But can anyone really stop him this time around? Well it's time to have a look at what I think:
Quarter 1
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in bold)Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Robin Hull
Joe Perry Vs Jamie Burnett
Shaun Murphy Vs Jamie Cope
Marco Fu Vs Martin Gould
5 times and defending World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is the stand out name in this quarter, but don't be fooled about O'Sullivan. I certainly think that this year, unlike the last 2 years that he's won it, O'Sullivan will have a lot more expectation on his shoulders to win the title, and there are also a lot more challengers in his way this year, so don't be drawn into thinking that this is his title to win. However, he should really be breezing past Robin Hull in the opening round without any problems, even though Hull impressed beating the likes of Peter Ebdon in qualifying. Joe Perry is O'Sullivan's probable Last 16 opponent this year, and that won't be the easy match that everyone would expect it to be. Perry is coming to the end of the best season of his career, and it would only get better if he could claim the Rockets scalp and go anywhere near his Crucible best of the semi-finals. His opening round opponent Jamie Burnett has plenty of experience, but I can't see the Scot getting to close to Joe there, and I have to say I'm confident it will be a Ronnie/Perry Last 16 match. Who wins? I have to favour Ronnie, though Perry will have just as much confidence, and if O'Sullivan isn't firing on all cylinders he better watch out.
Shaun Murphy is certainly one of my dark horses for the World Championships, though the term dark horse may even be a bit harsh on Murphy who will secretly consider himself one of the favourites. His loss of form in the beginning of the season was well documented, but his later return to form winning the Gdynia Open and World Open puts him in a good position to go far here, and his confidence will be even higher than when he won it 2005. Shaun's first round opponent Jamie Cope is starting to re-build his confidence brick by brick, and he'll offer up more of a test here for Murphy than he did at the China Open earlier this month. However, I still expect Shaun to come through the test with merit and he certainly won't fear anyone, match that with his confidence and Crucible experience than he could push Ronnie all the way if they both made it to the quarter's. Marco Fu meanwhile has had a good, but also heavily inconsistent season, and he's really not as good playing in Britain and British conditions as he is in Asia. If he can play well and consistently than he will give Shaun Murphy and then maybe Ronnie a big push in this quarter, but he has probably the toughest round 1 tie going. He faces Martin Gould in round 1 yet again this season, with Gould having previously played and beaten Marco Fu in the 1st round at the Crucible on 2 previous occasions, and it's fair to say that Martin has a brilliant chance of victory here after a solid showing in the qualifiers. I don't fancy many of the qualifiers to beat their seeded opponents in the first round this year given the first round draw we have, but one man I do fancy to win is Gould here.
Overall, this quarter is one of the highlights of the draw, and could be an exciting case of "Who can stop the Rocket?" Their are a lot of Prime suspects here, but will any of them be found guilty of killing O'Sullivan's chances this year? If I had to pick one man that could do so it would certainly be Shaun Murphy. He has the experience, the confidence in his game, a great Crucible record and he would relish the challenge of trying to beat Ronnie, rather than some of other players who may back away and go into their shells. Like I say, there's no chance that O'Sullivan will walk to the title this year.
Quarter Winner: Shaun Murphy
Quarter 2
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in bold)Barry Hawkins Vs David Gilbert
Ricky Walden Vs Kyren Wilson
Mark Davis Vs Dominic Dale
Ding Junhui Vs Michael Wasley
Ding Junhui is this quarters stand-out player, despite his obvious lack of a world title, no-one else in this quarter has one either so in that respect it's wide open. However, Ding has won 5 ranking event titles and reached the final of another one at the Welsh Open so he is in fantastic form and this is probably the strongest he's ever looked with his all-round game ahead of a World Championships. His domination of the tour this season speaks for itself, and it has to be said that he looks a cut above every other player when O'Sullivan isn't around. I predicted him to win it 2 years ago, and I have to say that I think I was 2 years too early, looking at his game now. The Chinaman is one of my favourites for the title. Ding's first round opponent is Michael Wasley who beat Robert Milkins on a re-spotted black in the final round after winning 4 qualifying matches and he's clearly a good young player. On his Crucible debut though, I think it will all be a bit too much of an ask for him to beat a player of Ding's stature. Ding's last 16 opponent would be either Mark Davis or Dominic Dale. Mark's season started off nicely but has really tailed off badly since the UK Championships and unfortunately for him it hasn't really picked up since, so Dominic will really fancy his chances here of getting into the Last 16. Dale has had a confidence boosting few months since his Shoot-out win, and he's always really relaxed which seems to stand him in good stead most of the time, and if he isn't feeling the pressure as much it could certainly provide a good edge for him in this even contest.
In the upper half of this quarter, we have last years runner-up Barry Hawkins who is playing David Gilbert in the opening round. Hawkins will like his chances of another good run this year, and he'll certainly be thinking of getting to the quarter-finals and seeing how it goes after that. After his successes here last year, Hawkins found it difficult to motivate himself for the start of this season, coming around so quickly after his big breakthrough. He'll be really excited for this year though and there's no doubt that he proved himself with his run last year. His match against Gilbert will be a tough one, but he'll be ready for the prospect and the extra edge the last 2 seasons have given him should be enough to see him to victory. As for Ricky Walden, I don't think he'd challenge for this quarter at all, and I don't really fancy that he will be challenging Hawkins in the Last 16 if they both made it. Ricky has had another inconsistent season, and inconsistent is too easily associated with Walden's game which is a shame because he is a great player when he does play well. His opening round match against Kyren Wilson will be a very tricky one because Wilson played brilliantly throughout the qualifiers, though the fact that he is a Crucible debutant gives Walden the slight edge.
After a brilliant season though, I think Ding owes it to himself to give this a really good go this year, and it's tough to see passed him failing to win this quarter and therefore making at least the semi-finals.
Quarter Winner: Ding Junhui
Quarter 3
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in bold)Mark Selby Vs Michael White
Ali Carter Vs Xiao Guodong
John Higgins Vs Alan McManus
Stuart Bingham Vs Ken Doherty
On different days, you could really pick any of the 4 seeds in this quarter to win it and make the semi-finals. The fact is that only 1 man can. In fact the way the form has gone this season it's tough to even pick a favourite. However, there are some great first round matches starting with Ali Carter against Xiao Guodong. Guodong is an exceptionally talented young player, with a ranking final already to his name. However, this is his Crucible debut and what people should remember before jumping on the Guodong wagon is that that brings a lot of pressure with it, and he is up against a very experienced man in twice former world finalist Carter. Carter has gone about his business fairly quietly this season after health problems upset his early season, though there are certainly signs that he could be coming back into form with his run to the China Open semi-finals. I think he will just sneak this tight early encounter, and he is certainly one of my favourites for this quarter with his Crucible record. One man that has had an indifferent season is Ali's possible Last 16 opponent Mark Selby who plays Michael White in the Last 32. Starting with White, he had a brilliant run to the quarters last season, but that now means the pressure on him will double for this years tournament as people expect him to reproduce that form, something he hadn't really done this season up until the qualifiers for this event. Selby's scalp though is one that certainly isn't beyond him. Mark has had 3 finals this season in the UK, Masters and Haikou World Open but while getting to those finals, once again he hasn't played his best snooker which is frustrating for snooker fans that know of his great potential. It's almost as if Selby's so called "B Game" has become his main game and mode of attack, and when that doesn't come off he has nowhere else to go. That for me is why I can't see him having a run again this year.
John Higgins run into this event has been pretty strong in my opinion, making the quarters of a fair few events since the New Year, and with his massive amounts of Crucible experience, his name looks very big in this quarter. He's been a man that has changed certain aspects of his game around this season, but I hope he has managed to stick with things in the run up to this because the signs were that he was building up to this event nicely and that he can certainly have a run. His opening round opponent is fellow Scot Alan McManus, a man of as much experience as John, and the man that overcame Mark Williams in qualifying which came as a huge surprise to me. With that under his belt, he will certainly provide Higgins with some early problems this year, especially after picking his form back up in the earlier parts of the season. However, Higgins should edge that game out and I fancy that him and Ali Carter will be the 2 quarter-finalists in this quarter.
Someone that will have a massive say about that is Stuart Bingham. Stuart is a player that I'm a fairly big fan of, and was incredibly impressed with in his runs to the Champion of Champions Final and the UK Championship semi-finals. He made the quarter-finals last year and certainly has the capabilities to get there again. Although, his season has tailed off since Christmas with a number of things being at the source of that, but I really hope he can put all of that behind him now and have a good run here. He has Ken Doherty in the opening round, and Ken has had a few troubles with his own game this season, struggling desperately to put any wins together at all, so it was nice to see him beat Poomjaeng and reach the Crucible, but like when he was there last, 2 years ago against Neil Robertson in the first round, I don't think he will provide much of a challenge and Stuart should be in the Last 16 comfortably.
It's Ali Carter that I like most in this quarter though, I think his game is well suited to the World Championships, and if he can keep everything going for 17 days then I don't think it's beyond him to get the world title that he and everyone in this tournament will be craving so badly.
Quarter Winner: Ali Carter
Quarter 4
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in bold)Judd Trump Vs Tom Ford
Stephen Maguire Vs Ryan Day
Mark Allen Vs Michael Holt
Neil Robertson Vs Robbie Williams
This certainly looks like the quarter of death to me here with both some very top seeds and some incredibly qualifiers to offer up some tasty opening round clashes here. Not one name jumps out at you, because all of the seeds in this quarter know what you have to do to have a run here. Neil Robertson has been one of the big names of the season though, and the 2010 World Champion has made 93 century breaks this season, smashing the old record on his way to winning the UK Championships and Wuxi Classic, while also making the China Open final. The big thing for him, and a few certain others in the draw will be that he's won a world title before which really should take most of the pressure off compared to guys like Ding who would be winning their first if they did so this year. Neil's form has dipped slightly ahead of this although he did suffer from a virus and still made the China Open final which was a much needed boost ahead of this. His first round game against Robbie Williams looks pretty routine affair for Neil, who demolished him previously in the UK Championships. Of the Crucible debutants, if there was one candidate who could really buckle and crash it looked like Williams, and even more so now.
Mark Allen hasn't won a match at the Crucible in the last 2 years, losing 2 first round matches that you would back him to win. His form hasn't been great this season, with a semi-final at the Haikou World Open, followed by a quarter-final at the Players Championship after winning 2 Euro Tour events, certainly being a highlight, but that certainly isn't basis to build a Crucible campaign upon. His Crucible triumphs are equally limited and he looks like one of the weaker seeds in this quarter. His first round opponent Michael Holt will probably fancy his chances, but after the drubbing that Walden handed out to him last year, he will certainly be more cautious with any optimism he has this year you might think. However, some confidence boosting results over the season in the Shanghai Masters and some of the AT events this year mean that he has every right to be optimistic. I think Holty will push Mark all the way, but unlike the last 2 years, I think Allen will just come through, but I don't fancy that he'll go much further.
Judd Trump sits in the other half of this quarter, and his first round game against Tom Ford will certainly be a big hitting contest between 2 very aggressive and heavy scoring players. For me Judd Trump has really started to find a balance between the big hitting game that got him to the 2011 World Final, employing a more stable tactical game that helped him on his way to last years semi-finals. It hasn't been an easy year for Judd, his game has not been in the right places at times, while he hasn't had much luck at other points, but if he can put that behind him (which I have no doubt that he would've done) then he has a great chance of going one step further this year and capturing his first world title. Ford is a very inconsistent player, and no greater have these inconsistencies come out than this year. If he can put 2 consistently good sessions together against Judd than he has a real chance of making it a great and interesting game, otherwise I think Judd might prove a bit too much for him.
Trump's possible Last 16 opponent should he get through would be either former semi-finalist Stephen Maguire or Ryan Day. Stephen has had an average season, but with complaining of back problems at the Welsh Open, and then pulling out of the China Open with the same complaints, it will be interesting to know both how fit he is for these World Championships and how fit he has been for the rest of the season. If he is fully fit, Maguire certainly has the game to forge a challenge for the games biggest prize, but with a tough overall draw like his, it will also be about staying fit for the whole 17 days. Ryan Day though has had a good season by my reckoning with a semi-final place at the German Masters and winning the 7th group of the Championship League which is a very good tournament for the players to build form and confidence. He has good Crucible memories to build upon, reaching the quarter-finals as recently as 2012 including a good comeback to beat Ding in round 1. I have to say I've been looking for reasons to tip Day here, but I can't think of one big enough to carry it through, but this has the look about it of a possible first round decider, and I hope that that is true.
As I say it is a very tough quarter to call, but I like the look of how Judd's season has gone and if he can get everything together for this event, he's come along so much since the 2011 final that he really does have a brilliant chance to go far this year in my opinion.
Quarter Winner: Judd Trump
Tournament Runner-up: Judd Trump
World Champion: Ding Junhui
Whatever the outcome is of the upcoming 17 days at The Crucible, I believe this will be the best World Championships for the last few years with so many players in form that can win the title, and for me, Ronnie O'Sullivan doesn't look unstoppable this time around, I think this years World Title could really go to any of about 6-8 players. Strap yourselves in ladies and gentlemen for the 17 day rollercoaster that is the World Snooker Championships. I cannot wait, and will be here every step of the way.
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