Judd Trump insists the FA Cup-style random draws at the British Open offer lesser lights the chance of a fairytale run to the final.
The Juddernaut is looking to add to his haul of 23 ranking titles at the biggest tournament of the season to date this week in Milton Keynes.
Former world champion Trump, 33, opens up his campaign on Monday evening against 20-year-old Chinese prospect Si Jiahui.
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And the event marks the start of a serious return to action for the tour with a run of major tournaments after a spell with plenty of holes in the calendar.
World No2 Trump said: “The open draw in this tournament makes it more exciting for players and fans and brings in that random element.
“And there is space for anything new or different like that in the snooker calendar, every tournament needs its own identity and you can’t have every event the same.
“That could be the number of frames, or the type of draw, or other things. I don’t think any of the players really favour the shorter best-of-seven format in the early rounds here.
“But it has to be done to try and attract different people into the sport. It makes it exciting, you never know what will happen and you can’t be thinking too far ahead.
“This is a unique format for us, you can get two top players put together early on, and it is also a chance for lower-ranked players to maybe avoid big names until the quarters or semis.
“It has to be ‘one game at a time’ because you don’t even know who you might be playing next even if you win.
“So you can’t be thinking about easy draws lying ahead or anything like that. All the focus is just on that next match.
“When I was a kid I used to look ahead in draws that were already mapped out to see who I could be playing. But the last five or six years I had stopped doing that anyway, seeing who I might have.
“There are dangers in looking too far ahead and getting too excited if you think the draw is opening up, you might not focus properly on the next one.
“I know players who almost look eight rounds ahead with only seven in the tournament! Everyone goes about it their own way.
“With the mixed doubles at the same venue over the weekend I just stayed in the hotel for this week and there was no travel to worry about.
“There have not been many tournaments the last few months so that was also a good opportunity to get some good practice for this event and get used to being in a main arena again.”
After a very pedestrian start to the season the leading players are about to get a lot busier with the calendar featuring several big tournaments between now and Christmas.
Trump was one of just eight tour players to feature in the world mixed doubles tournament with his playing partner Ng On Yee - won by the pairing of Australia’s Neil Robertson and Thailand’s reigning women’s world champion Mink Nutcharut.
But the British Open taking place this year in the Marshall Arena, and won by veteran Mark Williams last season, represents the real beginning of the campaign for many of the professionals.
Trump will be looking to get back in the winner’s circle as quickly as possible in the current campaign as the tournaments begin to come thick and fast.
He had to wait until November to get his first title last season, winning the prestigious Champion of Champions tournament in Bolton. That event features 16 tournament winners from the previous 12 months, made up with those highest in the world rankings not already involved.
And Trump followed that up with victory at the inaugural Turkish Masters ranking event in Antalya, making a 147 in the final to the delight of the capacity crowd. Turkey is an emerging snooker market and officials had been lobbying to get a major event staged there for years. Trump winning in style should see that country on the calendar for years to come.
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