This is a strange, irritating and utterly fascinating World Championship. Strange because there was no crowd since the second day of the tournament and we are watching an eerie Crucible. Irritating because of the initial canned applause. But fascinating because of the standard of snooker being played. John Higgins thought that “it could be the best tournament standard-wise“. Suddenly, that claim doesn’t seem far off.
At the time of writing, there have been 38 century breaks and we haven’t finished all the first round matches. We had the quickest Crucible match in history between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. Lastly, we had the lowest-ranked qualifier producing the display of his life to win a match.
There are still two first-round matches left to finish, but there is the preview of the majority of matches left in store!
DRAW
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.
Judd Trump (1) vs. Yan Bingtao (16)
H2H: Trump is leading Yan 5-0.
Last Meeting: 2020 Players Championship (Trump winning 10-4).
Judd Trump never wins his first round matches comfortably. Tom Ford had plenty of chances, especially to extend his lead when he was 3-0 and 5-2 up. But the fact that Trump was able to punish Ford and win must be quite encouraging for him. The Trump of old might’ve lost that match. At least he won’t feel any pressure to reach the century of centuries anymore!
We saw two sides of Yan Bingtao. When he led 9-2 against Elliot Slessor, he looked tidy and showed great temperament. After that, it fell apart. He lost five frames in a row, spurning numerous chances and was completely frustrated. This is more encouraging for Trump, as he has won all five of their meetings, including the Players Championship final.
Trump has a decent record in the Last 16. This is his eighth appearance at that stage and he’s won six times. Let’s not forget, this is only Yan’s second appearance in total and he showed plenty of nerves in the first round. I reckon Trump should win comfortably.
Prediction: Trump to win 13-6
Martin Gould (60) vs. Kyren Wilson (8)
H2H: Gould is leading Wilson 2-1.
Last Meeting: 2017 International Championship (Gould winning 6-5).
It’s amazing how Martin Gould was very close to retiring from tour. It is also amazing to see the same guy qualify for the Crucible and knock four centuries to thump Stephen Maguire. This is also his first appearance in the Last 16 since 2011. Regardless of what happens, this run will put him in good stead for next season. But he’s got an interesting opponent.
Kyren Wilson recently discovered the easiest way to earn £30,000. Wilson proceeded to Round 2 without potting a ball as opponent Anthony Hamilton’s withdrew over health concerns. But is the long break a good or a bad thing? It’s good because Wilson has plenty of time to practice and didn’t put himself through the pressure everyone in the first round endured. It’s a bad thing because Gould has warmed up with a compelling victory under his belt and Wilson hasn’t played in the empty Crucible yet. But Wilson has a brilliant record at the Crucible. He’s made the quarters every year since 2016.
Unfortunately, their H2H isn’t useful since last meeting was almost three years ago. On balance, I will go with Wilson but I expect Gould to pull ahead in the first session and then Wilson could catch up.
Prediction: Wilson to win 13-11
John Higgins (5) vs. Kurt Maflin (43)
H2H: Maflin is leading Higgins 1-0.
Last Meeting: 2019 China Championship (Maflin winning 5-3).
This pair played just one professional match together and had two centuries and four half-centuries between them then. This should be a good game.
Kurt Maflin won a high-quality encounter against David Gilbert. He managed five half-centuries, four centuries and a maximum attempt. The Norwegian always scores incredibly well but it is his consistency that is his weakness. It will be interesting how he recovers from a bad session, if he has one. It would be an obvious thing to do to post that image, wouldn’t it?
John Higgins did what John Higgins does and he comfortably dispatched Matthew Stevens 10-5. Knowing Higgins, he will get stronger and stronger as the tournament goes on. Maflin’s style will favour Higgins. If Maflin misses too many long pots, Higgins is the perfect player to clear up and steal. I reckon Higgins will manage to pull away at the latter stages.
Prediction: Higgins to win 13-10
Anthony McGill (39) vs. Jamie Clarke (89)
H2H: Clarke is leading McGill 1-0.
Last Meeting: 2014 Lisbon Open (Clarke winning 4-3).
No, you didn’t predict this tie either.
Jamie Clarke played out of his skin to beat Mark Allen in a very high-quality match. It is quite a turnaround for Clarke over the last few years. He qualified for the pro tour for the first time after losing eight finals two years ago. Just from that stat alone, you know he is a very determined and tenacious player. Apart from a semi-final run in the 2019 Shoot-Out he hadn’t done anything remarkable. That was until a couple of weeks ago. His World Championship qualification was brilliant enough, but to match Allen’s quality and to keep his composure was incredible for a debutant.
But this is the next test – can he maintain that performance for this match? A number of debutants produced first-round shocks and and then completely falter in the next round. Low-ranked Dechawat Poomjaeng and Michael Wasley are prime examples of this. His opponent Anthony McGill will no doubt see this as a great chance to reach the quarter-finals. McGill showed tremendous bottle to win his decider against Jack Lisowski. He hasn’t reached the quarter-finals since 2015 and this length suits him well.
I will still go for McGill here. Clarke will be playing on cloud nine but will he feel different playing in the Last 16 compared to the Last 32? I think it will initially be close, with McGill then running away with it.
Prediction: McGill to win 13-7
Mark Williams (3) vs. Stuart Bingham (14)
H2H: Bingham is leading Williams 7-5.
Last Meeting: 2020 Masters (Bingham winning 6-2).
This match-up is the sort of tie you would expect as quarter-final, not a Last 16 duel!
Mark Williams once mentioned that he could’ve been 7-2 down against Alan McManus in the first session. But at 5-4 down, Williams turned up the heat, walloping six frames on the trot in the second session. It is also reassuring that he has rubbished plans to retire in the foreseeable future, which is great news for us. Stuart Bingham had an easier ride. Somehow, Bingham claimed that sanitised balls made him feel lost on the table. Despite leading 9-4, he let Ashley Carty back into the match before dispatching him 10-7.
It’s weird to see Bingham leading Williams in the H2H. Williams is a cool character anyway, but he will be playing under far less pressure than Bingham. This is because in his interview that his decision on his future was a weight off his shoulders. This will be a very tight match that could go all the way. But I think Bingham will edge it.
Prediction: Bingham to win 13-11
Ding Junhui (11) vs. Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
H2H: O’Sullivan is leading Ding 13-5 (excluding 3 drawn matches).
Last Meeting: 2019 UK Championship (Ding winning 6-4).
How is THIS a Last 16 match at the Crucible???
Ronnie O’Sullivan was either going to play like he did in the Championship League or he be incredibly edgy. Turns out it was the former and more! Playing without a crowd did help but O’Sullivan was relentless in his scoring and brutal in terms of punishing Thepchaiya Un-Nooh’s mistakes. Stephen Hendry said that he didn’t think that would’ve been the toughest draw for Ronnie because Un-Nooh’s style complimented Ronnie’s so well.
Ding Junhui survived a very tense encounter against Mark King. This could be a good thing because he has been hardened by a challenge. O’Sullivan was given chances by Un-Nooh when he won 10-1 at record time. Ding and O’Sullivan played against each other twice in the World Championships, the last time being in the quarter-finals in 2017. Ding won 13-10. But if Ronnie plays at just 50% of how he did in the first round, he should win here.
Prediction: O’Sullivan to win 13-8
Mark Selby (7) vs. Noppon Saengkham (42)
H2H: Selby is leading Saengkham 8-1.
Last Meeting: 2019 World Open (Selby winning 5-2).
Every round there is a match which will feel like a slog and this is it. Both Mark Selby and Noppon Saengkham are patient and methodical players who are not afraid to go for their shots. It should be intriguing.
Throughout his match, Selby’s performance was unconvincing. For every player, one doesn’t care how you win, it’s that one gets the win regardless. Selby’s D-game is so good that he managed to beat Jordan Brown, who fell away in the latter stages. Saengkham played very well against an out-of-sorts Murphy to create a shock. He is just the third Thai to win at the Crucible. Could he be the second Thai to reach the quarter-finals?
For me, it would be difficult. Selby is vastly experienced here. The World Championships is where Selby gets better and better. He lost to a brilliant Gary Wilson at this stage last year and I can’t see Noppon producing something similar here. Especially with that H2H record.
Prediction: Selby to win 13-6.
Barry Hawkins (15) vs. Neil Robertson (2)
H2H: Robertson is leading Hawkins 8-4.
Last Meeting: 2019 Shanghai Masters (Robertson winning 6-2).
Barry Hawkins had an easier-than-expected match against Alexander Ursenbacher. It seems Ursenbacher was too attacking and gung-ho and that’s not going to work against someone as solid as Hawkins. Hawkins’s temperament and Crucible record is excellent but his form over the past couple of seasons isn’t great. If he fails to beat Neil Robertson here, then he will fall out of the Top 16. Will he feel pressure because of that prospect?
Robertson came through a tricky opener against Liang Wenbo. Two centuries and five half-centuries is pretty good but he also pinched a number too. He is one of the favourites for a reason and that performance against someone of Liang’s calibre should give him a lot of confidence.
Out of the two, I do think Robertson will win. The thing that does concern me is when Robertson runs out of steam. He hasn’t reached the semis since 2014 and Hawkins is the sort of an underestimated player who can trouble favourites. This should be a close one.
Prediction: Robertson to win 13-9.
