When we get going on Saturday morning Stuart Bingham will begin the defence of his World Title against a man in Ali Carter that has been to two World Championship finals himself. Marco Fu will play on table two at the same time against 2002 champion Peter Ebdon.
For the second year running Stephen Maguire plays a Scotsman in round one in his good friend Alan McManus. Shaun Murphy faces a repeat of his quarter-final from last year against Anthony McGill. Judd Trump will play eighteenth seed Liang Wenbo, who came from behind to stun him at the UK Championships. Ding Junhui, the seventeenth seed that no-one wanted to draw will play Martin Gould. Ronnie O'Sullivan starts his quest for another world title against International Championship runner-up David Gilbert. Nineteenth seed and Shanghai Masters champion Kyren Wilson plays the man that he defeated in the Last 32 in Shanghai, Joe Perry.
Debutant Mitchell Mann plays Mark Allen, while Robbie Williams on his third consecutive Crucible appearance as a qualifier takes on recent Players Championship and China Open runner-up Ricky Walden. Fourth seed Neil Robertson starts his bid against Michael Holt, while world number one Mark Selby faces a tough test against Robert Milkins. Plenty of world championship experience sits before the cracking match between 2006 champion Graeme Dott and twice World champion Mark Williams.
All of that comes before we even get to my favourite matches, the best-of-25 last 16 and quarter-final ties. In my opinion this could be a World Championships like no other and I am thrilled to be at the Crucible once more for the first weekend now that we know the line-up.
Quarter 1
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Stuart Bingham Vs Ali Carter (Saturday 16th April 10am and 7pm UK time)
Stephen Maguire Vs Alan McManus (Saturday 16th April 2.30pm and 17th April 2.30pm)
Ricky Walden Vs Robbie Williams (Sunday 17th April 11am and 18th April 7pm)
John Higgins Vs Ryan Day (Monday 18th April 10am and 19th April 2.30pm)
Stuart Bingham could not have many tougher starts to his world title defence than someone of such quality and experience of Ali Carter. The season has always been building to this point for Bingham in my view. Last year he came to the Crucible as an underdog, but now the hunter has become the hunted and he'll be under the most extreme pressure to perform. Carter played well in qualifying other than the final session of his final qualifier against Dominic Dale when life was made quite a bit harder than it should have been. He knows what it takes to go the distance here in Sheffield having appeared in two finals. In fact, for many years, Carter would have been considered a better player than Bingham but health problems of course took him down the rankings but he is nearly back to the same quality that saw him reach the World final and UK semi's in 2012.
Day one will also see the beginning of this all Scottish tie between good friends Alan McManus and Stephen Maguire. The first thing to note here is that Maguire scrambled over the line in order to even qualify for the Championships, and this is the second year in a row he has done this, only to draw a Scottish player in round one. The last time that Maguire came through a first round match at the Crucible was on the way to the semi-finals in 2012. First round defeats in 2013 to Dechawat Poomjaeng, Ryan Day in 2014 and Anthony McGill will all be disappointing for the same reason. He lost them all in deciding frames. McManus meanwhile has qualified for the fourth season in a row. In 2013 and 2015 he lost in the opening round but the 2014 Championship is the one which sticks out. He beat John Higgins in round one that year before defeating Ken Doherty to make the quarter-finals where he lost to eventual champion Mark Selby. "Angles" has always been a solid player and his renaissance in recent years makes me think he can continue to trouble the seeded players like Maguire.
Ricky Walden will be excited to get going this year in the World Championships more than ever after the last month of play. It takes something really quite extraordinary to get two to ranking finals in two weeks when one tournament is in the UK and the next is in China. A poor season up to that point means that he will also be fresh and ready for the 17 day stint at the Crucible and his confidence will certainly be high. His draw against Robbie Williams in round one is one of only four qualifiers who are not in the top 32 so I am sure that deep down he would take that. Williams will have to score well if he is to trouble an in-form Walden over two sessions. He also now has that experience of appearing in two UK Championship semi-finals, a World semi-final and his first UK ranking event final, which must stand him good stead for the Crucible this year.
John Higgins against Ryan Day is another very tough match to pick. Day has found his form again this year and had quite a solid year, without really breaking through in any event. He has plenty of scoring power and the experience at the Crucible to give Higgins as good a challenge as any of the qualifiers, especially having beaten him in the World Championships previously. John Higgins though has probably had his best season for some time. A winner in Australia and at the International he also reached the UK quarter-finals and the semi-finals of the China Open to just give him an extra boost before Sheffield. If Higgins can really get his game going this year then he has a good chance of picking up another Crucible crown, as he has shown this season he still very much has what it takes. His safety play is probably the one thing that would set him apart from players like Day in what is always a nervy opening round, whoever you play.
Quarter Winner: Ricky Walden
Quarter 2
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Judd Trump Vs Liang Wenbo (Wednesday 20th April 2.30pm and 21st April 1pm)
Martin Gould Vs Ding Junhui (Wednesday 20th April 10am and 7pm)
Mark Williams Vs Graeme Dott (Sunday 17th April 7pm and 18th April 2.30pm)
Neil Robertson Vs Michael Holt (Tuesday 19th April 10am and 7pm)
I do not think that Judd Trump could have asked for a worse man to play in round one than Liang Wenbo. In the UK Championships he completely lost the plot in losing 6-4 a match that he was cruising at 4-1. It is always worth a mention that no-one that has ever won the China Open has gone on to win the World Championship, though Trump came closest when he reached the final as a qualifier in 2011. The only thing you would say that year is that he was still an underdog and riding high from his maiden success. I get the feeling from many of his interviews after matches (win or lose) this season that the 2015/2016 campaign has been a confidence bashing one for the left hander. The thing that will annoy him will be matches and spells of pure brilliance being followed by average play at best. The China Open may have done a lot to save face this season but Liang could well have his number. The thing for the Chinese player is that having gone through qualifying he more than most will benefit from playing later on in the week, due to the great intensity that he plays with. He earned a lot of crowd support in the UK, as well as all of the confidence he would have gained by reaching the final in York. In the quarter of death, the last thing you want is to have a tough player like Liang in round one.
Martin Gould is by far the unluckiest man in the draw. He has Ding Junhui. Ding showed by how he blitzed through qualifying that he should not really have been at Ponds Forge in the first place. Although his record at the Crucible has never been fantastic, maybe going through qualifying is the kick that he needed to move forward and finally do well in Sheffield. Gould comes here as a ranking winner after winning the German Masters in February but some of his more recent displays will disappoint him. A 5-0 loss to a 15-year old Chinese wildcard in the China Open is probably not the best result you want to take to Sheffield. When he was last seeded in 2012 he lost out in round one to David Gilbert in a match I for one always thought Gilbert would win. For me Martin has to win the first session to have any chance of victory, but as I say going through qualifying may be the kick Ding Junhui needed.
Another tough match comes up between the two former world champions Mark Williams and Graeme Dott. Williams is obviously the seed and the favourite to win this match but he has not had a good year at all. Early exits in many events will not leave his confidence as high as it would have been last year, though he went on to lose heavily to Matthew Stevens in round one. He will be fresh and determined to put right his performances in recent World Championships. As for Graeme he did not convince me with the way that he came through qualifying and I feel he may need to raise his game a little to beat Williams, and as a qualifier having played three matches to reach this stage that is a very tough thing to do.
Neil Robertson should rightly be the favourite to win this quarter and one of the favourites for the title. He may well have gone on to win the title last year had he not lost in a high quality final session in the last eight to Barry Hawkins in which the pair were making centuries for fun. Earlier on in the season he won the UK Championships, Champion of Champions and only lost in the Masters quarter-finals in a match where Judd Trump made four centuries. The Australian seems to have mastered peaking for these big events, just like the Golfers do for the majors, tailoring their games to win the biggest titles. He missed the Players Championship finals and tight early exits in Beijing and Llandudno will leave him fresh having only played a couple of times since his Welsh Open final loss in February. He will be raring to go when he takes on Michael Holt, and is one of the worst draws that Holt could have gotten given that in the last couple of years the 2010 world champion has come out of the blocks like a raging bull.
Quarter Winner: Neil Robertson
Quarter 3
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Shaun Murphy Vs Anthony McGill (Saturday 16th April 2.30pm and 17th April 10am)
Marco Fu Vs Peter Ebdon (Saturday 16th April 10am and 7pm)
Barry Hawkins Vs Zhang Anda (Tuesday 19th April 7pm and 20th April 2.30pm)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs David Gilbert (Sunday 17th April 2.30pm and 18th April 10am)
Shaun Murphy is another one of the main contenders for the title this year. After coming so close last year, taking a while to get over the defeat and then coming back to his best he will be determined to go just that little bit better and lift the crown. Murphy is working as hard as ever and knows exactly how he has to play to win a title he won 11 long years ago. The win in Llandudno ended what had been a very poor spell and saw him play the snooker that he showed in last years Crucible campaign. He like Robertson is like a raging bull or a bulldozer when he gets on his form and in these long format matches you have to look at the players that can really get on a roll and reel frames off for fun and there are not that many out there. At last I feel like the Magician is comfortable not only with his game but with life in general. His first round opponent in Anthony McGill is one who he pulled away from in the latter stages of their quarter-final a year ago but over the best-of-19 it could be a tricky little test to get going.
Marco Fu and Peter Ebdon could contest an Crucible epic. Ebdon won his three matches to qualify after coming back from 9-3 down to beat Gerard Greene 10-9 at 2am in the second qualifying round before thrashing Ian Burns to finish. Ebdon's Vegan diet certainly gives him the energy and overall longevity to outlast anyone on the planet on the snooker table. Fu is always a tough player to beat but he will have to score well and put Ebdon under pressure early, because if he falls into Ebdon's trap then this could turn into a long scrappy match and that will rarely disfavour Ebdon.
For Barry Hawkins it is time to awake from his hibernation. Every year since making the final in 2013 he just seems to wake up and play some of his best snooker at the Crucible. It does not seem to matter how he plays for the rest of the season because he will still turn it on when he arrives at Sheffield in April. His season has seen a top quality performance, which came in January at the Ally Pally to reach the Masters final and for anyone underestimating Hawkins there is further evidence of why you should not. In the opening round he plays the second lowest ranked player remaining which is Zhang Anda. I was surprised to see Zhang qualify so fair play to him for that, and it will be interesting to see if he can raise his game for the occasion which he failed to against Joe Perry a year ago. If he rises to the occasion he could well give Hawkins a good game but I expect the Hawk to come through.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is once again many peoples pick for the world title as you would expect. In fact some people on Twitter have gone as far as giving him his place in the final already. It is incredibly foolish to assume that he will stroll through the draw, whether it turns out this way or not. He won the Masters, but no one put up a challenge that week. When he won the Welsh Open he was very close to his best and if he were to play like that for 17 days then that would be a different story altogether. The key factor here is whether Ronnie can keep his game at such a high level, and stay focussed and motivated mentally for the two and half weeks. David Gilbert in round one is not the easiest opponent he could ask for. He scores heavily and will come with as much support as Ronnie will have from the more vocal sections of his fan base.
Quarter Winner: Shaun Murphy
Quarter 4
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)Mark Allen Vs Mitchell Mann (Tuesday 19th April 2.30pm and 20th April 10am)
Joe Perry Vs Kyren Wilson (Wednesday 20th April 7pm and 21st April 7pm)
Michael White Vs Sam Baird (Sunday 17th April 7pm and 18th April 7pm)
Mark Selby Vs Robert Milkins (Monday 18th April 2.30pm and 19th April 10am)
Mark Allen is always an interesting character when it comes to the World Championships. In 2012 and 2013 he lost in the opening round to players that he should beat for a player of his class. In 2014 and 2015 he lost in a couple of tight affairs in the last 16 but this year there is evidence to say that he is playing better than ever. His win at the Players Championship Finals is one point beating Murphy in the semi-finals as he did in the first round of the Masters, historically a player he has struggled against. As well as this he had a semi-final in the Welsh Open where I thought he was fantastic, a semi-final in Shanghai and a final at the Champion of Champions as well as a win on the European Tour. By far his most prolific season. Missing out on the China Open means that he will be rested, prepared and raring to get out there for his first round match. In that match he takes on the only Crucible debutant for this year in Mitchell Mann. These matches against debutants can always go two ways. The player could rise to the occasion show some real quality and win, or he could freeze under the immense pressure and be beaten easily. Allen will be hoping to make it the latter and finish a great season in real style.
Joe Perry has landed one of the toughest draws out there in the confident Kyren Wilson. Wilson came through the qualifying competition fairly comfortably and he now has the time to rest and prepare for a real good slog at going far into this World Championships. He certainly has the belief in his high ability to not only beat Perry but march on far into the event. However, you can never underestimate a player with the experience and class that Perry possesses. Two years ago in the second round in Sheffield he had Ronnie on the ropes at 11-9 in the final session before O'Sullivan took the next four frames to secure victory. The gentleman also reached the semi-finals in both of the Welsh Open and Champion of Champions despite early exits in the UK and Masters this season. This is certainly another match that could go to the wire and there is no ruling the winner out of going on much further in the event too.
Michael White has had to work hard to earn his seeding for the World Championships. Last year he just missed out and then failed to come through the three qualifiers to make the Crucible. In 2013 he made the quarter-finals on debut and in 2014 he took the eventual champion Mark Selby to a first round decider. If he fires he could certainly get through a couple of matches but for me his temperament is still suspect in the sense that he is a very hot headed player and his safety game is still average and it will be difficult to do well here baring those two things in mind. In the opening round he takes on Sam Baird who will be hoping to do better second time around at the Crucible after a resounding first round lost on his debut in 2013. Baird is a heavy scorer and troubled top players in the past so there is no reason why he could not give the Welshman a run for his money here.
Mark Selby is almost a bit of enigma coming into this years World Championships. After a first round exit in the World Grand Prix he decided to withdraw from both of the Players Championship Finals and China Open for "personal reasons" that have remained unspecified. We all know how good a match player Selby is though, and this shone through in 2014 when he lifted this great title. This year he will need to be at his best right from the off when he takes on Robert Milkins. We all know how well Milkins can score and he will need to score heavily and take his chances against Selby who will surely attempt to grind him down in the safety department. Selby has been close with no cigar this season. Semi-finals in the UK and International Championships, quarter-finals in the Masters and Welsh Open all four of which resulted in defeats to the eventual winner. He has played pretty well with no reward for that.
Quarter Winner: Mark Allen
Predicted World Finalist: Neil Robertson
Predicted World Champion: Shaun Murphy
This is one of the most wide open World Championships ever in my opinion, a lot of people fancy Ronnie but it will not be that easy be any means. There are plenty of guys in the draw worth an each way bet that could provide some value and there are certainly going to be some value bets in round one based on how close some of these match-ups are.
Some people have criticised the BBC's coverage in previous years but there is still something special about the way that the World Championships is done by all involved. The punditry of Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and John Parrott will be class again I am sure. By the same token, I am sure that for viewers in Europe, Eurosport will do a good job of their coverage.
Now that you know who my tip is for the 2016 World Championships lets sit back, relax and enjoy 17 days of glorious snooker from the Crucible Theatre, whether you are in Sheffield to watch or viewing it from home. Of course there will be more from me as the tournament progresses with all the big news and my thoughts on the matches in upcoming rounds.
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