Snooker World Championships
The 2017/18 snooker season culminates with the 2018 World Championships, and it promises to be a tremendous affair.
Mark Selby comes in as top seed, and he’s split in the draw from Ronnie O’Sullivan who headlines in the bottom half. As is customary, Selby will open the event at the Crucible on Saturday as the reigning champion.
So what does the draw look like?
Well in the top quarter, Mark Selby could face Mark Allen in the second round, and potentially Kyren Wilson or Shaun Murphy in the Quarter-Finals. Selby still commands the greatest of respect from all his colleagues on the circuit, but it’s worth nothing this hasn’t been a classic season for him – wins in the China Open and the International Championship being his only tournament victories despite a reasonably full schedule. At 4/1 he looks short enough in my eyes.
Shaun Murphy is nearly six times the price of Selby, and makes much better appeal. He reached the final of the UK Championships, China Championship and Players Championship, and made the semi-finals of the German Masters. His price is certainly inflated by virtue of the back injuries he has been contending with, and that may have limited his time on the practice table, but when he’s got going this season, he’s been worth following – both his defeats in the UK and Players Championships came to an on-song O’Sullivan.
The 2nd quarter gives us John Higgins, Stuart Bingham, Luca Brecel and Judd Trump, so it should be a competitive section regardless of who comes through qualifying. Higgins has had a reasonably quiet season, but remains one of the best players over the longer format and has worn many down over the years. Brecel claimed the China Championship earlier in the season, but has been more hit than miss since then and is one to swerve, while Judd Trump will surely win this tournament one day, but so far continues to fail in his attempts to return on the obvious natural talent we all know he has. No, in this section it has to be about Stuart Bingham.
Bingham had three months out of the game after breaching betting rules, and that could leave him fresh, hungry and playing catch-up. He was ranked 2nd in the world as recently as 2016 and has won 14 of his 19 ranking matches since his return, reaching the quarter finals in Gibralter and then the China Open a fortnight ago. Mentally prepared for this, he could be a dangerous beast. At 33/1 he’ll give us an e/w run for our money.
In the 3rd Quarter we are looking at Ding Junhui, Anthony McGill, Marco Fu and Barry Hawkins. It’s probably reasonable to put a line through Fu before we start – he’s struggled so far to come back successfully from laser surgery on his eyes, and looks unlikely to be a contender just yet. McGill has been a steady enough plodder this season, but it’s been a case of more than enough quarter-final appearances without ever beating the big boys to reach the latter stages unfortunately, while Ding was a winner at the World Open, but hasn’t met his usual high standards in 17/18. That leaves Hawkins, who comes here hot off the form horse with appearances in the finals of the Welsh Open and the China Open. With a likely 2nd round match with Fu or a Qualifier, he looks great value at 5/2 to reach the semi-finals.
Finally, our main pick, and we’ve saved the best for last. Ronnie O’Sullivan hasn’t dominated the sport like he should have done over the years, but there is absolutely no doubt that when his mind is right, and when he turns up, he can blitz anyone in the world. Titles at the English Open, the Shanghai Masters, the UK Championships, the World Grand Prix and the Players Championships confirm that Ronnie is back on his game this season, and he added quarter final appearances in China, the Scottish Open and the Welsh Open. He’s looked in relaxed mood ahead of this event, and this is of course his best event – he’s reached the final six times, the semi-finals 11 times and the quarters 18 times in his career. Oh, and finally, he hammered Shaun Murphy 10-4 to win the Players in March, Ding Junhui 10-3 for the World Grand Prix in February and Murphy again 10-5 for the UK Championship. The 9/4 on him winning this looks fair.
Bets
4pts Ronnie O’Sullivan to win at 9/4
0.5pts e/w Shuan Murphy at 25/1
0.5pts e/w Stuart Bingham at 35/1
2pts Barry Hawkins to win Quarter 3 at 5/2