A lot has been happening in the quarter-finals!
The Crucible Curse has claimed Judd Trump as he was beaten by Kyren Wilson. Neil Robertson, who is arguably the second best player this season, was knocked out by Mark Selby. The top four players in the world are out of the running. Yet the plucky Scottish No. 39 seed sporting his tartan waistcoat is still in the World Snooker Championships!
On one semi-final, we have two young professionals chasing their career dream. On the other, we have two legends of the modern game. Their styles and personalities are so different it always makes engrossing watching.
This is where the World Championship comes alive at another level. Every player dreams of reaching the one-table set-up and to embrace the atmosphere. Of course there will be no crowd, but this is the Crucible in all its intimidating glory.
As always, World Snooker Tour provide the rankings of all players after the 2020 Tour Championship. The H2H records are taken from Cuetracker, excluding Championship League and Snooker Shoot-Out.
DRAW
Kyren Wilson (8) vs. Anthony McGill (39)
H2H: McGill is leading Wilson 4-3.
Last Meeting: 2019 6-Reds World Championship (Wilson winning 5-2).
It’s great to see two players in their 20s compete for a place in the World Championship final at the Crucible!
Kyren Wilson
Route to the semi-final: Anthony Hamilton (w/o), Martin Gould (13-9), Judd Trump (13-9)
Some say that Kyren Wilson shouldn’t win the World Championship because he played one fewer match than anyone else. But I doubt Kyren will care too hoots about that as he arguably had a disadvantage of lacking in match practice. He has used his extended break wisely!
Wilson made ten half-centuries and two centuries against Martin Gould and fought off a late fightback and won a frame despite needing three snookers. He was up against former adversary and defending champion Judd Trump. Though Trump still wasn’t at his best, he still threatened throughout the match. Kyren was tidy, clinical and had his scoring boots on with eight half-centuries and a 104 break. Trump said in his post-match interview that if Kyren keeps up his performance against him, he will be tough to beat. Judd even labelled him as his favourite to win the tournament!
Anthony McGill
Route to the semi-final: Jak Jones (6-1), Sam Baird (10-1), Jack Lisowski (10-9), Jamie Clarke (13-12), Kurt Maflin (13-10)
McGill has really been through the mill, hasn’t he? His route to the semi-final doesn’t look as tough in comparison to the other snooker semi-finalists. However, he had to do it the hard way.
He played very well against Jack Lisowski, winning the decider on the final three colours. That blue in particular was one of the shots of the tournament under the circumstances. His Last 16 duel, the controversy and Jamie Clarke’s tweet turned into a grudge match that shouldn’t have been. But for him to soldier on from 8-2 down to lead 11-10, force the decider on the black and to win the decider must take some guts. Weirdly, his match against Kurt Maflin was a complete reverse. McGill was leading 7-1 and had fight off the resurgent Norwegian to reach his maiden World semi-final.
H2H
McGill is leading the H2H. They met most recently in the 6Red snooker events. The most recent ranking event meeting was in the 2016 Indian Open final where McGill won his first ranking title, defeating Wilson 5-2.
Both players have an enviable record at the Crucible, with Kyren even more so. Will the one-table set-up intimidate the Scot? Will such a knackering snooker schedule tire McGill out? Wilson reached the semis once back in 2018 and gave John Higgins a good for his money, losing 17-13. I reckon Wilson will beat McGill by around about the same scoreline, seeing Wilson make his World final debut.
Prediction: Wilson to win 17-10.
Ronnie O’Sullivan (6) vs. Mark Selby (7)
H2H: O’Sullivan is leading Selby 15-10, excluding one draw.
Last Meeting: 2020 Welsh Open (O’Sullivan winning 5-1).
This is a clash of the snooker-related titans if I’ve ever seen one.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Route to the semi-final: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (10-1), Ding Junhui (13-10), Mark Williams (13-10)
Ronnie O’Sullivan can into the World Championships with all guns blazing. He thrashed Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the quickest Crucible match in history. Though on paper he had the toughest draw, Stephen Hendry disagreed, arguing that Un-Nooh’s playing style perfectly suited Ronnie’s and Ronnie punished his mistakes very easily. The same cannot be said for Ding. Ding and Ronnie played a fantastic match which was level pegging until Ding’s long game let him down and Ronnie got better in the last session.
There is a theme going on in that match, as well as in his quarter-final tie against Mark Williams. O’Sullivan does have the tendency to miss easy balls. He missed a few blacks off the spot against Ding and Williams stole a few frames from Ronnie after he broke down during a 40-odd break. Even though Ronnie thinks he’s being unconvincing, he’s still producing excellent snooker. He scored nine centuries throughout this tournament, the most out of every other player so far. Not forgetting that he came back from 8-4 down to beat Williams 13-10 as well.
Mark Selby
Route to the semi-final: Jordan Brown (10-7), Noppon Saengkham (13-12), Neil Robertson (13-7)
Despite beating Jordan Brown 10-7, there was a feeling that Mark Selby needed to be rebooted. But Selby upped his game dramatically when Noppon Saengkham threw everything including the kitchen sink at him. It was a high quality match! Selby finished it off in the decider with a century.
I said in the last preview that Selby is going to get stronger and stronger due to his love of longer snooker matches. He proved it against favourite Neil Robertson. Selby won the opening frame, which lasted 58 minutes and that set the tone for Selby’s dominance. Selby led 5-0 and 12-5 and despite Robertson threatening a comeback, The Jester from Leicester sealed it at 13-7. Robertson said that Mark’s defensive safety was unbelievable in the match. Whatever coach Chris Henry has done to Selby and his confidence, it has paid dividends.
H2H
Though Ronnie is ahead of the H2H, Selby has beaten him in more longer matches. Examples include the 2010 Masters, 2010 World Championship and the 2016 UK Championship. The most famous snooker match between them was the 2014 World Championship final, where O’Sullivan was the outright favourite. O’Sullivan led 10-5 but Selby battled back to achieve a famous victory winning 18-14. It was his first World Snooker Championship title and he won two more since then.
O’Sullivan has an uncanny ability to reel off a few frames in no time at all and to construct a century break from nowhere. He’s done this shortly after a bad miss as well, which is even more frightening and dangerous. But Selby knows how to compete with Ronnie in the long game and is getting better and better as the tournament goes on. O’Sullivan said in a post-match interview that Selby is “the ultimate test“. Rather worryingly, he encouraged punters to get behind Selby, which raises questions as to whether he is really serious about it or not or to put pressure on the other man.
O’Sullivan will be up for this. But I’m tempted to say that Selby has a very good chance because of the form he’s in to beat Ronnie. It will be another close game, but I think Mark Selby will reach another snooker World final. But this is a risk since the majority will see Ronnie as the favourite. It can go either way this one.
Prediction: Selby to win 17-14.
