The Snookerbacker Blog

The Baize Boys are Feeling a Little Off-Colour

Friday sees the second round kick off in earnest and the match that everyone is talking about is John Higgins against 7-times Champion Stephen Hendry, their first ever meeting at the Crucible. 

On a traditionally low-key first Thursday in Sheffield, Mark Williams completed his first round match with a 10-6 victory over Liu ‘Hendry’s Lad’ Chuang and gave a rather low key press conference which you can watch here. He looks ahead to his match with Ronnie and says he’s owed him one for ten years, it has to be said that if he can overturn an horrendous record against the Rocket here then I’m sure that decade of hell will be completely written off.

Ali Carter also completed his win over Dark Mavis and their press conferences can be viewed here. The Captain looked to be truly flying around the table and looks as fit as the proverbial fiddle having cut out largely everything from his diet and got his lunchbox out after a consultation with a certain Dr Ebdon.

This is in complete contrast to the rest of the field who seem to be auditioning for roles in Holby City with their various ailments, Dark Mavis (Dizzy) joining the waiting room yesterday to sit next to Dom Dale (Handjob), Judd (Trumps), Selby (Stiff), Dott (Undiagnosed Crap Snooker), Murphy (Just sitting there for some extra publicity), Ding (Tourettes) and Allen (Tourettes). Ali also found time to check that I was wearing appropriate footwear after his match and he continues to misunderstand the meaning of urban chic, I am determined to teach him the error of his ways.

Mrs Snookerbacker also entered the hallowed ground of rainy Sheffield yesterday for her birthday. It’s fair to say that we celebrated it in some style, if the definition of style is drinking too much and having a bag of Monster Munch between us. But the table is booked for a nice meal tonight and I’m sure we have put the over-excitement of meeting up after a few days apart behind us. Mrs SB will be releasing an official statement later today apologising to fans for what she thought was her ‘silly’ behaviour, but in truth she was just a little squiffy, which is always fun to observe.

So to today, Hendry v Higgins, Robbo to a finish, who said snooker was boring? Oh yes, and Day v Yupeng instead of Ding v Allen, this place is just full of thrills and spills, but it would be nice if the weather improved along with the player’s overall health.

You can read my second round preview here and I do feel there are some tasty bets out there to be had.

Friday April 27

10am

17 John Higgins 3-5 Stephen Hendry
22 David Gilbert 6-10 Neil Robertson

2.30pm

18 Joe Perry 5-11 Stephen Maguire
23 Ryan Day 6-2 Cao Yupeng

7pm

17 John Higgins 4-12 Stephen Hendry
22* David Gilbert 9-13 Neil Robertson

The Knowledgeable Crucible Crowd watch some Snooker and clap at appropriate times as the seeds drop like flies.

It has been a Crucible of shocks so far and the obvious conclusion to draw from the exiting of so many seeds in the Last 32 is that the qualifiers for the event were so much closer this season than in previous ones.

At time of writing, Mark Allen, Ding Junhui, Shaun Murphy, Graeme Dott, Stephen Lee, Stuart Bingham and Martin Gould are all on the casualty list and whilst they will all remain in the top 16 for the start of next season (barring Andrew Higginson making the final to bump out Bingham), they will surely be hugely disappointed with their Crucible showing.

The qualifiers have come here more or less straight from the Academy and this for me is clearly the difference between them this year as opposed to last, when it was the top players that had played more recently. But it’s nearly a month since any of the top seeded players were in competitive action and that can take it’s toll as they look ahead waiting for their next match, especially with all the anticipation that the Crucible brings.

But there are still plenty of familiar faces left and now they have won one it may perhaps be those more established players who are used to the feel of the Crucible that kick on. We’ll see.

The preview below will be updated as the matches are known. The first round had mixed results from a betting point of view with Allen and Ding losing in particular inflicting some early battle scars. I do still remain convinced that Neil Robertson is the man to beat and he is now a best price 11/2 to lift the trophy for a second time.

John Higgins v Stephen Hendry (Starts Friday 10am)

Head to Head since 1994: 13-12 Higgins

Last 5 meetings

It’s incredible that the most successful player at the Crucible and the four times champion Higgins have never met in this event. Hendry’s 147 stole the show on Day One and nobody can doubt that when he’s in the mood he is still up there with the best. Higgins claimed that his early years mentor Stephen still has the game to make it Hendry the Eighth and John definitely needs to up his game from his opener against Liang Wenbo who let him off the hook so many times he’s probably got a hole in his cheek. But he’s had a decent amount of time to get his head and game into better shape for a match that he is bound to be up for and this is Higgins we are talking about, he’ll have put the poor performance to the back of his mind and I’d be very surprised if he gifted Hendry the sort of chances he gave Liang. I think this match is all about the first session, if Hendry doesn’t start right in this I can see Higgins winning easily, but if Stephen approaches this the way he did his match against Bingham this could be a real classic. This could as well be 13-4 to Higgins as it could 13-12 to Hendry so I think the safest thing to do is to look at other markets on the match. Even if Higgins does win easily, Hendry tends to always have one or two big breaks and with the two of them right up at the top of Crucible century break makers, I’d say in a match of this distance we could well see more than three.

Recommended Bet: 3 points win over 3.5 centuries at 5/4 with Boylesports

Stephen Maguire v Joe Perry (Starts Thursday 7pm)

Head to Head: 6-2 Maguire

Maguire did the hard work at the start of his match against Luca Brecel and then relaxed a little but in truth he never really looked like losing. Perry played what Graeme Dott graciously described as ‘rubbish’ to beat him 10-1, which tells you all you need to know about how the wee man played, in other words ‘more rubbish than rubbish’. It was a little harsh but Dotty did have a point, Perry won the first session 8-1 and only had one frame over 50 in doing so, he was gifted the match by a player that wanted out from early on but he did miss a lot of chances despite winning 10-1. I’m sure he’ll not want to play in a similar fashion here as if he does Maguire will hammer him, Mags was perhaps guilty of underestimating Joe in 2008 when he should have reached the semi-finals here, this followed a resounding walloping of the Cambridge Gent the year before. I strongly fancy Maguire to fly from the off here and I really can’t see Perry getting anywhere near him.

Recommended Bet: 5 points Maguire to win (-3.5 frames) at 5/6 with Ladbrokes

Jamie Jones v Andrew Higginson (Starts Sunday 10am)

Head to Head: 4-0 Higginson 

Two of the giant killers of the first round grapple with each other in the longest match either of them have ever played in their professional careers. Shaun Murphy and Stephen Lee were amongst the real title contenders coming into this for a lot of people and both fell at the hands of two players who came into this with their tails held high after the qualifiers. Jones was magnificent against Murphy and admitted afterwards to being more nervous than he has ever been before in the snooker match. Higginson was another who held himself together a lot better than his more experienced opponent and both deserve their place in this round on merit, rather than as a result of their opponents poor play. The fact that this is a new experience for the two of them and they are on totally alien territory leads me to believe that neither of them will run away with it. Even a two or three frame lead early in the match may see the leader start dreaming of the Quarter Finals and get pegged back by the other. Higginson leads the head to heads 4-0 and is more used to this level of competition than Jamie, but the Man with the Golden Quiff is in the form of his life and I really see this being a coin toss so the bet below for me is a must.

Recommended Bet: 4 points win on the winning margin to be under 3.5 frames at Evens with Paddy Power.

Ali Carter v Judd Trump (Starts Saturday 7pm)

Head to Head: 1-1

Assuming Judd has recovered from the Trumps we should see him back to his best for his match up with the Captain. Ali seemed to be cueing as well as ever in his first round match and having seen his press conference he goes into this thinking that nobody fancies him to win. To me he looks relaxed, in great health and he remains a player that I feel on top form is up there with the best of them. Judd doesn’t look right to me yet, it might be the dodgy chicken he ate but it also might be the weight of expectation on his shoulders that is making him look rather lacklustre at the moment. I continue to be absolutely amazed that he is favourite for the championship and I still don’t think he’ll make the final. Last year everything went his way but this year, but for the fact that he was playing Dominic Dale in the first round I have no doubt he would have lost. The Captain is flying and personally I think he’ll win here and cause the upset of the round.

Recommended Bet: 2 points win on Carter at 11/4 with Bet365

Mark Williams v Ronnie O’Sullivan (Starts Saturday 2.30pm)

Head to Head 20-5 to O’Sullivan 

Major Event Meetings:

The head to head stat that always makes astonishing reading. MJW just can’t seem to get the better of the Rocket and it’s one of those quirks of snooker that a player as good as him, as experienced as him has such an appalling record against one of his peers. How can anyone realistically think that this match will change that pattern? MJW is up for it, he must now be getting cheesed off with previews like this that always flag the facts up, in fact he’s probably moved on from the cheese to dessert and a taxi home. Ronnie is in fine form and as much as I’d like to see Mark do the business I just can’t see it. The Rocket just seems to have his measure and a mouth-watering next round tie against Neil Robertson for me will decide the destination of the title. Despite what the pocket says, I’ll still be cheering on Williams.

Recommended Bet: 3 points on O’Sullivan at 2/5 with Boylesports

Dave Gilbert v Neil Robertson (Starts Thursday 1pm)

Head to Head: Never played each other.

I watched a lot of Dave Gilbert’s match against Martin Gould and I was very impressed with Gilbert. He did upset Gould’s rhythm in the match however and wasn’t exactly flying around the table, I don’t think this was a conscious decision but I do think his pace of play got to the already fragile Gould slightly and that this might have contributed to the result. He won’t be able to do that with Neil who for me produced a display in the first round as good as anyone in the championship so far. He just looks right to me and I would be amazed if Gilbert got close to him here. There are a lot of attractive handicap prices available on Robertson depending on how brave you feel, I’d have this around the 13-5 or 13-6 level but to err on the side of caution I’ll recommend a maximum bet on the level below.

Recommended Bet: 5 points on Robertson (-4.5 frames) at 4/7 with Apollobet. 

Ryan Day v Cao Yupeng (Starts Friday 2.30pm)

Head to Head: Never played each other.

Ryan Day turned back the clock in Round 1 and produced what for me, after Mark Allen, was the shock of the first round in knocking out Ding. From 9-6 down he produced some excellent snooker and although it could be argued that Ding should really have won the decider after missing a fairly straightforward red with the rest, Day held himself together really well to clear up without ever looking like missing. Cao for me is the biggest surprise of the last 16 line-up and his defeat of Mark Allen was unfairly overshadowed by Allen’s frankly ridiculous and unfounded comments after the match. This detracted from what was a great performance by the man from China who has been hanging around with his girlfriend here all week looking very relaxed and clearly enjoying being at the Crucible. Day has the greater experience of the two and is looking as good as he has for years, there seems to be something of a Welsh feel about the tournament this year and I’d have to side with Ryan to march on to the Quarter Final, if he does win I don’t think it will be as close as his first round match.

Recommended Bet: 2 points win Day (-2.5 frames) at Evens with Bet 365 

Matthew Stevens v Barry Hawkins (Starts Sunday 10am) 

Head to Head: 3-2 Stevens

Both Stevens and Hawkins benefitted from out of form opponents in Round 1 and they will probably be relishing locking horns for what could be a great match. Their most recent meeting in the Welsh Open was fantastic and resulted in Matthew winning a decider in a match in which both of them barely missed. Matthew told me the other night that he prefers to have an opponent that pushes him rather than one that just can’t up his game and he found it very difficult to get himself motivated in his first match against Marco Fu. Hawkins was good without being great in the first round but a win over Selby, even if he was crocked will fill him with confidence. I have a feeling we might see a decider in this one between two players that compliment each others games, which makes the bet below for me a very strong recommendation. Gun to head, I’d side with Stevens.

Recommended Bet: 4 points on the winning margin to be under 3.5 frames at Evens with Paddy Power

Click here to open an account with Boylesports and receive a FREE £40 BET when you place a £20 bet

It’s Day Five from the Crucible and there was further carnage as far as the seeded players were concerned yesterday as the well fancied Stephen Lee came a cropper at the hands of Andrew Higginson, Graeme Dott lies on the brink of a heavy defeat to Joe Perry and Mark Selby and Ding Junhui both find themselves returning today behind to tough opponents.   

In the morning the Press Room was rife with tales of Judd Trump’s constitution, as we were informed that he’d ate some dodgy chicken at a local eatery (who I won’t name and shame for fear of reprisal, but I can confirm it wasn’t Nandos) and was feeling unwell. He didn’t look his usual self it has to be said and will be delighted to get out of his session with Dominic Dale 5-4 up, assuming he is back to full health this afternoon after spending the rest of the day in bed with his collection of teddy bears and copies of The Beano, you’d assume he will finish the job off.

Ding Junhui will be pleased to have won the last frame of his session to keep his match very much alive against Ryan Day who showed as good a form at times as he has for quite a while, that one could still go very close. In the afternoon we witnessed the rare sight of a Dott meltdown in the Crucible Cauldron. Dotty is normally totally in the zone when he arrives here but for whatever reason yesterday he played like he was the one with a case of the Trumps and Joe Perry didn’t have to exert himself to take a commanding 8-1 lead. It might get interesting if Dott can win 4-0 in the first mini-session this morning as Perry can sometimes struggle to kill opponents off and doubts may creep in, but he’ll have to come out in Terrier mode and keep at it with no slip-ups at all.

On the other table Ronnie O’Sullivan completed a workmanlike win over Peter Ebdon. Unlike Mark Allen, Ronnie was on his best behaviour in the Press Conference, but a clearly upset Peter Ebdon broke down when speaking about his late dad and I hope he can get his head in a better place soon. I can empathise with how he’s feeling as I’m sure many people can, it’s a very thought thing to lose a parent you were close to and whatever you think of Peter, he does wear his heart on his sleeve and being at the conference I did feel very sorry for him.

In the evening Andrew Higginson held himself together very well to send Lee packing, Lee will be disappointed to end the season on such a low after a great run of late. Barry Hawkins also gained a strong advantage over Mark Selby and leads 6-3 going into tonight.

Some of you may have been experiencing some problems accessing the site this week for short periods, well, I’m pleased to say that this problem has hopefully now been addressed with the help of a few friends. I would like to thank Tom for his utter expertise (he told me to say that but here’s his website), Snooker Bingo for his hard work and Alfred Homosexual for supplying his man, Hans, to provide massages to both of the above when the going got tough. A real team effort. The only very short term issue at the moment is that I can’t yet add new images to the blog, but it won’t be long until I can. If you have any comments about the look, performance or any other IT (geeky anorak) related topic, please let me know.

Also a brief mention to all the boys at Shapla Indian Restaurant in Sheffield who looked after four drop-outs last night and served up a fine selection of spiced up fayre. It was recommended to me by World Snooker, as they put their reputation on the line and in the hands of four extremely hungry and in one case intoxicated, food critics.

But it is highly recommended and a thumbs up from me, Matt at Pro Snooker Blog, Roland from Snooker Island and that hanger-on The Wizard, who is even thinking of including it in his Crucible Special Wizard Tour package to soon be announced on his forthcoming website. I have of course told him that it’s far too good in there to be included and left him to think about it, I’m sure he’ll find somewhere more suitable around where he is staying in the rough part of town. Careless. But at least unlike the Gloucester Burnt Onion Salad fiasco he stayed awake to finish his meal, so he is making progress slowly but surely.

For anyone who didn’t read Mark Allen’s apology (of sorts) yesterday for his latest attempt to start World War 3 with China, you can get it here.

Anyway, here are today’s matches.

10am

3* Graeme Dott 1-10 Joe Perry
13* Ding Junhui 4-5 Ryan Day

2.30pm

8* Judd Trump 5-4 Dominic Dale
9 Mark Williams v Liu Chuang

7pm

7 Ali Carter v Mark Davis
16* Mark Selby 3-6 Barry Hawkins

Click here to open an account with Boylesports and receive a FREE £40 BET when you place a £20 bet

Just a quick post with Wednesday’s schedule on. There are I.T. things happening in the background of the blog this evening which may run into tomorrow, with luck this will help anyone that’s been having any issues accessing the blog at peak times, it’s fair to say that the traffic has been pretty hectic.  My next journal post may be a little later tomorrow as a result.

10am

3* Graeme Dott 1-8 Joe Perry
13* Ding Junhui 4-5 Ryan Day

2.30pm

8* Judd Trump 5-4 Dominic Dale
9 Mark Williams v Liu Chuang

7pm
7 Ali Carter v Mark Davis
16* Mark Selby v Barry Hawkins

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The Crucible is going Squiffy for the Quiffy

It’s Day Four at the Crucible and the World Championship continues to prove to everyone why it is the pinnacle of this great sport; quiffed up Welshman Jamie Jones being the undoubted star of yesterday with his win over Shaun Murphy grabbing the headlines.

Jones continued the form that everyone in snooker has been witnessing this season and it came as no massive surprise to those that follow the game on a regular basis that he overturned Shaun Murphy by ten frames to eight. I say that in relative terms of course, Shaun was a worthy favourite for the match but cries of ‘the biggest shock of the World Championship for some time’ are in my view ill-informed and I would argue that Mark Allen’s loss the previous day trumps this one in terms of shockability. I know people have shortened attention spans these days but if the current definition of ‘some time’ is that it’s the biggest shock since yesterday then we’re in real trouble.

The Man with the Quiff Jamie, despite being all shook up from his first Crucible appearance came across really well in the press conference and is a natural; very descriptive, eloquent and a real asset to the game, who Matt reliably informs me is now up to a provisional number 29 in the world. More importantly, he is now firmly in the running for the ‘Most Improved Player’ Willie at the forthcoming Awards Ceremony, which surely puts his win yesterday into some sort of perspective.

You can watch his press conference here and catch up with what Shaun had to say here.

We are assuming that this win put paid to Shaun’s birthday afternoon tea and scones with Mrs Snookerbacker on Thursday, which again puts things in perspective. A loss for Smurf in the first round of the biggest championship on Earth is surely overshadowed by the loss of a chance to meet snooker’s first lady, I hate to kick a man when he is down but as we all know this blog is all about factual accuracy and I must report things as I see them, sorry Shaun.

There was also an easier than expected win for Matthew Stevens over Marco Fu. Matthew dominated the match and Marco never really  got himself going. The match was followed by what I thought was a slightly uncomfortable press conference (the link included is heavily edited), the main topic for the assembled press hounds being basically ‘Marco, are you a cheat?’ dressed up in unsubtlely leading questions to him by people who in my view should wind their necks in a bit, in fairness however it was mainly down to one person who I’m sure was just doing his job but after it all I really didn’t see the value in the exercise at all. There is one thing trying to get a story, but Marco was clearly taken aback by the tone of the questions. He’d just got hammered for goodness sake and the last thing he wanted from the hack in question was an interrogation about his integrity, but for Marco’s part he handled the whole thing very well when others may have lost their cool. I remain very impressed with him as a person as well as a snooker player and if anything his answers reiterated what a clown Mark Allen can be at times.

In terms of my own experience here, I can sum it up in one word. Careless.

My human plaything Craig, otherwise known on Twitter as The Wizard Of Glos has been walking around in a tribute T-Shirt to the blog that some idiot bought him. It encourages both the use of the ‘C’ word and the incentive to log on here in times of hardship. The Wizard is understandably enjoying his new found ‘Cult’ status but I also get the feeling that he’s getting a little bit too big for his boots and needs bringing down a peg or two, after all, he is simply a walking billboard for the blog who can easily be replaced at a minute’s notice and consigned to the rubbish tip in a flash. No man is bigger than the blog after all and anyone that thinks he is is just being careless.

I managed to catch up with Matthew Stevens last night and a mate of his who was constantly practicing his kick-boxing techniques on me from inches away, no doubt briefing Ryan Day and MJW on how to take me out in one swoop. I also met my old pal Taffy, who is another that is shamelessly hanging on the coat tails of the blog in his new found celebrity status (even though he’s never read it). It’s getting silly now as even I am beginning to move up to Y rather than Z list status, regular poster Northern Monkey even insisting on buying me a non-alcoholic diet water last night, barking mad the lot of it.

Anyway, today sees big names aplenty as Judd, Ding, Ronnie, Selby and Ebdon are all in action. Ronnie and Peter’s press conferences are always something to look forward to and I will continue to keep you all briefed on the happenings in the media hub at the Crucible.

I apologise to anyone experiencing any technical difficulties with the blog this week, but the traffic is extremely hectic and this might perhaps slow down the overall viewing experience for you. Regulars will no doubt be delighted at this latest advance in technology as it means that they don’t have to read this tripe more than once, if at all. But fear not as I can usually be found lurking on Twitter with snippets from the Crucible, crap photographs and general carelessness here.

But for now, enjoy today.

Tuesday April 24

10am

8 Judd Trump 5-4 Dominic Dale
13 Ding Junhui 4-5 Ryan Day

2.30pm

3 Graeme Dott v Joe Perry
10* Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-4 Peter Ebdon

7pm

6* Stephen Lee 4-5 Andrew Higginson
16 Mark Selby v Barry Hawkins

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Image courtesy of Monique Limbos

Gone but not forgotten...

It’s Day Three at the Crucible and it’s far to say that once again a certain Northern Irishman has ignited the event, this time Mark Allen has decided to further his bid to be the Kofi Annan of Snooker with just a teensy weensy accusation that is being poured over by lawyers and legal people.    

Mark has already alienated both ignorant/unhygienic Chinese people and Feline Funeral Directors with his comments this season, not forgetting his spat with Bazza of course, but this time he’s decided to play his cards closer to home; naming three of his fellow professionals who all happen by coincidence to be non-Caucasian as not meeting his standards of sportsmanship and etiquette.

It’s been reported to death already of course and takes a little away from what was a fine performance by Cao Yupeng. You can make your mind up on the shot in question here. Personally, looking at it I’m not even convinced it was a foul.

In other on-table news Dave Gilbert and his Tamworth Massive came through a battle with Martin Gould, who still can’t seem to buy a win. Gilbert was very honest in his press conference assessment of the key question ‘why have you not achieved more?’ and pointed to himself having the worst attitude of all the players on the tour. Having watched a lot of that match it is a mystery how he’s not done a lot more with his talent, he clearly has a very good snooker brain, you can see it from the way he assesses shots before playing them and he held himself together well when Gould began to motor.

Other winners last night were Stephen Hendry and Neil Robertson, both wrapped up wins from commanding first session positions. Robbo’s Press Conference, as ever, was great value. In advance of this he walked in and said ‘I’m not going to answer any dodgy Chinese questions OK?’ to laughs from the assembled hacks. I know I’m biased but you’ve gotta love Robbo and personally I still think he’s the man to beat here. His game is sharp, his attitude is right and he is beginning to have a certain aire about him similar to Ronnie.

Hendry, an undisputed class act, brushed off his Chinese tourism exploits of last week as quickly as he dismissed the allegations that his former stablemate Allen had levelled at the people that live there and his press conference can be viewed here.

Shaun Murphy started out against The Man with The Quiff, Welshman Jamie Jones and leads 5-4 in what I’m sure will be a tight finish this afternoon and young Belgian paperboy Luca Brecel managed to get himself together after a shaky start against Stephen Maguire and resumes at 6-3 down  this morning.

As for my own Crucible experience, it continues to be as surreal as you can imagine. A drink with Fouldsy last night took a bizarre twist at one stage as the Nugget arrived and sat there talking about sighting the shot for ten minutes, he truly is still addicted to the game and is clearly taking his coaching role at World Snooker very seriously indeed. His views on ‘favouring a dominant eye’ would make fascinating reading for anyone interested in the science of snooker and for me just listening to him talk about it was, to put it mildly, mindblowing.

I stayed for a little longer and was, in my own very small way, star spotted. A young lady, whose name I’m not sure I got but who I hope will tweet me today as she told me she is a big fan of the blog, seemed amazed that she was talking to ‘the snookerbacker’. I’m thinking of sending my CV to all Z-List celebrity shows after my time here as I am clearly more famous than some of the muppets they have on those kind of shows. However, similar to Victoria, my Chinese friend in the Media Room, they all seem far more interested to meet Mrs Snookerbacker, who I assured her would be joining me here later in the week, she seemed content with that and put up with me for a little longer as a result. I’m not sure if she was a Snoopie (I didn’t ask), but there was definite potential there, particularly when it came to her talking about Matthew Stevens.

I have just finished having my morning natter with Clive as we seem to be the early risers when it comes to the hapless hacks, he’s such a great person to have a conversation with and I heartily recommend it, he’s even teaching me new words and was highly amused that I bought Snooker Scene from WH Smiths yesterday with a Free Melodic Rock CD attached. I thought it might have been a clever marketing ploy but it turns out it must have fallen off another magazine, I haven’t listened to it yet but when I do I may review it just for the hell of it. Maybe, given my new found Z-List celeb status I could sign it and fetch a tenner for it on Ebay? It’s called ‘Fireworks’ and there have already been plenty of them in the first two days.

Anyway, here’s today’s baize menu for your delectation

Monday April 23

10am

4* Stephen Maguire 10-5 Luca Brecel
15 Matthew Stevens 8-1 Marco Fu

2.30pm

5* Shaun Murphy 8-10 Jamie Jones
10 Ronnie O’Sullivan 7-2 Peter Ebdon

7pm

6 Stephen Lee v Andrew Higginson
15* Matthew Stevens 10-3 Marco Fu

Click the banner below to open an account with Boylesports and receive a FREE £40 BET when you place a £20 bet

Image courtesy of Monique Limbos

Hendry the Eighth? Maximum Man Stephen has his Eyes on the Prize

Best Day One of a World Championship ever? Well, I can’t think of one which rivals it off the top of my head. The Legend that is Stephen Hendry turns back the clock and makes a maximum in a vintage display and John Higgins clings to his title defence by the skin of his teeth and lives to fight another day by coming through on a final frame thriller against Liang Wenbo.

After arriving at the Crucible for my early coffee fix, my main focus in the morning was the match between Dave Gilbert and Martin Gould. I have to say that even when they came into the arena Gilbert struck me as being easily the more relaxed of the two. He was laughing and smiling at friends in the crowd, clearly ecstatic just to have made it there and it translated into his play as he takes a 6-3 advantage into session two, with Gould right under the cosh as things stand. Gould did come back from a similar deficit against Marco Fu last season so he’s far from out of it yet but needs to start better today than he did yesterday.

In the afternoon, having already met up with Matt from Pro Snooker Blog, we both sat transfixed at the Hendry and Bingham encounter, Stuart even at one point during the opening frame giving us both a nod and a smile.

Now, as we all know, Matt is a huge snooker fan, as of course am I. But the display from us both in the second half of the session showed the gulf in class between us.  While I decided to get back to the Media Room, Matt stayed seated and duly witnessed the maximum break from probably as good a vantage point as anyone barring Stephen and the referee, the lovely Ivy, who herself was making her Crucible debut, one I’m sure she will never forget. In the meantime, I could simply sit there staring at the TV screens just a matter of metres away from where it was all happening predicting a maximum from around the 32 mark. I have never seen a maximum live at the Crucible and despite having a golden opportunity to do so yesterday, I still haven’t.

So Careless.

On the other table, I did lean over and see Ken ‘nearly’ make one before Stephen eventually did, but him missing the penultimate red was to prove the story of mine and Ken’s day. Things were about to get worse for us both as I was to miss the maxi and Ken was to be dominated by a brilliant Neil Robertson who hit 3 centuries on the spin to take the session 7-2, they resume, along with Hendry and Bingham tonight in what could be an early finish judging by the form of the two leaders.

In the evening, Liang so nearly put the defending champion Higgins out and on his way home. But despite having several chances to assert in the latter stages he just couldn’t. A missed yellow when looking like going 9-7 in front being a particularly crucial moment in the match that let John back into it. But Higgins did what he always does, dug deep and did what he had to do, even he described himself as ‘drained’ at the end and boy, he looked it, but he has until Friday now to get himself back in the land of the living when he will, barring a Lazarus-like comeback from Stuart, be facing Hendry for the very first time at the Crucible.

On the other table, Mark Allen recovered from a shaky start to be just one down to Cao Yupeng at 5-4. After a rather polite debate with Matt I decided to ask the lovely Victoria, the Chinese Media Room stalwart and purveyor of stuffed toy penguins how you pronounced ‘Cao’. Matt confidently said it was pronounced ‘Chow’ whereas I stuck with ‘Cow’. However, we were both wrong and Victoria informed us that it is pronounced ‘Tow’ (rhymes with cow). So again, a poor piece of judgement on my part, this time with the small consolation that Matt had also made a similar error. But I couldn’t help thinking that a pattern was most definitely developing here.

How I imagine Programme Man might look.

Anyway, today is another day of course, though I can’t leave without bringing you a little update from the goings-on outside the Crucible walls. Autograph hunters also known as Nutters, are now taking over all entrances with their cagoules, flasks, carrier bags (contents unknown), books and pens.

Matt has promised to show me someone called ‘Programme Man’ today, who apparently carries a box of old programmes with him which he presents to players to sign, all of them.  Good luck with that. I’m also looking forward to staring in wonderment at someone affectionately referred to as ‘The Accused’, who has just returned from a period away at Her Majesty’s Pleasure for unspecified offences, so I can’t wait for that experience obviously and will report back with the findings.

He also told me the story of one of this motley crew of deluded imbaciles who likes to get the same player to sign the same thing every year. I really don’t think some (all) of them should be let outside with free flailing limbs for both the public’s and their own safety. To be honest though and thinking about it a bit more, Matt does seem at times to know a little too much about them…..almost like he has some kind of inside knowledge?

I was unfortunate enough to be in the position of being head on with these freaks at one point yesterday and it’s fair to say that I truly feared for my life. All I heard was the shout of ‘Higgins’ from behind me and with that about ten of them ran immediately in my direction with looks of deranged fixation in their eyes and their pads, programmes and (sharp) pens waving furiously in the air. I had to press myself against a wall to avoid becoming a necessary casualty (collateral damage I believe it’s called in their world) of this stampeding mob of baying lunatics. I’m sure if they would have knocked me over they would not have cared a jot as long as they got their man to sign their 1986 Benson and Hedges Masters ticket pamphlet for the 17^th year in succession. That would have been worth another stretch in the cells for certain. Higgins must surely have been as fearful as I was when faced with them, perhaps this explains his under-par performance, he’d obviously been ‘programme manned’. And the smell, oh, the smell…….but I won’t go into that.

Anyway, to today. Feel free to have a natter in the comments section. Could be some drama this afternoon with Allen’s match being so close, he does tend to sometimes make it hard for himself here.

You can read my preview for the event which includes today’s matches here, just ignore the Hendry one…..

Thanks as ever to Monique Limbos for the original image (the top one that is, not Programme Man) 

Sunday April 22

10am
4 Stephen Maguire 6-3 Luca Brecel
11* Martin Gould 6-10 David Gilbert

2.30pm
5 Shaun Murphy 5-4 Jamie Jones
14* Mark Allen 6-10 Cao Yupeng

7pm
2* Stuart Bingham 1-8 Stephen Hendry
12* Neil Robertson 10-4 Ken Doherty

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They didn't require my services

It’s here.

Day One sees much crossing of fingers and avoidance of under-ladder walking as talk of the famous ‘Crucible Curse’ takes over an otherwise largely insane snooker fraternity. This time around it’s John Higgins who attempts to defy those who believe in its magical, mysterious, mystical, almost supernatural powers. As defending champion, his and only his match against Liang Wenbo will be the one result we will know this evening.

I am in Sheffield now and I can tell you that the atmosphere here is already electric. Well, I may be exaggerating slightly there, but there is definitely an atmosphere, summed up by a busker that I had the pleasure of witnessing yesterday upon arrival who gave possibly the greatest interpretation of ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ that I have ever seen, truly bizarre and possibly a man that should not be left alone for sustained periods with a stool and a bango, I think we’d get on. Anyway, after travelling over mountains, canals, rivers and fields of livestock from Liverpool I finally made my arrival at snooker’s mecca on Friday afternoon and hotfooted to my chosen resting place for the next week and a half.

I had a little peek into the goings-on backstage at the Crucible just to check that they didn’t need any help (I’d brought my screwdriver just in case) but everything seemed ok and with luck there should be no problems on the big opening at 10am this morning.

I then decided to have a little wander around Sheffield for a bit and came across some autograph hunters who were already congregating outside The Mercure Hotel, which is basically where all the rich players and the people who like to take advantage of generous employer expenses packages stay. As we all know, autograph hunters are meticulous in their research and it was obvious that something was afoot, so I, being the intrepid blogger that I am, decided to lurk in the shadows to find out what attracted these four humans with flasks and cagoules to this particular spot.

From my vantage point, I witnessed lots of well dressed men in tuxedos with their lady partners entering the building, Alan Chamberlain, who is still sporting his Liam Gallagher (circa 1998) style beard was among them. I quickly came to the conclusion that this was the annual sponsors bash as a lot of the men walking in were in their mid-late fifties, a bit overweight (ok, a lot overweight most of them), with little hair and glammed up wives with too much lippy on. Most of them were secretly eyeing up the smoking area, so I figured that it had to be a collection of bookies.

Todays Poser: What would a collection of bookmakers be called? My vote goes to ‘A smokescreen of bookmakers’

After I’d given up trying to get into the VIP bash, I wasn’t dressed for it I have to admit, I decided to head over to The Graduate, a bar just around the corner from the Crucible that serves food in dog bowls. I’d arranged to meet Welsh Ref Paul Collier in there and we chatted away like a couple of schoolkids about the snooker and how much we were looking forward to it. We also talked about Benny from Crossroads, but I’ve decided not to elaborate on that for fear of alienating young/overseas/sane readers so early in the championship.

Cropped up in conversation

As I chatted to Paul I noticed a few familiar faces around the place, the omnipresent Martin Gould, who was a shoo-in for the first player I saw for a sustained period as he seems to be everywhere, was there, as was his opponent today Dave Gilbert. I had passed Stephen Hendry in the street earlier who didn’t look at all jetlagged, he still didn’t say hello though, no doubt still smarting from our encounter at Pontins in the mid-1980′s when I gave him the fright of his life in the junior event on his way to a comfortable 2-0 win over me.

But the real star of the show was my old pal Taffy. Regulars will remember that Taffy, who can only be described as a snooker superfan was staying in my bed and breakfast in York and that I recounted our breakfast chats each day. I still can’t understand around 87% of what he says, his Welsh accent is so strong that it even had Paul Collier reaching for his copy of the Tom Jones Book of the Welsh Language, but Taffy did say (I think) ‘I wanna word with you’, as apparently none other than Janie Watkins from the South West Snooker Academy had told him of his internet cult status courtesy of the blog. But I needn’t have worried, Taffy being Taffy seemed quite pleased with his new found stardom and that big friendly smile returned. I would ask him for an interview for the blog, but I would probably need several months spent down a mine with other manly Welshmen to interpret it.

Anyway, Paul, Taffy and I downed our final pints, wished each other good health and left happy in the knowledge that all was right with the world for the next 17 days. Five and a bit hours sleep later, I feel as fresh as a slightly wilting daisy.

Today is the curtain raiser to a great championship and I will be bringing you my Crucible experiences every morning (advanced warning). Stay tuned also for any snippets from press conferences in what should be a hectic, but hugely enjoyable 17 days. If you haven’t yet had the time to read my preview for the event you can do so here.

Now in the words of Marvin Gaye……. (click here)

Please feel free to use this post as a discussion board about the day’s action.

Saturday April 21

10am
1 John Higgins 5-4 Liang Wenbo
11 Martin Gould 3-6 David Gilbert

2.30pm
2 Stuart Bingham 1-8 Stephen Hendry (147)
12 Neil Robertson 7-2 Ken Doherty

7pm
1* John Higgins 10-9 Liang Wenbo
14 Mark Allen 4-5 Cao Yupeng

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My Tip for the Title

It’s finally here after a marathon season. The best 17 days of the year from the Crucible in Sheffield is upon us. The World Snooker Championship never ceases to ignite in me the same excitement it did when I first watched it as an 11 year old with a piece of bread and jam in front of a TV set that hissed. It’s been the same ever since, apart from the advances in television sets that is, and now 30 years later I find myself writing a preview on it which will be read by quite a few people. Daunting.

Plenty of people are being quick to label this as ‘the most open championship for years’, for me that is standard patter for bigging the event up and I’m all for anything that does that. But do they have a good point this time around? With the odd exception down the years, most notably for me when Shaun Murphy and Joe Johnson won it, it’s been a player with a winners pedigree that lifts the trophy at the end of the gruelling 17 days and I don’t see any reason for that not happening again this season.

But because of the expansion of the tour and the number of events the players are playing in, there is an ever-expanding field of players with such a pedigree. The most notable addition to that list this season is Mark Allen, who finally broke his ranking title duck a few weeks ago after knocking on the door for what seemed an age and for me he is a big player in this championship now. Stuart Bingham is another who has broken into the winners circle this year after winning the Australian Open at the beginning of the season.

We can also look at those who have rejoined the winners club after a lengthy time away, the obvious two being Stephen Lee and Peter Ebdon, Ronnie O’Sullivan did too with a long overdue win in the German Masters, his first main ranking tournament win for three seasons. All three now come into calculations for this.

We then have the group of solid, consistent regular season winners such as Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson, World Number One Mark Selby and to some extent now, Judd Trump. We have sleeping giants with big tournament wins under their belts but who haven’t won a main event this season, John Higgins, Stephen Maguire, Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, Matthew Stevens, Ali Carter and Graeme Dott. Of course, you also have those that are looking for one last tilt at a world title, previous winners Stephen Hendry and Ken Doherty fitting the bill in the ‘veterans’ category this year hoping for a fairytale ending to their illustrious careers.

Add to this the new kids on the block whose torch-bearer this year is without doubt Belgium’s revelation Luca Brecel, with able assistants including the fast improving Welshman Jamie Jones and Chinese duo Liu Chuang and Cao Yupeng, this is not even mentioning the returning to form Liang Wenbo and you begin to see how hard it’s becoming to predict.

We then move on to the players that are capable of beating anyone on their day, such as experienced Crucible players like Marco Fu, Ryan Day, Martin Gould, Joe Perry, Dominic Dale, Barry Hawkins and Dark Mavis to those with a point to prove like Andrew Higginson and Dave Gilbert who have both had narrow defeats to strong opponents on their only Crucible appearances to date. I seem to have inadvertently named all 32 players, perhaps it really is that open.

The way I am going to set out the preview is to talk about each of the first round matches individually after detailing their past meetings to date, if they have played each other before which most of the pairings have at least once. I will detail any single recommended bets after the match preview and multiples after the 16th match down between Selby and Hawkins.

I will then finish with who I have backed in the outright markets. The title of the post and the main image gives away who my idea of the winner is and I recommended a bet on Neil Robertson about a month ago, but there are others that I feel you should be backing to give yourself the best chance of a decent return.

As ever, whether you follow me or not, enjoy the championship and the best of luck with your bets. Stay tuned to the blog as I’ll be delving for some exclusives throughout the event as I head over to Sheffield for Crucible Eve on Friday.

OK, here goes.

Quarter One: A Scottish Assembly?

John Higgins v Liang Wenbo

Ok, I will start with a bold statement. I don’t think John Higgins will win the World Championship this year. For me his game is a way off his best and the evidence for this comes as recently as two weeks ago. I don’t feel that he has the time to turn it around to be a real contender this year. I may be wrong and he may prove again what a quality player and great champion he is, but that is my opinion this year and I’m sticking to it. He faces Liang Wenbo, who is a player that dropped like a stone down the rankings after a promising start to his professional career, however just lately he has been starting to win again and on his day is a fearless, though sometimes a bit too fearless to the point of being reckless potter. He had to win in a decider against Marcus Campbell to get here which has to be a confidence booster. But beat Higgins? No. I just can’t see it I’m afraid, the head-to-heads say it all for me, John will have too much in the tactical and matchplay department for Liang and even an off day for the defending champion might still see him through, but of course, beware the Crucible Curse…..

Prediction: Higgins 

Stuart Bingham v Stephen Hendry

Stephen Hendry returns to his old stomping ground again to try and reverse the ageing process that is currently seeing him miss balls that the young Hendry would have eaten for breakfast. He is also currently in China, having taken the decision to do some ambassadorial work in the name of the baize in the run up to his first match. Word is that he flies back late on Thursday, his match starts at 2.30pm on Saturday and resumes on Sunday evening. I’ve never suffered greatly with jetlag when I’ve been long-haul but I know that some people do, I’d be surprised if Stephen hasn’t taken all this on board and had the possibility of a Saturday start, to which the draw cruelly obliged, in the back of his mind all along. Whether he is right or not mentally or physically for me however is incidental or as Clive would put it ‘of academic interest only’, as his opponent Ballrun Bingham has proved this season that he is a worthy member of the games elite and on the twelth anniversary (plus a week or so) of their only meeting which also happened here, I think we’ll see a similar if not identical result.

Prediction: Bingham

Luca: Loves his Snooker

Recommended Bet: 2.5 points on Bingham to beat Hendry at Evens with Bet Victor     

Stephen Maguire v Luca Brecel

Stephen Maguire was a first round casualty last season to Barry Hawkins making that the first time he’d lost in the first round at the Crucible to anyone other than Ronnie O’Sullivan. His form of late has been as good as it has been in a decade and he has been in confident, if quietly confident mood coming into this, forever dropping hints in interviews that this is the one he wants on his CV. He should have at least had time to recover from the China Open final, which would have sapped the life out even the most patient of humans, which Mags I’m sure will admit he is not. In truth, he coped quite well mentality with the infuriating Ebdon even though he lost. He faces Luca Brecel who carries a nation’s hopes on his young shoulders and is looking very much like a kid with a big future ahead of him after an understandably shaky start to his professional career, he’s obviously a very quick learner. He also seems to have that arrogance and swagger that only the best players have, it’s kind of understated and given his tender years that can only make up for his relative inexperience. He might take to the Crucible like a duck to water, or he might sink like a stone, it’s very much that kind of place. I hope he gives a good account of himself but I can’t realistically see him beating Maguire.

Prediction: Maguire 

Graeme Dott v Joe Perry

Although on paper this might look to some like a run of the mill kind of match compared to some of the others, I reckon this could be a hidden gem and possibly very close too. Both have experience of the event and venue, Perry a former semi-finalist, Dott a former winner and twice runner-up, for me the signs are there that this could be a belter. As we know Graeme is the ultimate competitor and he has been very busy this season in the PTC’s and the like while Joe has been steadily finding his game after a period in the doldrums, peaking just in time for this. They are two players that are benefiting from being full-time snooker players rather than part-time and with them both in reasonable form I think this will come down to who holds themself together the best at the end, for me that has to be Dott, but the handicap bet below is strongly recommended.

Prediction: Dott

Recommended Bet: 4 points on Perry (+3.5 frames) at 8/11 with Betfred 

Quarter Two: The Ace to lead the Chasing Pack?

Shaun Murphy v Jamie Jones

No head to heads of note to go on here and another great unknown as one of the Crucible debutants takes to the baize in Welshman, Jamie Jones. Again, I reiterate that this venue is like no other, which is why we should fight tooth and nail to keep this great championship here, some such as Steve Davis and Hendry will love it immediately, some will hate it and grow to love it as John Higgins did and some will hate it and never play their best here, like countless others. Shaun we know loves it here, he’s shamelessly big on tradition and that is where myself and him share some very common ground. Jones absolutely hammered Ricky Walden in the qualifiers and only last month beat John Higgins on TV in the PTC Grand Finals, he is a player most definitely on the up and what I would best describe as a potential banana skin (one of Ebdon’s discarded ones perhaps) for the ex-champion. It takes a special player to come here for the first time and beat one of the big hitters, I think Jamie will give it a good go but I have to side with Murphy.

Prediction: Murphy  

Stephen Lee v Andrew Higginson

This one shouldn’t take long between two players that like to get on with it. Andrew returns after a three year absence from the Crucible having had something of a yo-yo type of season. The high of winning a PTC earlier in the season tempered with a 5-4 defeat in Germany from 4-0 up against Ronnie O’Sullivan and failure to qualify for the Welsh and China Opens, the latter after a surprising defeat to Jimmy White might have led a few to question if he’d make it back here this year. But a solid win over Peter Lines has got him this tie with one of the players of the season, Lee. Stephen to me is not only back to his best at the moment, I actually think he’s better than he has ever been. His recent run has been testament to the work he has put in under Hearn and when he’s in full flight he remains one of the best players on earth to watch. He’s beaten Andrew three times this season in lesser events but I don’t see any reason why we’ll not see the same outcome here on the biggest stage of them all.

Prediction: Lee

Recommended Bet: 2 points on Lee (-2.5) at 8/11 with Paddy Power

Ali Carter v Mark Davis

We all know about Ali’s off the table issues this season but the Carter camp remain upbeat about his chances in this. He faces one of the most dangerous of the qualifiers without a doubt in terms of his ranking but a player with only two wins here under his belt in the last 16 years, the excuisitely nicknamed Dark Mavis (go on Rob Walker, you know it makes sense). He had an excellent win to get here over stablemate Rob Milkins and I’m sure won’t be unhappy at all to draw a player that a lot of people have down as one of the most at risk seeds of the round. Ali gained a couple of confidence boosting wins recently in China and for me hasn’t played all that bad even when he has lost this season. His familiarity with the venue is a major plus for me here and I think that will tell if it gets tight which it just might.

Prediction: Carter

Recommended Bet: 3 points on Carter at 4/6 with Paddy Power 

Judd Trump v Dominic Dale

Judd’s adventure begins with a meeting with a Spaceman, that sounds a bit like the opening line of a children’s book doesn’t it? Dominic will no doubt be trying to match young Judders in the attire stakes here but can he match him on the table? They had a meeting just before Christmas in the UK which Judd was actually in the end quite fortunate to win, the naughtiest snooker player there is then going on to win the whole thing and coin the catchphrase that pays in that very week. Judd’s form coming into this, and indeed since January has been a bit hit and miss, but one thing he just doesn’t do nowadays is lose to lower ranked players in major events, he just doesn’t. It doesn’t happen. The record books are stacked in his favour and I think he’ll probably win this one in a canter and send Dom back into Orbit.

Prediction: Trump

Recommended Bet: 2.5 points on Trump (-4.5 frames) at Evens with Paddy Power 

Quarter Three: Does The Rocket have The Fuel?

Mark Williams v Liu Chuang

Looks nothing like him.

The Chinese Stephen Hendry 21 year old Liu Chuang comes here for the second time after a debut in 2008 when he lost 10-5 to Ronnie O’Sullivan. The draw has been just as kind to him here as he faces MJW, who although slipping up a couple of times in this round down the years must be considered a player that most would not want at this stage. He will be looking ahead at matches later in the event with the bigger names around him, one in particular who he is determined to beat in Round 2. Liu however is becoming a very good player and his run in the qualifiers will stand him in good stead to make a good fight of this. One thing I will say however is that he often needs quite a few chances to put frames to rest and doesn’t win many in one visit, MJW generally only needs one decent chance or a couple of half decent ones per frame to wrap them up in no time so I can only see one winner here, the handicap on Liu is worth a look though.

Prediction: Williams

Recommended Bet: 2.5 points on Chuang (+5.5 frames) at 8/11 with Betfred    

Ronnie O’Sullivan v Peter Ebdon (Head to Bald Head only since 1994)

Any excuse.....

The one that everyone is talking about between the player that can make a 147 in the time it takes the other one to make a 12. Yes, this is the one that the masses have been shouting about, predictions of a Ronnie Meltdown at the hands of the Other Earthly Vegan are in the air following their last unforgettable meeting here in 2005 when just that happened and Ebbo ran off with the spoils. So will the same thing happen again? Will Ebdon slow the pace down so much that Ronnie will wonder if he can hack a whole two weeks of this? My answer? No. Ronnie has played some of his best snooker in a while this season and just looking at the recent head to heads shows that this match was a one-off. I’m sure he will be highly amused at the predictions of doom and gloom and dark clouds over him but for me he’s still a cut above Peter, even with him in undoubtedly great spirits and fine form. Whilst my inner demons and troublemakers would like to see a slow tortuous affair with Ronnie melting before our very eyes while Peter crawls around the table at a snails pace, I can’t see it. It’s Ronnie for me.

Prediction: O’Sullivan

Recommended Bet: 3 points on O’Sullivan to make the highest break of the match at 8/15 with Skybet 

Martin Gould v Dave Gilbert

Martin Gould is in a desperate run of form of late and can’t seem to recapture the form he showed at the start of the season when he was probably the most consistent player there was on the tour for a spell. He is handed a tie against Dave Gilbert and this brings with it it’s own pressures. Gilbert, with due respect is a player that a lot of the seeds might have been happy to draw and I can’t think of one that would not have been a heavy favourite to beat him. That might be the problem here, Gould is expected to win, he might have preferred drawing say, Ebdon, Fu or Mark Davis when it would have been a harder call to make. That might sound a bit daft but being on a long losing streak gets you thinking very irrational things and with Gilbert on a roll of results I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the shock of the round.

Prediction: Gilbert

Recommended Bet: 1 point on Gilbert at 13/5 with Bet 365

Neil Robertson v Ken Doherty

As you can probably tell from the title of this preview and the image at the top, it’s fairly obvious who I think will win here. Ken does have a good record against Neil but his wins for me came before Robbo took that next step up to being a great player rather than a very good one. You can read my thoughts on the outright market below but suffice to say I think we’ll be seeing more of Robbo.

Prediction: Robertson 

Quarter Four: Full of Eastern Promise?

Ding Junhui v Ryan Day

For me, Ding is now the worst draw a player can get in Round 1. His last two Round 1 victories have been wins of 10-1 and 10-2 and total demolition jobs. Ryan Day I’m sure will have looked at the draw with a certain degree of annoyance and frustration. Add to that the head to head between the pair, Ding again totally dominant and Ryan is going to have to turn the history and the form books both on their collective heads to stand a chance here. After a poor run of results he came back well from behind in the qualifiers to defeat Gerard Greene, but Ding at the Crucible is a very different kettle of fish indeed. I’d have Ding as the best bet of the round and considering Boylesports have him priced at 2/7 when the likes of Trump are 1/10 in places, if you can get that bet on to the stake you want I’d have it.

Predicted: Ding

Recommended Bet: 3 points on Ding (-3.5 frames) at 9/10 with Boylesports 

Mark Allen v Cao Yupeng

Another Crucible debutant, the improving Chinese player Cao Yupeng lines up against the Northern Ireland firecracker and cat-lover Mark Allen. Cao has been steadily improving his results all season and this is the first time he has lined up at a main venue as a professional player, though he has had wildcard appearances in the past in China. Allen recently upset the entire Chinese nation with comments about their levels of hygiene and manners but then ran off with the first prize in the World Open. He is another that represents as tough a first round draw as there is and has only ever been beaten once at this stage, 10-9 by Stephen Hendry, I think he’ll be a comfortable winner here.

Prediction: Allen

Recommended Bet: 3 points on Allen (-4.5 frames) at 9/10 with Boylesports 

Matthew Stevens v Marco Fu

Another potential cracker on the cards here between two experienced campaigners. Matthew has had most of his finest and most miserable moments on the baize here and even last year he served up some more drama losing in a dramatic first round match against Mark Allen in a decider. Marco Fu found himself with the diminuitive figure of Joe Jogia to beat to get here, which he duly did 10-4. Their head to heads don’t tell us much and their recent form is more or less the same, in that they are winning and losing matches in equal measure. For me, this one will come down to the form on the day and simply on the fact that I think overall he has been the better player over the last couple of seasons of the two I’m going to plump for Matthew.

Prediction: Stevens 

Mark Selby v Barry Hawkins

Panic Over: It's a thumbs up from Mark.

The match at the bottom of the draw sees World Number One Mark Selby up against Barry Hawkins who has actually been an ever present starter at the Crucible for the past 6 seasons winning his first ever match here last season against Maguire before losing a decider against Mark Allen in the Last 16. Selby had to withdraw from a match against Ding in the China Open because of a neck injury and there has been much talk that all is not right with the Jester from Leicester, but he’s finally assured his adoring fans today that he’s fine and they can all stop worrying. I think Selby will quite enjoy the fact that a lot of people have already written his chances off in this given his lack of trophy success this season, I also think that might result in him putting in some good performances and one thing about him is that he is very consistent and a good starter to tournaments. He should win this and I think he’ll probably make the Quarter Finals, but that is where I see it start to get harder for him.

Prediction: Selby

Recommended Bet: 2 points on Selby (-2.5 frames) at 8/11 with Paddy Power

Recommended Multiple Bets:

4 points Acca on: Higgins, Maguire, Murphy, Trump, Ding, Allen and Selby pays an SB Enhanced 5/2 at Boylesports

Add Williams, Robertson and O’Sullivan for a 2 point Acca at an SB Enhanced 5/1 at Boylesports 

Add Lee for a 2 point Acca at an SB Enhanced 7/1 at Boylesports

Outright Thoughts

Ding - Big Chance

Regulars will know that I have already recommended one bet on the championship. This came during the recent PTC Grand Final event in Galway and it was a bet on Neil Robertson. He remains my main man for the championship, he has been the best player this season for me and often that translates into the player that wins it as it has for the last two seasons. Robbo has a tough opener against Ken and then a possible rematch against Martin Gould, who famously had him reaching for his suitcase and hair straighteners to pack off home before the Aussie came back to beat him in a memorable match that Gould has never been able to watch back, Neil going on to become champion from there. His draw could have been easier and Ronnie, Ebdon or Mark Williams will be a likely quarter final opponent, but Neil has shown that he can mix it with grinders and potters and for me has the all-round game and form to see this event through, I also believe he is a better player now than when he won it.

I am convinced that the winner will come from the bottom half of the draw and my second selection is Ding Junhui. I feel that he is ready to take that step further and will need to be outplayed by anyone that wants to stop him this year. He’s not had that taxing a season and has been a bit in and out but he can usually be relied upon to be in good shape for this. That said I think the key to who may meet Robbo in the semi-finals will be his possible match up with another potential winner in my eyes Mark Allen in the Last 16, a real mouthwatering match should that happen. Allen has played some of his best stuff at the Crucible and clearly enjoys the venue, now that he’s won a ranking event he’s definitely ready to win again, but he has a very tough draw and whoever comes out of that bottom quarter will have done it the hard way. While I marginally favour Ding, I think it’s wise to hedge a bit on Allen as I think the winner of that match will reach the semis. I just hope that with all the tough matches both semi-finalists in the bottom section will have had they will be in a fit state to slog out a best of 33 followed by a best of 35, I’m sure they will.

Up in the top half of the draw there will be those who think Judd Trump is as good as in the semi-finals already, but for me that is utter nonsense. He will be confident of winning his first and his second matches, though a return to some kind of form from Ali Carter would present an obstacle, Ali is making confident noises and he’s a former finalist who loves the venue. If Judd does progress however, he may face former winner Shaun Murphy or Stephen Lee. I have backed Lee at 66/1 and although I don’t think he has the game to win it he may well give Judd a nasty surprise in the quarter finals if this match pans out, like I say I can’t realistically see him winning the whole thing but I’d rather have him at the price I have or to some extent the price he is now than the ridiculously short-odds on Judd. He may well blow everyone away again, but it’s difficult to come back just twelve months after such a performance and do it all over again, he also comes into this not in the kind of form he was last year. Judds price, whether he wins it or not is a bookies price, not a punters one. Up in the top section, I don’t fancy John Higgins at all this year and think he might struggle to reach the semi-finals, I can hear cries of ‘write him off at your peril’ from his faithful fans but for me his game isn’t right and I think last season took more out of him than he may have thought. Stephen Maguire has been in fine form recently and I was considering flagging him as the winner of this quarter and therefore an each-way outright punt, but his price is now another that for me is unbackable for a player short on Crucible pedigree in the latter stages and a questionable temperament. So instead the consistently under-rated and dogged Graeme Dott gets the vote at a very decent price indeed. His record against Mags is good and he has beaten him comfortably here over 25 frames, he loves the venue and saves his best for it and I think that’s the match that will decide the quarter.

Outright Recommended Bets:

(Previously Recommended) 5 points on Neil Robertson at 9/1 with Boylesports

3 points on Ding Junhui at 12/1 with Boylesports

2 points on Mark Allen at 14/1 (general) 

1 point each-way on Stephen Lee at 28/1 with Boylesports

0.5 points each-way on Graeme Dott at 40/1 with Boylesports

Boylesports are paying 1/2 the odds 1-2 or 1/5 the odds 1234 on the each way market.

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All photos are courtesy of Monique Limbos and World Snooker

Saturday 10am and 7pm*

50) Ken Doherty 10-9 Anthony Hamilton (Live Streamed)
52) Ricky Walden 2-10 Jamie Jones (Live Streamed)
53) Mark Davis 10-5 Rob Milkins
54) Ryan Day 10-7 Gerard Greene
56) Tom Ford 9-10 Cao Yupeng
61) Jamie Cope 7-10 Liu Chaung

Saturday 2.30pm and Sunday 2.30pm*

55) Stephen Hendry 10-6 Yu Delu (Live Streamed)
57) Marco Fu 10-4 Joe Jogia
58) Mark King 8-10 Luca Brecel (Live Streamed)
59) Marcus Campbell 9-10 Liang Wenbo

Sunday 10am and 7pm*

51) Dominic Dale 10-3 Ben Woollaston
60) Fergal O’Brien 4-10 Dave Gilbert
62) Barry Hawkins 10-4 David Morris
63) Andrew Higginson 10-4 Peter Lines
64) Peter Ebdon 10-0 Alfie Burden
65) Joe Perry 10-8 Jamie Burnett