The snooker tour had the weekend off but that is all they get as the 128 players on tour head to Crawley for the first Home Nations event of the season which is the English Open. As well as the £70,000 first prize on offer this week there is also the chance of staying on course for winning £1 million for winning all four events.
Ronnie O’Sullivan took the tournament down 12 months ago and he is competing this week as he looks to defend the title. The best in the game are all on the baize over the course of the week looking to dethrone him so we are set for a great event.
Recent Winners
2017 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2016 – Liang Wenbo
The Format
These Home Nation events have been around for a while now so the format should be familiar. Monday and Tuesday sees the first round of the tournament take place with the second round on Wednesday. Two rounds of action takes place on Thursday with the third round and last 16 on that day. All of those matches are over the best of seven frames.
The four quarter finals will all be played over the course of the two sessions on Friday. They are the best of 9 frames with the two semi-finals on Saturday being the best of 11. The champion is determined on the Sunday in a two-session final which is a race to nine. There is an open draw for the first event of the season so there are some tasty matches right from the start.
Top Quarter
Ronnie O’Sullivan is the top seed this week as he looks for a second title in just two appearances this season. There are some other big names in this quarter with the likes of Liang Wenbo, Neil Robertson, Anthony McGill and the man O’Sullivan beat to win the title last season, Kyren Wilson, all lining up in this quarter.
You would do well to find a draw these days where there are no dangerous lower ranked players in it and this one is no different. Lu Haotian had a good run in one of these events last year as did Scott Donaldson. Chris Wakelin, Tom Ford, Gary Wilson and the Shootout winner Michael Georgiou are all in here.
Second Quarter
Judd Trump will be expected to go well from the second quarter while John Higgins is another leading name in this part of the draw. Marco Fu and Ryan Day are in and around the top 16 in this section and it won’t be long before Jack Lisowski joins them.
Once again there are a number of big names who could go well under the radar. Zhao Xintong is one of them while Mark King won a Home Nations tournament a couple of years ago. Mark Davis, Mark Joyce, Martin Gould and Tian Pengfei are all capable of big things in what could turn out to be a very competitive section of the draw.
Third Quarter
World number one Mark Selby finds himself housed here. The China Championship winner will be looking for another title in Crawley this week but will have to come through a section which includes Barry Hawkins, Luca Brecel and Stuart Bingham in terms of top 16 players in order to do so. Ali Carter is another top player in the third quarter.
Plenty of dangers luck in this part of the draw though. Graeme Dott and Ricky Walden are back in decent enough form while Ben Woollaston should win more than he does. Michael White, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Joe Perry and Sam Craigie make up what is a really talented quarter without mentioning a few seasoned campaigners too.
Bottom Quarter
The world champion Mark Williams is back in action this week and he will aim to win another Home Nations title from the bottom quarter. Shaun Murphy is expected to be his biggest danger in the quarter but Masters champion Mark Allen might have a thing or two to say about that. Stephen Maguire has a decent record in these sorts of events too.
Dave Gilbert has already made a major final this season and he’s in this quarter while European Masters semi-final Anthony Hamilton, Xiao Guodong, Lommel winner Jimmy Robertson and the talented Chinese pair of Yan Bingtao and Zhou Yuelong should not be underestimated either.
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Betting
As ever for these Home Nations events I’ll go with a man in each quarter in the hope of getting a couple into the latter stages. In the top quarter I’ll take a punt on Chris Wakelin. He has a decent enough record in these best of seven frame events and he has a win over Ronnie O’Sullivan on his ledger in one which could be significant as they are in the same quarter. Wakelin has kicked on after making his World Championship debut at the end of last season and I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes in at some point this term. If he does a lesser event like this might be the most likely time.
Martin Gould has had a quiet start to his season but he has qualified for the International Championship so he should be about to get into a nice groove and he is worth a go in the second quarter. To be fair there are a number of potential winners in it but the early draw for Gould could be much more difficult than it is and the longer he remains in the tournament the more dangerous he should be. Crawley isn’t far from his home base so I’m expecting a decent week from Gould.
Stuart Bingham is primed for a big assault on a tournament in the not too distant future I believe and he has a decent record in these quick fire events so I think he is worth backing at a tidy price in the third quarter. All of the seeds in this section look vulnerable so if Bingham can peak at the right times I think he can have a decent run here. Bingham usually either loses early or he’s in for the duration. His first round opponent was beaten 6-0 in International Championship qualifying so Bingham should get up and running and become a danger from there.
Stephen Maguire is my man in the bottom quarter of the draw. He has already made the semi-final of a tournament which featured best of seven frame matches in the early part of the season in the Riga Masters and his record in events of this type is generally very good. It has been a while since he won an event but with the likes of Joe Perry, Mark King, Jack Lisowski and one or two others being major threats on a place in the top 16 I fancy Maguire will be up for going well over the next couple of months. That can start here.
Tips
Back C.Wakelin to win English Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 151.00 with 888sport (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back M.Gould to win English Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with Coral (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back S.Maguire to win English Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 67.00 with Unibet (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
WON – Back S.Bingham to win English Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Bet365 (1/2 1-2)
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