October has begun which means we are about to enter a sustained period of snooker and that begins with the European Masters which takes place this week in Romania. The aim of the tournament is to promote the game around the continent and with Romania a potential hotbed to tap into it is fitting that the very best in the game made it through the qualifying tournament to set up what should be an outstanding week of snooker.
The Format
This is the first staging of this tournament. 32 men have made it to the main venue for the final stages of the event. The first round, second round and the quarter finals will be played over the best of seven frames before two best of 11 frames semi-finals with the tournament being decided in a final over the best of 17 frames.
Top Quarter
Mark Selby is the main seeded player in this quarter of the draw although he is a round behind the rest of the tournament having had his final qualifying round match held over to the main venue. Ricky Walden and Barry Hawkins are the other top 16 players in this section.
Those looking to gun them down include Dominic Dale and Fergal O’Brien with Michael Wild, Yu Delu, Alfie Burden, and Yan Bingtao all looking for big runs to bank some important and much needed cash.
Second Quarter
John Higgins is the main name in this part of the draw although I’m sure Judd Trump would dispute that and were the two to make it that far they would meet in a mouth-watering quarter final. Marco Fu is another in the top 16 in this part of the draw.
The floaters in this section are pretty dangerous though. Tom Ford has already reached the final of a best of seven event this year while Michael Holt and Ben Woollaston aren’t a million miles away from the top 16 elite in the game. Robin Hull produced a miracle to qualify for this tournament and he’ll look to go well. Andrew Higginson makes up the numbers.
Third Quarter
On the face of it this could be the pick of the quarters as Shaun Murphy, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Allen are all housed here. Just like Mark Selby, O’Sullivan had his match held over but if he comes through this draw is brutal.
It is like that because Dave Gilbert and Liang Wenbo are both major finalists and are in this quarter of the draw too and Mark Davis is capable of beating anyone. Zak Surety and Daniel Womersley will get great experience and the potential of a big scalp.
Bottom Quarter
This quarter looks to be all about Neil Robertson. He is without doubt the big name in the quarter but Anthony McGill and Ali Carter have both won tournaments this season already and will be eyeing up a second.
The rest of the cast list in this section is fairly strong with former world champion Graeme Dott and major event finalist Luca Brecel being in it. UK Championship semi-finalist David Grace and Scottish duo Rhys Clark and Scott Donaldson complete the field.
Betting
I’m going with a Scottish theme to my outright bets this week. I’ll take one from each half of the draw in the hope of nailing the two finalists. I don’t really see a weak part of the draw so players who have the game to come through the best of seven matches get my attention.
The first is John Higgins. Higgins has a very good record overseas and the one thing we know about him is he peaks at the big time of the year and we’re heading into one of those right now. We’ve seen Higgins can come through these best of seven frame matches and while his section isn’t easy whoever comes through will need to play well. I just fancy Higgins will crank up the quality now and 16/1 looks a nice price to take him.
The other Scot I’m backing is Anthony McGill. He won a best of seven event earlier in the season but the impressive thing is that even though that was his biggest win in terms of tournament wins he hasn’t had a downturn since then which suggests he is fully motivated to kick on and make it into the top 16. Another decent run here would help that massively and given the form he is showing there is every chance of it happening.
Tips
Back J.Higgins to win European Masters (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 17.00 with Paddy Power (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back A.McGill to win European Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 41.00 with NetBet (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
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