After some cracking last 16 matches have taken place over the last 4 or more days at the Crucible in Sheffield, it's time for possibly the best 2 days of snooker at the World Championships - the quarter-finals and this years draw will certainly live up to a top top billing.
The last 16 has seen the defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan pushed all the way by one of the better players of the season in Joe Perry, while the likes of Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy, Dominic Dale and Alan McManus all had pretty comfortable victories while Mark Selby and Barry Hawkins complete the quarter-final line-up after their wins against Ali Carter and Barry Hawkins respectively.
Last 16 Results:
Ronnie O'Sullivan 13-11 Joe Perry
Shaun Murphy 13-8 Marco Fu
Barry Hawkins 13-11 Ricky Walden
Dominic Dale 13-4 Michael Wasley
Mark Selby 13-9 Ali Carter
Alan McManus 13-8 Ken Doherty
Judd Trump 13-7 Ryan Day
Neil Robertson 13-7 Mark Allen
Quarter-Final Draw and Preview: (Picks in bold)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Shaun Murphy - The top quarter-final of the draw here sees the brilliant 5 times world champion and the winner of the last two World's in Ronnie O'Sullivan take on one of the few men in the draw that won't fear him in 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy. O'Sullivan wasn't at his best for the first 2 sessions of his match in the last 16 against Joe Perry, but the snooker he produced from 11-11 to win 13-11 in that match was truly sublime. The way this match goes will simply depend on how the Rocket plays. If he plays for the whole match like he did in the opening 2 sessions against Perry, Murphy will have a great chance to cause an upset, while if he can bring his best snooker out like he did at the end against Joe, Shaun Murphy will probably have too much to handle. Murphy won't fear Ronnie as I have mentioned, and will certainly not be afraid to play his own aggressive brand of snooker that won him the title in '05, and more recently the 2014 World Open in Haikou. What Murphy will have to do though is take his chances and win more frames in one single visit than he did against Marco Fu, but with an improved safety game Shaun may have a small sniff. It could well be a close one, and if Ronnie can produce when it matters he'll probably go through.
Barry Hawkins Vs Dominic Dale - This match has the look of another very close game, and probably the match most likely to produce a winner which wouldn't be one of the favourites. Dominic is the outsider in this game, but so far he hasn't used up too much energy with a comfortable 10-5 win against Mark Davis and a crushing 13-4 win against Michael Wasley. Dominic looks confident this year and has all the capabilities of winning this game and making the 1 table set-up at the Crucible, especially as he's been scoring well this week so far. Meanwhile, Barry Hawkins played very well in his first round win against David Gilbert, while his 13-11 win against Ricky Walden in the last 16 really should've gone the other way. Hawkins wasn't at the races for the most part and Walden just couldn't take complete charge of the match, otherwise he'd be in the quarter-finals. In fact, Hawkins has had at least one "off-session" in both of his 2 matches so far, but his opponents have been unable to capitalise. If Dom can here he has a great chance, but I can't get away from the fact that having not been at this stage for several years, Dale will be incredibly nervous if the winning line comes anywhere near close to him. Hawkins may just edge this one.
Mark Selby Vs Alan McManus - The first thing that jumps at you about this match is it will certainly be one for the purists out there, with Angles McManus taking on Satnav Selby if you like. Both are excellent safety players and their battles could take a long while to sort out. Where this match will be won and lost is whether the players can score heavily enough after working hard to get their chances. Selby has played well so far in tough games against Michael White and Ali Carter, his match play has been superb, while his scoring has been of a good enough level, a level that if maintained for this match should be enough for him to clinch 13 frames against McManus. Alan played well in round 1 against Higgins, though Higgins was very poor, he didn't have to play very well at all in the Last 16 against Doherty who will be gutted if that match turns out to be his last at the Crucible given his dire display. How much help will Alan have from his opponent here? Probably not enough for him to capitalise on and make the semi-finals.
Judd Trump Vs Neil Robertson - The final match of the quarter's at the World Championships here, has all of the makings of a big hitting classic. Both players are incredibly aggressive and score for fun. I think that shows this up best is that Neil Robertson has smashed the centuries record this season, and is one century away from 100 centuries for the season. Who's record did he smash? Judd Trump's from last season. In this event, Neil Robertson has looked at his world class best in a 10-2 thumping of debutant Robbie Williams and in the last 16 with a 13-7 win against Allen, where Mark was helpless to do anything as Robbo twice fell short of the ton of tons, missing a black for it on 94 and a red needing red and black on 92 to clinch the match. In terms of the safety game, Judd's has had to have been pretty good in his 2 wins as he hasn't quite been scoring as well as he'd like, and he's looked much improved in those departments both through the season and in his wins against Ford and Day. He'll need to be on top notch scoring and safety form here, and he'll need to be on form with his long potting to create chances as well, because he won't get too many handed to him by Robertson who looks a great shout for the title. It should be a quality and very close encounter, but if Neil keeps up the form he's showed this year, he'll be a very strong favourite to pinch the semi-final place.
Whatever the outcome of these quarter-final matches is, we've already had some brilliant snooker, plenty of classic matches and all round one of the better World Championships so far for a number of years. With the draw we have for the remainder of the Championships, you could say that we're going to have possibly one of the best World Championships ever. Overall, there should be plenty more classics to come before 2014 at the Crucible is over.
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