So it begins, World Snooker have today published the first drawsheet of the 2013/14 season, for June’s ET1 event, or Bulgarian Open if you would prefer, in Sofia.
You can view the original draw here at World Snooker in pdf format, or you can click here to view it at snookerorg, in a format that is somewhat easier on the eye…
Either way, you will notice that the likes of Mark Selby, Stephen Maguire, Mark Allen, Ali Carter, Stuart Bingham and Ding Junhui have elected not to make the trip, along with all of the tour’s Asian contingent further down the rankings.
Interestingly though, both Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins have entered, Ronnie sticking true to his word and entering a ‘smaller’ event as he said that he would during the recent World Championship, while last year’s runner-up in Sofia, Higgins, has also elected to play. Having skipped the first portion of last season, not picking up his cue until August, John has clearly decided on a different approach this time around as he looks to regain his form.
A quick way to see which professionals have entered the event at a glance is by clicking here to view my latest projected seedings list.
What the professional non-entries mean of course is that there is plenty of room in the draw for amateurs, allaying fears that they would be squeezed out due to the increased size of the main tour this year, for this event at least.
The event will take place between 7-9 June 2013 in Sofia, Bulgaria, with an amateur round taking place a day earlier.