Welcome to the 2023 World Championship Preview. It’s good to be back. Let’s go straight to it with the first half of the draw.
DRAW
Ronnie O’Sullivan (1) vs. Pang Junxu (33)
H2H: Pang is leading Joyce 1-0.
Last Meeting: 2022 Championship League (Pang winning 3-1).
Though Ronnie O’Sullivan hasn’t done too well in the ranking events, he has done brilliantly in the non-ranking events. He beat Judd Trump in the 2022 Champion of Champions and Marco Fu in the Hong Kong Masters. He has been rather quiet. This isn’t surprising – he is the defending champion who matched Stephen Hendry’s record of seven World Championships. No doubt he has been overly relaxed and using the past couple of months preparing for the ultimate goal of EIGHT World titles.
Pang is one of the understated stars this season, especially in the last few months. He is the German Masters quarter-finalist, Welsh Open semi-finalist and WST Classic finalist. And this is just this season. He pushed aside Ken Doherty and later Xu Si in the qualifiers. He is no stranger to beating the top player, claiming the scalps of Gary Wilson (twice), Kyren Wilson, Joe O’Connor and Ricky Walden.
Indeed, Pang has beaten O’Sullivan in their only meeting, but there is only so much one can read into a BO5 match. This is now the big league. Pang is a debutant against arguably the greatest in the world. With Ronnie looking to make a quick start to the tournament (and aiming to annoy Steven Dawson even further), I think this should be a comfortable win for Ronnie.
Prediction: O’Sullivan to win 10-4.
Ding Junhui (16) vs. Hossein Vafaei (21)
H2H: Both are neck and neck at 1-1.
Last Meeting: 2020 World Grand Prix (Vafaei winning 4-1).
This should be a cracker. Both are extremely talented and likeable players who seem very evenly matched.
No-one has been able to figure Ding out over the last few seasons. His life priorities have clearly changed, which is understandable. However, he only seems to have enough for one or two great tournament runs per season rather than his usual, consistent self. His appearance in the 2022 UK Championship had given him a pass to many other high-profile tournaments but he has been knocked out of the first round three times this season. He hasn’t even qualified for the German Masters. That is also concerning.
Hossein Vafaei has had a poor season results-wise. The furthest Vafaei reached in a ranking event at all this season is the third found, which isn’t good enough for any player. The only positive to take this season was his Masters debut. Yes, he was placed there due to … circumstances … but he did convincingly defeat Mark Selby in the first round, which is a success in anyone’s book. His first Crucible appearance didn’t go as well as people anticipated. He lost to a below-par Trump 10-4 in the opening round, which may be down to inexperience. I would expect him to be much better this time around.
I don’t know which way this would go. I will go bold and go with Vafaei because he seems the more confident of the two and Vafaei would be buoyed by his convincing win over Jackson Page in the final qualifying round.
Prediction: Vafaei to win 10-8.
Luca Brecel (9) vs. Ricky Walden (22)
H2H: Walden is leading Brecel 6-3.
Last Meeting: 2022 German Masters (Walden winning 5-2).
Poor Luca. He has not won a single match at The Crucible in five appearances and he has been drawn against someone who has defeated him at the exact same stage.
Brecel has enjoyed a comeback of sorts over the last few years. He has won two ranking events in the last two seasons (2021 Scottish Open & 2022 Championship League) and two additional finals, most notably the 2021 UK Championship. He lost 10-5 to Zhao Xintong, who is … well … err … occupied elsewhere. Coincidently, so is his opponent in the 2022 Championship League. Oops. But the biggest problem with Brecel is his consistency. He is a very hot/cold player and has suffered numerous early exits. Had it not been for those tournament victories, we wouldn’t be seeded at all.
Ricky Walden has been around the block numerous times. A ranking-event winner, a former World Championship semi-finalist and someone who has finally put injury woes behind him. He was fortunate to defeat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the deciding frame after beating Ian Burns. This is a match Walden should relish, especially considering Brecel’s poor record at the World Championships.
I genuinely fancy Walden to pull through in this match, but we have no idea which Brecel would turn up.
Prediction: Walden to win 10-5.
Mark Williams (8) vs. Jimmy Robertson (25)
H2H: Williams is leading Robertson 10-0.
Last Meeting: 2022 Scottish Open (Williams winning 4-0).
Unlike many of the players in this draw, Mark Williams has been consistent over the last two years. He reached five quarter-finals, two semi-finals, one final and won one ranking event (2021 British Open). It is a bit weird that he has gone under the radar a little when he’s been busying eating kebabs and looking quizzical. He should be relatively happy with who he has been drawn against, considering the one-sided H2H record.
Jimmy Robertson’s season has been unremarkable. He hasn’t gone passed the second round of any event this season. This is different to last season when he reached two ranking semi-finals. It’s pretty impressive that he managed to reach the Crucible, defeating Ben Mertens and Jimmy Robertson.
Interestingly, they have met in the 2018 World Championship, with Williams winning 10-5 and lifting the actual trophy in the end! I can only see a comfortable win for Williams here.
Prediction: Williams to win 10-4.
Judd Trump (5) vs. Anthony McGill (19)
H2H: Trump is leading McGill 9-1.
Last Meeting: 2022 World Championship (Trump winning 13-11).
It’s interesting how mediocre, by Judd Trump’s standards, this season has been for him. He has only reached one ranking final this season, losing 10-9 to Mark Allen despite coming back from 8-4 down. What is even weirder is that his Masters victory has almost been forgotten about. Perhaps it is because he won it with grit and determination and without his usual flair or flamboyant sparkle. The only thing for him to write home about was a maximum break in the losing final of the 2022 Champion of Champions.
If Anthony McGill was given the license to thrill this season, he is leaving it rather late. He reached one ranking semi-final (2022 Northern Ireland Open) and one quarter-final this season (2023 World Grand Prix). However, he feels that he is playing better than his results have suggested and they are starting to show at the qualifiers, coming from behind against both John Astley and Cao Yupeng.
The Crucible has been the place where McGill is most feared and personally, is one who I wanted Judd to draw against the least. This is despite the surprisingly one-sided H2H record and the fact that Judd defeated him last World Championship. But I feel Trump will come through. He also has a great record here, despite being a slow-starter. More importantly, he has become so much better at grinding out victories when he isn’t playing he B-game.
Prediction: Trump to win 10-7.
Jack Lisowski (12) vs. Noppon Saengkham (30)
H2H: This pairing has not played against each other in a professional match before.
Last Meeting: N/A.
How have these players not met before?
Anyways, Jack Lisowski. I feel he has taken a step backwards recently. Whereas between 2019-2021 he made 6 ranking finals, he has made none ever since. He lost the 2022 UK Championship semi-final to Mark Allen despite leading throughout until the very end and lost a great opportunity in the German Masters as a favourite to win, losing to Tom Ford. By Jack’s own admission, some of those defeats are among “my worst ones ever in terms of how I felt“. What has his preparation been like?
Saengkham has slowly gained a reputation as a feared player, some even thinking he could win a ranking title very soon. He is certainly more than ‘that young, Thai player’ who has a ‘lovely smile’. I’m looking at you, Dennis. Though Saengkham only reached two semi-final appearances, he reached a good number of fourth-round appearances. Lastly, he has become a threat at The Crucible. He has beaten Shaun Murphy and Luca Brecel in the first round of the World Championships and was so close to beating Mark Selby in the second round, only to lose in the decider.
I want Lisowski to win this match but based on this season alone, I don’t think he will beat Noppon. Saengkham impressed during the qualifiers and showed a great deal of bottle by winning his final qualifying match on the final black against Zhang Anda. That is a good sign indeed.
Prediction: Saengkham to win 10-5.
Robert Milkins (13) vs. Joe Perry (29)
H2H: Perry is leading Milkins 13-2.
Last Meeting: 2023 Championship League (Perry winning 3-2).
Robert Milkins has been one of the success stories in recent years. After the embarrassment in Turkey, he has won first ever ranking event last season in Gibratar in the very next event. Most memorably, he won his second ranking title in the 2023 Welsh Open, beating Shaun Murphy 9-7. Everyone was absolutely delighted for him and rightly so! He thoroghly deserves a seeded spot at the World Championships. The big question is whether he can perform like that on the big stage.
Joe Perry should be very thankful that he has a few days to recover from Judgement Day. I was watching the deciding frame involving him and Mark Davis and it was shocking and saddening at the same time. The way that Perry won and of course the way Davis lost was so dramatic. Perry mentioned that he felt “physically sick” after defeating him but that won’t stop Perry from making the most of his opportunity.
It is really surprising to see such a one-sided H2H record. Perry also has much more experience of winning first-round matches and that is why I will go with the Gentleman.
Prediction: Perry to win 10-6.
Shaun Murphy (4) vs. Si Jiahui (74)
H2H: Si is leading Murphy 1-0.
Last Meeting: 2021 UK Championship (Si winning 6-5).
This is the tie of the round for a different reason!
Here is the lowdown: Shaun Murphy lost to Si Jiahui in the 2021 UK Championship when Si was an amateur player. This led to Murphy’s outburst that he “lost to someone who shouldn’t even be in the building,” arguing that amateurs and professionals shouldn’t be playing in professional tournaments together. Unfortunately for him, it came across as extremely disrespectful and arrogant towards Si. In the end, Murphy had apologised to Si for taking the shine off his victory but stood by his original point.
It’ll be interesting to know how either player will prepare for this match, considering the relentless media coverage of it all. Murphy is one of the players of the season and perhaps this match will give him extra focus to not lose to someone with some history. For Si, this is probably the last thing he needed. As a debutant, he would not need more attention than what he will be getting. He is one of five people to qualify from the second qualifying round, beating Florian Nüßle, Tom Ford and Jordan Brown.
I believe Murphy will make sure that he is as far away from an embarrasing defeat as possible. I think Murphy will pull through here.
Prediction: Murphy to win 10-5.
PART 2 / SECOND PART OF THE DRAW WILL BE COMING UP
