The rerouted Northern Ireland Open takes place in Milton Keynes as the snooker season ramps up a gear - Richard Mann takes a closer look at the action.
Recommended bets: Northern Ireland Open
2pts win Mark Selby in Northern Ireland Open at 8/1
1pt e.w. John Higgins in Northern Ireland Open at 16/1 (1/2 1,2)
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The Northern Ireland Open has come around again and that usually means one thing: a Ronnie O'Sullivan versus Judd Trump final. That has been the case for the last two years, with Trump prevailing on both occasions, but things are a little different this time.
For starters, the Covid-19 pandemic means this year's renewal won't be played in Belfast - a vibrant, snooker-loving city that has really made the tournament its home - with Milton Keynes instead playing host. For those of us who have warmed to the Home Nations idea and the concept of a series being played in the four corners of the United Kingdom, I can't deny feeling a sense of sadness while writing this one.
Metro journalist Nick Metcalfe will again be joining the Sporting Life team for the subsequent UK Championship and has resolved to keep me to my promise that I will back in Belfast for the 2021 edition of the Northern Ireland Open, God willing, and with as many vaccines in my arms that money can buy.
In the meantime, the players must adjust to the fact that, unlike in previous years, the UK Championship will this time run straight after the Northern Ireland Open, meaning that those who enjoy a deep run in the former event won't be afforded the usual week or so to freshen up and make any last-minute preparations before the first Triple Crown event of the season. With the Scottish Open and the World Grand Prix running in succession in a period of five back-to-back weeks of snooker before Christmas, the big boys could very busy indeed.
With that in mind, there is the possibility that some of those harbouring realistic hopes of winning the UK Championship might well see the Northern Ireland Open as more of a prep-race this year, similarly the Scottish Open that precedes the more valuable World Grand Prix.
What the packed schedule does do is give punters even more food for thought than usual and listening to Trump after his Champion of Champions semi-final defeat to Mark Allen only a few days ago provided a timely reminder of just how tough it is for the players to spend so much time in a bio-secure bubble, particularly those like Trump who are generally playing and staying in Milton Keynes all week as they consistently battle for trophies.
After a few days off, I'd expect the defending champion to be keyed up in pursuit of his third Northern Ireland Open victory in a row, but I suspect he'll be even more determined to win the subsequent UK Championship, given his modest recent record in that event and overall poor showing in all three Triple Crown events last term.
As such, I'm happy to leave him alone here, particularly as he finds himself housed in the same quarter as recent Champion Of Champions hero Allen and could face the dangerous Luca Brecel in round three.
As already alluded to, Trump was no match for Allen when they met recently and for all the County Antrim native has yet to make an impact in an event he would dearly love to win, there is every chance that having the tournament moved away from Belfast this year, and taking away all the added pressure that invariably falls onto the shoulders of the big local hope, might just help his cause. He is certainly a live contender, particularly having just regained the winning touch, beating O'Sullivan, Trump and Neil Robertson in the process.
If pushed, I'd just about take Allen to progress from the first quarter but with Trump, Brecel, Martin Gould and Stephen Maguire in there, too, I'd rather look lower down the draw for a bet with MARK SELBY ticking too many boxes to ignore.
Selby was my headline bet for the Home Nations Series opener, the English Open, and he made a brave defence of his title until losing out in a final-frame decider of his semi-final with Robertson. By Robertson's own admission, Selby didn't enjoy a great deal of luck in that frame and I thought it was the same again last week when the Australian once more prevailed by the odd frame in the last four of the Champion of Champions.
That semi-final has to be an early contender for match of the season after the pair traded six centuries in 11 frames of the highest-quality snooker you could wish to see and it confirmed the suspicion that Selby is back to somewhere close to the form that propelled him to world number one and helped him claim three world titles between 2014 and 2017.
The quality of this contest is off the charts! 📈
— Champion Of Champions (@ChampOfChamps) November 6, 2020
It's another century and this time for Mark Selby 👊
👉 Second total clearance in three frames
👉 Three centuries in th last four frames #ChampOfChamps pic.twitter.com/aEB3QkKFGb
It certainly goes some to way the support the argument I made here on Monday that Selby has just about been the form player of the season so far, those two aforementioned semi-finals following his victory at the European Masters.
Crucially for Selby, his confidence that appeared frayed on occasions during the last 18 months is back and even when slipping 4-0 behind to Kyren Wilson at the Champion of Champions, he rarely looked flustered and always seemed likely to win once getting a couple of frames on the board. Furthermore, Selby encountered a brutal body-blow in that match when a big fluke for Wilson allowed him to edge into a 5-3 lead, but he wasn't perturbed and duly roared back to win the next three frames and the match.
I really believe Selby will do plenty more winning before the season is out, fuelled by a desire to make up for a couple of lean seasons and to mount a serious bid to reclaim his world number one spot from Trump.
He is certainly playing well enough again and his Home Nations record in recent times is unparalleled: Selby won the English and Scottish Opens last term as well as reaching the quarter-finals of this event and the Welsh Open before beginning this season by winning the English Open again.
While the longer-format matches have tended to suit Selby better in the past, his ability to grind out results in the earlier rounds when not necessarily at his best has proven such a huge asset in the Home Nations events where it isn't uncommon for big names to find themselves behind and in serious danger in the race to four frames.
Selby's never-say-die attitude certainly comes to the fore in such circumstances, but above else, he is playing very good snooker again and after a couple of recent near-misses, shouldn't be too far away from regaining the winning thread.
In the same half of the draw, keep an eye on Barry Hawkins who showed up well at the English Open until losing to Robertson in a match where he looked in really good touch and didn't quite enjoy the run of the balls.
Further down the list, Robertson himself merits maximum respect following runs to the final of the English Open and Champion of Champions, but 6/1 about him looks about right, and like Trump, he has been very busy of late ahead of another big few weeks.
Last year's runner-up, O'Sullivan, has a few questions to answer having endured a slow start to the new campaign, but he didn't play badly at all when losing to Allen last week and that was a step up on the form he showed when losing to Aaron Hill and Matthew Stevens at the European Masters and English Open respectively.
I've made the point before that O'Sullivan generally likes to tailor the early part of his season around the UK Championship - he has won the event on a record seven occasions - and the preceding Northern Ireland Open, with its position in the calendar, fits perfectly into those plans.
Two finals in the last two years suggests O'Sullivan ought to be gearing himself up for another deep run as he tries to bring himself to the boil for the UK Championship - an event he won in 2017 and 2018 before losing to eventual winner, Ding, in 2019 - and there was enough promise in his recent defeat to Allen to think lightning might be about to strike thrice.
Were it not for Selby's impressive credentials and the robust case to be made for him, O'Sullivan might well have been my headline bet here but I can let him go at the current prices, and instead, suggest having a second play on JOHN HIGGINS in the belief that he will be winning again soon.
I really fancied Higgins to go close at the Champion of Champions having played with renewed confidence and scored particularly heavily in reaching the last four of the English Open. It took an on-song Trump to stop him in his tracks there with Higgins having barely dropped a frame in the earlier rounds, and he will be kicking himself for losing against Ding just over a week later having led 2-0 and seemingly been on course to extend that advantage to 3-0. To Ding's credit, he rallied expertly but Higgins cut a frustrated figure at the conclusion of the match having surely sensed he was playing well enough to mount a genuine title bid.
Higgins made a 147 maximum break at the World Championship in August, and another at the recent Championship League, to confirm his break-building is in good working order and I remain convinced his turn will come once more.
A run to the semi-finals of this event last year, as well as a record five Welsh Open titles, tells you that Higgins is a force to be reckoned with in this format and given how good a shape his game looks to be in right now, the veteran Scot warrants a small interest to make amends for a couple of frustrating exits.
Preview posted 1245 GMT on 12/10/2020
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