The Welsh Open is one of the longest-running ranking events on the snooker calendar and has developed a reputation for being one of the more unpredictable.
The tournament was first held in 1992 and has been a fixture on the schedule ever since, although it has moved from its first Newport home to Cardiff and now Llandudno.
The first ever champion was not from left field, with Stephen Hendry emerging victorious, but the man he beat in the final was a nod towards the unpredictability to come.
Darren Morgan, a fine player in his day and actually still to this day, but someone who only reached two ranking finals and one of them was on 16 February 1992 in Newport.
A number of players have been to their one and only ranking finals at the Welsh Open, with Andrew Higginson, Joe Swail and Ben Woollaston in that niche little club, which Martin O’Donnell also joined last year.
Jordan Brown is also a member of that club, but he would have to be chairman as he is the only one who lifted the trophy in Wales on his only visit to a ranking final so far.
The Northern Irishman won the unique edition of the tournament in 2021, held behind closed doors at Celtic Manor during Covid, but did so in stunning style even if no one was there to see it in person.
Brown was ranked number 81 in the world coming into the event and was being tipped by precisely zero people to leave Newport with a first professional title to his name.
He claimed three deciding frame victories on the spin to make the quarter-finals, where he squeezed past Mark Selby in another decider, before beating Stephen Maguire in the semis to set up a final with Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The Antrim Ferrari had been evading every roadblock put in front of him, but surely the Rocket was going to pop his tyres in the final? No. The seemingly nerveless underdog won yet another decider and the title.
That wild result four years ago has been followed by a hat-trick of other surprise winners in Wales, not to the extent of the 750/1 shot in 2021, but still not the names we’re used to seeing regularly in the winners’ circle.
Joe Perry was champ in 2022, a great player for the past three decades but seven years beyond his previous ranking title and seemingly past his best with little form to speak of before he went to Newport.
Ranked number 42 in the world at the time, his run to the final saw him beat Mark Allen, Kyren Wilson, Ricky Walden and Jack Lisowski before downing Judd Trump in the final. Not bad.
Robert Milkins was next up the following year to win the Welsh at lengthy odds, with bookmakers offering 125/1 on the Milkman before a ball was struck.
Milkins had shown form before that event, so maybe that price was a touch generous, but he had to overcome a perilous run including Mark Selby, Hossein Vafaei, Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy in the final.
Last year was less of a shock in Gary Wilson, given that he won back-to-back Scottish Open titles beforehand, but still he remains outside the true elite of the game who make up the favourites for every event.
You will be speaking to a liar if anyone tells you they foresaw a Wilson vs O’Donnell final as the Welsh continued to spring surprise after surprise.
Of course the tournament’s history is littered with champions of the highest profile as well. John Higgins has won it a record five times and Ronnie O’Sullivan on four occasions, but even some of the big names on the winners’ list were not so big at the time.
World champions Ken Doherty, Mark Williams and Mark Selby all won their first ranking titles at the Welsh Open, although Selby had won the Masters earlier that year, so his first ranking glory wasn’t exactly out of the blue.
The late great Paul Hunter and Ali Carter also enjoyed ranking title success for the first time at the Welsh.
Now the field assembles in Llandudno for the 34th edition of the Welsh Open and there is every reason to continue to expect the unexpected.
For a start one of the most reliable winners is not there as Judd Trump has opted for a week off, while two other ranking event winners this season have also swerved Venue Cymru in Ding Junhui and Xiao Guodong.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is in the draw and scheduled to play, but whether he does or not is yet to be seen.
So who could spring a surprise this time round? There are certainly some strong contenders to land their first ranking title next week, most notably Wu Yize.
The 21-year-old has been to two of the three Home Nations finals this season, losing out in the showpiece of the English and Scottish, so it would not blow anyone away if the stylish Chinese star lifted the trophy at the Welsh.
If you’re looking for a winner as out of the blue as a Perry or a Brown then your guess is as good as mine.
Xu Si has never been past a semi-final before, but did knock in a maximum in qualifying, could it be his week? How about 18-year-old Welshman Liam Davies who is in his rookie year without a great deal of success yet, but impressed in qualifying wins over Antoni Kowalski and Anthony McGill?
The teenager would be a wild long-shot, but at 500/1 he is a shorter price than Brown was in 2021, so at the Welsh, who knows?
