The snooker circus heads to Wales next week with the ManBetX Welsh Open taking place in Cardiff - read Richard Mann's preview here.
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1pt e.w. John Higgins to win the Welsh Open at 16/1
No one has won the Welsh Open more times than John Higgins, the veteran Scot having reigned supreme in Cardiff on no less than five occasions already, and he could be set for another deep run in Cardiff next week.
At the time of writing, Higgins will be licking his wounds following a final-frame loss to Kyren Wilson in the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix in Cheltenham, the veteran maintaining a consistent campaign that has also seen him reach a couple of semi-finals and the quarter-final of the UK Championship.
Both of those semi-final defeats came at the hands of Judd Trump, Higgins not quite able to find the level of form needed to overcome the very best in the game, but his all-round game remains very strong and more than good enough for a large percentage of the players on tour.
Higgins brushed past the likes of recent Masters winner Stuart Bingham and Zhao Xintong last week to confirm his game is in good working order, a far cry from this time last year when he arrived in Wales with his game in tatters and his confidence at an all-time low.
Nevertheless, a return to these shores still inspired the four-time world champion to turn in a much-improved showing and a run to the last eight was the first time he had shown anything near his best in months.
Higgins is in a much better place a year on and with his half of the draw pitching him in and around struggling pair Barry Hawkins and Mark Williams, and Masters hero Bingham - whom he has defeated four times already this term - another deep run could well be on the cards.
While old foe Trump looms as a major potential obstacle at the semi-finals stage once again, Higgins has pushed him hard on a couple of occasions already this term and early exits at the UK Championship, The Masters and last week's World Grand Prix illustrate that not even Trump's presence in the latter stages of ranking events can be guaranteed.
At 16/1, Higgins cannot be ignored, while I could have easily added another former member of the Class of '92 to my staking plan with all eyes sure to be on Ronnie O'Sullivan once more.
Since his victory at the Shanghai Masters back in September, O'Sullivan's season has been a frustrating one with a couple of near misses and a slight dip in form seeing him slip down the rankings.
Having skipped The Masters, O'Sullivan looked in good touch on his return to competitive action last week until the in-form Graeme Dott ended his challenge in the quarter-finals and the feeling is that we are now entering the final throes of a career in which has carried the sport on its back for so long.
Nevertheless, I'm not convinced O'Sullivan is done with just yet and while his commitment to the game and desire to win at all costs has been questioned in the past, there was no doubting his determination to go all the way in Cheltenham, final-frame wins over David Gilbert and Liang Wenbo preceding a tough battle with Dott that could well have gone his way granted a better run of the ball.
Given what Dott went on to achieve, O'Sullivan's efforts can certainly be marked up and to coin a phrase from horse racing, he ought to strip fitter for that comeback run with Mark Selby's presence in his quarter the only real concern in an otherwise favourable draw.
O'Sullivan's quest to move past Stephen Hendry and win his 37th ranking title is evidently a motivation for him to keep pushing on despite his advancing years and I expect a bold show this week, with a place in the Players Championship still to be secured.
The Rocket doesn't make my staking plan at 4/1 but I can certainly see the case with him.
With his German Masters success still fresh in the memory, Trump remains a worthy favourite but James Cahill took him to a final-frame decider when they met in Northern Ireland earlier in the year and their first-round clash could prove a real test first up.
Furthermore, with dangerous operators such as Stephen Maguire, Hossein Vafaei and Gary Wilson all lurking in his side of the draw, Trump won't have an easy ride in the early part of the week and as such, I'm happy to leave him alone.
Since fluffing his lines as the headline bet for this column at The Masters, Neil Robertson has enjoyed a brilliant run of form that has seen him lift the European Masters, finish runner-up at the German Masters and enjoy another fine week at the World Grand Prix.
Odds of 4/1 are a very fair representation of his chances, for all a heavy recent workload promised to catch up with him at some point, but I'm happy to fly solo with Higgins and concentrate my attentions on a couple of first-round picks instead.
Eden Sharav is a player I have plenty of time for and he looks worth chancing to get the better of Ben Woollaston on Tuesday afternoon at 6/4.
Woollaston actually made the final here in 2015 but he has found results harder to come by more recently whereas Sharav beat the likes of Shaun Murphy and Daniel Wells on the way to reaching the last 32 of the UK Championship before Christmas to build on his last-four finish at the Northern Ireland Open in the previous season.
Consistency remains Sharav's biggest challenge if he is to take his game to the next level but I'm convinced he is capable of doing so, starting with victory over an opponent whose career might be in danger of stagnating.
Elsewhere, I can't resist a small bet on the hugely-talented Sam Craigie who is more than capable of taking down an out-of-sorts Hawkins.
This season has been a real struggle for Hawkins who again looked way off the pace when beaten by Williams in Cheltenham last week and should Craigie fire like he can, he could catch his opponent cold.
Craigie snared some high-profile victims last term, including when reaching the quarter-finals of the China Open, and though yet to make his mark so far this season, he made the third round here last year.
Prior to that, it had needed an on-song Hawkins to beat him in the last 64 of the 2018 English Open and with his opponent nowhere near the same player right now, Craigie could be primed to cause a minor upset.
Posted at 1810 GMT on 08/02/20
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