First preview! Even though many blogs do this sort of thing, it is still very interesting to find out who is hot and who is not anyway. Like who is being the Hugh Jackman or the Danny Dyer at the moment? Les Miserables or Run For Your Wife? No one could ever be the latter film. I mean you will have to be utterly useless to be associated with that film. I don’t know, I’ll move on.
Anyway, I thought I would do a preview of the last 32 of this tournament, as more fans are more interested in the latter stages and also there is more analysis to fit in for the last 32. There has been a lot going on strangely enough, with top seeds Selby and Perry getting knocked out, Zhang Anda getting caught with his trousers down (literally) and most amazingly, Alfie Burden scoring the 122nd 147 against Daniel Wells in the first round. And he still lost the match. Snooker is a cruel game.
Anyway, time to get the ball rolling:
First Quarter
Highfield vs. Day
Hawkins vs. Grace
Lertsattayathorn (checked and double checked!) vs. Walden
Yan vs. M Allen
This quarter got more open the moment Liam Highfield caused a massive upset by defeating Mark Selby in the decider, taking advantage of the fact that he got a bye in the first round. He faces Ryan Day, who is probably battle-hardened after two tough ties against Kurt Maflin and Stephen Maguire. I think he will pull through this one due to his 2-0 head-to-head record, though this is the tie that is most likely to go either way.
This quarter has three Top 16 players, but none of them being spectacular so far, with none of them reaching the quarterfinal stages this season. Allen faces a tough opponent in Yan Bingtao in potentially the match of the round I reckon, and Yan has risen quickly up the rankings at 99. However, I will go with Allen on this one, as he is a specialist in these best-of-7 matches, having won five out six finals in this format. Never caught eyes with Lertsattayathorn, but he could spring a surprise!
Quarter-finalist winner: Mark Allen
Second Quarter
Higgins vs. Patrick
Ford vs. Swail
Preece vs. M Williams
Gould vs. Trump
This is a strong section, with most of the favourites except Marco Fu still competing. Even though Trump came into this tournament with great confidence, he did play poorly against Doherty and had to come from behind to beat English Amateur Champion Jamie Bodle in the decider. He would need to sharpen up his game against Gould, despite having a much superior record against him.
The others, on the other hand, are in good form. Ford got to the finals of the Paul Hunter Classic, Higgins only lost to the superb form of Trump, and Gould superbly dispatched Zhou Yuelong with four half-centuries in a row. I think Ford will beat Swail purely on form rather than head-to-head record, but I honestly believe that will be Higgins’s major threat.
Quarter-finalist winner: John Higgins
Third Quarter
Liang vs. O’Brien
Carter vs. Woollaston
Carrington vs. Hamilton
Jak Jones vs. Ding
Probably the most even quarter – any of these ties can go either way apart from Jak Jones and Ding Junhui. Ding is very hungry for this title and has already won two on the bounce – the Six-red World Championship and the Shanghai Masters. Carter got through two tough deciders against Brecel and Songsermsawad (got it in one!). Liang should be okay due to Fergal’s decline in form over the past few seasons. Carrington and Hamilton look evenly matched, however, I believe Hamilton will prevail due to his experience.
I think the quarterfinal will be between Carter and Ding – both champions this season, it could be interesting.
Quarter-finalist winner: Ding Junhui
Fourth Quarter
N Robertson vs. Xiao
O’Sullivan vs. Wakelin
Clark vs. K Wilson
Gilbert vs. Bingham
O’Sullivan hard to work hard against Zhao Xintong (who superbly took him to a decider fearlessly – one for the future) and Jimmy Robertson (with seven half-centuries in two matches) and will play a decent young player who has benefited with the best-of-sevens tournaments Wakelin, who got a new tour card by once qualifying via European Order of Merit. O’Sullivan may face Neil Robertson again, who will be looking for revenge after being whitewashed in the European Masters. Xiao looks like he is very slowly coming back to form after two torrid seasons after being a Shanghai Masters finalist in 2013.
Bingham should be playing more comfortably without the pressures of being a World Champion anymore and should win against Gilbert, who has never lost to him before. But he could be against Kyren Wilson, who he has never beaten before. Wilson mentioned he had been practising after being knocked out of the early rounds of the past few tournaments. I reckon Wilson will meet O’Sullivan will meet in the quarters but who will win is a toss of a coin because Kyren will be ready for this sort of match and I’m sure Ronnie will be prepared for it. This quarter is probably the most difficult to decide, but on a risky hunch, I predict Wilson could cause a shock.
Quarter-finalist winner: Kyren Wilson
Finalist: Ding Junhui
Winner: John Higgins
Let’s see how successful I can be first time round (god help me!)
