Snooker fans have barely had chance to catch their breath since Judd Trump overpowered John Higgins in the final of the World Championship in Sheffield in early May, producing a dazzling display that might well have surpassed anything seen on the green baize since the invention of the game.

His rivalry with Ronnie O'Sullivan over the next few months should be something to behold but neither are in Riga for the first ranking event of the 2019/2020 season, similarly Higgins, and that would seemingly leave the door open for Neil Robertson to begin this campaign in the same way as he spent much of the last: winning tournaments.

Robertson won three of them last term in a stellar run that also saw him reach four major finals in a row and he again showed up well at the Crucible, until Higgins got the better of him in an enthralling quarter-final tussle.

The Aussie has a fantastic record fresh. Indeed, he lifted this very trophy 12 months ago before going on to enjoy his most successful season to date and plenty of people will be keen to back him at 4/1 with the likes of O'Sullivan and Trump absent.

Robertson looked in really good touch when making three centuries in his 6-0 defeat of Oliver Lines at qualifying for the China Open recently, as did 6/1 second favourite Mark Selby, the former world number one on a retrieval mission following a couple of years in the doldrums.