Snooker 
/ David Hendon / 13 February 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Ding Junhui has finally settled in the UK and looks happy with his life and his game
"Ding seems happy in himself right now. When he first moved to the UK he found it hard to settle, understandably so – how many British players would find it easy to adopt to living in China? Now, the 23 year-old has found a good balance in his life. He still practises hard in Sheffield but has found himself a girlfriend and seems much more relaxed in general."
This is a tournament that should be won by one of the big guns. A good analysis of the draw and an understanding of the format gives us a good idea of which of them are well worth backing, says David Hendon.
Another week, another tournament, another new format. The first two rounds of the Welsh Open are best of seven frames with no intervals. In theory this makes the top seeds more susceptible to defeat but the same was said about the World Open earlier this season - played over a best-of-five sprint - and the semi-finals featured four world champions with the trophy going to reigning Crucible king Neil Robertson.
Whatever the format, top level snooker is ultimately a test of nerve just as much as it is a test of skill. Under pressure, the best players hold it together and therefore there is no reason to suggest the Newport title won't go to one of the usual suspects.
The draw looks unbalanced. John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Shaun Murphy are all in the top quarter, along with Ricky Walden, Ryan Day and Matthew Stevens (and Jimmy White for that matter). This is a brutal section and my advice is just to leave them to it.
Ding Junhui is in what looks a far kinder quarter. The Chinese, who won the Wembley Masters last month, starts off against Marcus Campbell, a tough, determined Scot but a player who has rarely done the business on TV. Ding seems happy in himself right now. When he first moved to the UK he found it hard to settle, understandably so - how many British players would find it easy to adopt to living in China? Now, the 23 year-old has found a good balance in his life. He still practises hard in Sheffield but has found himself a girlfriend and seems much more relaxed in general. He played superbly at Wembley and didn't do much wrong at the German Masters in Berlin earlier this month before being undone by a tactically superior Mark Selby in the quarter-finals.
His main threats in his quarter are Ali Carter - who has done little of note since winning the Shanghai Masters last September - and Mark Allen, who followed up semi-final appearances in the UK Championship and Masters with a surprise first round defeat to Joe Swail in Germany. Ding thus avoids the really big hitters until at least the semi-finals.
Robertson's preparation was so bad for Berlin that the Aussie will surely want to make amends at an event he won in 2007. Robertson is more Frank Spencer than John Spencer when it comes to getting to tournaments. Already this season he arrived for a Premier League match only five minutes before it began. At the UK Championship he misread his match time and had to be phoned at his hotel by the tournament director ten minutes before he was due to break off. Before Germany he lost his passport, had to fly a day later than intended, arrived less than an hour before his match and lost.
But there is no problem with Roberton's timing on the table and as long as he actually turns up, he should do for veteran Nigel Bond in the first round, after which he would have as good a chance as anyone.
All the qualifiers are experienced campaigners with one glaring exception. Jack Lisowski, 19, is in his first season and has made an excellent start. He qualified for Berlin and won three matches last week to reach Newport where his reward is a TV debut against the game's top ranked player, Higgins. Logic dictates that young Lisowski should freeze and be well beaten by the three times world champion but a shock is not completely out of the question. OK, he has no experience of the TV set-up but, having interviewed him a number of times, I'm impressed by his intelligence and general attitude. He wants to learn from all the new experiences he is having on the tour and the pressure will be on Higgins. Sadly, the Scot had to pull out of the German Masters after his father, John senior, lost his battle with cancer. Obviously, this personal trauma will have meant that practising has been the last thing on Higgins's mind.
Seeds looking vulnerable include Carter, who could come unstuck against Barry Hawkins, a much better player than his record suggests, and Graeme Dott, who loathes short matches and who faces Jamie Burnett, runner-up in this season's Shanghai Masters.
Recommended Bets:
Back Ding Junhui to win the Welsh Open at [9.4]; Back Neil Robertson to win the Welsh Open at [11.0].
Back Barry Hawkins to beat Ali Carter at [2.5]; Back Jamie Burnett to beat Graeme Dott at [2.6].
No comments:
Post a Comment