Gibraltar Open Preview

This week we have the final event before the Players Championship cut off and the final European event of this season as the tour sets off to Gibraltar Open. As always there are amateur qualifiers on Wednesday and Thursday, with the professional stages starting on Friday morning with the Last 128.

It is the same set-up as all of the old European Tour events so there is your reference. There are a lot of non-entries from all stages of the rankings. Some of these players include: Stuart Bingham, the inaugural Gibraltar Open winner Marco Fu, Ali Carter, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Martin Gould, Graeme Dott, guys such as Robin Hull, Dechawat Poomjaeng and Rod Lawler who are battling for tour survival while there are a lot of Thai and Chinese players missing such as Li Hang, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Xiao Guodong,Yu DeLu, Cao Yupeng, Chen Zhe, Boonyarit Kaettikun, James Wattana and Akani Songsermsawad as well as the aforementioned Poomjaeng which may suggest visa issues for these players unless it is a pure coincidence.

In terms of the Players Championship there are very few changes that can take place now because of the low prize money this week. Everyone 15th above on the list is guaranteed a place in next weeks 16 man field. Ryan Day in 16th place is very much in control as Joe Perry needs to make at least the final this week, while if Day makes the Last 16 Perry will have to win the event. Mark Williams is the only other player who can do enough to qualify if he wins the event, but if Day makes the Last 16 this will become mathematically impossible also.

This is how the draw shapes up in all for this week, which will include 26 amateur qualifiers:

Quarter 1: 

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold) 

Michael White Vs Matthew Stevens

Kurt Maflin Vs Hamza Akbar 

Oliver Lines Vs Amateur Qualifier

Barry Hawkins Vs Amateur Qualifier

Shaun Murphy Vs Ken Doherty 

Sam Craigie Vs Amateur Qualifier

Allan Taylor Vs Amateur Qualifier

Elliot Slessor Vs Josh Boileau

Jimmy Robertson Vs Amateur Qualifier

Lee Walker Vs Paul Davison 

Mark Davis Vs Mark Joyce

Robbie Williams Vs David John

Zhao Xintong Vs Amateur Qualifier

Joe Swail Vs Martin O'Donnell 

Mark Williams Vs Amateur Qualifier

Andrew Higginson Vs Zhang Yong

You would expect Barry Hawkins to be one of the big players this week, though he does have a short turnaround from the Championship League winners group, and a tough draw along with that. Mark Davis is in the same boat with having to play the Winners Group but he too could do well in this section after narrowly missing out on the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open recently. Mark Williams will be looking for a big run to try and get into the Players Championship and have any chance of making the World Championships without going through qualifying, but his form right now is not the best. Meanwhile I could see Zhao Xintong being a dark horse for this week, he has showed the potential to have some of the big runs like Yan Bingtao has, and it would not surprise me at all if he made at least the Last 16. 

My first quarter choice though is Shaun Murphy. Murphy has been unlucky this season in my view. He started to show form recently at the World Grand Prix, before then falling ill with bronchitis at the Welsh Open which did not allow him to keep on going in the right direction. With recent cue adjustments and contact lenses helping to improve any small weakness he was suffering with his eyesight and sighting shots up from distance his long potting has seen improvements. At the Shoot-Out and World Grand Prix he was knocking them in for fun. With this being such a big part of his game, when it is on you can expect Murphy to play very well. On top of that, he will be well prepared for the ball cleaner trial which will be used on the cue ball this week in Gibraltar. Murphy is certainly someone I would expect not to be caught out by that, as a big advocate of its use. 

Quarter Choice: Shaun Murphy 

Quarter 2

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold) 

Ian Burns Vs Alfie Burden 

Anthony McGill Vs Amateur Qualifier

Mike Dunn Vs Michael Wild

Zhou Yuelong Vs James Cahill

Liang Wenbo Vs Ricky Walden

Yan Bingtao Vs Amateur Qualifier

Robert Milkins Vs Christopher Keogan

Mark Selby Vs Adam Duffy

Gary Wilson Vs Amateur Qualifier

Thor Chuan Leong Vs Amateur Qualifier

Fraser Patrick Vs Amateur Qualifier

Sydney Wilson Vs Igor Figueiredo 

Darryl Hill Vs Amateur Qualifier

Nigel Bond Vs Aditya Mehta

Kyren Wilson Vs Daniel Wells

Fang Xiongman Vs Amateur Qualifier

It has to be said the first round draw between Liang Wenbo and Ricky Walden is the most brutal one in the opening round in my view. Walden could really do with a run having been in poor form this season and needing good results to avoid having to qualify for the World Championships. Liang made the semi-finals in the Grand Prix recently and will make it very tough for Walden to get anything out of this. World number one Mark Selby has not been in the greatest of form late having lost in the Last 32 of the Welsh Open and the Grand Prix but he always seems to do well in these European Tour events. Chinese duo Zhou Yuelong and Yan Bingtao could be dark horses in the draw once again, whilst Igor Figueiredo may be able to bring something from making the Last 16 at the Welsh Open. 

My choice to win this second quarter is Anthony McGill the recent Shoot-Out winner. McGill got on a roll at the start of the season when he had a decent run in the Riga Masters and the World Open, either side of his Indian Open win. Now that he has won the Shoot Out, and the World Championships looms large (a tournament where he has impressed in the last two years) he will be looking to stamp himself as a contender. There are not a huge number of top players in this section, and some of them are a little out of form recently. It would not surprise me, with that in mind, if McGill went far this week. It is a short turnaround for McGill as he is playing in the Championship League until Thursday night, but as he does not have to play until Saturday that should not really affect him too much. This is a section I believe he can do very well in. 

Quarter Choice: Anthony McGill

Quarter 3 

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold) 

Mark Allen Vs Ross Muir 

John Higgins Vs Dominic Dale 

David Gilbert Vs Hossein Vafei Ayouri 

Ding Junhui Vs Jason Weston 

ANTHONY HAMILTON W/O Stuart Carrington 

Tian Pengfei Vs Liam Highfield 

Mark King Vs Amateur Qualifier

Jack Lisowski Vs Itaro Santos

Stephen Maguire Vs Amateur Qualifier

Matthew Selt Vs Rory McLeod 

Judd Trump Vs Jamie Barrett 

Craig Steadman Vs Amateur Qualifier

Tom Ford Vs Scott Donaldson 

Peter Ebdon Vs Amateur Qualifier

Wang Yuchen Vs Sanderson Lam 

Noppon Saengkham Vs Zhang Anda

The third quarter is the one in which all of the top 16 players present seem to be hiding. All in the same mini section we have Mark Allen, John Higgins and Ding Junhui with only one of them being able to make the Last 16. Allen has been searching for a big run all season and with a draw as tough as his it is hard to see that changing this week. Higgins has not been in the best form since Christmas, while Ding Junhui is going through a tough time away from the table following the passing of his mother. Anthony Hamilton has a bye into the Last 64 and has been in fantastic form since his German Masters win and I could see that carrying on this week. Stephen Maguire needs a miracle to qualify for the World Championships automatically and that starts with winning this title this week, such as the poor results he has had this season. 

Judd Trump is my choice for this third quarter. There were a lot of top players to choose from in this section, but for me Trump is the big choice. The likes of Allen, Ding, Higgins and Hamilton will knock each other out in the upper half of this quarter, before they even reach Trump. After making it to the final of the Welsh Open he showed he was in good form, and he will be hoping to build his way up to the World Championships from here. He had a reasonably easy draw in Wales and had noo trouble making the quarter-finals. I expect similar in this section, with his area of the draw being filled with lower ranked players and guys that are not in too threatening form. The only worry is that he is in the Championship League Winners group which concludes on Thursday, and he is in the half of the draw that completes three rounds on Friday. A short turnaround, but with a reasonable draw he could ease himself in and if he makes the Last 16, he should be firing on all cylinders by Sunday. 

Quarter Choice: Judd Trump

Quarter 4 

Last 128 Draw: (Picks in Bold) 

Jamie Cope Vs Duane Jones

Luca Brecel Vs Amateur Qualifier

Michael Holt Vs Amateur Qualifier

Ryan Day Vs Amateur Qualifier

Ben Woollaston Vs Fergal O'Brien

Sam Baird Vs Eden Sharav

John Astley Vs Amateur Qualifier

Michael Georgiou Vs Amateur Qualifier

Rhys Clark Vs Sean O'Sullivan 

David Grace Vs Mitchell Mann

Chris Wakelin Vs Gareth Allen 

Neil Robertson Vs Amateur Qualifier

Jimmy White Vs Kurt Dunham 

Joe Perry Vs Amateur Qualifier

Hammad Miah Vs Amateur Qualifier

Jamie Jones Vs Mei Xiwen 

Ryan Day is the man in possession right now. On the provisional Players Championship list he is 16th and only Joe Perry and Mark Williams could overtake him and they both need to go very deep to stop him. Meanwhile he is also 16th in the provisional seedings for the Crucible meaning that he would qualify automatically but he needs to continue playing well to stay in possession, particularly as he has not qualified for the China Open. Joe Perry meanwhile is the man on the chase. 17th on the provisional players championship list he needs to make at least the final here to make Llandudno. If he fails to make Llandudno he may struggle to qualify for the World Championships automatically as he is 17th on that list also but only trailing Day by a small amount. If I had to pick a dark horse in this section there is plenty of choice including guys like Luca Brecel, Michael Holt and even Fergal O'Brien who had some good wins at the Shoot Out in a section with only a few of the top 16. 

My final quarter selection goes to Neil Robertson. Robertson has really been out of form in the last four or five months. There have been glimpses since Christmas, with a few heavy scoring performances, first in the first round of the Masters and then against O'Sullivan in the World Grand Prix. Even at the Welsh Open he was making centuries for fun, but could somehow not manage to kills his match with Lee Walker off. Had he done, the possibilities were endless because the breaks were flying in from his cue. Given the run he has been on though, it is not a surprise that he may be struggling for a little bit of extra confidence that is required to finish off opponents. If he could find that again, he could romp to this title with even more ease than he did in Latvia way back at the seasons start. This section is not close to being one filled with top 16 opposition and if he focuses from the start, I sense a winning week is coming soon for the Australian. 

Quarter Choice: Neil Robertson

Winner Selection: Neil Robertson 

The event will be covered over the three days of play once the professional stages begin, on Eurosport and the Eurosport Player. 

Fantasy Snooker Update: Gibraltar Open and Players Championship

Four events are left in the 2016/2017 season's Fantasy Snooker and the first of those begins on Friday with the Gibraltar Open. Following that straight up on Monday is the Players Championship before the calendar takes a two week break.

Here is how the table looks ahead of Gibraltar with the players you have already picked this season listed next to you name. Don't forget you can ONLY PICK THE SAME PLAYER THREE TIMES. Players you have picked three times will be in Bold, red colour and capital letters with the number 3 next to their name so it could not be more obvious.

1^st: Anthony: Selby x2, Ding x2, Robertson, Hawkins x2, O’Sullivan x2, Trump x2, Higgins x2, Maguire, Allen x2, Bingham x2, Wenbo x2, M. Williams, Fu x2, Walden, Carter, Perry 818

2^nd: Gary: Ding, Bingham x2, MURPHY x3, Trump x2, ALLEN x3, Robertson x2, Higgins x2, SELBY x3, Fu, O’Sullivan x2, Wenbo, McGill, Hawkins, Perry, Walden 754

3^rd: Isitan Bakar: BINGHAM x3, MAGUIRE x3, ALLEN x3, Trump x2, Higgins x2, Robertson, Selby x2, Perry, O’Sullivan x2, Carter, Murphy x2, Fu x2, Ding, Wenbo 658

4^th: M. Lowson: MURPHY x3, Carter, Robertson, Selby x2, Higgins x2, Ding, McGill, O’Sullivan x3, Allen x2, Bingham, Trump x2, WENBO x3, Perry, K. Wilson, Fu, Hawkins 644

5^th: FAM147: BINGHAM x3, Perry, ROBERTSON x3, ALLEN x3, Higgins, Wilson, Walden x2, Gilbert, Trump, Carter, Maguire, Selby x2, O’Sullivan x2, Hawkins, M. White, Fu, Milkins 643

6^th: Daniela Reich: Ding, Selby, Robertson x2, Trump, O’SULLIVAN x3, Allen x2, Gould, Walden x2, Bingham x2, Murphy, Wenbo x2, Higgins, M. Williams, Fu x2, Maguire, Gilbert, Perry, King 632

7^th: Igor: Murphy x2, Carter, Selby x2, TRUMP x3, HIGGINS x3, DING x3, Robertson x2, Bingham x2, McGill, Maguire, Hawkins, O’Sullivan x2, Fu, Allen x2 630

8^th: Andrew Walker: Allen x2, TRUMP x3, ROBERTSON x3, SELBY x3, Bingham x2, DING x3, O’Sullivan x2, FU x3, Higgins x2, Hawkins, Perry 584

9^th: Kellie: Selby x2, Wilson, Trump x2, O’Sullivan x2, Robertson x2, Bingham x2, McGill, Walden, Murphy, Higgins x2, Wenbo, Gould x2, ALLEN x3, Maguire, Yuelong, Bingtao, Williams 566

10^th: John McBride: Selby x2, Trump x2, ROBERTSON x3, Maguire x2, Murphy, Higgins, Bingham x2, O’Sullivan, ALLEN x3, Hawkins, McGill x2, Fu, Wilson, M. White 520

11^th: Ezgi Ulutas: Wilson, Robertson x2, McGill, Higgins x2, Fu x2, Wenbo x2, Allen x2, Trump x2, O’Sullivan x2, Selby x2, Gould, Hamilton, Walden, Perry 511

12^th: SnookerFollower: Bingham, Ding x2, Carter, Holt, Allen x2, HIGGINS x3, McGill, Maguire x2, Trump x2, O’Sullivan x2, Wenbo x2, Hawkins, Murphy, K. Wilson, Selby x2, Fu 503

13^th: P. Mudd: Ding, Trump x2, Holt x2, McGill, Higgins x2, Gould, Robertson, O’Sullivan x2, Murphy x2, Bingham x2, Allen x2 Perry, K. Wilson, Wenbo, M. Williams, Selby x2, Fu, Hawkins 

488

14^th: Mark Taylor: Robertson x2, Bingham x2, Holt, Carter, O’Sullivan x2, SELBY x3, Maguire x2, Trump x2, Murphy x2, Ding x2, Allen, Higgins x2, Hawkins x2, Fu, Wilson 480

15^th: TungstenDarts: Perry, Bingham x2, Carter, TRUMP x3, Allen, Wilson, HIGGINS x3, WENBO x3, Gould, Maguire, O’Sullivan, Holt x2, Hull, Selby, Hawkins, Ding 477

16^th: Kjetil: Wenbo x2, Bingham x2, Murphy, Bingtao x2, Allen x2, Ding, Hang, Trump x2, O’Sullivan, Maflin, Hawkins x2, M. Williams x2, Selby, Robertson, Gould, Higgins 463

17^th: Gorkem: O’SULLIVAN x3, Selby x2, Hawkins x2, Murphy x2, Ding, M. White, ROBERTSON x3, Allen x2, Trump x2, Selt, Wenbo, K. Wilson, Higgins x2, Williams 445

18^th: LTD: Wilson, Selby x2, HAWKINS x3, Walden, Allen x2, Robertson x2, Murphy x2, BINGHAM x3, Perry x2, O’Sullivan x2, Wenbo, M. White, Holt, Gilbert, Higgins x2 429

19^th: Couge: Carter, Holt, Murphy x2, Selby x2 Robertson x2, HIGGINS x3, Trump x2, Ding x2, O’Sullivan x2, Maguire, Hamilton, Bingham x2 Brecel, Allen, M. Williams, Wenbo x2 423

20^th: TYIO: Gould, BINGHAM x3, Carter x2, Walden, Higgins, TRUMP x3, Maguire, Ding x2, MURPHY x3, ALLEN x3, ROBERTSON x3, Selby, Fu x2 420

21^st: Andrew Brooker: Wilson, Maguire x2, Murphy x2, Carter x2, ALLEN x3, Ding, McGill, Bingham x2, Trump x2, O’Sullivan x2, Perry, Robertson, Walden, Hawkins, Selby, Bingtao, Higgins 394

22^nd: Munraj Pal: Ding x2, Trump x2, Murphy x2, Allen x2, Robertson x2, Wilson, McGill x2, Walden x2, Fu x2, Selby x2, O’Sullivan x2, K. Wilson, Maguire x2, Wenbo, Brecel 334

Get your Gibraltar Open picks in by Friday morning and your Players Championship picks in by teh first game on Monday night. 

Happy 4th Birthday/Happy week in Wales

Here comes more of a personal blog. As many of you who have followed the blog over the years will know, I like to put something up on the anniversary/birthday of the blog every year and today marks four years since I started up this little corner of the internet where I like to give the information, thoughts and opinions that I have on this great sport.

Incorporated within this blog I will reflecting on my time in Cardiff watching the Welsh open from Wednesday to the final on Sunday of last week. It really was a cracking week and great credit has to go to Stuart Bingham for his performance to take the title, but also to Judd Trump - it takes two to make a brilliant final.

FOUR MORE YEARS 

So it has been four years since I set up this page now and I still enjoy writing the features that make up what I do more than ever. The Stat Attack has been back and better than ever in the last six months. That and the tournament top ten are certainly here to stay.

What I am going to end is the tradition of promising new features that don't quite happen. I am fairly happy with the way I go about things at the moment. Maybe during the quiet summer months some new content and features may come in, but while the calendar is busy the preview blogs I do now see a lot of work.

Thanks come again to all of those who read and share the blog on Twitter, to Shaun Murphy for his help with promoting the blog, my Twitter page and for his help when I visit tournaments. I would also like to thank the great Robin Hull, his help sharing the blog on Twitter insured that the Live Blog for the Last 32 in the Welsh Open last week, featuring his match with Stuart Carrington, was the most viewed blog in my history. One retweet insured his fans were aware of my blog and saw this live commentary get more views in Finland than anywhere else in the world.

I have had more chance to do live blogs in the last year and I would like to continue that. It is one of the most enjoyable things about being at the venues live, to give you readers information on the non-TV games. Hopefully there will be even more of that in the next 12 months. As my Twitter followers will already be aware I have an expressed an interest in the provisional calendar and the 10 days of qualifiers that are scheduled for August. With a bit of sponsorship or extra funds I would be able to go and cover all 10 days, but without that I do not have the finances to support 11 nights in a hotel for example.

WELSH OPEN WEEK

I arrived in Cardiff on Wednesday afternoon, and swiftly jinxed Mr Murphy. As usual he was defeated whilst I was at the venue, and this time it was within a matter of hours. To be fair he did have bronchitis and spent the time between his Cardiff exit and the Championship League this week just resting and recovering and still is not at 100%.

It was fun to see Robin Hull up close at a venue, I was not able to see much of him in Cardiff in 2016 and he was out of the English Open before I arrived in Manchester in October. As I have mentioned my live blog which he shared on his Twitter page was the most viewed in my history and I now seem to have a lot of fans in Finland.

Igor Figueiredo had a great week to make the Last 16, I'm not sure anyone saw that coming but he played really well, scored heavily and just reminded everyone of how good he can be when he enters tournaments, which he has not always been able to do with great frequency.

Scott Donaldson's run to the semi-finals was refreshing. It was nice to see young British talent having a good run and many have said before that he has got a bright future. He gave Trump a decent game in the semi-finals as many in the crowd seemed to think it would be a walkover, including the presenter for BBC Wales who we could hear from my seat at the back of the crowd, as they filmed their opening link on the first floor balcony.

Again there were positive runs from Yan Bingtao and Zhou Yuelong, the deadly World Cup winning duo who have been impressive ever since that victory. Yan's win against Selby on the Thursday on the TV table was not one I got to see a great deal of from my position watching tables 6,7 and 8 that afternoon. However, his performance the night before against Thor Chuan Leong was a very impressive one for me, at 3-1 down he did not look anywhere near his best and Thor was playing quite well. A couple of sloppy errors from Thor left Yan able to dig in and punish him and it showed all the signs of a very classy player, being able to win when he was not firing on all cylinders.

I was really pleased to see Stuart Bingham win on Sunday. It was richly deserved for him to win his first title since becoming world champion. He gives a lot of his time up at the venue to sign autographs and do pictures for the fans and was doing so on arrival at the venue before both sessions of the final against Trump. Trump had a lot of great support in and all of his family were in attendance and with this being his closest event to home it was great to see.

Speaking of attendance... the crowds in Wales were fantastic last week and it brings me on to an important point. This is one of only two events in Wales per season and it is no coincidence based on that, that the turnout was brilliant all through the week. The venue is ideally situated in the centre of Cardiff with three of four hotels nearby and easily accessible. This could not be further apart from Event City in Manchester where the English Open was held back in October. It also highlighted that there may just be too many events in England this season, as the poor crowds at the English Open and much more recently the World Grand Prix in Preston displayed. By contrast, all of the European Tour events were well attended as these were the only events in the calendar in many of the selected countries such as Bulgaria and Poland. However, they have kept the Gibraltar Open which comes up next week and will hopefully see a much improved crowd on its first staging. That's the end of that little rant.



All in all I think the message of this blog was thank you for reading and supporting the blog and that hopefully things will continue for a while yet, and i'll be attending some more venues in the future. My experiences in great cities like Cardiff certainly keep up my enjoyment of being at venues and writing about snooker.

Shoot Out Preview - Trends and Fun

The time has arrived. The snooker Shoot-Out is back and this time with even more controversy than there has ever been. The complaints are flooding in from all corners of the snooker Twitter community about the changes that have been made to a tournament that a lot of traditional snooker fans were not fans of before.

For the first time this year the Shoot-Out will count towards the prize money ranking list. The field has been upped from 64 to 128 so that all of the tour are eligible. My only issue with these changes is that it may keep someone on tour who does not necessarily deserve to be based on their other performances, or more likely knock someone off of the tour who would be very unfortunate to receive such a fate come the end of the season. The other being that it could get someone into the top 16 for automatic qualification to the World Championships at the Crucible or knock someone out who again would be very unfortunate to have that happen. 

There is another small point, over the last two years there have been plenty of tournaments for people to make their marks on the various lists whether that be making the top 64 or the top 16 and if they don't do so then the likelihood is they have not performed well enough on a consistent enough basis to achieve their individual goals. 

Besides, with £32,000 on offer for the winner, £16,000 for the runner-up, £8,000 for the semi-finals and £4,000 for quarter-finalists, players would really have to get to the semi's or final to make any kind of significant ranking move. 

Otherwise, the Shoot-Out is good fun if you let the stigma attached to it go and enjoy it as it is designed: - As a fun event and something different from any other tournament. It is also an opportunity for some players who have not had a great deal of Television exposure, to get their names out there and show what they can do. 

The non-entries for this tournament are aplenty which is not surprising given the non-entries of previous years and this being a busy period on the calendar. Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Marco Fu, Ali Carter, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Maguire and Peter Ebdon are the notable absentees and each will have their own reasons for this. 

The question now though is, who will be the man who takes the title on Sunday. Well, I am going to narrow down the list of contenders by looking at some of the trends from the previous tournaments. 

1. No-one has ever won the Shoot-Out whilst being ranked inside the top 16

8 players are lost at this stage: Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen, Joe Perry, Mark Williams, Liang Wenbo, Kyren Wilson and Barry Hawkins. 

2. No Shoot-Out winner has ever won it before

That rules Michael White, Robin Hull, Dominic Dale, Martin Gould and Nigel Bond as well as Barry Hawkins. 

3. Since the inaugural event in 2011, only 2016 winner Robin Hull had ever won on his debut: 

That rules out a whole host of players, including the likes of Yan Bingtao, Zhao Xintong, Akani Songsermsawad but also players near the top 64 such as Ross Muir, Martin O'Donnell and Daniel Wells. 

4. Aside from Michael White, each of the other Shoot-Out winners have been at least 31 years old when winning the Shoot-Out title. 

Having already narrowed the field down by half we lose plenty more again here. These include Jack Lisowski, Anthony McGill, Oliver Lines, Luca Brecel, Sam Baird, Xiao Guodong, Jamie Jones and Jimmy Robertson. 35 potential contenders remain. 

5. While only Nigel Bond and Dominic Dale out of the six previous Shoot-Out winners had won a ranking event, each winner had made at least the quarter-finals of a full ranking event within the two years prior to victory. No player had ever won a ranking event withing 7 years of their Shoot-Out win. 

So for not reaching a ranking event quarter-final (or making one in the last 2 years at least) we lose: Ian Burns, Craig Steadman, Dechawat Poomjaeng, Jamie Cope, Matthew Stevens, Fergal O'Brien, Joe Swail, Aditya Mehta, Ken Doherty, Rod Lawler and Andrew Higginson amongst others. 

Meanwhile for winning a ranking event within the last 7 years we lose: Anthony Hamilton, Ricky Walden and Mark King. 

6. Each Shoot-Out winner has made at least 100 career centuries (according to CueTracker)

I think this trend just shows on the whole that shoot-out winners are generally heavy scorers. The players we lose here are: Mark Joyce, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, David Grace, Mike Dunn, Rory McLeod, Matthew Selt and Gary Wilson

11 players remain: 

- Alan McManus 

- Kurt Maflin 

- Ryan Day 

- Michael Holt  

- Tom Ford  

- Graeme Dott 

- Jimmy White 

- Robert Milkins 

- Alfie Burden 

- David Gilbert 

- Mark Davis 

Top 5 Contenders:

Out of the above 18 who fit the bill here are five who based on past performances could have a good shout: 

- Kurt Maflin - Maflin reached the quarter-finals of the Shoot-Out in both 2013 and 2014 so he has a decent record by the standards of this tournament. His quick style and high scoring ability also make him a good fit and last week he made the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open. 

- Robert Milkins - Milkins has proved before that he is a good match for this format. In the inaugural shoot out of 2011 he was the losing finalist against Nigel Bond. One of the quickest on tour but also the most fluent amongst the reds so the shot clock is never a problem. Last year he shined again making the quarter-finals and after making the semi's in Wales last week he is striking the ball well, which is another reason he could be a contender. 

- Graeme Dott - Dott was the second ever finalist back in 2012 and as a losing semi finalist in 2014 he has backed up the thought that he could contend for the title. There is a great snooker myth (thanks to some long and slow high profile matches played at the Crucible) that Dott is a slow player. This couldn't be further from the truth though when he is amongst the reds which is really what the Shoot Out is all about. It has not been the best season for Dott but a major run here could give him the confidence needed to turn his fortunes around. 

- Ryan Day - Day is another player with a decent record in this event. Last year he made the quarter-finals and in 2014 he reached the semi's. On two other occasions he has reached the Last 16 and is in good form of late. Reaching the final of the Grand Prix will help his confidence massively and this could be his week to get a title. Another heavy scorer and someone who has no trouble with the Shot Clock he is suited to the format. 

- Tom Ford - Finally we come to Tom Ford. Ford is a very fast player and a heavy scorer with great rhythm amongst the reds. He had had a decent season this year making the quarter-finals recently in Berlin and the Paul Hunter Classic final back in August. A semi finalist in 2012, he is another player who could put everything together under this format and certainly fits the bill of a potential winner. 

Best of the rest: 

Andrew Higginson - For me Higginson is again someone that is well suited this format. In the six stagings of this event he has reached the quarter-finals on three occasions (2013, 2014 and 2016). While his form in recent years has not been as good it is worth remembering that he had won minor ranking events and just a few years ago he was on the verge of the top 16. Another fluent player who has no trouble with the shot clock and scores very heavily he is more than capable of walking off with the title. 

Michael Holt - Holt has been a semi finalist in the Shoot Out before back in 2013 and was a quarter finalist two years ago. The format helps Holts rhythm because he is very fluent amongst the balls when he is on form. Much improved performances in the last couple of years could be the catalyst for him going all the way. Holt was also in the 11 that survived the 6 trends of former shoot out winners displayed above. 

Mark Davis - Last but not least, Mark Davis is another of the 11 survivors of the 6 trends I picked out earlier. He has twice reached the quarter finals of this event in 2012 and 2014. He was in decent form last week in Cardiff and is a former top 16 player showing his quality. 

Dark Horse:

Alfie Burden - Burden reached the quarter final of the Snooker Shoot-out in 2015 and has always looked pretty good in this event. A heavy scorer and fluent amongst the reds under the shot clock there is no reason why, at a big price, Burden cannot be the one who goes all the way this week. 

Stuart Bingham and Judd Trump contest Welsh Open final

Today's big Welsh Open finale will be contested by Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham after they secured comprehensive semi-final victories on Saturday.

First up was Trump who was playing young Scotsman Scott Donaldson who was enjoying his best ever ranking event performance. It was not a great start for him though as Trump came out of the gates like a rocket and was off to a flyer leading 3-0. Donaldson then put a nice break together in the fourth to keep himself in it ahead of the interval. Trump won the next to lead 4-1 but things did not look so comfortable when his opponent took the next two to close to within one frame, and all of a sudden the afternoon did not look so comfortable. There was a little more tension in the arena, and people where shouting for Scott believing that he could complete the comeback and cause an almighty upset. It was not to be though as Trump steadied the ship and the task became too much for Donaldson as he ended up falling to a valiant 6-3 defeat. Nonetheless this has been a great week for him and his provisionally put him into the top 64 on the end of season money list, despite only being in the first year of a new two season tour card.

Then in the evening was World number two Stuart Bingham's turn as he took on Robert Milkins, who was looking to reach his first ranking event final, despite this being his sixth ranking event semi-final. Milkins had received some heavier beatings in some of his previous semi-finals, losing 6-2 in the 2012 World Open to Stephen Lee, 6-2 in the 2013 Wuxi Classic to Neil Robertson and 9-2 in the 2014 International Championships to Ricky Walden. That trend continued here as well with a result that topped the lot, with Bingham whitewashing Milkins 6-0. Bingham was lucky in the opening frame with a fluke on the way to a century, and then he dominated the second frame to double his lead. The third frame may have been the key as Milkins looked set to get a frame on the scoreboard, only for Bingham to steal it and move 3-0 ahead. Chances came and chances went for Milkins thereafter with a few costly misses that, on the whole, were heavily punished by Bingham as you would expect in such an overwhelming victory. It has still been a good week for Milkins as he recovers from a poor start to the season, which was down mainly to a broken collar bone, something that until Rob Walker mentioned it in last nights warm up I was either unaware of or had slipped my mind. Milkins is up on the provisional seedings for the World Championship to 29th, having slipped well outside of the top 32 on this list prior to the run.


Despite plenty of upsets early on in the week, we still have a final that contains two top players who are looking to further their respective trophy cabinets. For Trump, he is looking to win his first Welsh Open and get a his second ranking win of the season which would be a deserved one having reach two finals and a semi-final in the three home nations events he entered (missing Northern Ireland). Meanwhile, Bingham is aiming for his first success since the Crucible triumph of 2015 which seems a lot longer ago now. He lost in the final of the China Championships in November and the final of the World Grand Prix very narrowly last March, so perhaps for the world number two, this will be a much luckier occasion. Bingham has a good big match record against Trump. He has beaten him in a World Championship semi-final, a Champion of Champions quarter-final and a Premier League final. This is as well as winning their most recent meeting at the the 2016 Grand Prix.

In terms of their routes to the final, Bingham's highest seeded opponent was Milkins in the semi-finals who was seeded 32, otherwise he had only played Matthew Stevens who was seeded inside of the top 50 for this weeks event. Across his six matches this week, Bingham has made 15 breaks of 50 or above, with four of those being centuries. Overall he has dropped seven frames and completed a total of three whitewashes.

As for Judd Trump, his highest seeded opponent was obviously Barry Hawkins in the quarter-finals as the thirteenth seed, otherwise he has only played Andrew Higginson (seed 49) who was seeded inside the worlds top 75 coming to Cardiff. Overall, Trump has made 19 breaks of 50 or above, with three centuries so there is not much between the two players in their scoring prior to this week. Trump has dropped four more frames than Bingham, losing 11 frames overall and completing one whitewash against amateur Jackson Page in the Last 32.

Based on those stats it could be an even contest, and while Trump may be favourite Bingham has just as good of a chance to walk away with the title and the extra £40,000 that will go with that as well as a place in next seasons Champion of Champions.

Meanwhile, I will enjoy one last day in Cardiff watching the final before heading home. Once home I may put a post up on my experiences this week and with a few photos I have taken during the event.

Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham hang on for semi-final spots in Cardiff

When I arrived in Cardiff on Wednesday we had 64 players left in the Welsh Open but now just four remain as we are down to a one table set-up for the semi-finals.

Judd Trump will play Scott Donaldson in the afternoon semi-final. Donaldson was the first man through as he controlled his match with Zhou Yuelong. His tactic was a strong one and while it did push at least three of the five frames past the half an hour mark, it also did not allow the Chinese youngster to find his rhythm and that was the key to success for the Scot. Whether he will be able to frustrate Trump in the same way today remains to be seen. Trump was a lucky boy against Hawkins in my opinion. Not just in the decider but the frame before that too could have seen Hawkins win 5-3 if one red didn't come across and block the path of another once he had split the reds. Trump's highest break in the match was just 50, and to get 3-1 ahead he was let off on a couple of occasions. You would think against Donaldson that he would get a few chances if the nerves kick in for his first semi-final.

In the evening session we then have the two guys who came through on Friday night in Robert Milkins and Stuart Bingham. Bingham played well against Carrington in the first three or four frames to build a very healthy 4-0 lead in the best-of-9 frames match and it looked for all money that the match would be over quite quickly the way he was playing. All of a sudden though he started to miss a couple and Carrington grew in confidence as he got a frame or two on the board and at 3-4 I wondered if things were going to turn right around and send us the distance. In the end I think it got nervy for both players and you could feel those nerves in the arena too.

While I was able to see bits of that match I was concentrating on Robert Milkins and Kurt Maflin that was going on at the same time. It was quite scrappy at times as I think both players realised the opportunity that could unfold this week, missing a few balls and giving each other quite a few chances. When Milkins did get in and take his chances he looked as good and as fluent as he had for the rest of the week, and in my opinion he has played as well as anyone so far this week. The last time Milkins and Bingham played was in the English Open first round. Milkins did lead 3-1 and had chances to kill the match off but eventually went down 4-3. There is certainly no reason why Milkins cannot put that right tonight, especially with Bingham not quite being at his best at times this week.

You would expect Trump to win and Bingham will be a heavy favourite with many too but for me we have seen so many shocks this week that it is hard to take things for granted. However, just to show the consistency of Trump he has now reached at least the semi-finals in all three home nations events that he has played. Therefore, it is tough to say that he would not deserve to take the title home this weekend.

I am back at the venue again, and will probably be posting some pictures on my Twitter page to make up for the fact that we are down to one table and there will be no more live blogs this week from Cardiff.

Quarter-final LIVE BLOG Kurt Maflin vs Robert Milkins

Here we go. I'm refreshed after a dramatic afternoon session and ready for this match between Kurt Maflin and Robert Milkins. Two great players, either one could win this event and get their first ranking title. An exciting evening in prospect on table two.

ROBERT MILKINS VS KURT MAFLIN -

After a lot of safety play here at the start the first good chance has fallen to Kurt Maflin. Expect him to score heavy as ever here with plenty of loose reds.

Break of 59 leaves Milkins needing a snooker in this opening frame now. 5 reds left on the lead is 68 for Maflin. Milkins goes in off a long red and it will now be 1-0 Maflin

First red in frame two goes to Maflin. He pots a red and goes into the others getting a great split and landing on the pink. A fantastic chance here to double his lead.

He only makes 12 though losing position from the third red which was a thin one and sent balls flying everywhere.

Lovely pot into the top corner for Milkins and he's away here. Bit of table time at the end of the last may help him as he sets about trying to level the match in one visit. 

One visit it is for Milkins with a lovely quick and fluent break of 71. Both players look to be in great form and full flow again tonight. Should be an entertaining night. 1-1

First chance for Kurt in the third. Nice long cut lands him on the yellow interior the bottom. Rolls that in nicely and now in amongst them again.

As I finish typing Maflin misses a tricky one in the middle on 21. Leaves nothing but a safety shot though for Milkins.

Milkins gets a nice rub of the green to get a snooker and Maflin leaves one from the escape. Milkins misses the second blue on 7 though, only for Maflin to miss the pink and let him straight back in amongst the reds. Milkins needs to punish Maflin and can't let him off again.

Milkins does make him pay. 54 to the final red in very quick time makes it two frames in a row for Robert who is looking fluent and confident tonight.

Milkins pots the first red in frame four from range and lands on the green. Unfortunately he leaves himself hampered on his next red to middle and misses to let Kurt in. A good split on the reds soon turns it into a golden opportunity to square this going into the interval.

But the chance goes, missing a red into the middle. Luckily he hasn't left anything for Milkins but the lead of 53 won't be safe if Milkins gets in next.

Maflin has gone in off now and with a red in baulk, gifts a chance to Milkins which could be fatal. One red on the side cushion could be the saving grace.

The red on the side cushion couldn't save Maflin. Milkins brings it off while playing the third red from last. The final green wobbled in, and the pink was trickier than you'd like after finishing straight on the blue but it's no problem. Superb clearance to go into the interval 3-1 Milkins

Milkins first offering in frame five has gone wrong, missing on just four to leave a chance for Maflin. He goes into the pack from a red on 9 leaving a thin black which he gets a kick on and misses. Milkins then can't capitalise and Maflin is back in once more.

Maflin made 40 before missing and had another two chances before leaving Milkins needing a snooker. Not the best from Maflin but it looks like he'll take the frame. 3-2 Milkins

Maflin again had the first chance in the sixth frame but missed the black on 7 and left a red with the rest for Milkins. He potted the red and screwed into the bunch on the way out for the pink. Expect him to make a few from here.

Very unexpected miss from Milkins on 33. Lets Maflin off the hook and he must take advantage and rub salt into the wound. Positional play isn't quite there and he misses a tricky green but leaves the five remaining reds safe.

Milkins won the safety battle and was looking good until missing the penultimate red just a couple of pots from winning the frame. Maflin then potted the same red from range and cleared to the green which was on the black cushion and the chances of potting it and getting on the brown were low. Milkins has the advantage now with the Norwegian in a snooker on the green.

Maflin leaves the green up from his escape and Robert pots it and the brown to leave Maflin needing snookers. In potting the brown though he snookers himself on the blue and fails to hit it. He has since got that snooker back so Maflin still needs two. Now the blue is in for Milkins and he is one away from the semi's 4-2 Milkins

Frame seven has started off scrappy. Misses and in offs from both players. Maflin had a decent chance with reds open but left the black in the jaws to hand Milkins a match winning opening.

Milkins clears some good reds on cushions and makes the double on the penultimate red before missing the black getting on the final red. Maflin pots the final red and rolls behind the black but Milkins escapes. Then a loose safety from the Norwegian leaves a long yellow on which Milkins pots. Snooker needed for Kurt on the green or its game over.

Milkins pots the green to leave Maflin needing multiple snookers. Maflin pots the brown and is then forced to pot the blue after Milkins left hanging on in the middle pocket. Attempts on the pink last a little while until a kick from Maflin leaves it on and he concedes.

RESULT - ROBERT MILKINS 5-2 KURT MAFLIN