Bulgarian Open 2014: Draw and Format Released

Trump

A brief line tonight as World Snooker this week released the draw and format for the next event of this season’s European Tour, the Bulgarian Open, as John Higgins looks to defend the title that he won over a year ago in Sofia…

As ever there is a strong field for the event, with only ET2 winner Mark Allen, Ding Junhui and Ronnie O’Sullivan missing from the top end of the rankings, while Yu Delu, David Morris, Cao Yupeng and Marcus Campbell are other notable absentees.

While I do not often look too closely at the drawsheets for these events, I couldn’t help but notice that John Higgins and Judd Trump are seeded to meet as early as the last 64 stage, in what would be a repeat of the 2012 final, won on that occasion by Trump.

Of course, the big story though is that the tournament will mark the return of Ali Carter to professional competition, as he will takes on Rod Lawler in his opening round match. You can read more from Ali here, as he speaks about his battle with cancer and why winning will not be quite the be all and end all that perhaps it once was for him as he returns to the baize.

The professional rounds of the event begin on 3rd October 2014, while again the Wednesday and Thursday beforehand will be required for the amateur stages. You can also view the draw here at snookerorg.