Well, that was quick. Yesterday was when Mark King spectacularly won his first ranking title in Belfast, coming from 5-1 down to triumph 9-8 against Barry Hawkins. But that is for another post about the journeyman, because he success is remarkable, consider how many personal problems he had, as well as his attitude to the game. Honestly, go and watch his live interview after the match, it does pull your heartstrings.
Tomorrow, the first Triple Crown event begins! This is a prestigious event and loved by many. It is the birthplace of some fantastic finals (O’Sullivan vs. Trump 2014; Ding Junhui vs. Steve Davis 2005 are great examples). Some say the event has been downgraded by the flat draws and the shortened matches now (there is a blog coming up about that!) but it doesn’t take away the hype and the excitement and just maybe £170,000 for the winner. Just maybe. Anyway, predictions time for the first round!
Neil Robertson vs. Peter Lines
Alfie Burden vs. Chris Wakelin
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs. Liam Highfield
Peter Ebdon vs. Wang Yuchen
Mark Williams vs. Jason Weston
Andrew Higginson vs. Hossein Vafaei Ayouri
Ricky Walden vs. Fang Xiongman
Dechawat Poomjaeng vs. Scott Donaldson
Matthew Stevens vs. James Cahill
Michael White vs. Fraser Patrick
Xiao Guodong vs. John Astley
Joe Perry vs. Jamie Curtis-Barrett
Mike Dunn vs. Darryl Hill
Matthew Selt vs. Michael Georgiou
Li Hang vs. Rhys Clark
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. Boonyarit Kaettikun
Ding Junhui vs. Igor Figueiredo
Joe Swail vs. Ross Muir
Alan McManus vs. Michael Wild
Jamie Jones vs. Eden Sharav
Ali Carter vs. Christopher Keogan
Robbie Williams vs. Akani Songsermsawad
David Gilbert vs. Adam Duffy
Mark Joyce vs. Lee Walker
Jack Lisowski vs. Mei Xiwen
Martin Gould vs. Gareth Allen
Rory McLeod vs. Jak Jones
Marco Fu vs. Josh Boileau
Jimmy Robertson vs. Thor Chuan Leong
Mark Davis vs. Sydney Wilson
Oliver Lines vs. Martin O’Donnell
Judd Trump vs. James Wattana
Stuart Bingham vs. Adam Stefanow
Yu Delu vs. Nigel Bond
Luca Brecel vs. Aditya Mehta
Mark King vs. Sam Craigie
Barry Hawkins vs. David John
Fergal O’Brien vs. Zhang Yong
Stephen Maguire vs. Cao Yupeng
David Grace vs. Zhao Xintong
Zhou Yuelong vs. Duane Jones
Michael Holt vs. Kritsanut Lertsattayatthorn
Stuart Carrington vs. Yan Bingtao
Liang Wenbo vs. Kurt Dunham
Dominic Dale vs. Sanderson Lam
Graeme Dott vs. Ian Preece
Robin Hull vs. Jamie Cope
Shaun Murphy vs. Itaro Santos
John Higgins vs. Alex Borg
Ken Doherty vs. Noppon Saengkham
Ben Woollaston vs. Elliot Slessor
Gary Wilson vs. Paul Davison
Mark Allen vs. Chen Zhe
Rod Lawler vs. Anthony Hamilton
Ryan Day vs. Jimmy White
Kurt Maflin vs. Allan Taylor
Tian Pengfei vs. Zhang Anda
Anthony McGill vs. Craig Steadman
Sam Baird vs. Sean O’Sullivan
Kyren Wilson vs. Mitchell Mann
Tom Ford vs. Hammad Miah
Robert Milkins vs. Hamza Akbar
Ian Burns vs. Daniel Wells
Mark Selby vs. Andy Hicks
