Wuxi Classic Review & Australian Open Preview

Neil Robertson beats practice partner, Joe Perry,

to catch his tenth Ranking Title.

The Wuxi Classic showed again, why it's the most successfully Chinese event, with a big success with the snooker fans.

Of course it wasn't perfect, the crowd was missed, and most of it due to Ding's lost in the qualifiers. But in my opinion, some of the Chinese arenas, are just too big, and couldn't be packed out even if it was on United Kingdom, in a match between Ronnie O`Sullivan and John Higgins.

Neil Robertson complained about conditions of play, but he was the only, and the level of the tournament was just fantastic, I don't know exact numbers, but the Century average looks to be ahead of most of the events on the tour.

Robertson looks to be complaining at every match he doesn't a century on, it have annoyed fans and even his practice partner Joe Perry, which made a great atmosphere for the final, look:

After win his scrappy Quarter Final match against Shaun Murphy, Neil complained about conditions there, and said he "don't understand guys who say: he played well, congratulations for him".

Then, Joe Perry won his Quarter Final against Robin Hull, and said: "I like the conditions here, I'm not those who complains about", and of course he was making reference to his close friend, Neil Robertson, who said after qualify to the final beating Hawkins: "Just a win tomorrow [day of the final] is acceptable", but Joe, who guaranteed his place in the final later that day - beating Martin Gould -, said he wasn't afraid of Neil.

In the Final, Perry could manage the pressure - that he felt because of the climax before the final, and because he was playing his first major final in 13 years, trying to win his first -, and the miss of experience in finals or long matches, dominating the match until the 11th frame, when he was 6(19)5 up, and had complied breaks of 56, 75, 61 and 68.

But Robertson managed to win the next 3 frames, and surge into a lead of 8(19)6, just 2 frames away from victory. Then "Gentleman" Joe - as he is called - played his best snooker of the match, putting himself one frame from glory, at 9(19)8, winning 3 frames in a row, helped by breaks of 54 and 93.

But a hungry and confident Neil Robertson, played well over the pressure, and needed just 2 visits (making breaks of 87 & 78) to win 10(19)9, and seal his 10th major Ranking Event victory, to level himself with Jimmy White in the all-time list.

At the final ceremony, Neil was in tears, and said it wasn't happiness, he was feeling by his friend, Joe Perry. "Joe was there since the start of my career. He should be winning tournaments and hopefully this experience will help him push on and win a big one and get into the world's top ten where he belongs" said Neil, who defended his Wuxi Crown.
To see what both players said after the match, click here.

See all the results from Wuxi Here.


ROS BR Awards:

I will start now to give "Ronnie O`Sullivan Brasil Awards"  for some players, just to mention the highlights of the tournament, I will make 5 awards: "The Name of the Tournament", "Backing to Play", "Disappointing Finish", "Youngstar of the Tournament" and "Player of the Tournament".

It's the serious version of the "Willies" from The SnookerBacker, and of course, more often, as I will make it every tournament, and not once in a year.


The Name of the Tournament: Yan Bingtao
There's no other player able to receive this award but Yan. He started as a wildcard and reached to the last 32, beating Yu Delu - one of the 5 Top Chinese players in my opinion - and Barry Pinches, and losing just in the decider against Hawkins.
He is a natural potter, needs just to know the right time to be aggressive, learn a bit from the safety game, and of course, get experience, what he will get this year playing the Asian Tour's (he reached to the quarter final of the AT1) and major events as a wildcard.

Disappointing Finish: Mark Selby & Mark Williams
I needed to share this award as both World Champions lost at the early stages of the event.
Twice Champion of the World, Williams haven't been playing a good snooker for awhile now, and lost to Ryan Day at the last 32 as Current World Champion Mark Selby hadn't a great event for someone who's playing his first event since becoming world champion, he lost to Liang Wenbo in the last 32, but he didn't played too bad in all.
Judd was whitewashed by Maguire in the Last 16, but he is not a deserved of this award (laughs) as he is not a World Champion. His lost is hide.

Backing to Play: Martin Gould
Well, I could share this award between Stephen Maguire and Martin Gould, as both was playing some bad snooker recently but reached to the Quarter Final. But Martin not just beat Maguire in the quarters, as really played better.

Youngstar of the Tournament: Yan Bingtao
Well, Yan Bingtao then is the first man to get 2 "ROS BR Awards", he get this award because of the same reasons he got the "Name of the Tournament", but his 14 years of age is a bonus.
It's hard to say that someone will be a World Champion, but we just feel when some different and rare talent is discovered, and I think this is the case.

Player of the Tournament: Joe Perry
I could give this award to Liang Wenbo or Marco Fu as well because they played - alongside with Joe - the best snooker of the event this year, but Joe Perry deserves it as he reached to the final. He also made Neil works hard to win again, playing some really good stuff against him in the final.

Australian Open Preview

The Australian Open (30 June to 6 July) had the qualifiers played alongside with the Wuxi Classic Qualifiers, and some problems made many top players miss the event, including current Champion, Marco Fu.

Anyway, the Australian Open is played in the "old format", with the Top 16 already in the venue, waiting for others 16 qualified in a qualifier with the same format of the World Championship's one.

Let's have a look for the draw (seeds in the left, and my favourites to win the match in black):

(I made the predicts when Wildcard had already been played)

Top of the Draw:

Neil Robertson Vs Andrew Higginson

Stephen Maguire Vs Jamie Jones

Robert Milkins Vs Liang Wenbo

John Higgins Vs Tom Ford

Stuart Bingham Vs Scott Donaldson

Ryan Day Vs Mark Joyce

Mark Davis Vs Dominic Dale

Shaun Murphy Vs Jack Lisowski

Semi Final: Neil Robertson x Shaun Murphy  Winner: Neil Robertson

Bottom of the Draw:

Judd Trump Vs Rory McLeod

Joe Perry Vs Alan McManus

Michael Holt Vs Martin Gould

Ricky Walden Vs Marcus Campbell

Mark Allen Vs Fergal O`Brien

Matthew Stevens Vs Luca Brecel

Xiao Guodong Vs Liam Highfield

Barry Hawkins Vs Peter Ebdon

Semi Final: Joe Perry x Barry Hawkins Winner: Joe Perry

Final: Neil Robertson x Joe Perry Winner: Neil Robertson

Many can be impressed with me saying that Neil will beat Joe in the final for the second consecutive time, but the true is that, without big names like Ronnie O`Sullivan, Ding Junhui and Marco Fu, and of course, the current moment of Joe and Robertson, makes of them, really favorites to make another final together.

For me, the only player who can change it is Barry Hawkins, another who's playing great snooker and reached to the semis of the Wuxi Classic.

Thanks to read, I will be back in the end of the tournament, with the "Review", but you can always follow all the results in our Facebook Page by clicking here.