The quarter finals of the World Championship begin inside the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Tuesday as all four matches get underway with the eight players knowing they are one win away from competing in the iconic one-table setup.
Across the four quarter finals we have four former champions on show and another who has been to the final so there is plenty of Crucible experience looking to make it back into the last four for another shot at the title.
Day 10 Recap
It turned out to be quite a dramatic day inside the Crucible Theatre on Monday although we did have to wait a while for the drama to arrive. The afternoon session was very straightforward and over in no time at all as Ronnie O’Sullivan converted his 10-6 lead into a 13-7 victory while Kyren Wilson won all three frames played to see off Joe O’Connor 13-6. It got much tighter in the evening session as Stuart Bingham withheld a fightback from Jack Lisowski to win 13-11 while John Higgins produced a clearance for the ages in the deciding frame to edge out Mark Allen 13-12.
It was one which got away for us on Monday with Jack Lisowski definitely the better player in his match against Stuart Bingham but he just couldn’t get his way in front from which it looked like he would have run away with proceedings so our bet on the leftie to win went unrewarded leaving us with a fair bit of work to do in order to come out of the tournament in profit for the match betting.
Dave Gilbert vs Stephen Maguire (Tuesday 10am, Tuesday 7pm & Wednesday 2.30pm)
The opening quarter final on table one sees the game which will guarantee there is a qualifier in the semi-final taking place when the former semi-finalist Dave Gilbert takes on another man who has been to the last four at this famous venue before in Stephen Maguire.
Gilbert has come through a tough encounter in the opening round and then a much smoother match in the second one so you would imagine he will be nice and fresh heading into this one. The longer both of those matches went on the better he looked so if he can keep with Maguire over the opening two sessions you would imagine he’ll fancy the job on Wednesday afternoon. Maguire has seen off Ali Carter and Shaun Murphy already in this tournament with him really wrestling to find his best form in the latter before it eventually came along. I hope Gilbert wins this one as he is my outright pick but in terms of a bet on this match I’ll keep my powder dry until I’ve seen the first session or two.
Judd Trump vs Jak Jones (Tuesday 10am, Tuesday 7pm & Wednesday 10am)
The first match over on table two on Tuesday sees the former champion Judd Trump looking to make it back to the semi-final when he goes up against a Jak Jones who is competing in a second quarter final in as many years.
It didn’t go great for Jones in the last eight 12 months ago and I’m not sure I see it going any better this time around for them. I wouldn’t say Trump has been amazing in this tournament so far but the longer he is in an event the better he tends to get. He might not need his best here though because there is no getting away from the poor form of Jones, who looks like he is waiting to be put out of his misery. Zhang Anda and Si Jiahui both underperformed against Jones in this tournament but it is hard to believe that Trump is going to do that. Jones has to find some scoring boots if he is going to be competitive in this match. In 36 frames in this tournament he has made just four breaks over 70 and that just isn’t going to get it done in this company. Trump is being asked to cover a 5.5 frame handicap but I think it might worth a small bet on a bigger handicap than that. You can get 11/4 on Trump to cover 7.5 frames which means he needs to win 13-5 and if Jones doesn’t start scoring big I think the player of the season will pull clear and when he gets in front he could really flourish and have this all but done before they return for the final session on Wednesday.
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Kyren Wilson vs John Higgins (Tuesday 2.30pm, Wednesday 10am & Wednesday 7pm)
The quarter final on table one in the afternoon session on Tuesday is a repeat of a second round clash of a year ago as Kyren Wilson takes on the former champion John Higgins in the pick of the matches at this stage.
It didn’t turn out to be the pick of the games a year ago as Wilson had cue problems and succumbed to a 13-2 defeat but I think we can be confident that won’t be happening here because the 2020 finalist looks in excellent form. He is scoring brilliantly, looking great among the balls and his tactical game is astute enough to cause problems here. Higgins might think he is free rolling from here on in because he was a couple of balls from defeat in the previous round against Mark Allen before the clearance of a lifetime but we shouldn’t forget that he isn’t getting any younger and three sessions in quick succession after an emotional win on Monday night from a match in which he played over three days might just catch him out. That looked to be the case a year ago when Higgins just ran out of steam despite having a cruise in the previous round. He doesn’t have that luxury here and in fairness Wilson has been playing the better snooker anyway. I expect him to come through here.
Stuart Bingham vs Ronnie O’Sullivan (Tuesday 2.30pm, Wednesday 2.30pm & Wednesday 7pm)
The last of the quarter finals to get underway over on table two is the only match in this round where two former champions meet each other when Stuart Bingham looks to move into the semi-final when he faces Ronnie O’Sullivan, whose quest for an eighth world title is three wins from completion.
Bingham outlasted Jack Lisowski in the previous round but if he even harbours hopes of being competitive in this match he is going to need a marked improvement on that. I say that because he made just one break over 50 in the last 18 frames in that win. He has no chance if he doesn’t find his scoring power. Even in the first round he only made three frame winning breaks in one visit. O’Sullivan is ticking along nicely. He was as comfortable against Ryan Day as the 13-7 score suggested and you get the feeling that he’ll go through the gears from here on in as he looks to win this tournament again. I’m a little surprised that he is only being asked to cover a 4.5 frame handicap in this one. Unless something changes dramatically, Bingham just isn’t going to get nine frames against O’Sullivan unless he starts to score. There is no sign of that though and if he gives O’Sullivan too many chances he won’t be around long for the final session, that is assuming he gets this one that far.
Tips
Back J.Trump (-7.5 frames) to beat J.Jones for a 2/10 stake at 3.75 with Unibet
Back K.Wilson to beat J.Higgins for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
Back R.O’Sullivan (-4.5 frames) to beat S.Bingham for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
Back him here:
