Stephen Hendry may have repeatedly downplayed how he will perform, but it’s hard to ignore that his comeback is the story of this tournament. He is arguably the greatest snooker player of all time, after all.
Aside from that, there is much to discuss. There are only four tournaments left, including this one, until the end of the season. This means that there will be some players fighting to stay on the professional circuit. Every victory can make a difference and that will be explained later on.
Let’s just forget the circumstances of last year’s Gibraltar Open though, please?
The King of the Crucible is Back
It seemed like a lifetime ago when Stephen Hendry announced he will play in the professional tour for the first time since the 2012 World Championships. After his impressive showing on route to the 2020 World Seniors Championships semi-finals and his improvement under SightRight, he managed to receive a two-year invitational tour card.
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Hendry assured fans that his comeback is not some kind of publicity stunt, nor a PR gimmick. He wants to do well and achieve his ultimate goal in qualifying for the Crucible again. Regardless, it created such an excitable buzz and fantastic publicity and that could only be a good thing for snooker. His game might be improving on the practice table but he will know more than most that the match table is where it really matters.
Stephen Hendry’s comeback took much longer than anticipated. His desire to play in front of a big crowd couldn’t be fulfilled due to the obvious. He postponed his initial comeback in the 2020 UK Championship, pulled out of the WST Pro Series and claimed a glitch prevented him from participating in the 2021 Welsh Open. Understandably, fans grew impatient and wondered if it would be better if another amateur took his place instead.
But it seems good things come to those who wait. Stephen Hendry will make his first professional bow in nearly nine years at the Gibraltar Open in Milton Keynes. His first-round opponent is a friend and SightRight teammate Matt Selt. Let’s just watch him play first. I’m sure the current pros will be keen to pick on his mistakes from the commentary box!
Fighting For Survival
It seems strange to be thinking about survival in February. But the lucrative China Open is out of the running, again due to the obvious. With the four ranking tournaments left, every ranking point is crucial. Even so, the Tour Championship is an eight-man event and the WST Pro Series doesn’t reward players with a significant number of points compared to other events. Therefore, there will be a lot of pressure dawning on the Gibraltar Open.
The pressure is off those who are in their first year of their two-year card. For the rest of the field, there seems to be two ways they can remain among the elite without going to Q School.
The most obvious way is to stay in the Top 64. There are a lot of surprising names who are scrapping from relegation. They include 2018 European Masters winner Jimmy Robertson, three-time ranking quarter-finalist Chris Wakelin, 2019/20 Rookie of the Year Louis Heathcote and China’s hot prospects Yuan Sijun and Luo Honghao. Let’s not forget that some will lose points from the season before last, leaving themselves more vulnerable.
The other qualification route is slightly more complicated. The top eight players on the one-year ranking list, not already inside of the top 64 of the two-year list, will earn a fresh two-year tour card from the start of next season. Jamie O’Neill, Xu Si and Chang Bingyu are leading the pack at the moment, but the margins are incredibly tight between these players. The final eight could change based on one result, so please be wary.
Please check out Matt Huart’s expert analysis by clicking here. For an easy snapshot on rankings as well as knowing who could qualify next season, check out Snooker.org’s one-year ranking list by clicking here.
BetVictor European Series Showdown
Another side-quest is that one lucky person could be £150,000 richer if they finish top of the of the European Series rankings.
Basically, the series consists of any European event sponsored by BetVictor. My initial thoughts on this series have remained the same. It’s inconsistent, uninteresting and quite pointless to me. But there’s money involved, so that’s that.
Three players can win the overall series now since the tournament winner’s cheque is £50,000. They are reigning winner Judd Trump (£124,500), Mark Selby (£118,000) and Jordan Brown (£87,500). For more information on this, here is the ranking list of the European Series.
Draw
All rounds are BO7 matches, including the semi-finals and the final. Predictions may be changeable until the start of the tournament.
It’s been announced on 1st March that Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Amine Amiri have withdrawn from this week’s BetVictor Gibraltar Open. They will be replaced by John Astley, Hamim Hussain and Haydon Pinhey respectively. Statement here.
Section 1
Judd Trump vs. Robbie Williams
Haydon Pinhey (a) vs. Sunny Akani
Brian Ochoiski (a) vs. Liang Wenbo
Rob Milkins vs. Gary Wilson
Zhou Yuelong vs. Xu Si
Yuan Sijun vs. Alexander Ursenbacher
David Lilley vs. Duane Jones
Mitchell Mann vs. Lukas Kleckers
Section 1 winner: Judd Trump vs. Zhou Yuelong
Section 2
Rory McLeod vs. Hossein Vafaei
Andy Hicks vs. Allan Taylor
Iulian Boiko vs. Fergal O’Brien
Mark Allen vs. Jamie Curtis-Barrett (a)
Scott Donaldson vs. Peter Lines
Joe Perry vs. Mark Davis
Ricky Walden vs. Mark Joyce
Ding Junhui vs. Si Jiahui
Section 2 winner: Mark Allen vs. Ricky Walden
Section 3
Kyren Wilson vs. Kuldesh Johal (a)
Oliver Brown (a) vs. Fan Zhengyi
Matthew Selt vs. Stephen Hendry
Barry Hawkins vs. Luo Honghao
Mark Williams vs. Li Hang
Michael White (a) vs. Sohail Vahedi
Zak Surety vs. Tom Ford
Steven Hallworth vs. Jamie Jones
Section 3 winner: Barry Hawkins vs. Tom Ford
Section 4
Chen Zifan vs. Daniel Womersley (a)
Ian Burns vs. Leo Fernandez (a)
Jimmy White vs. Joe O’Connor
Stuart Bingham vs. Gerard Greene
Chang Bingyu vs. Eden Sharav
Nigel Bond vs. Chris Wakelin
Ken Doherty vs. Matthew Stevens
Mark Selby vs. Sam Craigie
Section 4 winner: Joe O’Connor vs. Mark Selby
Section 5
Neil Robertson vs. Lei Peifan
Graeme Dott vs. Ben Hancorn
Andrew Higginson vs. Lyu Haotian
Stuart Carrington vs. Gao Yang
David Gilbert vs. Paul Davison (a)
Jimmy Robertson vs. James Cahill
Zhao Xintong vs. Ashley Carty
Peter Devlin vs. Daniel Wells
Section 5 winner: Neil Robertson vs. Jimmy Robertson
Section 6
Elliot Slessor vs. Jackson Page
Martin Gould vs. David Grace
Brandon Sargeant vs. Aaron Hill
Yan Bingtao vs. Jamie Clarke
Kacper Filipiak vs. Alan McManus
Zhao Jianbo vs. Noppon Saengkham
Martin O’Donnell vs. Xiao Guodong
Hamim Hussain (a) vs. Jamie Wilson
Section 6 winner: Martin Gould vs. Xiao Guodong
Section 7
Shaun Murphy vs. Ashley Hugill
Mark King vs. Luca Brecel
Dominic Dale vs. Tian Pengfei
Barry Pinches vs. Anthony Hamilton
Jack Lisowski vs. Farakh Ajaib
Jak Jones vs. Ryan Day
Oliver Lines vs. Riley Parsons
Liam Highfield vs. Fraser Patrick
Section 7 winner: Dominic Dale vs. Jack Lisowski
Section 8
Simon Lichtenberg vs. Lu Ning
Lee Walker vs. Jamie O’Neill
Pang Junxu vs. Igor Figueiredo
Anthony McGill vs. Louis Heathcote
Rod Lawler vs. Jordan Brown
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs. Sean Maddocks
Billy Castle vs. Ben Woollaston
John Astley (a) vs. Allister Carter
Section 8 winner: Anthony McGill vs. Allister Carter
Tournament Winner: Mark Allen vs. Neil Robertson
The 2021 BetVictor Gibraltar Open will take place between Monday 1st – Sunday 7th March at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England.
