Caporegime
So the big one starts tomorrow. Looking forward to it as I do every year. Who's gonna win? This is what I make of the major contenders.
O'Sullivan is the outright fav as always. He has had a good year so far claiming the Masters and the Welsh Open. Suffered an early defeat in the Grand Prix to Michael Holt, but first to 4's do tend to throw up a few surprises. Ronnie's problem though will be the same as last year. He just doesn't play enough competitive snooker through the year to prepare him adequately for the 2 week slog that the WC's are. He seems to run out of steam and Bingham ended up taking a somewhat disinterested Ronnie out surprisingly easily last year. I'd love to see a 6th world title, but alas, I feel he will be stuck on the 5. His current price of 2/1 is bizarrely short.
Robertson Sadly, I feel the tournaments come too late for Robertson. He was going great guns at the end of last year, taking both the Champion of champions tournament and the UK championship. Since the turn of the year though his form has taken a downward turn. He's still there or thereabouts, but is not turning his wins into tournaments. He had Ronnie in trouble in the final of the Welsh Open at 5-2 up (first to 9) before Ronnie flicked on God mode and sat him in his chair for the next 7 frames. That seems to have taken a lot out of him as he has fared poorly in his last 2 tournaments since. A classy player. He will always be a danger on his day, but I think he will fall short as he has been doing elsewhere. His 6/1 2nd fav price is not a disaster though.
Trump This is the lad I'm watching this year. Trump seems to be maturing nicely now and has got his natural exuberant play under control a bit better and he's not throwing frames away like he used to. He's had a consistent year, very rarely going out before the last 16 and played excellent snooker a couple of weeks back to lift the China Open in a 10-4 victory over Ricky Walden. I'm certain he will be world champion one day, it's just a matter of when. This year? Possibly, but at 15/2, he's worth a tenner of anyone's money.
Selby The Grinder. The closest player we have to Cliff Thorburn today. Not flashy, not super quick, controlled, calm and never loses his rag and very rarely his concentration. It's those assets that make many regard him as the finest match player of today. His year has been awful though. I think home life has taken his eye off the game and his most notable victory was a minor European tour championship a few weeks back. I dont think he will be in contention this year. The fact that he's a former world champ and one of the world's best match players, yet he's only fourth in the betting at 11/1 bears this out.
Others to note Shaun Murphy has had a very good year. Played some lovely snooker in winning the grand prix a few weeks back, edging out world champ Bingham in the process. His 16/1 could be a very generous E/W price.
Bingham. Just no. Had a bad year. Struggled with the world champ tag and no first time champ has ever retained the crown. Wont change this year.
God knows about the rest. They're much of a muchness, great on their day, well beatable when not. I dont think any have the consistency though to go through such a long drawn out tournament with maybe the exception of Higgins. But I feel way too late for him now. Gould may be worth a watch. Currently 130/1 with Betfair, but has been very prominent over the last few months, picking up some very good results. He could be a trading opportunity.
I hope you enjoy the tournament. 2 weeks of snooker. Buzzing with anticipation here.
First round draw (seeds in brackets)
Stuart Bingham (1) v Ali Carter
Stephen Maguire (16) v Alan McManus
Ricky Walden (9) v Robbie Williams
John Higgins (8) v Ryan Day
Judd Trump (5) v Liang Wenbo
Martin Gould (12) v Ding Junhui
Mark Williams (13) v Graeme Dott
Neil Robertson (4) v Michael Holt
Shaun Murphy (3) v Anthony McGill
Marco Fu (14) v Peter Ebdon
Barry Hawkins (11) v Zhang Anda
Ronnie O'Sullivan (6) v David Gilbert
Mark Allen (7) v Mitchell Mann
Joe Perry (10) v Kyren Wilson
Michael White (15) v Sam Baird
Mark Selby (2) v Robert Milkins
O'Sullivan is the outright fav as always. He has had a good year so far claiming the Masters and the Welsh Open. Suffered an early defeat in the Grand Prix to Michael Holt, but first to 4's do tend to throw up a few surprises. Ronnie's problem though will be the same as last year. He just doesn't play enough competitive snooker through the year to prepare him adequately for the 2 week slog that the WC's are. He seems to run out of steam and Bingham ended up taking a somewhat disinterested Ronnie out surprisingly easily last year. I'd love to see a 6th world title, but alas, I feel he will be stuck on the 5. His current price of 2/1 is bizarrely short.
Robertson Sadly, I feel the tournaments come too late for Robertson. He was going great guns at the end of last year, taking both the Champion of champions tournament and the UK championship. Since the turn of the year though his form has taken a downward turn. He's still there or thereabouts, but is not turning his wins into tournaments. He had Ronnie in trouble in the final of the Welsh Open at 5-2 up (first to 9) before Ronnie flicked on God mode and sat him in his chair for the next 7 frames. That seems to have taken a lot out of him as he has fared poorly in his last 2 tournaments since. A classy player. He will always be a danger on his day, but I think he will fall short as he has been doing elsewhere. His 6/1 2nd fav price is not a disaster though.
Trump This is the lad I'm watching this year. Trump seems to be maturing nicely now and has got his natural exuberant play under control a bit better and he's not throwing frames away like he used to. He's had a consistent year, very rarely going out before the last 16 and played excellent snooker a couple of weeks back to lift the China Open in a 10-4 victory over Ricky Walden. I'm certain he will be world champion one day, it's just a matter of when. This year? Possibly, but at 15/2, he's worth a tenner of anyone's money.
Selby The Grinder. The closest player we have to Cliff Thorburn today. Not flashy, not super quick, controlled, calm and never loses his rag and very rarely his concentration. It's those assets that make many regard him as the finest match player of today. His year has been awful though. I think home life has taken his eye off the game and his most notable victory was a minor European tour championship a few weeks back. I dont think he will be in contention this year. The fact that he's a former world champ and one of the world's best match players, yet he's only fourth in the betting at 11/1 bears this out.
Others to note Shaun Murphy has had a very good year. Played some lovely snooker in winning the grand prix a few weeks back, edging out world champ Bingham in the process. His 16/1 could be a very generous E/W price.
Bingham. Just no. Had a bad year. Struggled with the world champ tag and no first time champ has ever retained the crown. Wont change this year.
God knows about the rest. They're much of a muchness, great on their day, well beatable when not. I dont think any have the consistency though to go through such a long drawn out tournament with maybe the exception of Higgins. But I feel way too late for him now. Gould may be worth a watch. Currently 130/1 with Betfair, but has been very prominent over the last few months, picking up some very good results. He could be a trading opportunity.
I hope you enjoy the tournament. 2 weeks of snooker. Buzzing with anticipation here.
First round draw (seeds in brackets)
Stuart Bingham (1) v Ali Carter
Stephen Maguire (16) v Alan McManus
Ricky Walden (9) v Robbie Williams
John Higgins (8) v Ryan Day
Judd Trump (5) v Liang Wenbo
Martin Gould (12) v Ding Junhui
Mark Williams (13) v Graeme Dott
Neil Robertson (4) v Michael Holt
Shaun Murphy (3) v Anthony McGill
Marco Fu (14) v Peter Ebdon
Barry Hawkins (11) v Zhang Anda
Ronnie O'Sullivan (6) v David Gilbert
Mark Allen (7) v Mitchell Mann
Joe Perry (10) v Kyren Wilson
Michael White (15) v Sam Baird
Mark Selby (2) v Robert Milkins
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No way back from 4-9 surely.