The first ranking event of the snooker season gets underway on Friday when the Riga Masters takes place over the course of the weekend as the lengthy grind that is the calendar these days offers up its first chance to pay out prizes and ranking points.
Neil Robertson won the title here 12 months ago and he is due to be in the field to defend his crown this weekend but he tweeted on the eve of the tournament about an issue with his flight which leaves his participation up in the air somewhat.
Recent Winners
2018 – Neil Robertson
2017 – Ryan Day
2016 – Neil Robertson
2015 – Barry Hawkins
2014 – Mark Selby
The Format
We have already had a qualifying round for the tournament so 64 players plus those who had their qualifying game held over will begin the event on Friday. The first round up to and including the quarter finals are the best of seven frames with the semi-finals and the final over the best of nine frames. The first round is played on Friday with the last 32 and last 16 on Saturday. The tournament then concludes with a busy Sunday where the quarter finals, semi-finals and final will all take place.
Top Half
Neil Robertson is the number one seed and he is in the top half of the draw this week if he makes it out to Latvia. Kyren Wilson is slated to be his biggest danger but he is said to be on the same flight as the Australian which isn’t ideal. Ali Carter is another leading light in this part of the draw and they are the only top 16 players in the top half of the draw.
That opens the door for a number of players who will fancy their chances of a deep run this weekend. They include Mark King, Yan Bingtao, Xiao Guodong and Ricky Walden. Matt Selt will be looking for a second ranking title of 2019 from this half of the draw while the likes of Li Hang, Michael Holt and Sam Craigie are more than good enough to go well throughout this tournament.
New customers, bet £/€20 on the Exchange and if your first bet loses, we’ll refund you £/€20 in Cash. T&Cs apply. 18+|Gamble Aware.
Bottom Half
The two Mark’s, Selby and Williams headline the field in the bottom half of the draw although both have to overcome their heldover qualifying matches to make it into the main draw. Beaten finalist from last year in Jack Lisowski and Luca Brecel complete the quartet of top 16 ranked players in this half of the draw so if Selby and Williams make it through this part of proceedings could be competitive.
A number of players will fancy their chances of a good run here and they include the World Championship semi-finalist Gary Wilson, the man who was an amateur there and beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in James Cahill, Joe Perry, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Tom Ford, Scott Donaldson and Joe O’Connor are just some of the names who could be ready for deep runs here.
Betting
Yan Bingtao had a disappointing campaign last term but he qualified for this event with a win over Anthony McGill which is a decent effort and in theory he should kick on for it. He is clearly talented and there is no reason why he can’t go well here. It would appear Neil Robertson isn’t going to make it to the tournament in which case Kyren Wilson might not either so the top half of the draw is going to be obliterated. That opens the door to the Chinese star to power through and win his first ranking title.
In the bottom half Joe O’Connor could have a big season and there is no reason why he can’t get a couple of wins early in this tournament and then sit and watch the draw open up, which it undoubtedly will with so many playing their first matches of the season and the bigger players generally using this as practice for the upcoming events. We’ve seen surprise finalists in this competition in the past and if there is one from the bottom half this year it could easily be the Leicester man.
Tips
WON – Back Y.Bingtao to win Riga Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with William Hill (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
VOID – Back J.’Connor to win Riga Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Coral (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
