PREVIEW: 2021 Welsh Open

Welcome to the 2021 Welsh Open, where we will be at Celtic Manor, Newport and NOT IN MILTON KEYNES. It feels like a long time since I wrote the last preview. Yet the German Masters was only a fortnight ago.

Let’s Recap

Since the start of the German Masters, Judd Trump defended his title by thrashing Jack Liswoski 9-2 in the final. This was despite playing his C-game most of the time but he played some astonishing shots throughout the tournament. This included some wizardry when he beat Barry Hawkins 6-5 from 5-1 down in the semi-finals.

Then we come to the 2021 Snooker Shoot-Out! The event was decent to watch and Eurosport did a cracking job covering the tournament (except Ronnie O’Sullivan, who looked bored out of his mind). I wasn’t keen on the canned applause, even though it is hard to replicate the usual raucous crowd of the Shoot-Out. I still enjoy the Shoot-Out though!

But one person has won this ranking event and it was Ryan’s Day. Dynamite beat Mark Selby 67–24 in the final, propelling him to No. 32 in the world. Mark Allen made the highest break in tournament history of 142. A number of amateur players made their mark, with three reaching the Last 16 and former professional Craig Steadman making the semi-finals.

Not only that, there were some Championship League groups too. Trump qualified from Group 4 to the final group while overtaking Stephen Hendry’s tally of 775 career centuries. In Group 5, there were 27 centuries. Despite O’Sullivan making the most with seven, Kyren Wilson proceeded to the final stage, defeating Mark Williams 3-2.

The History of the Welsh Open

The Welsh Open has a great history. Though WST introduced the Home Nations in 2016, the Welsh Open has been in the calendar every year since 1992. Cardiff and Newport hosted the Welsh Open in a number of different venues. Probably the most memorable moment that comes to mind is O’Sullivan’s maximum during his 9-3 victory in the final at the Newport Centre in 2014. Some even regarded the screw-back on the last red with his opposite hand to be one of the best shots in his career!

The tournament is a favourite for the big guns too. Five players on the current tour have won the Welsh Open more than once, with Ronnie O’Sullivan (5) and John Higgins (6) winning the most trophies there.

The Race to the Players Championship

The Welsh Open comes at an important stage of the calendar. It’s an early indicator of who is on form in the run to the World Snooker Championship. It is also the final opportunity for players to qualify for the Players Championship. That event features 16 of the best players on the one-year ranking list. You can look at the Race to the Cazoo Players Championship 2021 written by snooker guru Matt Huart here.

It’s the fifth of six events in the BetVictor European Series. There is a £150,000 cheque for the winner. So far, it’s between Trump and Selby unless an outsider can win the title. This series is one of the most pointless additions for me, but if you want to see the related table, please click here.

This is also the first tournament of the season NOT TO BE IN MILTON KEYNES. Milton Keynes has been incredible to host so many snooker events, but it’ll be lovely to go somewhere different for once. This change of scenery should give everyone a huge emotional lift. It will feel more like a proper tournament because performers will be excited to play in Wales and in a different arena. The Welsh Open has some kind of different magic to it. Also, snooker players like golf apparently.

Draw

There are some tasty ties. Anthony McGill vs. Louis Heathcote, Stuart Bingham vs. Robert Milkins, Luca Brecel vs. Zhao Xintong and Neil Robertson vs. Mark King are very eye-opening ones indeed.

But the one that tops the lot is Mark Williams vs. Michael White. The Welsh do want to win in their home soil and it’s amazing that Mark Williams (1996 & 1999) is the only Welsh winner so far. White is winning a few professional scalps as an amateur and in a BO7 match, anything can happen!

All rounds are BO7 matches, except the BO9 quarter-finals, BO11 semi-finals and the final, which is a BO17.

Section 1

Shaun Murphy (1) vs. Zak Surety

Stuart Carrington vs. Soheil Vahedi

Ryan Day (32) vs. Ian Burns

Lee Walker vs. Mark Davis

Anthony McGill (16) vs. Louis Heathcote

Andy Hicks vs. David Lilley

Barry Hawkins (17) vs. Chris Wakelin

Simon Lichtenberg vs. Riley Parsons

Section 1 winner: Ryan Day vs. Barry Hawkins

Section 2

Li Hang vs. Martin O’Donnell

Kurt Maflin (24) vs. Ken Doherty

Allan Taylor vs. Pang Junxu

Ding Junhui (9) vs. Lyu Haotian

Jamie Clarke vs. Oliver Lines

Matthew Selt (25) vs. Lukas Kleckers

James Cahill vs. Matthew Stevens

Stephen Maguire (8) vs. Dominic Dale

Section 2 winner: Ding Junhui vs. Stephen Maguire

Section 3

Mark Selby (5) vs. Barry Pinches

Sean Maddocks vs. Jamie O’Neill

Liang Wenbo (28) vs. Joe O’Connor

Eden Sharav vs. Andrew Higginson

Yan Bingtao (12) vs. Xu Si

Brian Ochoiski (a) vs. Paul Davison (a)

Gary Wilson (21) vs. Ashley Hugill

Xiao Guodong vs. Iulian Boiko

Section 3 winner: Mark Selby vs. Yan Bingtao

Section 4

Jordon Brown vs. Luo Honghao

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (20) vs. Sam Craigie

Alexander Ursenbacher vs. Noppon Saengkham

Stuart Bingham (13) vs. Robert Milkins

Jak Jones vs. Fan Zhengyi

Michael Holt vs. David Grace

Yuan Sijun vs. Jamie Jones

Neil Robertson (4) vs. Mark King

Section 4 winner: Noppon Saengkham vs. Neil Robertson

Section 5

Judd Trump (3) vs. Zhao Jianbo

Si Jiahui vs. Brandon Sargeant

Zhao Xintong (30) vs. Luca Brecel

Peter Lines vs. Hossein Vafaei

Mark Williams (14) vs. Michael White (a)

Amine Amiri vs. Liam Highfield

Joe Perry (19) vs. Chang Bingyi

Lu Ning vs. Dylan Emery (WC)

Section 5 winner: Judd Trump vs. Mark Williams

Section 6

Ricky Walden vs. Jackson Page

Graeme Dott (22) vs. Billy Joe Castle

Sunny Akani vs. Igor Figueiredo

Jack Lisowski (11) vs. Lei Peifan

Elliot Slessor vs. Ben Fortey (WC)

Tom Ford (27) vs. Peter Devlin

Tian Pengfei vs. Alan McManus

Kyren Wilson (6) vs. Chen Zifan

Section 6 winner: Elliot Slessor vs. Kyren Wilson

Section 7

John Higgins (7) vs. Steven Hallworth

Ben Woollaston vs. Alex Borg

Ali Carter (26) vs. Daniel Wells

Fergal O’Brien vs. Aaron Hill

Mark Allen (10) vs. Fraser Patrick

Nigel Bond vs. Rod Lawler

Scott Donaldson (23) vs. Gao Yang

Gerard Greene vs. Farakh Ajaib

Section 7 winner: John Higgins vs. Mark Allen

Section 8

Anthony Hamilton vs. Ben Hancorn

Zhou Yuelong (31) vs. Ashley Carty

Jamie Wilson vs. Duane Jones

David Gilbert (21) vs. Rory McLeod

Jimmy Robertson vs. Kacper Filipiak

Martin Gould (31) vs. Mitchell Mann

Mark Joyce vs. Jimmy White

Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) vs. Robbie Williams

Quarter-final winner: Zhou Yuelong vs. Ronnie O’Sullivan

Section 8 winner: Zhou Yuelong vs. Ronnie O’Sullivan

2021 German Masters winner: Neil Robertson vs. Ronnie O’Sullivan

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The 2021 Welsh Open will take place between Monday 15th – Sunday 21st February at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales.