Producing under pressure

It was difficult at the start of the week to know quite what to expect at the World Open.

With matches being played under a shorter best-of-five-frames format, form can go out of the window, and so too could the quality.

And with the official rankings now adjusting at more regualr intervals over the season, namely next month, there's been a lot at stake for the players.

You could have forgiven them if this added pressure had seen standards dip.

But in a generation where the toughness of the plyers is probably higher than ever, being in the pressure cooker seems to have had the opposite effect.

There's been a lot of talk about Mark Williams' resurgence up the rankings.

He's a man on the war path back to form.

But many predicted his performances to level out. This week though, it's gone through the roof. In fact, he's back to the kind of form that landed him two world titles just under a decade ago.

With the spotlight firmly back on the Welsh Potting Machine, he's again shown that he's one of the best pressure players the game has ever produced.

Another player under the cosh at the moment is young gun Ding Junhui.

After a far from ideal start of the season where he suffered an early defeat in Shanghai and has stuttered in his opening Premier League matches, China's number one has been striking the cue ball as good as ever.

He looked imeperious as he ripped through Marcus Campbell earlier today.

Ronnie O'Sullivan has never been one to suffer from stage fright. But without a ranking title to his name in over a year, slipping down the rankings to number six, and the vultures out to get him, he's been back on clearance form this week.

He plays Stephen Hendry tomorrow, who was under threat of dropping out of the 16 when he arrived in Glasgow. When he needed displays though, he rekindled his conviction.

Players like Stephen Maguire and Martin Gould have been on fire too. This week has had the kind of quality that has come as a surprise considering all the biprducts which threatened to make it a hit and miss week.

So to all the players who have hit form this week, well done lads!