This event for fans is either a huge event because of how significant results in this tourney can make (for those who need more info, please click on this link: https://clusterofredssnookerblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/14/featured-race-to-the-crucible-china-open/), or those purists who want this over and done with so Crucible proceedings can go ahead.
But there is another ranking event to be won. So there. And Judd Trump will be defending it.
There is a small chance of players such as Joe Perry and Martin Gould can make the Top 16 and avoid the terrors of three best-of-19 matches but it is unlikely. Personally, I think Ryan Day and Anthony McGill are safe. But lets not forget that this is huge for players staying on tour, whether it be by staying in the Top 64 or finishing in the Top 8 of the one-year ranking list. These are players such as Noppon Saengkham and Jimmy White who will want to gather vital points to be in this Top 8 while players such as Nigel Bond and Rod Lawler stay in the living rooms hoping for the best.
Lastly, this tournament will determine the Top 16 seedings of the Crucible too. This is as it stands in Round Two, assuming all seeds win their first round matches. This draw would be perfect for Trump, as he avoids the plethora of talents and the quarter of death in Murphy, O’Sullivan, Liang and Ding and avoids Selby until the final. However, this can change if Neil does will enough to be in his half, and I am sure he would love to be Higgins to do well since he has a poor record against him, for example.
Mark Selby (1) vs. Ryan Day (16)
Neil Robertson (9) vs. Marco Fu (8)
Shaun Murphy (5) vs. Ronnie O’Sullivan (12)
Liang Wenbo (13) vs. Ding Junhui (4)
Stuart Bingham (3) vs. Kyren Wilson (14)
Mark Allen (11) vs. John Higgins (6)
Barry Hawkins (7) vs. Ali Carter (10)
Anthony McGill (15) vs. Judd Trump (2)
THE DRAW! The main question of course: Who will fear the worst at Pond’s Forge?
Judd Trump/Jason Weston vs. Ashley Hugill
Eden Sharav vs. Ross Muir
Anthony McGill vs. Tian Pengfei
Martin Gould vs. Fan Zhengyi
Mike Dunn vs. Andy Hicks
Rory McLeod vs. Liang Wenbo/Itaro Santos
Kurt Maflin vs. Ben Woollaston
Hossein Vafaei vs. Joe Perry
Quarter-Final winner: Judd Trump vs. Liang Wenbo
Shaun Murphy vs. Allan Taylor
Graeme Dott vs. Gary Wilson
Ali Carter vs. Stuart Carrington
Michael White vs. Yu Delu
Michael Holt vs. Jimmy White/Li Yuan
Zhang Anda vs. Mark Williams
Rhys Clark vs. Mark Davis
Ian Burns vs. John Higgins
Quarter-Final winner: Graeme Dott vs. John Higgins
Stuart Bingham vs. Scott Donaldson
Robert Milkins vs. Noppon Saengkham
Kyren Wilson vs. Xiao Guodong
Mark King vs. Sanderson Lam
Mark Joyce vs. Fraser Patrick
Gareth Allen vs. Ronnie O’Sullivan
Zhou Yuelong vs. Matthew Selt
Paul Davison vs. Ding Junhui/Sean O’Sullivan
Quarter-Final winner: Kyren Wilson vs. Ding Junhui
Daniel Wells vs. Jamie Cope
Alan McManus vs. Matthew Stevens
Aditya Mehta vs. Li Hang/Luo Honghao
Stephen Maguire vs. Fergal O’Brien
Andrew Higginson vs. David Gilbert
Alex Borg/Niu Zhuang vs. Ricky Walden
Jimmy Robertson vs. Martin O’Donnell
Alfie Burden vs. Mark Selby/Adam Stefanow
Quarter-Final winner: Alan McManus vs. Ricky Walden
Finalists: John Higgins vs. Ding Junhui
