Who lifts the 2017 World Cup?

We finally have the draw for the 2017 World Cup out. 24 teams of 23 different nations will be seeking glory in Wuxi from July 3rd to 9th.

Like I said in the ROSB History featuring the World Cup (which is a very good read, it has to be said), the 2015 edition was fantastic and had an amazing feedback around the World, for it had contested 23 countries for the first time and the game had grown dramatically all over the globe. We've waited two years for the World Cup arriving again since China B team won the trophy last time with then 15 years-old Yan Bingtao and 17 years-old Zhou Yuelong, and we can't wait for the tournament to start again - principally fans outside the UK like me, who are desperate to see their players take on the World's bests.

The format is exactly the same, with 24 teams divided into Groups A, B, C and D. Round-robin matches are best of 5 and all five frames must be played as a point is awarded by each frame won (first two frames are singles, third frame is a doubles, and last two frames are reverse singles). 

The two teams at the top of each group by the end of the 5 rounds go through the Quarter-Finals. The play-off matches are then best of seven (two singles, doubles, two reverse singles, another doubles, and then, if needed, a singles play-off with a player nominated by the captain of each team).

So, let's see how the 2017 World Cup looks like:

Group A:

China B (Yan Bingtao & Zhou Yuelong)

Wales (Mark Williams & Ryan Day)

Norway (Kurt Maflin & Christopher Watts)

Finland (Robin Hull & Heikki Niva)

Malaysia (Thor Chuan Leong & Moh Keen Ho)

Brazil (Igor Figueiredo & Itaro Santos)

Group B:

China A (Ding Junhui & Liang Wenbo)

Hong Kong (Marco Fu & Au Chi Wai)

Germany (Lukas Kleckers & Simon Lichtenberg)

Republic of Ireland (Fergal O`Brien & Ken Doherty)

Belgium (Luca Brecel & Jeff Jacobs)

Egypt (Hatem Yassen & Basem Eltahhan)

Group C:

England (Judd Trump & Barry Hawkins)

Australia (Neil Robertson & Kurt Dunham)

Malta (Alex Borg & Duncan Bezzina)

Switzerland (Alexander Ursenbacher & Darren Paris)

Pakistan (Hamza Akbar & Shahram Changezi)

Iran (Hossein Vafaei & Soheil Vahedi)

Group D:

Scotland (John Higgins & Anthony McGill)

Northern Ireland (Mark Allen & Joe Swail)

Cyprus (Michael Georgiou & Antonis Poullos)

Thailand (Thepchaiya Un-Nooh & Noppon Saengkham)

India (Aditya Mehta & Brijesh Damani)

Israel (Eden Sharav & Shachar Ruberg)

Click here to see order of play and times, and click here to see a short description of each player

Now, looking at the draw and the teams, who do you think will win? Well, firstly I think it's important to have two decent players to make it through group stage, and then once you're through one player can do it all by himself.

I say that because during the group stage each frame means a point, so it's important to win matches comfortably when you can, and the maximum one single player can influence in the score is 3 points (the two singles match and the doubles). But when you're in the play-offs one player can alone influence on 5 frames (two singles, two doubles and the decisive singles). 

Considering that, teams like Australia and Hong Kong have a chance of winning, but before they must go through group stage - which would be for them the most difficult bit.

There were many players in the 2015 World Cup that I didn't know, something that changed now as all 23 countries taking part in the 2017 World Cup had - or have - at least one player on the main tour in 2017, and some of them I got to know during the 2015 tournament. For that, I'll be making a short preview here for a few countries that I think are worth watching during this year's Cup:

GROUP A

Brazil: With the same team it had in 2015, my beloved Brazil doesn't come into this event expecting to win or go too deep, and surviving group stage could already be some feat. However, we have a very balanced team that in 2015 reached the final round with chances of qualification and despite we didn't make it, we beat eventual runner-up Scotland along the way playing some very good and consistent Snooker. Igor and Itaro just contested the Brazilian Championship Final, which Igor won for a 12th time, and their team in the World Cup will certainly be one to watch.

China B: The Chinese Association decided to let Yan Bingtao, 17, and Zhou Yuelong, 19, defend the title they won two years ago. I had said before that event here in the blog that these two teenagers were something special, despite the fact that back then no one knew them. Since winning that tournament both have gone far, Yuelong has broken through the top 32 and Bingtao the top 60, even though he only has one year of Ranking Points to his name (he also became last season the youngest player ever to make a Ranking Event quarter-final). Both made their debut at the Crucible this year, and Bingtao in particular did very well running Shaun Murphy close in Round 1 and becoming the second youngest player to play at the World Championship.

With a CV like that, and the experience of having won this competition before, they are definitely capable of giving China a third straight World Cup win. However, we must remember that they're still teenagers and the expectation and pressure on their shoulders this time will be even bigger. Like it was in 2015, everything they get out of this event is a bonus.

GROUP B

Belgium: Snooker is quite popular in Belgium, and in 2015 they showed their strength to the World finishing leader of their group ahead of Scotland, Hong Kong and Brazil. Back then, Luca Brecel played alongside Tomasz Skalski, who proved to be a strong partner. This time, Jeff Jacobs will be Luca's partner in the complicated Group B. 

I don't expect them to make it to the Quarter-Finals, but after their 2015 campaign it's certainly a team to watch.

Hong Kong: Hong Kong have the ladies' World Champion, will have a brand new professional event this season, and is seeing their top player Marco Fu have a very good time on the main tour. Win the World Cup would be the icing on the cake for the country that is more and more falling in love with the sport. But is it possible?

As I've said before, you need a balanced team to go through group stage and Marco Fu's partner, Au Chi Wai, didn't prove to be a great player in the last World Cup. He likes rolling balls in but he won't make things happen and he won't beat a top player, the team relies totally on Marco. Having said that, Fu is one of the best players in the competition and if Hong Kong can make it to the play-offs, they've got a chance.

China A: China A for me are the red hot favourites. Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo have won this tournament before, and played together again in 2015. It's true that they did not have a very good result two years ago, but neither of them was living a great momentum. Anyway, since then both have been playing the best Snooker of their careers. Ding Junhui finally starting to play his best Snooker at the Crucible, making the Final in 2016 and semi-final this year, and Liang Wenbo made his first Triple Crown event Final in December 2015 at the UK Championship before winning his first Ranking Event in 2016.

Being the only nation with A and B teams (because they're hosting the event), and having two strong ones, it's quite likely that China will hit glory again in 2017.

GROUP C

Australia: Australia is in a very similar situation to Hong Kong. Half of their team is made of one of the World's best players, and the other half ain't so strong. 

In 2015 they made the Quarter-Finals, and yet Vinnie Calabrese was struggling and admitted that pressure caught him. However, I can't say that Dunham replacing him is a great move, because for the whole of last season he could only win two matches.

It's also a fact that Neil Robertson is not playing as well as he was in 2015, but Group C is pretty leveled and Australia might well scrape through again.

England: Probably because after a busy season he decided to have a break and doesn't feel ready to play the World Cup, Mark Selby has decided not to. Anyway, whatever his reasons are England still have a very strong team that, despite neither player has experience in this sort of tournament, I expect to come out on top of Group C comfortably and then have a shout at the title.

GROUP D

India: For unknown reasons Pankaj Advani, who led India to the semi-finals in 2015, won't be in action at this year's event. Like Mark Selby, he's a very popular player and will be missed from the tournament, but the impact on the Indian team should be even bigger. Brijesh Damani will play alongside Mehta this time and to be fair I don't know how good - or bad - he is. But Group D is probably the toughest one with Scotland, Northern Ireland (a team that I have high expectations for this year) and Thailand as well as India itself, so I don't expect India to come near as far as they did in 2015 without Advani.

Thailand: Last time when I pointed a team and said it was one to watch that might surprise some people, they went on to go all the way. It might not happen again, but you won't get much better sight in Snooker than Un-Nooh in full-flow. The former 6-red World Champion will be playing alongside youngster Saengkham and that team will be tough to stop.

Scotland: Champions in 1996 and runner-up in 2015, Scotland once again come to the World Cup as big favourites. I believe this time the team is much stronger than last, with Anthony McGill being John Higgins's pair instead of Stephen Maguire. Surprising results happen and no group is as difficult as Group D, but with this team I expect Scotland not to be stopped soon. This Cup will be won for me by one of China (A or B), England and Scotland.

It's marvellous to have an event like this re-established on the tour, and it's great to see that it's popular all over the World. I loved it in 2015 and two years felt like an eternity waiting for this again. I recommend you all to enjoy and support your fellow countrymen as much as you can, because once it's over we'll have to wait another two years!

Thanks for reading, and like Ronnie O`Sullivan Brasil on Facebook to be in touch with all the action from Wuxi.