The format for the Manilla event, as Bob noted, was the child of the mother of invention. It worked out well. Now MR appears primed to use this format for what I call “major-lite” events. Karl Boyes said it helps diversify the tour.
The format makes sense, especially in between two big majors, Florida and the US Open. The 128-player single-elimination field cuts two days off the length of a major, reduces the grind and is cheaper for the players and producers.
It also gets to big matches a lot faster for the fans. The second day will see top players duking it out in almost every match.
While single elimination seems harsh, 95% or more of the top players are likely to get through to the final 64, just as they would in a 256-player event. Just win one match.
In the Philippines Open last year, the only two big upsets in the first round saw Johann Chua and Duong Quoc Huang get knocked out.
Both were tired after playing in the Hanoi Open and Reyes Cup. Each lost to obscure Filipino players with 800 Fargos (low robustness),
