The 17 days every snooker fan longs for each year is about to begin with the stars of the game head to the iconic venue of the sport for the Betfred World Championship. The Crucible Theatre is a place where dreams are made and hopes are dashed and that will be the same this year of that there is no doubt.
Mark Selby returns to defend the title he won last year but there are 31 other talented stars looking to dethrone him and pocket the huge £375,000 first prize.
Recent Winners
2016 – Mark Selby
2015 – Stuart Bingham
2014 – Mark Selby
2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2011 – John Higgins
2010 – Neil Robertson
2009 – John Higgins
2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2007 – John Higgins
The Format
The format hasn’t changed for this multi-session match event. The first round is the best of 19 frames before the second round and the quarter finals are played over the best of 25. The semis are the best of 33 frames before a two day, four session final over the best of 35 frames to decide the champion.
Top Quarter
Mark Selby heads the seedings in this quarter as he bids to defend the title. Ryan Day, Marco Fu and the former champion Neil Robertson are the other seeds in this section looking to go all the way to the title.
The qualifiers from this part of the draw include a couple of talented youngsters in Xiao Guodong and Luca Brecel while Noppon Saengkham will be making a first appearance at the Crucible. Fergal O’Brien came through a marathon battle to line up in this quarter.
Second Quarter
This is where the five time winner Ronnie O’Sullivan is sat in the draw but it is Ding Junhui who is the top seed in the section. This looks a really good quarter though with Shaun Murphy and Liang Wenbo also seeded into it.
The qualifiers in this quarter are no mugs either. The ultra-talented Yan Bingtao is one of them while his Chinese counterpart Zhou Yuelong adds yet more Chinese dimensions to the section. Gary Wilson and Stuart Carrington make up the eight.
Third Quarter
Former champions John Higgins and Stuart Bingham will both be eyeing up returns to the title and both have every chance of coming through a section where Kyren Wilson and Mark Allen are the other seeds.
In terms of qualifiers Martin Gould stands out a mile in this part of the draw. He is alongside the local debutant David Grace, a Jimmy Robertson looking for his first Crucible win and a motivated Peter Ebdon.
Bottom Quarter
The tournament favourite Judd Trump is in this part of the draw and he is seeded to make it through to the final. Anthony McGill, Ali Carter and Barry Hawkins are the men who will be looking to stop him from a seeds point of view.
The qualifier nobody wanted to face is in this quarter in the form of Stephen Maguire. McGill is the unlucky man to have drawn him. Rory McLeod, Graeme Dott and Tom Ford are the other three men making up the section.
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Betting
Only five men have won this title in the last ten years. That is how hard it is to win and those five are all genuine top level players in the game so we’re not looking for someone unheralded anymore in my eyes. In saying that there is a real feeling that this is the most open tournament for some time but I believe that is only because Ronnie O’Sullivan is no longer the daunting favourite he once was.
You can make a case for a number of players in this tournament but there are a lot of top names in the top half who are all capable of winning this such as Mark Selby, Marco Fu, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Ding Junhui and of course Ronnie O’Sullivan. In terms of those who can go the course and distance the bottom half looks much weaker.
John Higgins and Stuart Bingham have been the distance before while Judd Trump and Ali Carter have fallen at the final hurdle in the past. We shouldn’t forget Graeme Dott or Peter Ebdon when talking up the course and distance but their best days are behind them.
With Higgins and Bingham having sizeable first round hurdles to overcome I’m going to take a chance on Ali Carter to finally land this crown. Carter has won a tournament this season and made the final of another which is good going in the modern day and we know he can handle himself here having made two finals. He has a decent record over those in his section and from the semis onwards this becomes wide open. At 50/1 Carter has a more than live chance.
I’m also going to look to exploit those tricky opening matches for Bingham and Higgins by taking Kyren Wilson to win the third quarter. He made the quarter final here last year and the longer format should bring out the best in him. He warmed up for this tournament with an ideal run in China and if the draw opens up he is more than capable of taking advantage.
Tips
Back A.Carter to win World Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Coral (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back K.Wilson to win 3rd Quarter for a 2/10 stake at 7.00 with Betfred
Back him here:
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