What? A blogger writing about the World Championships? Well, I never!
This is the Holy Grail of snooker and it looks like a very interesting one! It is the only where you can conjure up many stories from: Can anyone stop Mark Selby? Will Ronnie O’Sullivan get closer to beating Stephen Hendry’s record at the Crucible? Will Ding and Trump finally come out on top? Will Robertson gain his revenge against Milkins for his loss in 2013? What will Marco Fu be like coming back from injury? How the hell has Lyu ended up here? Why has Piers Morgan suddenly gone soft over Arsene Wenger?
Me 😉 https://t.co/dn0SyskVM1
— Joe Perry (@joegentlemanjoe) April 19, 2018
After being delayed for two hours due to technical issues on something that took ten minutes, despite superb coverage on Judgement Day, we are gifted with a number of mouth-watering ties that even made Stephen Hendry smile.
Looks one of the best draws we’ve had in years,can’t see any match wouldn’t want to commentate on @BBCSnooker
— stephen hendry (@SHendry775) April 19, 2018
Mark Selby (1) vs. Joe Perry (22)
In most cases, the No. 1 seed seems to get respectable draws. This one is an exception. Joe Perry has beaten some great players in Jimmy White and Mark Davis and showed some bottle when withstanding a comeback from the man from Hastings. Before the China Open, I would be very tempted to be in The Gentleman’s corner. However, Mark Selby played brilliantly in Beijing, coming through most ties with ease and showed his skill against Kyren Wilson in the semi-final and in his thrashing against Barry Hawkins. Mark Selby has coped with intense pressure as a World Champion in the Crucible well and I am sure he won’t underestimate Joe Perry. At least this time, Perry won’t be suffering as much fatigue compared to Fergal O’Brien last year.
Prediction: Selby 10-8
Mark Allen (16) vs. Liam Highfield (64)
Very close indeed to being the first Masters champion to not be at the Crucible at all, Mark Allen can breathe a big sigh of relief until he found out that football shirts are banned (I also think it is a ridiculous idea). I feels like too long since Mark Allen reached even the quarters of the World Championships and despite his poor form after his Masters win, he must have a monkey off his back by winning his first Triple Crown. Liam Highfield is a surprise debutant and earned his place by beating Tom Ford and Daniel Wells, smashing in four centuries in the process. He beat top players this season such as Liang Wenbo and Ding Junhui. Mark Allen won their only meeting back in 2010, but the Crucible is a different ball game – I am looking for a win for the Northern Irishman.
Prediction:Â Allen 10-3
Kyren Wilson (9) vs. Matthew Stevens (52)
Regardless of how past it players are supposed to be, it is always dangerous to be against someone who is so experienced at the Crucible. Kyren Wilson had a number of very good performances this season, with the only disappointment not obtaining any silverware. In just his third appearance at the Crucible, Kyren has reached two quarter-finals, which is very impressive for someone as young as he. Matthew Stevens has done very will indeed to get here by going through the burner against Yuan Sijun and sweeping away Ken Doherty. Wilson won on two occasions out of two, with the last time being a WC Qualifier in 2016, winning 10-6. I can see Kyren winning by the same scoreline.
Prediction:Â Wilson 10-6
Shaun Murphy (8) vs. Jamie Jones (51)
It’s been 6 seasons since their World Championship visit where Jamie Jones beat the Magician 10-8, who then went on to the quarter-finals. Since then Murphy has gone from strength to strength while Jamie jones struggled for a few seasons. He was far from struggling in the World Championship qualifiers though, withstanding a fightback from 9-0 up to win 10-7 and impressing everyone by making 8 50+ breaks to whitewash Liang Wenbo 10-0. Murphy has been in impressive form and though it hasn’t always translated to trophies, he reached many finals with usually an in-form Ronnie in his way. I can see this being a close game but it is a question to whether Jones can carry on this form?
Prediction:Â Murphy 10-7
John Higgins (5) vs. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (58)
Two completely different styles. Higgins is methodical, calculated and has the best tactical astuteness in the business. Thepchaiya on the other hand, is the absolute sniper, pinning off fantastic pots at a rapid rate of 17 seconds per shot that Ronnie would be proud of. But that also opens up his flaws – we don’t know what player in the 2016 6-Red Champion will turn up – he is either sensational or a bottler, with his previous 147 failures being prime examples. Despite losing two matches to Higgins, Thep pushed him hard and with his temperament proved against Alfie Burden in the final qualifier, I see this match as an absolute cracker!
Prediction:Â Higgins 10-8
Stuart Bingham (12) vs. Jack Lisowski (30)
This will be a match where you probably won’t see a lot of safety involved. Jack Lisowski will be hoping to make a better shot at the World Championships since he 10-3 loss to Barry Hawkins 5 seasons ago. He played brilliantly when I saw him in the English Institute of Sport against David Grace and later beat the very experienced Alan McManus, smashing in five centuries throughout the qualifiers, beaten only to Zhang Anda. Of course, Stuart Bingham’s six-month ban is well documented, but he’s put in a decent shift since then, with two ranking quarter-finals and a final at the Romanian Masters by losing to Ryan Day 10-8. I still believe Bingham will go out there with a point to prove and his experience this time will better Lisowski’s flashy flamboyance.
Prediction:Â Bingham 10-7
Luca Brecel (13) vs. Ricky Walden (27)
Brecel started brilliantly by winning the China Championship, beating the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Shaun Murphy. However since then, he has more problems than Joey Barton at any given moment. Cue troubles and a loss of form of six first-round exits, one of which was the worst I am ever seen him play and that was against Michael Georgiou in the World Grand Prix. Ricky Walden is still recovering from his injuries that bogged him of much of last season, however he has shown to be a steady eddy this season. Ricky’s record at the Crucible is good too, losing in the first round just once in the past four attempts, one of which is his semi-final riot in 2013. Despite Brecel’s superior head-to-head record against The Man With No Nickname, I must go with Ricky here. Luca is one of those seeds that the qualifiers want to be drawn against.
Prediction:Â Walden 10-5
Judd Trump (4) vs. Chris Wakelin (55)
This is a kind tie for Judd Trump, but I said that last year and we know how that happened. That being said, Judd is against someone who he beat seven out of seven times in convincing fashion. He’s had a very shaking season despite his successful European Masters defence due to him being the ‘nearly man.’ His bottle has been questioned and has suffered scars from his semi-final Masters and Player’s Championship defeats to Kyren Wilson and Ronnie O’Sullivan respectively and is the first time he continually sounded despondent. However, he has more time to prepare due to his early China Open exit and may benefit from being under the radar this time around compared to last year. Wakelin was phenomenal against Kurt Maflin and Tian Pengfei despite his ranking and has properly cemented himself into the elite rather than the periphery. However, the debutant has a different animal in the Crucible to deal with and must take advantage of Judd’s vulnerabilities. I doubt he will.
Prediction:Â Trump 10-4
Ding Junhui (3) vs. Xiao Guodong (25)
What a beautiful tie this is. Both attacking players. Both players who had promised so much, especially since they played each other in the first Chinese ranking final in the 2013 Shanghai Masters. This is made more interesting by the rejuvenated Xiao who not only impressed this season with three quarter-finals and coming through incredibly convincingly, but now has Crucible pedigree. He beat seeded player Ryan Day last World Championship and came close to beating Ali Carter on his debut a few years back. Despite winning the World Open, Ding’s season has been unremarkable, though you can argue it is no fault of his own, such as eye infection and the passing of his mother. He won’t be facing Mark Selby until potentially the final, so it is the question to who wold beat him next? I can see this going close to a decider, I honestly think so.
Prediction:Â Ding 10-9
Anthony McGill (14) vs. Ryan Day (17)
McGill has drawn the short straw by being up against the qualifiers who everyone feared. Day has won three titles this season, has been on arguably the best form of his career and has polished through three qualifying matches with ease, including a teflon Peter Ebdon. Day has a habit of shocking seeds in the first round too, beating Ding and Maguire in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Anthony McGill has been fairly anonymous this season bar losing in the Indian Open final to John Higgins. We saw last year how he lost to Stephen Maguire 10-2 last year as a seeded player, making one think it only takes a strong qualifiers to take him down. They are even head-to-head wise at 6 wins apiece but McGill has won the last four meetings. However, I expect Day to break that deadlock.
Prediction:Â Day 10-6
Marco Fu (11) vs. Lyu Haotian (68)
This may not make sense, but this is the draw both players will have wanted. I cannot say too much about Marco Fu as he went off the radar due to his eye surgery and mentioned that he isn’t top notch, but he would’ve wanted an easy tie. On paper, the lowest-ranked player who is making his debut in the form of a 20 year-old would fit the bill. But Lyu has improved dramatically since he dropped out of tour in 2015. Now in his second spell, he is guaranteed to be in the Top 64 at the end of the World Championship and reaching the semi-finals of the Northern Ireland Open certainly boosted his reputation. He came back from the dead to win in the decider from 5-9 down against Martin O’Donnell and swept aside a resilient Rory McLeod. Amazingly, Lyu has the superior head-to-head record at 2-1 and I’d be very tempted to gamble to a win for the young Chinaman.
Prediction:Â Lyu 10-9
Barry Hawkins (6) vs. Stuart Carrington (56)
Two great match-play snooker players. Yeah, I do not know what that means either. Barry Hawkins hasn’t had a good season by his standards, especially in the first half of the season. However, he reached two ranking finals in the second half – the Welsh Open and the China Open. Carrington is starting to become a regular fixture at the Theatre of Dreams as this is his third appearance in four seasons. He impressed against Trump in 2015, became one of the few to score three centuries in a row against Liang Wenbo and faces a tough test against the Hawk. It is a wonder to how he is so low in the rankings, but that is what happens when there are so many best-of-seasons. This will be a tough match, but I think Barry will see this one out.
Prediction:Â Hawkins 10-7
Mark Williams (7) vs. Jimmy Robertson (34)
Jimmy Robertson is an underrated player. He is always in the mix but unfortunately is never at the next stage. This certainly felt that way when despite being the better player, he lost to Mark Allen in the opening round 10-8 in the last World Championship. He has done well to beat those who also made appearances at the Crucible in Sam Baird and Michael White. Mark Williams is on absolute fire as we all know, regardless of whether SightRight was responsible or not. Three titles, two semi-finals and six quarter-finals is pretty incredible considering he was thinking of quitting the game last season. I don’t expect this kind of form to drop and I reckon for the first time in a while he reckons he can win the whole competition, and why the heck not?
Prediction:Â Williams 10-6
Neil Robertson (10) vs. Robert Milkins (37)
One for the purists. This is a meeting going all the way back to 2013, where Neil Robertson was beaten 10-8 by the Milkman, despite being 2-5 up at one point and Neil mentioned that complacency got the better of him. Since then, Neil won four straight ties in a row against Milkins until the Northern Ireland Open, where he was beaten in a high-quality match at 4-3. I feel this can go the distance and I do not believe that Neil would take this lightly this time.
Prediction:Â Robertson 10-8
Ali Carter (15) vs. Graeme Dott (37)
Carter wasn’t looking forward to facing Dott last year (he lost 10-7 to Dott) and is certainly not looking forward to this year. Dott has had his best season for a while and reaching the German Masters proved that. On the other hand, Carter seems to be disappeared off the face of the each since his semi-final in the China Championship. Personally, I can see this only going one way and that way will be Dott’s.
Prediction:Â Dott 10-7
Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) vs. Stephen Maguire (18)
Very big tie. Ronnie against such a tough opponent that Ronnie will need to pull out most of the stops of this one. I could blab about this all day but to keep it short: this is the match of the round for the reason. Who do I think will win? Ronnie, but just and the match will be closer than the scoreline suggests.
Prediction:Â O’Sullivan 10-8
