After four ranking wins this season, it’s somewhat of a surprise to see Judd Trump opt out of heading to Venue Cymru in Llandudno for the Welsh Open this week, considering it’s one title that eludes the Bristolian.
At the time of writing, Ronnie O’Sullivan, also with four wins, is likely to sit this one out too though he’s more predictable these days. Maybe Judd has taken a leaf out of Ronnie’s book by prioritising the bigger events left on the calendar especially when he’s very likely to head to China for the World Open in March, has the Players (after the Welsh) and Tour Championship (April) then the biggest of all, the World Championship.
After all, if you remember in his mic’d up documentary ‘The Edge of Reason’, Ronnie told Judd after their 2022 World Championship brace, ‘Don’t let them burn you out’ and ‘Pick and choose’.
It therefore gives the event an open feel this week.
If Ronnie withdraws, John Higgins (13/2) will be the event favourite, something he probably hasn’t been for a tournament in over 20 years. The four-time world champion is having a consistent season and is sure to be boosted by the fact he won’t be bumping into Ronnie (lost 6-5 to him out in Shanghai) but especially Judd, who he’s lost to three times this season (all deep into events) and hasn’t won in a ranking event against him since 2018.
How John hasn’t made a final this season, I’ll never know. He led Trump 3-1, 4-2 and 5-4 in the semis of the European Masters to lose 6-5 then even worse, 4-1 and 5-2 against the same player at the English Open semi-final to again fold and lose the decider. Even in the Champion of Champions semi, he hit the proverbial brick wall against eventual champion, Mark Allen.
For the first time in his career, Higgins turned to a sports psychologist, maybe after another semi-final loss to Noppon Saengkham in his native Scotland before Christmas. “You can get really negative, it would be good to get some positive thoughts”, he said recently. The first step is realising the problem then with the extra positivity, better results, preferably in the latter stages of tournaments, will surely follow.
And there’s no better place than this event to put the record straight, a tournament no player in history has won more times than Higgins. Champion in 2000, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2018 and runner up in 1995 and 1998, he’s simply owned it in Wales. Higgins has made eight ranking finals since the 2018 success and won just once. That will not be accepted by such a champion and will want at least one more time in the sun before he puts his cue up for good.
38 centuries for the season proves Higgins is playing as well as ever, and though he could be classed as a touch fragile, he warrants loads of respect to get back on the title winning trail.
Talking about getting back on that winning thread, we come to arguably the biggest disappointment of the season, Neil Robertson (9/1).
At the end of the World Championship last May, Robertson finished the season at No7 in the world rankings, his first season in 14 without a title to his name. Nine months later, Robertson has dropped like a stone to World No30 – absolutely staggering to comprehend. Barring a huge turnaround, he’ll be requiring two wins to qualify for the Crucible in April.
At the moment, that’s the least of his problems. I can tell watching him he’s not got quite the same strut around the table, maybe over thinking things as he’s never been so used to losing. However, it’s about taking small steps forward, regaining his confidence and playing a ball at a time as we all know the underlying class will always be there.
It was a step in the right direction in Berlin for the German Masters. He won three matches at the Tempodrom winning convincingly over Sanderson Lam (5-1), Jimmy Robertson (5-0) and Joe Perry (5-1). It took an inspired performance by Kyren Wilson to beat him in the last 16 (5-3 and led 2-0) though it looked at times the old Robbo was coming to the fore.
Further encouragement came during the Championship league on Thursday, winning the Group 4 final to Wilson. I usually take the Championship league form with a pinch of salt as it’s just a bit more than competitive play but it’s a little different for Neil. He needed it as playing match after match builds momentum and winning was a bonus. He’s a born winner and he’s forgotten mentally how it’s done since the Tour Championship in April 2022.
He sounded very positive in his interview with Dominic Dale after the Wilson win that perhaps he’s turning the corner as his biggest strengths of long potting and break building ‘have never been better’.
He’s got to now prove it. This is an event where Robertson has had previous success in, winning the title in 2007 and 2019 plus a runner-up in 2016. He’s won a tournament in the second half of the season in four of the last five seasons and can do so again here.
Given there’s been three straight surprise winners of this event, it might be worth a small dart on another. Welsh players have a dreadful record here with only Mark Williams in 1996 lifting the crown so they are long overdue a winner.
A player I have a soft spot for is Cymbran’s Jak Jones (125/1). He’s long been on my radar as a potential ranking event winner, a similar type to 2021 champion, Jordan Brown.
Jones made the quarter-final of the World Championship in April on debut to demonstrate his capability at the top level beating Barry Hawkins, Ali Carter and Robertson on route.
It’s largely been a poor campaign for Jones, though a lot of defeats have been close, including a 6-4 reverse to O’Sullivan at the International Championship. In the round previous, he beat German Masters finalist, Si Jiahui.
He opens here against one of the stars of the season Zhang Anda, then onto Hossein Vafaei which looks daunting on paper but it’s only in best-of-seven, and Jones has made a semi-final of the Gibraltar Open in 2022 plus a quarter-final at the English Open both in this very format.
Jones had a steady run to the last 16 in this last year, losing 4-2 to China’s Pang Junxu, after beating Williams 4-3 in the second round.
Jones is as tough as old boots, one of the hardest practisers in the game and his scoring is as strong as anyone outside the worlds top 32. If he can get on a roll, he might surprise one or two in Llandudno. With Jones, you know he will give everything to the cause. This could be the stepping stone for bigger things ahead for the 30-year-old.
Outright selections:
