The Star Xing Pai Haiko World Open gets under way on Monday 27^th February, and the final will take place on Sunday 4^th March. This is a ranking event on the professional snooker circuit and is staged in Haikou in China. Neil Robertson is the defending World Open Champion. He beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final by five frames to one.

This will be the first time the World Open has taken place in China, having been held in Scotland for the last five years. Since being established in 1982, the World Open has gone under various others titles including the Professional Players Tournament, the LG Cup and most recently, the Grand Prix. During the 2006 and 2007 season, a round-robin format was introduced but this proved very unpopular with both players and fans and was subsequently scraped for the 2008 renewal.

In 1985, Steve Davis defeated Dennis Taylor in the longest one day final in snooker history with the match lasting an extraordinary 10 hours and 21 minutes. Both John Higgins and Stephen Hendry have won this tournament on four occasions. John Higgins also set two records in the 2005 World Open final; century breaks in four consecutive frames and scoring 494 points without reply.

Favourite to take this year’s crown is the exciting Judd Trump. Judd has taken snooker by storm in the last 12 months and is quickly becoming as much of a draw as Ronnie O’Sullivan. Trump is a 7/1 chance with Betfred to win the title and is sure to be popular at those kind of odds. Judd faces Andrew Higginson in round one who will be an unfamiliar face to some but he is a dangerous player on his day and is currently ranked 20^th in the world.

My fancy for the 2012 Star Xing Pai Haiko World Open has to be home favourite Ding Junhui. Coming off the back of a fantastic 9-6 victory over Mark Selby in the Welsh Open, Ding is sure to be full of confidence and has the added advantage of being on home soil. While this would have increased the pressure on one of China’s most popular sportsmen in the past, Ding now handles the attention a lot better and will thrive on playing in front of a passionate crowd.

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Back: Ding Junhui @ 8/1 with Betfred

Star Xing Pai Haiko World Open Betting Odds (Prices from Betfred)

Trump, Judd 7/1
Selby, Mark 15/2
Robertson, Neil 15/2
Junhui, Ding 8/1
Higgins, John 9/1
Williams, Mark 9/1
Murphy, Shaun 14/1
Maguire, Stephen 14/1
Allen, Mark 18/1
Dott, Graeme 25/1
Stevens, Matthew 25/1
Gould, Martin 33/1
Bingham, Stuart 33/1
Walden, Ricky 33/1
Lee, Stephen 33/1

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