Snooker World Open preview
The second ranking event of the snooker season begins tomorrow with a new tournament, the 12bet.com World Open in Glasgow.
At this stage of the season, the Grand Prix would usually be taking place, but the tournament has been rebranded as the World Open and offers a quick-fire and exciting format for the players.
All matches will be best-of-five frames up until the final, where it becomes the best-of-nine frames. All matches will also be played on just one table, and the event offers the prospect of the big names playing one another thanks to the random draw. It is being dubbed as the “FA Cup” of snooker and is something different for the players to get used to.
Some qualifying matches took place last month, with the Scottish trio of Marcus Campbell, Alan McManus and James McBain just some of the players already booking their places in the last-32, as amateurs from around the world had the chance to play against the professional players.
Eleven last-64 matches will take place to decide who will join them, and the random draw has produced some interesting ties. The stand-out tie is the clash between Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott in a repeat of the world championship final from last season, which saw Robertson become the first official world champion from Australia.
The Thunder from Down Under is anticipating another tough match against the Scot. “We all have good times and bad times, but Graeme has bounced back and I am expecting a very hard match. Mind you, at least it won’t go on until 1am in the morning again.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan will begin his quest to become World Open champion against Mark King, and Jimmy White, a six-time world finalist, plays Paul Davison. Ding Junhui plays Adrian Gunnell, and reigning Masters champion Mark Selby takes on Barry Hawkins.
Selby believes the short format will be tricky for the established players. “There is added pressure when you are playing best of fives,” he said. “I think we might see some players who are not familiar faces doing well in the event, because the short matches will give the lower-ranked players a better chance. It will definitely be an exciting event to watch for the fans in the arena and viewers on TV.”
Steve Davis reached the quarter-finals of the world championship at the Crucible last season after a remarkable run that saw him defeat then-reigning world champion John Higgins. The six-time world champion plays Peter Ebdon in another fascinating tie. Stephen Hendry takes on Belgian Bjorn Haneveer, and the seven-time world champion is excited about the event. “It's the one tournament we have in Scotland, and with the new format there's no doubt it's going to be exciting.”
Mark Williams, the China Open champion, plays Igor Figueiredo of Brazil. Ali Carter won the first ranking event of the season at the Shanghai Masters last week against Jamie Burnett, and he is on the lookout for his third ranking event title against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. Current Premier League champion Shaun Murphy plays Dave Harold, and Stephen Maguire plays Stuart Pettman.
Maguire is delighted to be playing the event in his homeland, and is dreaming of winning it. “With it being in Glasgow, I would love to win it - only winning the World Championship would be better,” he said. “One of the greatest feelings in the world is picking up the trophy at the end of the week. I’ve not had it for over two years, so I’ve almost forgotten what feels like.”
Recently, snooker has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, as one of Scotland’s finest Higgins was cleared of match-fixing after tabloid newspaper News of the World had footage of him and his manager Pat Mooney agreeing to throw frames for money.
Mooney was deemed to be solely responsible for the situation, while Higgins was found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute and has been banned until November and fined £75,000. Higgins was also guilty of failing to report an approach from a would-be corruptor.
The Scottish star will be disappointed not to be playing on home soil, but at least he will be breathing a whole lot easier after enduring the worst four months of his career.
At last, all the talk about snooker can be about what happens on the table rather than off it.
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