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Looooks wide open.
I’m on Trump. 10/1 after last years event and 7’s before winning the UK. His form has tailed off a bit since that UK win but he seems to thrive in the big events and the longer format. Ding the danger.
What’s everyone else’s thoughts?
If Ronnie is level and focussed he is still the fav in my opinion.
Higgins is a danger but shouldn’t be there (imo) and Peter Ebdon has just proved he can still bore people to defeat.
Lee has recovered his form but I doubt he could last the distance and Robertson could always retain it, Murphy can’t be ignored either.
The young/new players can play and beat anyone but have it all to prove still, Trump has won only two proper comps and for all Selby’s records, he’s won not much either.
Qualifiers can win it and the draw seems quite balanced but snooker is losing it’s appeal for me these days due to the constant proliferation of short format cheap ranking comps which have the effect of skewing the rankings in favour of those who are prepared to live out a suitcase and play them all.
O’Sullivan for me, dangerous time to catch him.
Trump for me to come through from the top half. Higgins is always a danger but no player has won 2 years running since Hendry in the mid nineties. Maguire has been playing well in recent months but he does have problems mentally when things don’t go his way. Murphy is a great all round player who could win the title so a possible quarter final with Trump could decide who reaches the final.
The bottom half is all about O’Sullivan, if he stays focused for 17 days he will be hard to beat but that’s unlikely to happen. Having said that his record against players such as Williams and Ding means they are unlikely to beat him were they to play him. Robertson seems to have sacrificed his attacking style of play for a more cautious approach and to me his game these days is more about frustrating his opponent by slowing his matches down to ridiculous levels. Allen can beat anyone on his day and seems to prefer the longer matches so could be a possible finalist from a wide open bottom half. Selby is another great player but as has been said he doesn’t win enough tournaments considering the number of semis and finals he reaches.
Overall a potential Trump v Murphy quarter final will produce the champion, in the final the winner could come up against Allen.
Looooks wide open.
I’m on Trump. 10/1 after last years event and 7’s before winning the UK. His form has tailed off a bit since that UK win but he seems to thrive in the big events and the longer format. Ding the danger.
What’s everyone else’s thoughts?
This is probably the most open tournament in years with a few of the top players in average recent form and even although I’m not a fan of his I think Mark Selby could win.
Potential Winners
Mark Selby
– likes the longer frames and has the temperament to win at Sheffield.
John Higgins
– loves the Crucible and the longer frames, but his form has been poor of late.
Judd Trump
– Fearless player and proves last year that, he can go all the way.
Ding Junhui
– His recent form has been pretty good and is more than capable on his day.
Mark Williams
– He has enjoyed reasonable form of late and is well accustomed to Sheffield and the longer frames.
Mark Allen
– Ha enjoyed some recent good form and is a match for anyone on his day, but his attitude might get in the way
Neil Robertson
– He is a big game player and has already crossed the winning line hear, so he certainly cannot be written off.
Ronnie Sullivan
– He is the most naturally gifted player of all time and on his day can beat anyone, but which Ronnie will show up at this years Crucible?
Shaun Murphy
– He certainly has the pedigree for the Crucible and the longer frames and can compete with the best.
Stephen Maguire
– His recent form has been good, but like Ronnie, his temperament is questionable and will probably find one too good.
Graeme Dott
– This little fella is a dogged performer and loves the Crucible, so can never be written off at Sheffield.
Stephen Lee
– He is enjoyed some of his old form recently and is well used to the Crucible, but this could be a bridge too far.
Best of luck in choosing this years world snooker champ.
Mark
It doesn’t look like the winner will come from the qualifiers which are looking decidedly mundane this year – the chinese contingent are getting whittled down round by round and Ding may be on his own at the crucible, Steve Davis has been KO’d by some new ginger kid on the block (who married one of the refs – good move) though Robert Milkins has hit the only 147 in qualifying so far.
Show of the qualifying has to be Brazil’s only pro snooker player Igor Figueiredo who was one of only two made to play a prelim qualifier and is still hanging in there in his 4th game albeit 1 frame from defeat – hope he makes it. Igor has the record for being the only pro snooker player to lose the first frame in his first match at a major without striking a ball, being docked the frame for forgetting his cue
I would have to say the winner will come from either Selby or Trump as the new kids on the block but not known for winning major tourneys, Robertson, Williams, Higgins or Murphy as previous winners and of course Ronnie who I still make favourite, I think he might want it this year though he’s always one drink away from changing his mind.
Looking forward to it at the minute.
Jimmmmmmmmmmmmy is out!
Final qualifying round of 32 to get down to the 16 qualifiers who will then be drawn out of a hat against the top 16 seeds is as follows:
KEN DOHERTY v ANTHONY HAMILTON
DOMINIC DALE v BEN WOOLLASTON
RICKY WALDEN v JAMIE JONES
MARK DAVIS v ROBERT MILKINS
RYAN DAY v GERARD GREENE
STEPHEN HENDRY v YU DE LU
TOM FORD v CAO YUPENG
MARCO FU v JOE JOGIA
MARK KING v LUCA BRECEL
MARCUS CAMPBELL v LIANG WENBO
FERGAL O’BRIEN v DAVID GILBERT
JAMIE COPE v LIU CHUANG
BARRY HAWKINS v DAVID MORRIS
ANDREW HIGGINSON v PETER LINES
PETER EBDON v ALFIE BURDEN
JOE PERRY v JAMIE BURNETTTricky qualifiers to pick a winner but Hendry, Fu, King and Hawkins should all win through (quad pays 3+/1) though wouldn’t like to pick the rest, I know Ebdon should get through but only by boredom.
Out of the qualifiers Jamie Cope was progressing well a couple of years ago and has the talent but his attitude seems to go very quick when under a bit of pressure and over attacks but
if
on song could be a handful for someone if he makes past the last qualifier stage.
He does have the talent but not the bottle, he can win matches but not tournaments. Might be worth a small bet as an outsider for high break if he gets through, he’s a bit of a willie thorne in some ways – good century maker, not so good match player.
Hendry and Fu relatively breezed through as I expect Hawkins to do but Mark King is making me sweat for the fourfold, having turned his best of 19 frame match against a 17yo Belgian schoolkid who would look more at home in one of their chocolate shops into a 3 frame shootout
Plenty of old names have made it through and any of them are capable of getting past the first round but the three players who are most likely to cause a major upset for me are Jamie Jones, Andrew Higginson and Ryan Day. I have to say Day is possibly the biggest underachiever in the game who has carried so much of my money over the years that I will no doubt give him one more chance in the hope that he finally delivers.
Also looking forward to seeing how Luca Brecel performs at the Crucible. He is sure to receive a lot of attention from the BBC and i’ve got a feeling he will draw Ronnie O’Sullivan in a really interesting match up.
And the draw is:
John Higgins v Liang Wenbo
Stuart Bingham v Stephen Hendry
Graeme Dott v Joe Perry
Stephen Maguire v Luca Brecel
Shaun Murphy v Jamie Jones
Stephen Lee v Andrew Higginson
Ali Carter v Mark Davis
Judd Trump v Dominic Dale
Mark Williams v Liu Chuang
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Peter Ebdon
Martin Gould v David Gilbert
Neil Robertson v Ken Doherty
Ding Junhui v Ryan Day
Mark Allen v Cao Yupeng
Matthew Stevens v Marco Fu
Mark Selby v Barry HawkinsTwo stand out for me, Luca Brecel as the youngest player to ever compete at the crucible although he has a very tough first round (serves him right for messing up my fourfold) and Ronnie O’sullivan drawing the person he would least like to play in Peter Ebdon who will probably be chuffed he has the chance to publicly drag Ronnie to defeat through boredom and shocking gamesmanship by deliberately taking much longer than he needs to which he has pulled successfully on Ronnie before.
I’ve had a few pound on correct scores for the 1st round, I’m taking on Higgins as he’s been off form this season and defending champions have a poor record in recent years. Liang Wenbo had a good run in this a few years back and all the pressure will be on Higgins. The O’Sullivan/Ebdon game should be fascinating tactically Ebdon will slow things up and could frustrate Ronnie. Looking forward to that game and have gone for Ebdon.
Ebdon to beat OSullivan 10-8 at 14’s and 10-7 at 18’s(20’s blue square)
Liang Wenbo to beat Higgins 10-8 at 18’s and 10-7 at 22’s
So far I’ve had outright bets on Murphy (16-1) and Allen (14-1). I think Trump has a big chance but the 5-1 is no value now. Earlier today O’Sullivan was 10-1 with Hills which was a massive price cosidering he won a ranking tournament a couple of months ago. There’s a fair chance he could lose in the 1st round but if he gets past Ebdon he could be outright fav and he shouldn’t be worried by Williams in round 2 considering their head to head record.
Higgins 3-1 up at mid session. I think Wenbo has missed an opportunity as Higgins was poor and although Wenbo put in a good effort the last 2 frames has not been good enough to take advantage. If Higgins steps up a gear I fear for Liang, if not he has a chance.
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