Let’s cut to the chase and go straight to the preview.
Seedings are correct to the world rankings after the 2021 Tour Championship, according to World Snooker Tour. As before, the H2H will include Championship League and Snooker Shoot-Out results. The H2H’s will come from Cuetracker.
DRAW
Ronnie O’Sullivan (1) vs. Anthony McGill (16)
H2H: O’Sullivan is leading McGill 6-0.
Last Meeting: 2017 English Open (O’Sullivan winning 6-4).
Ronnie O’Sullivan started his match against Mark Joyce poorly. But he turned his game up a few notches in the second session. A break of 58 followed by three centuries in a row left Joyce powerless to do much against the defending World Champion. A few people thought Anthony McGill would lose to Ricky Walden but McGill improved as the match went on. Walden is a very tricky player, after all.
Indeed, O’Sullivan has a perfect record over McGill but some of the longer matches have been close. McGill also have a very good record and isn’t someone who is overawed by the occasion or him. I think the first session will be tight, with O’Sullivan pulling away in the finishing stages of the match. McGill will look to steal some frames in the colours since he isn’t as savage a scorer as Ronnie is.
Prediction: O’Sullivan to win 13-7. (22th & 23th April)
Stuart Bingham (18) vs. Jamie Jones (69)
H2H: Bingham and Jones are level pegging at 2-2.
Last Meeting: 2018 European Masters (Bingham winning 4-3).
It is the battle of the qualifiers!
Stuart Bingham was put through the wringer by Ding Junhui in three sessions. He showed a tremendous amount of bottle by compiling a 70 break in the decider. His scoring has been decent too, with five +50 breaks as well as three centuries. Jamie Jones did very well to defeat Stephen Maguire, despite being the favourite player to win. Jones defeated Maguire from 3-0 down to 10-4, but he was largely helped by Maguire’s poor temperament and inability to control the cue ball. Jones’s highest break in that match was just 81, but he made up for it with his strategy and patience.
Bingham and Jones are neck-and-neck in the H2H. It is worth bearing in mind that the two times Jones had beat Bingham was in the Snooker Shoot-Out. Both players will be playing with confidence, little to lose and not underestimating each other. I feel that Bingham will be battle-hardened by his previous match compared to Jones and his break-building will be very useful in the long-run.
Prediction: Bingham to win 13-8. (17th April)
John Higgins (5) vs. Mark Williams (12)
H2H: Higgins is leading Williams 35-22 and four draws.
Last Meeting: 2021 Championship League (Higgins winning 3-1).
By his own admission, John Higgins dodged a bullet in the first round. He looked completely gone was he was 7-4 behind against Tian Pengfei. But Tian started twitching, failed to take his chances and gave Higgins too much time to recover. By the time it get to 7-7, we started to see the Higgins we are used to seeing. Sometimes it is a testament to a player when he wins a match that he looks set to lose? This cannot to said for Mark Williams. He initially had a tough battle with Sam Craigie. But he won five frames in a row in the second session to pull away comfortably 10-4.
Everyone remembers the 2018 World Championship final. There is no doubt that this is the tie of the round. Higgins has to improve if he is even going to get close to Williams, if we are talking about tournament form. But I am still going to go with Williams on this one. It will be interesting if Higgins is still hurting from that final. If Williams keeps doing that break-off to annoy some people, then I’m happy.
Prediction: Williams to win 13-10. (25th & 26th April)
Mark Allen (13) vs. Mark Selby (4)
H2H: Allen is leading Selby 10-9.
Last Meeting: 2020 Tour Championship (Allen winning 9-2).
If I hear “I reckon Mark will win this tie” ONE MORE TIME…
Mark Allen and Mark Selby come through very easy openers because they both played very well. Allen avoided a Crucible loss in the first-round for the third time in a row by thrashing Lyu Haotian 10-2. Later in the tournament, Selby decimated last year’s quarter-finalist Kurt Maflin 10-1, with two centuries. This includes the highest break of the tournament so far with 142.
It is surprising to see Allen leading the H2H over Selby. It is even more remarkable (thank you) to see that this is their first meeting in a World Championship. The main question is whether Allen has the stamina to progress, as his Crucible record isn’t great. Selby, on the other hand is brilliant in this venue. Thanks to working with Chris Henry, he is more confident in his game than he has been in a few years. I fancy Selby takes it.
Prediction: Selby to win 13-8. (23th & 24th April)
Neil Robertson (3) vs. Jack Lisowski (14)
H2H: Robertson is leading Lisowski 9-1.
Last Meeting: 2021 Tour Championship (Robertson winning 10-5).
Neil Robertson started out this tournament as one of the favourites of the World Championship. After his 10-3 demolition of Liang Wenbo, he looks more intimidating. Five +50 breaks, as well as three centuries, is pretty good going and after such a dominant win, he will be well-rested for the next match. Lisowski achievement one of the biggest victories of his career. He has often been criticised for being unable to win big matches but he has managed to do just that. Not only has he exacted revenge on Ali Carter, who defeated Lisowski in the 2019 Worlds first-round, but Lisowski managed to do so in a decider. He should be pretty chuffed with that performance.
Robertson should be licking his lips at the prospect of being up against Lisowski. Not only has the Aussie defeated him in two ranking finals, but in every match greater than a BO9. Will Jack manage to keep up with Robertson? I’m not so sure.
Prediction: Robertson to win 13-5. (24th, 25th & 26th April)
Barry Hawkins (11) vs. Kyren Wilson (6)
H2H: Hawkins and Wilson are level pegging at 12-12.
Last Meeting: 2021 Championship League (Wilson winning 3-1).
These two players are evenly matched. Both have credible Crucible records and both are overall great players. Apart from Kyren Wilson’s ability to use the rest, which I don’t think has been mentioned before. Wilson managed to win the Battle of the Wilson’s against qualifier Gary, despite being 5-1 down to 10-8 up. Hawkins had a much easier ride by defeating Matt Selt 10-3 in their place of work. Apologies, I couldn’t resist. But Hawkins managed to win a number of frames from behind and that takes confidence to win frames like that.
This pair met in the Last 16 stage of the 2019 World Snooker Championship. Hawkins was 6-1 and 8-4 up during the match, but Wilson clinched the win 13-11. Out of the two, I still see Wilson as the stronger player but it will be interesting to see how much each player will wear the other down. Kyren has won five out of the last six most recent meetings. I will stick with Kyren but it will be close.
Prediction: Wilson to win 13-11. (23th & 24th April)
Shaun Murphy (7) vs. Yan Bingtao (10)
H2H: Murphy is leading Yan 4-3.
Last Meeting: 2020 Players Championship (Yan winning 6-1).
A lot has changed since Shaun Murphy and Yan Bingtao met the 2017 World Championship. Yan was making his debut as a qualifier and Murphy beat him 10-8. Luckily, Murphy had a fluke that was monumental in sealing his 10th and final frame. Now they meet in a BO25 match and it is very intriguing.
Yan performed well against the vastly-experienced Martin Gould 10-6. They were level pegging until Yan started making centuries and stealing late frames from The Pinner Potter. Murphy was at sea in the first session against Mark Davis but pulled himself together to win 10-7. These players are evenly matched but Yan is having the better season. He won this season’s Masters for goodness sake! Interestingly, Murphy hasn’t reached a single ranking final this season.
What is amazing is that Murphy hasn’t gone past the second round of the World Championships since reaching the 2015 final. Yan proved last year that he is a tough opponent in this format and has the ‘correct’ temperament and patience to last. This will be close, but I think Yan will progress to the quarter-finals.
Prediction: Yan to win 13-11. (24th, 25th & 26th April)
David Gilbert (15) vs. Judd Trump (2)
H2H: Trump is leading Gilbert 9-5, with one draw.
Last Meeting: 2020 Champion of Champions (Trump winning 6-3).
It is strange to know where David Gilbert has got his form. Gilbert was having an extremely poor season by his standards but his performance against Wakelin was his best by a mile! Six +50 breaks and two centuries is a good return as he put away Chris Wakelin quite comfortably 10-4. Judd Trump also had a good first-round tie in almost the same fashion as Gilbert: led 7-2 at the end of the first session and won by the same scoreline. Trump never wins his opening tie easily. He wasn’t vintage but he won many frames from behind and his counter-clearances were hugely vital to his win.
Trump has a good record against Gilbert and it is closer than what people think. Trump clearly has the belief to win but does Gilbert? Some have said that Gilbert has too much respect for Top 16 opponents. On the other hand, we cannot forget his memorable run in 2019. Trump is expected to win this but I don’t think he will dominate this match as people expect.
Prediction: Trump to win 13-9. (25th & 26th April)
The 2021 World Snooker Championship will take place between 17th April and 3rd May 2021 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.
