I’ve always wanted to go to Belgium. Before I was born, Belgium seemed to be a very easy joke if you need a country that is typically dull and not having much to show for it. Since then, The Adventures of Tintin was invented by artist Belgian cartoonist Hergé; Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (alright his was an invention) cropped up on our television screens and footballer Marouane Fellaini became the most talented microphone we have ever seen. And here we are in Lommel, hosting the first ranking event in Belgium in 23 years tomorrow!
In fact, the last time there’s been any professional event at all was in 2013 Antwerp Open during the minor-ranking PTC days from 2010-2013 where Shaun Murphy, Judd Trump, Mark Allen and Mark Selby triumphed. This edition of the European Masters should be a groundbreaking one for Continental Europe, as we will see their first ranking event winner in Luca Brecel, who of course, won the China Championship earlier this year.
I really enjoyed the European Masters last season in Bucharest, Romania. Judd Trump is back to defend his crown while finalist Ronnie O’Sullivan decided not to participate. Both Trump and Brecel have tough first round ties in Chris Totten (through Trump did beat him 5-0 recently) and especially Sam Craigie respectively. Many top players in Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Kyren Wilson and Mark Selby will take part and there are a lot of delicious ties already! Look at Williams/Yan; Saengkham/Cao; and Higgins/Ursenbacher and that’s just in the Last 64!
Here are my predictions anyway! Look at them!
Judd Trump/Chris Totten vs. Adam Duffy
Jamie Jones vs. Martin O’Donnell
David Gilbert vs. Sam Baird
Mark King vs. Chen Zifan
Zhang Yong vs. Ben Woollaston
Gerard Greene vs. Kyren Wilson
Yuan Sijun vs. Alan McManus
Hossein Vafaei vs. Mark Allen
Neil Robertson vs. Fang Xiongman
Dominic Dale vs. Peter Ebdon
Mark Williams vs. Yan Bingtao
Anthony Hamilton w/o Ross Muir
Aditya Mehta vs. Michael Holt
Billy Joe Castle vs. Martin Gould
Noppon Saengkham vs. Cao Yupeng
Jak Jones vs. Ken Doherty
John Higgins vs. Alexander Ursenbacher
Mark Davis vs. Matthew Selt
Anthony McGill vs. Joe Swail
Alfie Burden vs. Eden Sharav
Chen Zhe vs. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Peter Lines vs. Ryan Day
Oliver Lines vs. Zhou Yuelong
Michael Georgiou vs. John Astley
Stuart Bingham vs. Mitchell Mann
Graeme Dott vs. Jamie Rhys Clarke (a)
Mei Xiwen vs. Chris Wakelin
Luca Brecel/Sam Craigie vs. Thor Chuan Leong
Soheil Vahedi vs. Joe Perry
Jack Lisowski vs. Li Yuan
Ian Preece vs. Lyu Haotian
Zhao Xintong vs. Mark Selby/Mark Joyce
