The penultimate event on the snooker calendar is the China Open and it gets underway in the early hours of Monday morning out in Beijing with the leading lights of the game chasing a bumper first prize as well as some good quality preparation for the big one in Sheffield.
Mark Selby claimed that here last year when he successfully defended the title and he is back looking for the hattrick of wins and keep himself in the number one reckoning heading into the World Championship.
Recent Winners
2018 – Mark Selby
2017 – Mark Selby
2016 – Judd Trump
2015 – Mark Selby
2014 – Ding Junhui
2013 – Neil Robertson
2012 – Peter Ebdon
2011 – Judd Trump
2010 – Mark Williams
2009 – Peter Ebdon
The Format
The format underwent a change ahead of last year’s event and the same pathway has been kept for this year. We’ve already had a qualifying round of matches so only the 64 players will be in the main draw. There are a few heldover matches and wildcard matches mixed in. All matches up to and including the quarter finals are the best of 11 frames with the two semi-finals on the Saturday over the best-of-19 frames with the champion being determined on the Sunday across two sessions and the best-of-21 frames. That winner will trouser a cool £225,000.
Top Quarter
As with last year as the defending champion Mark Selby is the number one seed and he is in the top quarter as a result. He will face off with three top 16 players in a bid to make it out of the quarter with the form man Neil Robertson, Ryan Day and Barry Hawkins all looking to set themselves up for a big run at the Crucible from this section of the draw.
Ali Carter is one of the players outside the top 16 in this quarter. Other players within it who are capable of a big run include Mark King, Marco Fu, Kurt Maflin, Sam Craigie as well as Liang Wenbo in what might be the pick of the quarters in the draw. Selby will certainly have to play well if he is going to defend his title.
Second Quarter
John Higgins has the chance to salvage his season from this part of the draw and when you consider Mark Allen should have been in this quarter but decided against featuring in qualifying, you would have to say he has an excellent chance of winning plenty of matches. It has left Stephen Maguire and Luca Brecel as the other top 16 players in what has to be described as the weakest of the four sections this week.
One of the reasons why it is the weakest part of proceedings is because there isn’t much in terms of those not in the top 16 here either. The home man Xiao Guodong deserves a mention while Robert Milkins could go well at his best. The same can be said for Anthony McGill but neither are at their best and Alan McManus is the only other name of note really.
Third Quarter
The star of the season and tournament favourite Judd Trump takes centre stage in the third quarter of the draw. He could end up facing his big rival Kyren Wilson in the quarter final as he is also in this part of the competition. The other two top 16 players in this section are Stuart Bingham and Jack Lisowski so this is likely to be a competitive quarter as well.
Two talented Chinese players are in this quarter who aren’t a member of the top 16. Yuan Sijun and Yan Bingtao could very easily end up going deep in the tournament, as could another in Zhou Yuelong. Chris Wakelin is capable of stringing results together while Peter Ebdon is a former winner of this tournament.
Bottom Quarter
Mark Williams will defend his world title in less than three weeks and he will look for a morale boosting week here to take to Sheffield with him. Local star Ding Junhui looks to be his main danger in this quarter of the draw because Shaun Murphy was knocked out in qualifying. That leaves Dave Gilbert as the only other player in the top 16 in this section and it is a huge week for him as he looks to end off the chasing pack for his spot in the rankings and automatic qualification for Sheffield.
Indian Open winner Matt Selt goes in search of a second Asian title in as many months in this quarter while Lu Haotian is another who is capable of stringing results together. Joe Perry will be eyeing up a big week to force himself straight through to the Crucible Theatre while Scott Donaldson, Ricky Walden and Mark Davis will all be eyeing up a good week.
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Betting
I’ll take an outright in each half this week. In the top half the second quarter has to be attacked with John Higgins not in the best form and Mark Allen leaving a significant hole in that part of the draw and it could well be Stephen Maguire who takes advantage. In fact it should be the Scot who does that because he’s a wonderful player who enjoys the longer formats as he can get into a nice rhythm and do some damage. At this time of year Maguire should be putting in plenty of work on the practice table and missing the Tour Championship will have given him both a nice break and plenty of time to fine tune his game for one last push for the season. At 40/1 he looks the standout value this week.
Ding Junhui won this title back in 2014 and it is about time that he put another trophy in his cabinet. We’ve seen him largely bin the first half of the season over the last couple of campaigns and if you are going to do that you have to inherit some silverware in the second part of it and he looks to have a great chance of doing that here if he has his best form with him. Like Maguire, he has had enough of a break to be fresh and should have his game in good order. There are no demons in the draw until the two session matches so I’ll pay to see how far the 16/1 takes us.
Tips
Back S.Maguire to win China Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Boylesports (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back D.Junhui to win China Open (e/w) for a 2/10 stake at 17.00 with Coral (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
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