The snooker tour heads to Poland this weekend for the Gdynia Open which is the final event of the European Tour. After this tournament the field for the Players Championship Finals in Manchester will be confirmed.
It is a big weekend for those not currently in the top 32 of the order of merit and for those just inside. Those not yet in have one last chance to get in while those only just inside the cut-off have one more tournament to protect their status. That should ensure an extremely competitive weekend on the green baize.
Going into the weekend there are some big names who need a huge push in Poland to make it into the grand finals not least the Scottish duo of John Higgins and Stephen Maguire. Ding Junhui probably needs to win the tournament to make it in and as yet the German Masters champion Martin Gould hasn’t secured his place in Manchester.
With all that in mind we have a decision to make when it comes to outright betting. Do we focus on those who need big runs or take those for whom the pressure is off? One decision which doesn’t need making is to take bets with Paddy Power and William Hill who are offering four places. These draws are hard enough to dissect without losing two places for no reason.
As always with these tournaments I’m going to take a man from each quarter in the hope we can get a couple through to Sunday where the payouts come along. At the prices just one semi-finalist will deliver a profit and give us the chance of the big cash.
To be fair the top quarter is a tournament in itself with Barry Hawkins, Stuart Bingham, Judd Trump and Mark Williams in it without mentioning Ding Junhui who needs to somehow come through this draw to land the title and book a place in Manchester. Kyren Wilson, Rob Milkins and Zhou Yuelong are also in this minefield of a section.
I’m going to take a chance on Joe Perry to come through this quarter though. Perry should make it into the third round where Barry Hawkins might be an obstacle but not an insurmountable one. Judd Trump could be a last 16 opponent but Perry saw him off in Wales last week and off the back of that run to the semis there he is clearly in good form and could build on that this weekend.
The second quarter has a much more open look to it with Shaun Murphy the only real household name in it. Ryan Day, Liang Wenbo and David Gilbert have the potential to be spoilers but there is one other I like here.
That is Ben Woollaston. Woollaston made the quarter finals in the Welsh Open last week and is notorious for being well suited to this format of the game. He should cruise into Sunday with the early round draw he has and if he gets there he’ll be a danger given the form he is in at the minute. He doesn’t have the pressures of having to win weighing him down so I’ll take a punt on him this weekend.
In the third quarter all eyes will doubtless be on Marco Fu but he’s already guaranteed a spot in the finals unlike John Higgins who needs to go deep this week. One problem for Higgins is that he could face Mark Selby in the second round and the positive for the rest of the field is that only one of them will make the third round.
That could open the section up to more of an outsider and I quite like Michael White there. White might well have a point to prove after his self-destruction in the Welsh Open last week but we shouldn’t forget the good form he looked to be in prior to imploding. He has won a couple of these events in the past and with that fire inside him he could go deep again this week.
The bottom quarter is absolutely wide open. With Rory McLeod and Tom Ford the main seeds in the section Stephen Maguire couldn’t have asked for a better portion of the draw to get to work in to try and qualify for the main finals but that pressure could lead to him falling short.
In truth you could make a case for everyone in this quarter but I’m going to take a punt on Fergal O’Brien. O’Brien has been getting a lot of match practice in the Championship League where he made a 147 on Thursday so he’s clearly cueing nicely and if he can keep that form up for another couple of days he could well be dangerous at a three figure price.
Back J.Perry to win Gdynia Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Paddy Power (1/4 1-4)
Back B.Woollaston to win Gdynia Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Paddy Power (1/4 1-4)
Back them here:
Back M.White to win Gdynia Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with William Hill (1/4 1-4)
Back F.O’Brien to win Gdynia Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with William Hill (1/4 1-4)
Back them here:
