Masters semi-finals

Four of the games leading stars have made it through to the semi-finals of the European Masters, after some comfortable matches on quarter-finals day in Romania.

First up was another chapter in the battles between Judd Trump and John Higgins, but on this occasion there was no close contest, instead it was Trump who dominated and ran out a comfortable winner. It was not necessarily a match of big breaks galore from Trump but he did win a couple of scrappy frames and made a 74 break in the second, and he clinched a thumping 4-0 win with his highest break in the match, a 105. 

Then it was the turn of World Champion Mark Selby to turn on the style in his match with Alfie Burden, who was the lowest ranked player coming into the last eight. Burden was full of praise for Selby on social media after the match. Overall it was a victory that certainly would have had the 'Jester from Leicester' smiling as he opened up with a contribution of 84, and then followed this with century breaks of 136 and 102 to take frames three and four in another 4-0 victory. 

Rocket Ronnie O'Sullivan soon raced to victory against Mark Davis in the evening session, despite Davis being the first player on the day to claim a frame in defeat after the earlier whitewashes. O'Sullivan opened up with a 54, before winning a tight second frame in which both players had chances. Davis came onto the board in the third frame with a magnificent 124 century break to keep himself in proceedings. O'Sullivan took his opportunity in the fourth to go one away, and he soon sprinted to the finishing line aided by his first century of the season, and the highest break of the match, a 129, putting him in the semi-finals with a 4-1 win. 

The closest and equally the most drawn out match of the day was the last quarter-final between Neil Robertson and Anthony McGill. Things started well for the Australian in this one, as a break of 61 supported him in winning the first frame. The second frame was when the match started to get a little bogged down, a lengthy encounter eventually seeing McGill level the scores. It looked for a while in the third that McGill would then edge in front, but a very nice colour clearance from Robertson after the Scotsman had missed his chance turned the tables. That and a supposed "soft warning" from referee Marcel Eckardt to McGill about the speed of his some of his play did not effect him as he soon squared the match again at 2-2, assisted by a break of 56. Another tight frame in the fifth went the way of Robertson as he went one away from victory at 3-2 and after some missed chances from his opponent in the sixth he got over the line with a 4-2 victory which will now see him play Ronnie O'Sullivan 

Semi-Final Schedule: 

11am UK Time (1pm in Romania): Mark Selby Vs Judd Trump

5pm UK Time (7pm in Romania): Ronnie O'Sullivan 

The semi-final matches are played over the best-of-11 and with the best of the bunch through to the last four these could well be two cracking contests that are both incredibly tough matches to call.

Selby has hardly dropped a frame this week having played an extra match at the venue, while Trump did have one scare against Ben Woollaston otherwise it has been plain sailing for him as well. The two most recent meetings between Selby and Trump saw Selby beat Trump 5-4 in the quarter-finals of the 2015 German Masters, in a match where Trump made a 147 break, while in the 2014 Champion of Champions Trump thumped Selby 6-1. 

Ronnie O'Sullivan did have a tough contest with Mark Allen and he had to play at the top of his game to through there and in his other matches he has done the job required, brushing tricky opposition like David Gilbert and Mark Davis aside in double quick time. Neil Robertson will be no easy match for him over the best-of-11 frames and the pair are pretty even in the head to head. The most recent meeting saw O'Sullivan blow Robertson away in the latter stages of this years Welsh Open final, while Robertson won 6-1 in the 2015 Masters semi-finals prior to that. 

English Open: Stat Attack

The English Open is the first in snooker's new "home series" that has seen this event along with Northern Irish and Scottish Open's added to the calendar to join the long running Welsh Open. Monday sees the English Open get underway at Event City in Manchester, and this is the first of a few events in the calendar that will almost overlap, as the European Masters in Bucharest does not conclude until Sunday evening. 

Once again I will be having a statistical look at this event with a few head to heads and possible head to heads for the rounds beyond the Last 128 stage, with the usual help of sites such as snooker.org and cuetracker.net. Then will come the "Player Performance: Key Indicators" which will see my brand of statistics that include close frame win percentages, average frames per 50+ break and all of these numbers come into play to suggest who the form men of the season so far have been. All of these statistics that you will see later on will be up to date at the time of writing, ahead of the European Masters quarter-finals, and they will all exclude the 6 Reds World Championship as usual, as well as the International Championship qualifiers as that event is yet to conclude. 

However, as this is a new event (like the ongoing European Masters) there is no way to use any "event specific" statistics from any previous stagings. 

HEAD TO HEAD 

- The first head to head points out what is essentially an unseeded draw for this week with only the top 16 placed into it. That sees games like Mark Selby against 39th seed Gary Wilson in the Last 128, and their last meeting came in the China Open final of 2015, which was a resounding victory for Selby. 

- Mark Davis faces Tian Pengfei in the Last 128 which should be an interesting game given that three of the four matches they have played have gone down to a deciding frame, Davis winning two of those three deciders while the overall head to head is level at 2-2. 

- Tom Ford and Rory McLeod will face off in round one just a couple of weeks after Ford saw off McLeod in the Last 64 round of the European Masters, in the qualifiers played in Preston. 

- The unseeded draw also sees two quality players in Liang Wenbo and Graeme Dott playing in the Last 128 round. Liang won their most recent meeting at the World Grand Prix, but Dott has beaten Liang on every other occasion they have met in ranking competition, giving Dott five victories. 

- Cao Yupeng comes into his first round game with Ben Woollaston with a 3-1 winning record which is quite surprising given that Woollaston is the much higher ranked player of the two, although the pair have not met for three years since the 2013 Shanghai Masters qualifiers. 

- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh will be looking to keep up his 100% winning record against Alan McManus when they meet on Monday. The Thai has won three out of three against McManus in ranking competition, the most recent of which was a 5-0 whitewash win in this years World Open. 

- Mark King could meet John Higgins in the Last 64 on Wednesday if both win in round one, and if that were to happen it would be their third meeting inside of a year with each getting a victory. However, if you go back to 1999 and 2001 you find two meetings between the pair in the old "British Open" which saw two whitewash wins for Higgins, with the 2001 victory being in the semi-finals. 

- If Shaun Murphy comes through his opening round match with Chen Zhe he will play the winner of the aforementioned Dott Vs Wenbo game. The most recent matches between Dott and Murphy have all been close one's with Dott winning 5-3 at the 2014 Shanghai Masters, before two 5-4 wins for Murphy sandwiched between his 13-11 victory from the 2013 World Championships. Meanwhile, Murphy and Liang would be meeting for the third time in 2016 after two victories for Murphy back to back in March in the Grand Prix (which he went on to win) and in the Players Championship (which was held at the same venue as this weeks event). Prior to these matches, Liang had a 4-2 winning record against Murphy in ranking competition. 

PLAYER PERFORMANCE: KEY INDICATORS

- The first indicator to look at this week is to see how the players have been going when it has gone down to the wire, which can so often happen in best-of-7 frame contests which this tournament is until the quarter-final stages. Once again, all of these statistics are correct at the time of writing (ahead of the European Masters quarter-finals on Friday). 

Scott Donaldson is a player to watch for a possible close match, having already been involved in ten deciding frames this year, winning half of them. John Higgins 4-3 victory against Tom Ford in the Last 16 in Bucharest sees him retain his 100% record in deciders this season with five wins from five. David Gilbert and Mark Selby are still at 100% from three deciders that each have played, while Michael Holt and Kurt Maflin have very strong records with four wins from five deciders at the start of the 2016/2017 campaign. Watch out for guys like Mark Joyce if matches run close, Joyce has not yet won a decider this season, despite four of his matches already going the distance, while Sam Craigie, Peter Ebdon and Ricky Walden are all winless from three deciders played in the early season. 

- Neil Robertson leads the tour in average frames per 50+ contribution at the time of writing, averaging a break of 50 or above every 1.83 frames played, which is the only average on tour to be less than 2. Ronnie O'Sullivan follows that with an average of exactly 2, while Mark Allen makes one every 2.16 frames, Ding Junhui every 2.38 frames, before Anthony McGill completes the top five with a break of 50 or above in every 2.44. Falling just outside of the top five are two players to possibly keep an eye on from slightly further down the rankings in Tom Ford and Jack Lisowksi, who are sixth and seventh when it comes to this statistic on "scoring frequency". Neil Robertson and Mark Allen also lead the tour in frames per century break at this stage of the season with one century every nine frames on average. 

- Now that we have dealt with scoring frequency, the next thing to look at is scoring weight, which brings me to the average break when a player has a contribution of 50 or above. Marco Fu leads the tour from the players who have made a reasonable number of 50+ breaks, with his average of 85.71 every time he has made a 50 break or above, from the 24 he has made (excluding any 6 Reds or International Championship qualifiers action). John Higgins comes in with an average of 83.31 per 50+, while Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Robin Hull both have an average of 82.07 as their average break when making 50+ contributions. David Gilbert is next with an average of 81.07, while Stuart Carrington and Ryan Day also sit well in this regard. 

- Scoring though is only one aspect of the game, and winning close frames is also important, so the next piece of analysis is on the players who lead the tour in close frame win percentage (close frames being judged to be when there is 20 points or less in the end of frame scores). Stephen Maguire is the leader here with a brilliant percentage of 84.62, and at the time of writing Alfie Burden is second with a percentage of 83.33. A close frame win percentage of 81.82 puts Kyren Wilson in third position, while lower ranked players in Michael Georgiou and Mark Joyce follow closely in fourth and fifth positions. Sixth to ninth in the table is then made up of four Chinese players with Li Hang, Liang Wenbo, Yan Bingtao and Xiao Guodong all having high close frames win percentages. 

- Then there is the average frame aggregate which takes into account every point scored and conceded in the necessary competitions (6 Reds World Championship and International Championship qualifiers aside), calculating an average points scored per frame and an average points conceded per frame which is then subtracted from the former to leave an average frame aggregate. Anthony McGill leads the tour in this respect with an average aggregate of 24.45, while Neil Robertson is a very close second with 24.25, Mark Allen again finishes highly with 20.27, while Shaun Murphy is in fourth with an average frame aggregate of 20.08, before Judd Trump makes up the top five. Mark Selby, Ding Junhui and John Higgins come further down in the top ten but not before David Gilbert and Jimmy Robertson feature on the list. 

The five lowest on the average frames aggregate list (having played at least 20 frames) are Darryl Hill, Jak Jones, Sydney Wilson, Kurt Dunham and Paul Davison showing their poor starts to the 2016/2017 season. Also low down on the list are names such as, Alex Borg, Christopher Keogan, Fraser Patrick, Jason Weston and Josh Boileau. 

- Finally, it is also worth taking a look at who has been making it into the latter stages of events, which my quarter-finals or better (in full ranking events) since the start of the 2014/2015 season displays. Judd Trump leads the tour with 11 quarter-finals in full ranking events over this period. while Mark Selby, Stuart Bingham and Neil Robertson all sit on 10 ranking quarter-finals in the time frame. In joint fifth with 9 ranking quarter-finals from the start of the 2014/2015 season is Ding Junhui, John Higgins and Stephen Maguire and this statistic does include the European Masters which is at the quarter-finals stage at the time of writing. 

That concludes the first part of statistical analysis ahead of the English Open, but do not forget to look out for my "Tournament Top Ten" which offers a second part on the statistical analysis, before everything is bought together for the full preview ahead of the start of the event on Monday.  

Davis, McGill, Trump and Selby complete Quarter-final line-up

Mark Davis, Anthony McGill, Judd Trump and Mark Selby have joined yesterday's winners John Higgins, Alfie Burden, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals, following the second day of Last 16 action at the European Masters in Bucharest.

Mark Davis was the first man through on an almost non-stop day of action, as he came through a tight match with Liang Wenbo. This match was a rather high quality one as both players traded big breaks in the early stages. Liang won the opener an 81, before Davis went one better with an 82. China's number two did not relent, recording a 103 century break in the third to move ahead once more. Again Davis drew level, but frame five looked like a vital one after a closely contested frame saw Liang move in front for a third time. A chance came for him to clinch the match 4-2, but Davis was up to the task of clearing to force a decider. Then his bottle and brilliance shone through (having at no stage been ahead in the match) to make a deciding frame century break and set up a quarter-final clash with Ronnie O'Sullivan. 

Anthony McGill came through the all-Scottish clash with Scott Donaldson next, in a match that also went right down to the wire. McGill looked good in the early stages taking a 2-0 advantage, with a closely fought second frame under his belt. Donaldson did not drop his head though, grabbing the next two to square things up at 2-2. McGill's highest break came in the fifth, a contribution of 55 helping one frame away from victory, but Donaldson hit back again to take the sixth in one visit with a run of 86. In the end the experience of the Indian Open champion helped him over the line, dominating the deciding frame to book his place in the last eight, but after coming through four matches to qualify for the recent Shanghai Masters, this has been another good week for Donaldson. 

There was only a very short turnaround before the evening session, and in contrast to the opening couple of matches, Judd Trump came through with a whitewash of Andrew Higginson in under an hour. Higginson never settled into the match despite having plenty of chances in the first couple of frames. He allowed Trump in for a 61 to take the first, and in the second a missed black when things were looking good for 1-1 was the vital error as Trump doubled his advantage. Higginson did not ease off on his attacking game plan though, and again the chance was handed to the left hander, and he duly took it with a break of 118 to move one away from the next round. There was no trouble for Trump in crossing that line as another classy effort of 94 sealed his simple progression into the quarter's. 

Completing a day of two halves was Mark Selby who also recorded a 4-0 win in his match against the struggling Barry Hawkins. Hawkins has not had the best start to the year, and is sliding down the rankings as other players have picked up their games, and things did not get any better for him in this match. Hawkins certainly had chances, though Selby had some bits of good fortune but it was the misses from the Masters runner-up that are damaging his ambitions of returning to the Alexandra Palace for the Masters next January. Selby got ahead early in frames, putting the pressure on Hawkins despite not killing any of the frames off in one visit, and his highest break of 63 coming in the fourth and final frame. World champion Selby will now play the lowest ranked player left in the competition in Alfie Burden. 

Quarter-Final Draw and Schedule:

11am UK time: Judd Trump Vs John Higgins
To follow: Mark Selby Vs Alfie Burden
5pm UK time: Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Mark Davis
To follow: Neil Robertson Vs Anthony McGill

The cream has risen to the top with top players like Trump, Higgins, Selby, O'Sullivan, Robertson and McGill all through to the last eight, while Alfie Burden and Mark Davis will come in as outsiders. O'Sullivan started to look very good in his match with Mark Allen on Wednesday and that could be a sign of him starting to move up through the gears and making a dash for the title. Selby will be happy to be into the quarter-finals after replacing his tip between the Last 32 and Last 16 and will now look to kick on and go one better than his runners-up finish to Ding Junhui in the Shanghai Masters. The games between Trump and Higgins up first on Friday, and with McGill and Robertson who will complete the action look very tough to call and could go down to the wire, as we have seen with a number of matches this week. For me Robertson has looked very impressive this week and all season so far, while the head to head between Trump and Higgins will only tell you to expect a high quality, close encounter.  

All quarter-final matches are played over the best-of 7 frames. 

O'Sullivan, Robertson, Higgins and Burden into European Quarters

Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, John Higgins and Alfie Burden are the first four players into this weeks European Masters quarter-finals after the first day of Last 16 action was completed in Bucharest.

The tournament remains best-of-7 frames for the Last 16 but is now down to a one table set-up, and the first match on this afternoon saw John Higgins against Tom Ford. Leicester's Ford played well in this one with breaks of 61, 72 and 79 seeing him lead 2-1 and then 3-2 and one away from the last eight. Higgins forced the decider with a gritty 71. Chances came and went in the decider as Ford failed in his attempts to get over the line and it is the Scotsman who marches on.

Following that was the exit of Ricky Walden as he was also beaten in a decider, with Alfie Burden getting taking an impressive victory. Walden started in promising fashion with a run of 73 to move 1-0 in front, but after that he lost his rhythm and Burden was much the better player and worthy of the three frames in a row that took him 3-1 ahead. Walden hung on in the fifth before a swift 69 break forced the second final frame shoot-out of the day. This was where Burden saved his best for last with a decisive 64 to send his fellow Englishman packing.

The first match of the evening session between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Allen always looked like being a cracking contest and it certainly did not disappoint. Allen certainly kept up with O'Sullivan's pace of play in amongst the balls as both players were rapid when scoring, and were both around the 15 seconds a shot mark for much of the play. The Northern Irishman made all of the running in the early stages with a sparkling 121 to take a 1-0 lead, and he looked like doubling his advantage when on 65 in frame two. A poor positional shot and a very risky plant attempt ended up costing him as O'Sullivan cleared with 64 to level things up. The Pistol also made the early running in frame three with a 55 that was looking like becoming a frame winner again until he missed a crucial black and once again O'Sullivan was up to the task with a 60 clearance to pinch a 2-1 lead. However, Allen hit back by winning another black ball fourth frame, with Rocket Ronnie going in-off on his brown ball safety. From a level game at 2-2, O'Sullivan stepped up a gear with breaks of 77 after a missed long ball from Allen and then an 80 in the sixth to clinch a 4-2 victory and remain a worthy favourite for the title this week.

Last up in Romania was Neil Robertson against Rhys Clark. Clark is a little bit of a stranger to the TV tables despite this being his second year on tour and being one of the rookies of the year in his first. On the night he struggled to match the Australian's scoring. Robertson took the opener with a run of 82, before Clark hit back with 73. The crucial moment came in frame three as, after an early 61 from Robertson the Scottish youngster had a chance to clear but his miss on the final pink allowed his opponent a major let off and a simple frame ball to move ahead 2-1. That lead was then extended to 3-1 with a trademark Robertson ton, and despite a cluster of misses early in frame five an eventual contribution of 67 took the Riga Masters champion into yet another quarter-final, though Clark should have plenty more chances in his career once he gets used to this big stage.


Here's a quick reminder of the schedule of play for the second half of the Last 16 coming up on Thursday:

11am UK time: Liang Wenbo Vs Mark Davis
To follow: Anthony McGill Vs Scott Donaldson
5pm UK time: Judd Trump Vs Andrew Higginson
To follow: Mark Selby Vs Barry Hawkins

Another good line-up in prospect then and that will then set the stage for the best-of-7 frame quarter-finals that are to come on Friday.

European Masters Day 2: Ronnie Races Through to Last 16

Ronnie O'Sullivan sped through his match against David Gilbert on day two at the European Masters in Bucharest, winning 4-1 in 55 minutes. Breaks of 87, 77, 68 and 50 saw O'Sullivan playing pretty close to his best, while Gilbert made a classy break of 74 in the only frame he was able to win on a day where there was very little else he could have done, despite a couple of half chances. O'Sullivan will now play again on Wednesday evening against another quality player in Mark Allen. Allen was also a winner on day two seeing off non-tour player Daniel Womersley with a 4-0 whitewash. Breaks of 51, 53 and a closing 112 saw the Northern Irishman through in what was an impressive display and in true Allen style he was racing around the table by the end of the match and looking confident.

Liang Wenbo started the day on table one with a victory of his own against a non-tour player in Zak Surety, though Surety was a tour player over the last couple of seasons before this. Liang looked good in a 4-1 win that included an 80 as well as runs of 50, 51 and 61 in a simple mornings work. Wenbo will now take on Mark Davis who overcame Shaun Murphy 4-1. Neither player was at his best in this one with plenty of shots missed and some lacklustre tactical play through the match. Davis came out on top in the two tight opening frames before Murphy got his name on the scoreboard taking the third frame. The highlight of the match was a 100 break from Davis in frame four before he took another fairly close frame to clinch victory and get into the Last 16.

Judd Trump came through a close match with Ben Woollaston in the afternoon. They went hit for hit in this one as Woollaston held 1-0 and 2-1 and 3-2 leads with breaks in the match of 55,66 and 59. Trump had a 105 in the second to level up the match at 1-1 and then to square it again at 2-2 he made 64. The sixth seemed decisive at the time as Woollaston certainly had his chances to win the match 4-2 but lacking a bit of killer instinct he let Trump back into it and after some good tactical play from Trump it was 3-3. The decider was all Trump with Woollaston not getting the chance that every player hopes for in a final frame shoot-out, a contribution of 89 sealing things for the left hander.

Mark Selby followed that match as he took on Dominic Dale. The first three frames were all close affairs as Selby took a 2-1 advantage, before a 72 break from Dale dominated the fourth, helped by a run of 72, to level the match at 2-2. Selby then made 66 to regain the lead, and while the sixth went down to the colours it is indeed the world champion that marches on into the Last 16 in Romania.

Prior to Mark Allen's match on table two Alfie Burden beat Yu De Lu 4-1 thanks to breaks of 87, 78 and 61 to make it into the Last 16, while in the evening Scott Donaldson came from 2-0 down to beat Belgium's Luca Brecel 4-3 as the German Masters runner-up from February continues his poor form at the start of this new season.


Last 16 Draw and Schedule

Wednesday 5th October:
11am UK time: John Higgins Vs Tom Ford
To follow: Ricky Walden Vs Alfie Burden
5pm UK time: Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Mark Allen
To Follow: Neil Robertson Vs Rhys Clark

Thursday 6th October:
11am UK time: Liang Wenbo Vs Mark Davis
To follow: Anthony McGill Vs Scott Donaldson
5pm UK time: Judd Trump Vs Andrew Higginson
To follow: Mark Selby Vs Barry Hawkins


All matches are still best-of-7 frames, local time is UK + 2 hours. The players that appeared most impressive in round one were certainly Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins, though I do not think that Allen will be a pushover for O'Sullivan. Ricky Walden also looked in good shape in round one, while Liang Wenbo certainly played better for his win than Last 16 opponent Mark Davis. The all Scottish clash with McGill and Donaldson is one where you would certainly favour McGill after his early season form. The most intriguing match could be Mark Selby and Barry Hawkins, Hawkins has not been at his best so far this year and Selby has been in fine form. However, the world champion has put a new tip on his cue after not being too impressed with the one he had on in his match with Dominic Dale (in fact it was Dale who performed the replacement after the match upon Selby's request) but with a day off to knock it in with some practice, it should not be an issue.

O'Sullivan and Selby unscathed in Romania

Mark Selby and Ronnie O'Sullivan both made it through their heldover Last 64 matches at European Masters with no issues to put them into the Last 32 on Tuesday. Selby took on Fergal O'Brien and dominated from start to finish completing a 4-0 victory with a century, and also recording breaks of 88, 71 and 50. Ronnie O'Sullivan followed that match straight after and put down his marker with a 4-0 whitewash of Daniel Wells. Wells had his chances but O'Sullivan was just one better on the day despite his highest break 'only' being 51.

In the eight Last 32 matches on Monday in Romania, there were victories for John Higgins who impressively beat in form Michael Holt 4-0, recording two century breaks along the way. Fellow Scotsman Anthony McGill came through a tight contest 4-3 against Ali Carter. The match was even throughout and Carter was looking good when he took a 3-2 lead. McGill then made an impressive century to force a final frame shoot out, and despite an early chance for World Open champion Carter it was the Indian Open champion that forced his way across the line.

Neil Robertson came through a very high quality affair with Graeme Dott on the other main table match during the afternoon. Despite the scoreline being 4-2 in Robertson's favour, both he and Dott recorded four breaks of 50+. The Australian saved his highest for the sixth and final frame putting together a century. Dott's high was an 87 in winning the fifth frame, while both players made 50's in both frames one and two which were shared.

Out on table two, which oddly seems to be in a different location in the arena, Tom Ford started the day by beating Robin Hull 4-1 in a decent performance that included three breaks in the 50's from Ford though Hull had his chances to make that one a closer game.It was much tighter affair between Barry Hawkins and Michael Wild, where Hawkins managed to avoid an upset coming through a 4-3 winner. The highest break there was a 93 from Hawkins in the sixth to force the decider from 2-3 adrift after some tight early frames.

Andrew Higginson then kept his very impressive record against Marco Fu which I pointed out in my Stat Attack, having not lost to Fu in matches with any major or minor ranking importance. On the day it was a whitewash 4-0 victory for Higginson completed with breaks of 61 and 70 in the last two frames.

In the evening session Rhys Clark overcame David Grace with a 4-1 win to make it into the Last 16 of a ranking event for the first time. Breaks of 101, 61, 52 and 50 were too much for Grace on the day. Following that was a game many would have looked forward to all day with Ricky Walden taking on a star of the future in Yan Bingtao. Walden was absolutely racing around the table in this match and that is usually when he is at his heavy scoring and simply superb best. In the opening couple of frames it was Walden who went into a 2-0 lead with breaks of 71 and 91. Yan hit back taking a scrappy third before weighing in with a 79 break in the fourth to square the match. That did not knock the higher ranked favourite off of his stride though moving in front thanks to an 86, and after Yan missed a chance in frame six with the balls open to force a seventh and deciding frame, Walden cleared with a century in double quick time to clinch a 4-2 victory and get into the Last 16. 

Tomorrow will see the second half of the Last 32 matches over the best-of 7 frames including Mark Selby taking on Dominic Dale and Ronnie O'Sullivan playing David Gilbert after their two wins in heldover Last 64.