The China Open 2017 last 128 round was played in Preston from January 24 to 27, 2017. All players who entered needed to win one match to book their spot in the main event to be played in Beijing in March 2017. Neil didn’t enter the event. Judd has his match held over because he is the defending champion. All other Grove players were involved: Zhang Anda, Yu Delu and Li Hang are through to the last 64 and China bound. Zhang in fact beat Oliver Lines. And James Cahill …

Neil and Judd were the only two Grove players involved in the prestigious tournament, held in Alexandra Palace, London, from 15 to 22 January 2017. Judd lost by 6-5 in the last 16 to an inspired Marco Fu, Neil went one better but lost by 6-3 in the QF to Ronnie O’Sullivan, the Defending Champion and eventual winner.

Neil, Judd, World Champion and World n°1 Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy headed to the beautiful capital of Slovenia for what proved be a great exhibition, played on the only snooker table in the country. Mark beat Neil in the final, with Shaun donning the white gloves.

The Scottish Open 2016 was played in Glasgow, from December 12 to 18 2016. Judd and Yu Delu reached the Semi Finals, and, for Yu Delu it was his first. This run allowed him to climb from 59 to 46 in the rankings, basically securing his future as a pro next season. Yu lost to Marco Fu, the eventual winner. Judd also reached the semi finals, losing to a ruthless John Higgins, whilst Neil had made it to the last 16, halted by Marco Fu in the deciding frame of …

The qualifying rounds for the German Masters 2017 were played in Barnsley, UK, from December 6 to December 9, 2016 and it’s fair to say that it was carnage among the top players, with only 9 of the top 16, among them only 3 of the top 8, booking their place for the television stages in Berlin early February. Neil is the only Grove player who will play in the Tempodrom.
All detailed results are on Cuetracker as usual

York Barbican, November 22nd 2016 – December 4th 2016
Neil Robertson was de Defending Champion, and had chosen to skip the Northern Ireland Open in order to prepare for his defence, but surprisingly he was knocked out in the last 128 by Peter Lines who beat him by 6-3. Judd also made an early exit at the hands of the Lines family: Oliver beat him by 6-2 in the last 64 … Oliver went on to reach the last 16 where his run ended at the hands of Marco Fu.
Yu Delu …

The Champion of Champions 2016 was held in the Ricoh Arena, in Coventry from November 7th to November 12th, 2016 and was won by John Higgins who beat Ronnie O’Sullivan by 10-7 in the final. Both Judd and Neil took part. Neil was the defending Champion, but lost in the last 16 to Stuart Bingham. Judd went one better, losing in the QF to the eventual winner John Higgins.
All detailed results are on Cuetracker as usual.

The first China Championship took place in Guangzhou from 1 to 5 November 2016. The tournament will become ranking and open to 128 players next year, but this first instalment was invitational, very lucrative, and featuring 16 players only. Judd and Neil were involved as top 10 players, but neither got past the first round: Judd to Ali Carter, Neil to Michael Holt. John Higgins won the event.
All results are on Cuetracker as usual.

The International Championship proper was played in Daqing, China, from Sunday 23 October to Sunday 30 October and was won by Mark Selby who beat Ding Junhui by a severe 10-1 in the final. Once again it was Judd who got the best result among the Grove players: he reached the semi finals where he lost by 9-4 to Ding Junhui. Neil lost in the last 16, Li Hang in the last 32, Luca Brecel and Oliver Lines – who had to play Neil – in the last 64.

Judd reached the final of the first event of the Home Nations Series, the English Open 2016, played in Manchester from October 10 to October 17, 2016, his second final in 8 days. He lost by 9-6 to Liang Wenbo. This defeat put an end to a 14 consecutive wins run. Although Judd was certainly disappointed, he should be able to take a lot of positives from the last 3 weeks: he demonstrated outstanding consistency, remarkable stamina and a very solid all-round game. He is now third in the World …