Liang Wenbo has a chance of winning the 1 million pound bonus but it’s a very unlikely prospect with the high standard of snooker players
Liang Wenbo won the first home nations event (English Open) back in mid October after beating Judd Trump 9-6 in the final. Many fans will remember the celebratory jump and shout from Wenbo when he won the event. Wenbo is one of snooker’s up and coming stars, engraving himself as one of the top snooker players on the tour.
With some of the top snooker players withdrawing from the Northern Irish Trophy to prepare for the UK championships, Wenbo’s chances of doing well at this event have dramatically increased but it’s still a long shot to win all four with the high competition.
Snooker Players such as Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby etc are not playing at the Northern Irish Open in preparation for the UK championships later this month.
But there is some big names still in the mix. Ronnie O’Sullivan looks in very good form this week and has reached the final of the Champion of Champions less than a week ago. O’Sullivan has yet to win a ranking event and has been struggling with his snooker in the 16/17 season and will be keen to find some good form before the UK’s. John Higgins is also among the top players competing who has just won two snooker events in a row (The Evergrande China Championship and the Champion of Champions). Although these are not ranking titles, Higgins seems to be the man to beat this week.
If Liang Wenbo can pull off a win this week, he will be half way to winning all 4 of the Home Nations. The competition is tough though, and being realistic, the 1 million pound prize is an extreme long shot for Wenbo. It’s not only difficult for Wenbo, but for any player, such is the standard of snooker at present.
