FEATURED: Race to the Crucible – China Open

Now that the Players Championship is over, this China Open is by far the most important tournament for many players. This is considered the warm-up event for most players, especially the Top 16 who are safely qualified for the Crucible rather than starting from square one in Ponds Forge; those such as Neil Robertson and Mark Allen who deliberately skipped China for more practice at home; and those outside of the Top 16 who:

• need vital points to either nick a qualification place
• need to gain vital points to stay on tour for next season
• need to get into the Top 80 in the rankings to gain advantage to play lower-ranked players and amateurs in the first round of the qualifiers.

So what is up for grabs in the China Open? Well, there is £85,000 with the winner’s name on it, as well as £35,000 for the runners up, so there is plenty of potential to pip the likes of Anthony McGill and Ryan Day to the post.

Who’s in the Top 16 so far?

Unlike most seasons, there is quite a shake-up between this season’s Top 16 and the one straight after the Players Championship:

Top 16 (03/04/2017)                                                                         Top 16 (13/03/2017)

1. Mark Selby                                                                                     1. Mark Selby
2. Stuart Bingham                                                                           2. Judd Trump
3. Shaun Murphy                                                                             3. Stuart Bingham
4. Neil Robertson                                                                            4. Ding Junhui
5. Judd Trump                                                                                   5. Shaun Murphy
6. Ronnie O’Sullivan                                                                      6. John Higgins
7. Mark Allen                                                                                    7. Barry Hawkins
8. John Higgins                                                                                8. Marco Fu
9. Ricky Walden                                                                           9. Neil Robertson
10. Joe Perry                                                                                    10. Ali Carter
11. Barry Hawkins                                                                             11. Mark Allen
12. Martin Gould                                                                            12. Ronnie O’Sullivan
13. Mark Williams                                                                         13. Liang Wenbo
14. Marco Fu                                                                                        14. Kyren Wilson
15. Michael White                                                                          15. Anthony McGill
16. Stephen Maguire                                                                     16. Ryan Day

As it stands, 6 players will be replaced. Liang, Wilson and McGill will automatically qualify for the Crucible for the first time for being in the Top16, and Carter succeeded in his goal to catch up with the elite after his unfortunate bout of cancer. Stepping aside include former double world champion Mark Williams, former WC semi-finalist Joe Perry and Stephen Maguire, who looks on course to fail to automatically qualify for the first time since 2005.

So who can get to the Top 16 in time for the Crucible? Well:

Since Ryan Day was already knocked out the China Open, this opens the door to many players to overtake him, except Anthony Hamilton who also failed to get past the first round. McGill is still in the China Open, so the fate is in McGill’s hands if two players can push him as well as Day out.

• Those players ranked 22nd-26th can only overtake Day if they win the £85,000 winners prize.
• Those players ranked 19th-21st can overtake Day if he reaches the China Open final but being the victor will be enough to overtake McGill if he fails to reach the quarter-finals.
• Finally, Joe Perry (17th) and Martin Gould (18th) can overtake Day if they reach at least the semi-finals and one of them can overtake McGill by winning the China Open and cannot be overtaken by McGill.

I bloody hope that’s right. I’m sacrificing watching Top Gear for these calculations (which is actually quite decent).

Who needs the points to stay in the Top80?

Why is this important? Well, the qualifiers are drawn by their rankings and so in the first round, anyone from No.16 – No.80 play sportspeople lower than No.80. This provides greater chance to win their first match and pick up a £8,000 cheque, which is massive for those who need a springboard and a budge up the rankings next season, or most importantly to avoid losing their tour card. It’s a shock I know. There are PLAYERS other than the Top16? Should we care??? Of course we should. Just players below include hot prospects, an Indian ranking-finalist and some random living legend of the game.

There are many points up for grabs, and unfortunately, we have to be realistic that they are unlikely to go far into the tournament. However, Sean O’Sullivan and Jason Weston has the advantage of not playing his first round match against Ding Junhui yet.

Allan Taylor, Sean O’Sullivan and Paul Davison can get to that stage if they get to the quarter finals, since Mei Xiwen and John Astley are already knocked out. The rest would have to go deep into this tournament to do this. The China Open should be very interesting!