Starts today so I though I just start a thread, though general interest in this tournament is probably not so high, myself included. And to a lesser extent also the players.
The two World Championship finalists Mark Selby and Ding Junhui prefered to take a rest. So the way to the title is definitely already a bit easier. Also Martin Gould withdrew.
The first four rounds are unfortunately in the Best-of-7-format. So it will be really tough to say who will come through. Maybe another surprise winner as in Northern Ireland a few weeks ago? Though the field there was a bit weaker with more of the top players opting not to play in Belfast. With Zhou Yuelong vs. Stephen Maguire, Kyren Wilson vs. Jamie Jones, Alan McManus vs. John Higgins (a reprise of this years quarterfinal at the World Championship that ended with a surprise) and Ali Carter vs. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh there already a few interesting first-round-duels though.
Here's the link to the draw:
http://ift.tt/2gD2t33
It's difficult, nearly tedious to talk about who will make it to the quarterfinals here. There will definitely be some surprises along the way and with Best-of-7 they are hard to call.
Still it's kind of fun, so here my guesses:
Section 1: Stuart Bingham is the favorite here. He should fancy his chances to get through to the round of the last eight. Though in the second round he could again meet Yu Delu. For the third times in three weeks. Yu won at the UK Championship (6-4), but Bingham prevailed last week in the qualifiers for the German Masters (5-3).
Section 2: Liang Wenbo is here. As is Barry Hawkins. And Matthew Stevens who reached the fourth round at the UK Championship.
Section 3: Maybe a chance for Neil Robertson to get back on track? He opens agsinst Thor Chuan Leong before playing (if he wins that is) the survivor of Gary Wilson vs. Allan Taylor. In the other half of this section there is Marco Fu. Though with Best-of-7 I can see Fu lose early. Maybe Liam Highfield who wasn't playing bad lately could take his place.
Section 4: The upper half here is quite packed for a 128 tableau. Fergal O'Brien, Zhou Yuelong and Stephen Maguire (who play each other as stated above), Michael Holt and Mark Williams are all here. And in the other half there is Shaun Murphy, who has a dangerous task in Zhao Xintong already in the first round.
Section 5: Judd Trump opens against Zhang Yong, could come against another chinese youngster Yan Bingtao in round 3. Down there is the duel between Kyren Wilson and Jamie Jones. If Trump loses early this part of the draw could be wide open.
Section 6: None of the really big names here. The favorites are Ali Carter and Joe Perry. But there are some traps in form of Chris Wakelin, David Gilbert, Anthony Hamilton or maybe Hossein Vafaei Ayouri. Who knows?
Section 7: On paper Mark Allen has a quite favorable draw to round 4 here. There he could meet Ronnie O'Sullivan, whose biggest obstacle before could be Ryan Day.
Section 8: John Higgins, despite his surprising loss in the German Masters qualifiers is the favorite here. He meets Alan McManus first and could play another countryman next in Scott Donaldson. Over there are also Dominic Dale, Luca Brecel and Ricky Walden.
Picks for the quarterfinals:
Bingham - Hawkins
Highfield - Murphy
Trump - Carter
O'Sullivan - Walden
Edit: Just saw there is also a thread in the "questions" forum. I thought a thread about the tournament was more fitting here, but of course you can close this one, if you feel that it's irrelevant in which subforum we discuss this tournament.
2016 Scottish Open
The two World Championship finalists Mark Selby and Ding Junhui prefered to take a rest. So the way to the title is definitely already a bit easier. Also Martin Gould withdrew.
The first four rounds are unfortunately in the Best-of-7-format. So it will be really tough to say who will come through. Maybe another surprise winner as in Northern Ireland a few weeks ago? Though the field there was a bit weaker with more of the top players opting not to play in Belfast. With Zhou Yuelong vs. Stephen Maguire, Kyren Wilson vs. Jamie Jones, Alan McManus vs. John Higgins (a reprise of this years quarterfinal at the World Championship that ended with a surprise) and Ali Carter vs. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh there already a few interesting first-round-duels though.
Here's the link to the draw:
http://ift.tt/2gD2t33
It's difficult, nearly tedious to talk about who will make it to the quarterfinals here. There will definitely be some surprises along the way and with Best-of-7 they are hard to call.
Still it's kind of fun, so here my guesses:
Section 1: Stuart Bingham is the favorite here. He should fancy his chances to get through to the round of the last eight. Though in the second round he could again meet Yu Delu. For the third times in three weeks. Yu won at the UK Championship (6-4), but Bingham prevailed last week in the qualifiers for the German Masters (5-3).
Section 2: Liang Wenbo is here. As is Barry Hawkins. And Matthew Stevens who reached the fourth round at the UK Championship.
Section 3: Maybe a chance for Neil Robertson to get back on track? He opens agsinst Thor Chuan Leong before playing (if he wins that is) the survivor of Gary Wilson vs. Allan Taylor. In the other half of this section there is Marco Fu. Though with Best-of-7 I can see Fu lose early. Maybe Liam Highfield who wasn't playing bad lately could take his place.
Section 4: The upper half here is quite packed for a 128 tableau. Fergal O'Brien, Zhou Yuelong and Stephen Maguire (who play each other as stated above), Michael Holt and Mark Williams are all here. And in the other half there is Shaun Murphy, who has a dangerous task in Zhao Xintong already in the first round.
Section 5: Judd Trump opens against Zhang Yong, could come against another chinese youngster Yan Bingtao in round 3. Down there is the duel between Kyren Wilson and Jamie Jones. If Trump loses early this part of the draw could be wide open.
Section 6: None of the really big names here. The favorites are Ali Carter and Joe Perry. But there are some traps in form of Chris Wakelin, David Gilbert, Anthony Hamilton or maybe Hossein Vafaei Ayouri. Who knows?
Section 7: On paper Mark Allen has a quite favorable draw to round 4 here. There he could meet Ronnie O'Sullivan, whose biggest obstacle before could be Ryan Day.
Section 8: John Higgins, despite his surprising loss in the German Masters qualifiers is the favorite here. He meets Alan McManus first and could play another countryman next in Scott Donaldson. Over there are also Dominic Dale, Luca Brecel and Ricky Walden.
Picks for the quarterfinals:
Bingham - Hawkins
Highfield - Murphy
Trump - Carter
O'Sullivan - Walden
Edit: Just saw there is also a thread in the "questions" forum. I thought a thread about the tournament was more fitting here, but of course you can close this one, if you feel that it's irrelevant in which subforum we discuss this tournament.
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