The second biggest ranking tournament of the season is underway in a season which has been fucked about with by Barry Hearn. The Grand Prix became a best of five, the Welsh Open is being reduced to a best of seven, and there's a new spring tournament in Dublin, which will neither feature the World Champion, the World Number One, nor any players from the Republic of Ireland, as it's the finals of a series of 12 optional pro-Am Minor ranking tournaments (which make gauging form at this point difficult), and we've also got a new 'dynamic' ranking system where no-really knows where they are, and we won't know who has byes to the World Championship until March. The dynamic rankings are designed to have the best 16 players on current form in Sheffield - but will be set in stone before the last three tournaments of the season. Logical, it isn't.
Anyway, the tournament has been going since Saturday, and as tournaments go, it's wide open. Moreso, since Ronnie O'Sullivan got knocked out 9-6 by practice partner Stuart Bingham. O'Sullivan has withdrawn, or not entered eleven out of the fourteen previous tournaments, and looked rusty - Bingham has entered the lot, and looked sharp - coming back from 6-4, reeling off five frames in a row. Holder Ding Junhui, World Champion Neil Robertson, the returning John Higgins, and the resurgent Mark Williams all spring to mind as possible champions, and former champions Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy cannot be ruled out.
Jamie Cope, Peter Ebdon and my tip to win at the start of the week Ali Carter have all fallen to unseeded players (Judd Trump, Andrew Higginson, and world number 65 and tournament outsider Mark Joyce respectively).
This leaves sixteen players left:
Ding Junhui (8) v Mark Allen (12)
Ding is the holder, and two-time winner, and easily dispatched former winner Matthew Stevens 9-4 on Saturday. Mark Allen on the other hand got past Tom Ford, who has had an excellent 2010 (even if Allen hasn't). It should be a great match, with two attacking players, but Ding's better safety play (Allen barely knows the meaning of the word) should see him prevail.
Prediction: Ding 9-5
Marco Fu (16) v Stuart Bingham (25)
After a couple of excellent seasons, Fu has slipped back to his complacent worst. He scraped past the cautious Barry Hawkins earlier today. Bingham on the other hand, is in the form of his life, as he has just proved against the Rocket, he's also making leaps and bounds up the dynamic ranking list, having started the season at 29, and he's likely to be in the top 20 when the new list is published next week. That form, and momentum should be enough to see him through here.
Prediction: Bingham 9-6
Stephen Maguire (5) v Mark Selby (9)
Maguire is the lowest profile player of the elite, having only ever won one of the BBC tournaments (the 2004 UK). He'll also be breathing a sigh of relief that his alleged involvement in a betting scandal (from the 2008 UK Championship that is still unresolved) came before Barry Hearn took charge of the sport (although as Maguire's never tried to promote tournaments, he's less of a threat than certain others). His 9-6 win over the formless Ken Doherty wasn't televised, but his form overall this season has been great. Mark Selby has been the same - and he's starting to justify the promise that he's shown in the Masters in recent seasons. he beat the in form Ricky Walden to get here. On form, this is the tie in the round, and Maguire's form and temperament is slightly better, and I think he'll just edge it.
Prediction: Maguire 9-8
Graeme Dott (11) v John Higgins (3)
Dott's return to form in 2010 after recovering from depression has been one of the sport's best stories of the year. He came from behind to beat rising star Martin Gould, but could well come unstuck here. This is Higgins third tournament since he returned from his six month ban for failing to report an approach for a bribe, and his form has been immense, beating Shaun Murphy in the final of the Ruhr Championship (after despatching Dott 4-1 in the semi-final), and reaching the final of the Prague Classic. He beat Stephen Lee (a player actually arrested by the police after allegations of cheating earlier in the year, with no investigation from World Snooker) 9-6, despite Lee playing his best snooker in years.
Prediction: Higgins 9-7
Mark Joyce (65) v Judd Trump (26)
It's almost a wildcard match. Trump was heralded as a future world champion when he first entered the professional ranks in 2005, but he appears to have stalled in the last season or two. Joyce joined the tour a year later, and has hovered around the late 50s in the rankings since - however, he's having something of a breakout season, as he's done well in the PTC tournaments, and has just well shocked the world number 2 Ali Carter 9-6 to get here. Trump's victory over Jamie Cope by the same score was less of a shock, but the slightly bigger exeperience - especially in front of the TV cameras should see him through.
Prediction: Trump 9-5
Stephen Hendry (10) v Mark Williams (4)
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good - and Jimmy White had the most favourable draw of the players ranked between 49 and 64, despatching the inexperienced Adam Wicheard and the woefully out of form Adrian Gunnell and Joe Perry to get to Telford. He also drew the most out of sorts of the seeds in Stephen Hendry in the first round, and he must have fancied his chances, but despite Hendry playing the worst snooker of his career (to the point that you could see the embarrassment on Hendry's face at times), he still won through 9-8, emphasising just how far the Whirlwind has fallen. Hendry's problems are huge, as he's struggling to hit the cue ball correctly, and in the right place, and they won't be rectified overnight (and seem to have been slowly getting worse since he had to start using a new cue in 2003). Mark Williams, on the other hand is in the form of his life, and despite the pair being great friends, Williams is the last player Hendry would want to face right now
Prediction: Williams 9-3
Andrew Higginson (29) v Neil Robertson (1)
Higginson is the most in-form of the unseeded players, and his win over Peter Ebdon wasn't a great shock. However Robertson is the best player in the world right now (and he doesn't really have any faults in his game either), and won the last major ranking tournament without breaking a sweat, and has only lost one match in a major on these shores all year - a record I can see him keeping up to the end of the tournament.
Prediction: Robertson 9-6, on the way to winning the title.
There is one more game, but that needs Mark King v Ryan Day to be resolved, and I'll do that later.
Anyway, the tournament has been going since Saturday, and as tournaments go, it's wide open. Moreso, since Ronnie O'Sullivan got knocked out 9-6 by practice partner Stuart Bingham. O'Sullivan has withdrawn, or not entered eleven out of the fourteen previous tournaments, and looked rusty - Bingham has entered the lot, and looked sharp - coming back from 6-4, reeling off five frames in a row. Holder Ding Junhui, World Champion Neil Robertson, the returning John Higgins, and the resurgent Mark Williams all spring to mind as possible champions, and former champions Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy cannot be ruled out.
Jamie Cope, Peter Ebdon and my tip to win at the start of the week Ali Carter have all fallen to unseeded players (Judd Trump, Andrew Higginson, and world number 65 and tournament outsider Mark Joyce respectively).
This leaves sixteen players left:
Ding Junhui (8) v Mark Allen (12)
Ding is the holder, and two-time winner, and easily dispatched former winner Matthew Stevens 9-4 on Saturday. Mark Allen on the other hand got past Tom Ford, who has had an excellent 2010 (even if Allen hasn't). It should be a great match, with two attacking players, but Ding's better safety play (Allen barely knows the meaning of the word) should see him prevail.
Prediction: Ding 9-5
Marco Fu (16) v Stuart Bingham (25)
After a couple of excellent seasons, Fu has slipped back to his complacent worst. He scraped past the cautious Barry Hawkins earlier today. Bingham on the other hand, is in the form of his life, as he has just proved against the Rocket, he's also making leaps and bounds up the dynamic ranking list, having started the season at 29, and he's likely to be in the top 20 when the new list is published next week. That form, and momentum should be enough to see him through here.
Prediction: Bingham 9-6
Stephen Maguire (5) v Mark Selby (9)
Maguire is the lowest profile player of the elite, having only ever won one of the BBC tournaments (the 2004 UK). He'll also be breathing a sigh of relief that his alleged involvement in a betting scandal (from the 2008 UK Championship that is still unresolved) came before Barry Hearn took charge of the sport (although as Maguire's never tried to promote tournaments, he's less of a threat than certain others). His 9-6 win over the formless Ken Doherty wasn't televised, but his form overall this season has been great. Mark Selby has been the same - and he's starting to justify the promise that he's shown in the Masters in recent seasons. he beat the in form Ricky Walden to get here. On form, this is the tie in the round, and Maguire's form and temperament is slightly better, and I think he'll just edge it.
Prediction: Maguire 9-8
Graeme Dott (11) v John Higgins (3)
Dott's return to form in 2010 after recovering from depression has been one of the sport's best stories of the year. He came from behind to beat rising star Martin Gould, but could well come unstuck here. This is Higgins third tournament since he returned from his six month ban for failing to report an approach for a bribe, and his form has been immense, beating Shaun Murphy in the final of the Ruhr Championship (after despatching Dott 4-1 in the semi-final), and reaching the final of the Prague Classic. He beat Stephen Lee (a player actually arrested by the police after allegations of cheating earlier in the year, with no investigation from World Snooker) 9-6, despite Lee playing his best snooker in years.
Prediction: Higgins 9-7
Mark Joyce (65) v Judd Trump (26)
It's almost a wildcard match. Trump was heralded as a future world champion when he first entered the professional ranks in 2005, but he appears to have stalled in the last season or two. Joyce joined the tour a year later, and has hovered around the late 50s in the rankings since - however, he's having something of a breakout season, as he's done well in the PTC tournaments, and has just well shocked the world number 2 Ali Carter 9-6 to get here. Trump's victory over Jamie Cope by the same score was less of a shock, but the slightly bigger exeperience - especially in front of the TV cameras should see him through.
Prediction: Trump 9-5
Stephen Hendry (10) v Mark Williams (4)
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good - and Jimmy White had the most favourable draw of the players ranked between 49 and 64, despatching the inexperienced Adam Wicheard and the woefully out of form Adrian Gunnell and Joe Perry to get to Telford. He also drew the most out of sorts of the seeds in Stephen Hendry in the first round, and he must have fancied his chances, but despite Hendry playing the worst snooker of his career (to the point that you could see the embarrassment on Hendry's face at times), he still won through 9-8, emphasising just how far the Whirlwind has fallen. Hendry's problems are huge, as he's struggling to hit the cue ball correctly, and in the right place, and they won't be rectified overnight (and seem to have been slowly getting worse since he had to start using a new cue in 2003). Mark Williams, on the other hand is in the form of his life, and despite the pair being great friends, Williams is the last player Hendry would want to face right now
Prediction: Williams 9-3
Andrew Higginson (29) v Neil Robertson (1)
Higginson is the most in-form of the unseeded players, and his win over Peter Ebdon wasn't a great shock. However Robertson is the best player in the world right now (and he doesn't really have any faults in his game either), and won the last major ranking tournament without breaking a sweat, and has only lost one match in a major on these shores all year - a record I can see him keeping up to the end of the tournament.
Prediction: Robertson 9-6, on the way to winning the title.
There is one more game, but that needs Mark King v Ryan Day to be resolved, and I'll do that later.
Comment