Selby is not only the defending champion but has won three of the last four World Championships to signal his domination of snooker's greatest test. Ronnie O'Sullivan however has dominated the 2017/2018 snooker season, winning five ranking events in all and topping the one-season money list by close to £210,000 of Selby, who remains number one on the two-year rankings.
Once more, Ding Junhui will be flying the flag for China as he aims to win his and the nation's first World Snooker Championship. Close calls in the last two years can only help the world number three to grow in his quest for the one title he desires. Scotland's John Higgins will be aiming to go one better than in 2017 where he fell just short of taking the trophy out of England for the first time since his 2011 victory.
Judd Trump could fulfil his promise by winning his maiden World title and silencing the many critics he had after his pre-tournament comments 12 months ago were only followed by a shock first round exit to Rory McLeod. Then there is Shaun Murphy, a five-time finalist this season, winning one at the Champion of Champions and hoping that 13 is a lucky number for him, as he plays his thirteenth Crucible Championship since taking the title in 2005. If he were to take the title it would smash the record for the longest gap between World Championship title wins, which currently belongs to 1972 and 1982 champion Alex Higgins.
There a plenty more contenders besides too in what could be one of the most fiercely contested World Championships for a number of years given the form of qualifiers like Ryan Day, a three time winner on tour this year.
Quarter 1
First Round Draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark Selby Vs Joe Perry (Saturday 21 April 10am and 7pm)
Mark Allen Vs Liam Highfield (Sunday 22 April and Monday 23 April 10am)
Kyren Wilson Vs Matthew Stevens (Saturday 21 April 2.30pm and Sunday 22 April 7pm)
Shaun Murphy Vs Jamie Jones (Sunday 22 April and Monday 23 April 2.30pm)
Mark Selby has a much tougher opener here than he did last year and has done for a while in the World Championships. You do not have to go back far to when Joe Perry was in the top 16 and reaching the final of the Masters. Things have not quite gone the way the gentleman would have wanted since that final last January, as he failed to qualify for the Crucible last year upon slipping out of the 16. This year he did have a good run to the quarter-finals of the UK Championship, and if he plays how he did in beating Mark Allen in the last 16 in York, Selby has a tough task ahead of him.
Selby's season has certainly been a mixed one, winning the two biggest tournaments in China at the International Championships and the recent China Open, but there have been an equal share of early exits mixed in there too. You can take the other triple crown events as examples, a first round Masters exit and a last 64 exit in York. He has looked more vulnerable in the early rounds of a few competitions this season, including the ones he has done well in, and that should give hope to Perry and to the rest of the field that are trying to take the title from him. With a tough draw against Perry and another potentially tricky tie in the second round against Mark Allen, it is hard to say that an early exit is out of the question. On the other hand, if he gets through those first couple of rounds he will be an incredibly strong force and incredibly tough to beat, as he has proven to be at the Crucible over the last four years.
Mark Allen is certainly a contender for this title after breaking his major duck by winning January's Masters and that should give him so much more confidence to add to that tally now. In terms of the rankings, he sneaked in but that is more a reflection on the season he had last year and 12 months down the line I think he'll be back in the top eight. In Liam Highfield he has a first round opponent who is on debut at the Crucible, and naturally you would expect some nerves from Highfield. He is an incredibly talented player and Ali Carter has sung his praises on social media a few times recently - as someone who knows the tough times Highfield has had with Crohn's disease and what that is really like. This season has been a strong one for Highfield, who came to the qualifiers still not assured of his top 64 place but that is in the bag now.
His win over Tom Ford in the second qualifier was very impressive and I have been more and more impressed with him every time I watch him. If he settles quickly he is going to have a big chance of running Allen close, but as we know with Crucible debutants that is a big if. For Allen, finals at the World Open and International Championship on top of his Masters win this season show he is a force to be reckoned with, but he needs to do something about his Crucible record of exiting in the last 16 four years in a row and not making the quarter-finals since 2011.
Kyren Wilson is someone else that you have to admit has a very good chance this year at the Crucible. He may have only appeared here three times but after his debut in 2014 he has come back stronger making the quarter-final in both of the last two years and now he has the experience of being in a big final, after this year's Masters. He has taken to life in the big time like a Duck to water and he comes across as one of those characters who has no fear, and someone who will do whatever it takes to reach the top. He may not be one of those players in the draw that everyone thinks is ready, but having been to three finals this season I would not share that opinion.
In round one he faces Matthew Stevens and I think that is a draw that Wilson would quietly be pleased with. Stevens has a lot of Crucible experience having been in two finals before, and people including Neal Foulds think that he can certainly have a resurgence. There is still not getting away from the fact that he came into this World Championship outside of the top 50 in the world and as we sit here now in 2018, he is not in the same bracket as Wilson. The Welshman can certainly give Wilson a run for his money, but I think the seeded player will just be too good in the end.
Finally in this top quarter, we come to a five time finalist in the 2017/2018 season in Shaun Murphy. Coming in to these Championships people might look at his recent neck troubles and right Murphy off but the big thing to remember is that he reached the final of the Players Championship recently, beating Kyren Wilson, Anthony McGill and Mark Williams despite still being in quite a lot of discomfort. If he was still suffering in China when he lost 6-0 to Chris Wakelin you have to say that the travelling might not have helped him there. The two and a half weeks he would have had since last hitting a ball will surely help him and if he's fully fit is game is certainly good to go. Winning the Champion of Champions against Ronnie O'Sullivan was a huge moment for Murphy and he backed that up by reaching the UK Championship final. O'Sullivan was by far the best that week, but Murphy was the second best by a distance of anyone else, and at times this season that has certainly been the order of things.
In round one though he has an enormous test against Jamie Jones. The Welshman was a quarter-finalist on his Crucible debut and the man he beat in round one that year was Murphy. Jones comes in to this after beating Liang Wenbo 10-0 in the final qualifying round and that result alone will certainly make Murphy sit up and take notice if he was not already. Jones has had two other career wins over Murphy in the best-of-7 frames format and was unlucky not to beat him again earlier this season in the Paul Hunter Classic semi-finals as Murphy came from 3-1 down to win 4-3. If fully fit then I think Murphy might just edge this one and go on to have a big run at the Crucible this year, if not though Jones will be there to pounce.
Selby's season has certainly been a mixed one, winning the two biggest tournaments in China at the International Championships and the recent China Open, but there have been an equal share of early exits mixed in there too. You can take the other triple crown events as examples, a first round Masters exit and a last 64 exit in York. He has looked more vulnerable in the early rounds of a few competitions this season, including the ones he has done well in, and that should give hope to Perry and to the rest of the field that are trying to take the title from him. With a tough draw against Perry and another potentially tricky tie in the second round against Mark Allen, it is hard to say that an early exit is out of the question. On the other hand, if he gets through those first couple of rounds he will be an incredibly strong force and incredibly tough to beat, as he has proven to be at the Crucible over the last four years.
Mark Allen is certainly a contender for this title after breaking his major duck by winning January's Masters and that should give him so much more confidence to add to that tally now. In terms of the rankings, he sneaked in but that is more a reflection on the season he had last year and 12 months down the line I think he'll be back in the top eight. In Liam Highfield he has a first round opponent who is on debut at the Crucible, and naturally you would expect some nerves from Highfield. He is an incredibly talented player and Ali Carter has sung his praises on social media a few times recently - as someone who knows the tough times Highfield has had with Crohn's disease and what that is really like. This season has been a strong one for Highfield, who came to the qualifiers still not assured of his top 64 place but that is in the bag now.
His win over Tom Ford in the second qualifier was very impressive and I have been more and more impressed with him every time I watch him. If he settles quickly he is going to have a big chance of running Allen close, but as we know with Crucible debutants that is a big if. For Allen, finals at the World Open and International Championship on top of his Masters win this season show he is a force to be reckoned with, but he needs to do something about his Crucible record of exiting in the last 16 four years in a row and not making the quarter-finals since 2011.
Kyren Wilson is someone else that you have to admit has a very good chance this year at the Crucible. He may have only appeared here three times but after his debut in 2014 he has come back stronger making the quarter-final in both of the last two years and now he has the experience of being in a big final, after this year's Masters. He has taken to life in the big time like a Duck to water and he comes across as one of those characters who has no fear, and someone who will do whatever it takes to reach the top. He may not be one of those players in the draw that everyone thinks is ready, but having been to three finals this season I would not share that opinion.
In round one he faces Matthew Stevens and I think that is a draw that Wilson would quietly be pleased with. Stevens has a lot of Crucible experience having been in two finals before, and people including Neal Foulds think that he can certainly have a resurgence. There is still not getting away from the fact that he came into this World Championship outside of the top 50 in the world and as we sit here now in 2018, he is not in the same bracket as Wilson. The Welshman can certainly give Wilson a run for his money, but I think the seeded player will just be too good in the end.
Finally in this top quarter, we come to a five time finalist in the 2017/2018 season in Shaun Murphy. Coming in to these Championships people might look at his recent neck troubles and right Murphy off but the big thing to remember is that he reached the final of the Players Championship recently, beating Kyren Wilson, Anthony McGill and Mark Williams despite still being in quite a lot of discomfort. If he was still suffering in China when he lost 6-0 to Chris Wakelin you have to say that the travelling might not have helped him there. The two and a half weeks he would have had since last hitting a ball will surely help him and if he's fully fit is game is certainly good to go. Winning the Champion of Champions against Ronnie O'Sullivan was a huge moment for Murphy and he backed that up by reaching the UK Championship final. O'Sullivan was by far the best that week, but Murphy was the second best by a distance of anyone else, and at times this season that has certainly been the order of things.
In round one though he has an enormous test against Jamie Jones. The Welshman was a quarter-finalist on his Crucible debut and the man he beat in round one that year was Murphy. Jones comes in to this after beating Liang Wenbo 10-0 in the final qualifying round and that result alone will certainly make Murphy sit up and take notice if he was not already. Jones has had two other career wins over Murphy in the best-of-7 frames format and was unlucky not to beat him again earlier this season in the Paul Hunter Classic semi-finals as Murphy came from 3-1 down to win 4-3. If fully fit then I think Murphy might just edge this one and go on to have a big run at the Crucible this year, if not though Jones will be there to pounce.
Quarter Winner: Shaun Murphy
Quarter 2
First Round Draw: (Picks in bold)
John Higgins Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Wednesday 25 April 10am and 7pm)
Stuart Bingham Vs Jack Lisowski (Tuesday 24 April 10am and 7pm)
Luca Brecel Vs Ricky Walden (Monday 23 April 7pm and Tuesday 24 April 2.30pm)
Judd Trump Vs Chris Wakelin (Wednesday 25 April 2.30pm and Thursday 26 April 7pm)
The first player that the eyes are draw to in the second quarter is the name Judd Trump. He was much fancied 12 months ago by many and suffered a shock exit to Rory McLeod and this seems to have added big question marks to his title winning credentials in the eyes of many. The fact is, Trump is only 28. He still has a lot of World Championships ahead of him even if he does not win this year or indeed next year. He should be fresh this year having failed to qualify for the China Open, an event that many used to skip in order to be fresh for the Crucible, before the big prize money change for this season. Trump has a title to his name earlier this season and despite some early exits in a few, he has also had a few semi-finals, though he still would have been disappointed with hos these turned out in Glasgow and at the Masters particularly.
In round one this year he faces another lower ranked player, but also someone with less experience than his opponent of 12 months previous. Chris Wakelin is on his Crucible debut, but he did come through the qualifiers emphatically, only losing nine frames across his three matches. As I mentioned with Highfield in quarter one and as I will with all the debutants, it is all going to be about how well they settle. If Wakelin gets a foothold early on in this contest then a contest it shall be. A man that has just defeated Shaun Murphy 6-0 in the run up to the Crucible is someone who should have a lot of confidence in his game, and if you look back through his season he has played quite a few top players and made a good account of himself in them on the whole. Still, you would expect an on form Trump to just be too strong for him given the occasion as well.
Luca Brecel and Ricky Walden looks like a very even contest on paper. Brecel will be looking to put last year's defeat from 7-1 up against Marco Fu completely out of his mind and move forward, and that was something he did early this season by winning the China Championship and putting himself in the top 16. The second half of this season though has not been a successful one for him. The Belgian lost in round one of the Masters, the World Grand Prix and also suffered early exits in Gibraltar, Wales and Beijing as well as messing around with different cues in that time. Despite being a seeded player this will only be his third Crucible appearance and to have an unhappy memory so early in your Crucible career is something that could play a factor on his return.
He will certainly need to find top form for his match up with Walden who nearly made a maximum in the final session of his final qualifying match with Andrew Higginson. The impressive thing for me was that Walden, who has also suffered with a back problem at the start of the season, mentioned that he was unwell during the qualifiers and yet he still got past three very experienced opponents and good match players who could easily have ground him down. He showed pretty good scoring form in the qualifiers though and if he keeps this up as well as his good battling qualities he is more than a match for Brecel.
Another very even match up puts Stuart Bingham against Jack Lisowski. Starting with Bingham, he will be quietly confident given the form he has shown in the last couple of events leading up to the Crucible. All the talk in this match will be about the dangerous Lisowski and I do not think he will mind that at all. Bingham knows what it takes at the Crucible having done it in 2015 and although he has not passed the second round in two attempts since, that experience will stay with him forever. A quarter-final in China following the Romanian Masters final is not bad and having missed a heavy chunk of the season through suspension he will be fresh and raring to go this year in Sheffield.
Jack Lisowski is one of the qualifiers that everyone's eye would have been on as one to avoid. He blitzed through his three qualifying games impressively, beating David Grace 10-3 in a match Grace needed to win for his tour place, before beating the incredibly experienced Alan McManus by the same score. We all know he can score heavily and he got his Crucible debut out of the way back in 2013 where he lost out to eventual runner-up Barry Hawkins. He spoke with good confidence after beating McManus and mentioned that his match play is improving, and it is good to hear him say that because it's recognition that this is the missing piece of the puzzle, and shows that he is working hard to fix that. Could he do what Trump did in 2011? Why not. Is he capable of winning a couple of games this year at the very least? Absolutely.
John Higgins was the runner-up at the Crucible last year and I think some of the consistency he has shown in the year since is a good sign that he can go one better in 2018. The Scotsman comes here having won the Welsh Open title a couple of months ago as well as defending the Championship League in March and winning the Indian Open title in September showing that he has played well for most of the year. The fifth seed has also made semi-finals at the Shanghai Masters, Scottish Open, the Masters and having played Ronnie O'Sullivan in a lot of tournaments, with a couple of successes too, he may well be pleased to see O'Sullivan is safely in the opposite half of the draw to him. The key for Higgins is stamina and that is something he has recognised himself in interviews so he may have made subtle changes in order to try and go one better. This may be looking far to far ahead, but given that I fancy Higgins to make it through the first two rounds steadily enough, his record against potential quarter-final opponent Judd Trump is excellent. Higgins has beaten Trump in all five matches they have played over a longer format than best-of-9 frames, with Trump's successes against Higgins largely coming in best-of-7 frames matches. He has won a few matches against Trump from behind such as in the 2014 World Open (5-4 from 4-0 down) and the 2016 Scottish Open (6-5 from from 5-1 down).
Higgins first round opponent is another of the debutants in Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. The Thai qualified after 10-8 wins against Alexander Ursenbacher and Alfie Burden with a simple victory against Adam Stefanow sandwiched in between. Despite his low ranking that means he did not actually have to play anyone ranked higher than him in order to qualify so this match agaisnt Higgins will be a huge test. Thepchaiya will give you plenty of chances but he will also make big breaks and not take long doing so and of all the qualifiers, I feel Thepchaiya is really one that has to settle quickly because of the style of game he plays. For Higgins, his experience and tactical superiority will be keys to this match, as they will be throughout the championship.
In round one this year he faces another lower ranked player, but also someone with less experience than his opponent of 12 months previous. Chris Wakelin is on his Crucible debut, but he did come through the qualifiers emphatically, only losing nine frames across his three matches. As I mentioned with Highfield in quarter one and as I will with all the debutants, it is all going to be about how well they settle. If Wakelin gets a foothold early on in this contest then a contest it shall be. A man that has just defeated Shaun Murphy 6-0 in the run up to the Crucible is someone who should have a lot of confidence in his game, and if you look back through his season he has played quite a few top players and made a good account of himself in them on the whole. Still, you would expect an on form Trump to just be too strong for him given the occasion as well.
Luca Brecel and Ricky Walden looks like a very even contest on paper. Brecel will be looking to put last year's defeat from 7-1 up against Marco Fu completely out of his mind and move forward, and that was something he did early this season by winning the China Championship and putting himself in the top 16. The second half of this season though has not been a successful one for him. The Belgian lost in round one of the Masters, the World Grand Prix and also suffered early exits in Gibraltar, Wales and Beijing as well as messing around with different cues in that time. Despite being a seeded player this will only be his third Crucible appearance and to have an unhappy memory so early in your Crucible career is something that could play a factor on his return.
He will certainly need to find top form for his match up with Walden who nearly made a maximum in the final session of his final qualifying match with Andrew Higginson. The impressive thing for me was that Walden, who has also suffered with a back problem at the start of the season, mentioned that he was unwell during the qualifiers and yet he still got past three very experienced opponents and good match players who could easily have ground him down. He showed pretty good scoring form in the qualifiers though and if he keeps this up as well as his good battling qualities he is more than a match for Brecel.
Another very even match up puts Stuart Bingham against Jack Lisowski. Starting with Bingham, he will be quietly confident given the form he has shown in the last couple of events leading up to the Crucible. All the talk in this match will be about the dangerous Lisowski and I do not think he will mind that at all. Bingham knows what it takes at the Crucible having done it in 2015 and although he has not passed the second round in two attempts since, that experience will stay with him forever. A quarter-final in China following the Romanian Masters final is not bad and having missed a heavy chunk of the season through suspension he will be fresh and raring to go this year in Sheffield.
Jack Lisowski is one of the qualifiers that everyone's eye would have been on as one to avoid. He blitzed through his three qualifying games impressively, beating David Grace 10-3 in a match Grace needed to win for his tour place, before beating the incredibly experienced Alan McManus by the same score. We all know he can score heavily and he got his Crucible debut out of the way back in 2013 where he lost out to eventual runner-up Barry Hawkins. He spoke with good confidence after beating McManus and mentioned that his match play is improving, and it is good to hear him say that because it's recognition that this is the missing piece of the puzzle, and shows that he is working hard to fix that. Could he do what Trump did in 2011? Why not. Is he capable of winning a couple of games this year at the very least? Absolutely.
John Higgins was the runner-up at the Crucible last year and I think some of the consistency he has shown in the year since is a good sign that he can go one better in 2018. The Scotsman comes here having won the Welsh Open title a couple of months ago as well as defending the Championship League in March and winning the Indian Open title in September showing that he has played well for most of the year. The fifth seed has also made semi-finals at the Shanghai Masters, Scottish Open, the Masters and having played Ronnie O'Sullivan in a lot of tournaments, with a couple of successes too, he may well be pleased to see O'Sullivan is safely in the opposite half of the draw to him. The key for Higgins is stamina and that is something he has recognised himself in interviews so he may have made subtle changes in order to try and go one better. This may be looking far to far ahead, but given that I fancy Higgins to make it through the first two rounds steadily enough, his record against potential quarter-final opponent Judd Trump is excellent. Higgins has beaten Trump in all five matches they have played over a longer format than best-of-9 frames, with Trump's successes against Higgins largely coming in best-of-7 frames matches. He has won a few matches against Trump from behind such as in the 2014 World Open (5-4 from 4-0 down) and the 2016 Scottish Open (6-5 from from 5-1 down).
Higgins first round opponent is another of the debutants in Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. The Thai qualified after 10-8 wins against Alexander Ursenbacher and Alfie Burden with a simple victory against Adam Stefanow sandwiched in between. Despite his low ranking that means he did not actually have to play anyone ranked higher than him in order to qualify so this match agaisnt Higgins will be a huge test. Thepchaiya will give you plenty of chances but he will also make big breaks and not take long doing so and of all the qualifiers, I feel Thepchaiya is really one that has to settle quickly because of the style of game he plays. For Higgins, his experience and tactical superiority will be keys to this match, as they will be throughout the championship.
Quarter Winner: John Higgins
Quarter 3
First Round Draw: (Picks in bold)
Ding Junhui Vs Xiao Guodong (Monday 23 April 2.30pm and Tuesday 24 April 10am)
Anthony McGill Vs Ryan Day (Wednesday 25 April 7pm and Thursday 26 April 1pm)
Marco Fu Vs Lu Haotian (Saturday 21 April 10am and Sunday 22 April 7pm)
Barry Hawkins Vs Stuart Carrington (Monday 23 April 10am and 7pm)
If form is anything to go by in recent years, I should just pick Barry Hawkins as the winner of this third quarter and go home. Hawkins has made the one table set up in four of the last five years, a narrow 2016 quarter-final loss to Marco Fu being the odd one out there. In that time he has defeated Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Neil Robertson, all players who have won this title and with his form picking up in the last couple of months, he is a big contender once again. There was very little to shout about for Hawkins until he made it to the Welsh Open final and narrowly losing out there to John Higgins. Then not too long after he made a second final of the season in Beijing, flying back up to world number 6 and avoiding being O'Sullivan and Selby's quarters in the process. Hawkins is always solid and he must come back to the Crucible with more and more confidence every year, and the achievement of someone like Stuart Bingham in 2015 should give Hawkins hope that he could walk away with the world title.
In round one he faces Stuart Carrington, who will be appearing at the Crucible for the third time. In his previous two appearances he has lost to Judd Trump and Liang Wenbo in a match he really could have won. However, when you are searching for your first win at the Crucible, drawing someone who has not lost in round since 2010 is probably not the best outcome. In the qualifiers, a late night 10-9 win against Nigel Bond, and hard fought 10-8 wins against Ben Woollaston and Zhang Anda will have taken a lot out of him and therefore, playing both sessions in one day here is again probably not the best draw for him either.
Marco Fu is someone nobody really knows how to judge for this year's tournament. Having not played since the Masters after eye surgery he will at the very least be fresh but perhaps not completely ready. When declaring he was playing at the Crucible he did not do so with confidence saying that his eyes are perhaps not as good as they could be. There is also a big difference between being fresh and being rusty, and Fu not playing under the bright TV lights for three months means that when he does it will be a big test for him.
In round one he faces another of the debutants but in my view, by far and away the best one. I have a lot of time for Lu Haotian. He broke through at a young age and had initial go on tour before dropping off after his two years. After taking a bit of time away from the game he has come back a lot stronger and is going to finish the year inside the top 64 despite only having one season's worth of points to his name. What a season it has been for Lu. A semi-final in Northern Ireland as well as making the last 16 in the UK Championships, beating Fu in the last 32 there. He may come across as a very small figure, but he has a certain confidence to his stride around the table, and this is matched when I have seen him walking around venues as well. Given the uncertainty with his opponent as well, I certainly think Lu has the best chance of getting a victory for the debutants.
Anthony McGill and Ryan Day is another very even match. McGill has been really unlucky again here I think. Last year he drew Stephen Maguire who was very much the qualifier to avoid and this year the same thing has happened. Things did not go well for him against Maguire last year losing quite convincingly and it would not be a huge shock if the same thing happened. McGill did play well at the Players Championship to beat John Higgins 6-0 before narrowly losing to Shaun Murphy but otherwise the second half to his season has been very hit and miss. This could be summed up nicely by him losing in the last 64 of the next tournament to a player that is not yet on the tour.
Day however must be on top of the world, having won three times this season and twice in the last couple of months overall. He also took down Mark Selby over the best-of-11 frames in the first round of the Players Championship, and even though he did get through the qualifiers with comfort, he still had to get past a very tough opponent in the final round by beating Peter Ebdon. Last season he was a seeded player and under that pressure he did not stand up losing easily to Xiao Guodong, but this year he has a lot of form and all the pressure is on McGill as the seed so this could be another match that goes the way of the qualifier. In fact, the 2008, 2009 and 2012 Crucible quarter-finalist is arguably playing his best snooker and given that he has favourable records against both of the front runners in this quarter (Ding and Hawkins) he could really have a big run here, and match his semi-final in this season's UK Championship.
My thoughts with Ding Junhui and the World Championships are similar to those on golfer Rory McIlroy and the Masters. This is the one tournament that interests Ding Junhui. 2016 was a huge reality check for Ding and the fact that he got to the final after coming through qualifying just shows that he is good enough to win this title in my view. In the last two years the fact is that Mark Selby was the only man that could stop him, beating him in the 2016 final and then again in the semi's last year, after Ding had played sublime snooker to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan a round previously. Had he beaten Selby in that incredibly close semi-final then you would have fancied him to beat Higgins in the final too in my opinion. The fact that he stated in the lead up to last year's World Championship that he wanted to win it for his Mum, who sadly passed away in early 2017, was a great sign. It showed huge determination and desire and this was matched when he got out onto the table. He displayed it to win a very tough match against Liang and then again when he played O'Sullivan. Arguably, this is one of the only things that Ding lacks because in some tournaments he seems as though he is not really that bothered. His season has been decent winning a title early in the season and then getting to the Grand Prix final in February, after suffering a bit of eye trouble in between times but that seems to be long gone now.
His first round opponent Xiao Guodong is a very dangerous player and he has improved further still since making the last 16 at the Crucible last year, reaching a few quarter-finals this season. Crucially though, Ding does have a very good record against Xiao so he will not be too unhappy with this draw. Ding was a convincing winner when the pair met recently at the China Open, and when Ding won the World Open earlier this season - beating Xiao at the last 32 stage of both competitions. Ding has also won their most major meeting, back in 2013 when they contested the Shanghai Masters final, and Xiao is now getting back to the form that took him to that final. For me though, Ding is a very strong contender for this title.
In round one he faces Stuart Carrington, who will be appearing at the Crucible for the third time. In his previous two appearances he has lost to Judd Trump and Liang Wenbo in a match he really could have won. However, when you are searching for your first win at the Crucible, drawing someone who has not lost in round since 2010 is probably not the best outcome. In the qualifiers, a late night 10-9 win against Nigel Bond, and hard fought 10-8 wins against Ben Woollaston and Zhang Anda will have taken a lot out of him and therefore, playing both sessions in one day here is again probably not the best draw for him either.
Marco Fu is someone nobody really knows how to judge for this year's tournament. Having not played since the Masters after eye surgery he will at the very least be fresh but perhaps not completely ready. When declaring he was playing at the Crucible he did not do so with confidence saying that his eyes are perhaps not as good as they could be. There is also a big difference between being fresh and being rusty, and Fu not playing under the bright TV lights for three months means that when he does it will be a big test for him.
In round one he faces another of the debutants but in my view, by far and away the best one. I have a lot of time for Lu Haotian. He broke through at a young age and had initial go on tour before dropping off after his two years. After taking a bit of time away from the game he has come back a lot stronger and is going to finish the year inside the top 64 despite only having one season's worth of points to his name. What a season it has been for Lu. A semi-final in Northern Ireland as well as making the last 16 in the UK Championships, beating Fu in the last 32 there. He may come across as a very small figure, but he has a certain confidence to his stride around the table, and this is matched when I have seen him walking around venues as well. Given the uncertainty with his opponent as well, I certainly think Lu has the best chance of getting a victory for the debutants.
Anthony McGill and Ryan Day is another very even match. McGill has been really unlucky again here I think. Last year he drew Stephen Maguire who was very much the qualifier to avoid and this year the same thing has happened. Things did not go well for him against Maguire last year losing quite convincingly and it would not be a huge shock if the same thing happened. McGill did play well at the Players Championship to beat John Higgins 6-0 before narrowly losing to Shaun Murphy but otherwise the second half to his season has been very hit and miss. This could be summed up nicely by him losing in the last 64 of the next tournament to a player that is not yet on the tour.
Day however must be on top of the world, having won three times this season and twice in the last couple of months overall. He also took down Mark Selby over the best-of-11 frames in the first round of the Players Championship, and even though he did get through the qualifiers with comfort, he still had to get past a very tough opponent in the final round by beating Peter Ebdon. Last season he was a seeded player and under that pressure he did not stand up losing easily to Xiao Guodong, but this year he has a lot of form and all the pressure is on McGill as the seed so this could be another match that goes the way of the qualifier. In fact, the 2008, 2009 and 2012 Crucible quarter-finalist is arguably playing his best snooker and given that he has favourable records against both of the front runners in this quarter (Ding and Hawkins) he could really have a big run here, and match his semi-final in this season's UK Championship.
My thoughts with Ding Junhui and the World Championships are similar to those on golfer Rory McIlroy and the Masters. This is the one tournament that interests Ding Junhui. 2016 was a huge reality check for Ding and the fact that he got to the final after coming through qualifying just shows that he is good enough to win this title in my view. In the last two years the fact is that Mark Selby was the only man that could stop him, beating him in the 2016 final and then again in the semi's last year, after Ding had played sublime snooker to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan a round previously. Had he beaten Selby in that incredibly close semi-final then you would have fancied him to beat Higgins in the final too in my opinion. The fact that he stated in the lead up to last year's World Championship that he wanted to win it for his Mum, who sadly passed away in early 2017, was a great sign. It showed huge determination and desire and this was matched when he got out onto the table. He displayed it to win a very tough match against Liang and then again when he played O'Sullivan. Arguably, this is one of the only things that Ding lacks because in some tournaments he seems as though he is not really that bothered. His season has been decent winning a title early in the season and then getting to the Grand Prix final in February, after suffering a bit of eye trouble in between times but that seems to be long gone now.
His first round opponent Xiao Guodong is a very dangerous player and he has improved further still since making the last 16 at the Crucible last year, reaching a few quarter-finals this season. Crucially though, Ding does have a very good record against Xiao so he will not be too unhappy with this draw. Ding was a convincing winner when the pair met recently at the China Open, and when Ding won the World Open earlier this season - beating Xiao at the last 32 stage of both competitions. Ding has also won their most major meeting, back in 2013 when they contested the Shanghai Masters final, and Xiao is now getting back to the form that took him to that final. For me though, Ding is a very strong contender for this title.
Quarter Winner: Ding Junhui
Quarter 4
First Round Draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark Williams Vs Jimmy Robertson (Tuesday 24 April 2.30pm and Wednesday 25 April 10am)
Neil Robertson Vs Robert Milkins (Tuesday 24 April 7pm and Wednesday 25 April 2.30pm)
Ali Carter Vs Graeme Dott (Saturday 21 April 7pm and Sunday 22 April 2.30pm)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Stephen Maguire (Saturday 21 April 2.30pm and Sunday 22 April 10am)
Mark Williams form this season has once again made him a Crucible contender as he seeks a third world title. The Welshman broke a long gap between ranking titles when he won at the Northern Ireland Open, a win that his start to the season suggested was always on the horizon, before only taking another two and a half months to win again as he breezed to the German Masters title. One thing that does stand out though for Williams is that he has only been to the one table set up once since he last won the title 15 years ago, as well as only reaching two quarter-finals in that period. However, his form across the season has been consistent and suggests that he is playing as well as he has done for a long time, so this may be the year that he has another big Crucible run. This could be especially so given that his recent World Championships record stated above will not bother him, because very little does, and this is the sort of mindset you need to do well in snooker's toughest test.
His first round opponent is Jimmy Robertson who is here at the Crucible for the fourth time but still searching for his first victory here. He is also searching for his first victory against Mark Williams having lost each of their previous six meetings, so victory here could be a big breakthrough for him. His route for qualifying started with an easy win against Alex Borg followed by back-to-back 10-7 wins against tough opponents in Sam Baird and Michael White. This has been one of Jimmy's best seasons ever, and he had his best ever run in a ranking event making the German Masters quarter-finals, a run Williams ended. While he has taken more frames each year of his three Crucible appearances to date, on this occasion he really has been handed a very tough task if he is to get that maiden success in the theatre of dreams.
Neil Robertson and Robert Milkins is a repeat of five years ago when Milkins overcame Robertson in the first round. I seem to remember that Robertson was quite heavily fancied that year and he still made the tournament high break despite losing to Milkins. The 2010 champion has only been back to the one table set up once in the seven years since that success, losing in the semi's to Selby in 2014. By contrast, he has lost in the first round three times, falling at the first hurdle in his 2011 defence when he played Trump, and in 2016 where Michael Holt got the better of him, as well as the 2013 exit. For a week in December Robertson had dipped out of the top 16, which was enough to keep him out of the Masters, following a last 32 exit at the UK Championships. The Australian went on to win the Scottish Open the next week, though that win was the first time he had made the semi-finals in a ranking event for nearly 15 months. He is now back up to 10 in the world rankings but it does not quite feel like he has kicked on, despite making the China Open semi-finals recently. Evidence of that would be heavy defeats to Mark Selby and Judd Trump in the World Grand Prix and Players Championships respectively.
Milkins came through qualifiers with easy wins against World Seniors winner Aaron Canavan and Michael Holt with a tough match against Scott Donaldson in between those two. He has nothing to lose here and I'm sure he will be happy enough to have drawn someone he has beaten on this stage before, as well as beating him earlier this season in the Northern Ireland Open. The pair also played a very even match in the 2015 Masters which Robertson narrowly won 6-4 before going on to make the final, and there is nothing to say that Milkins will not give Robertson another tough time here or even beat him again.
Speaking of repeats, you only have to cast your minds back one year to when Graeme Dott upset the odds and overcame Ali Carter at the Crucible. The victory for Dott on that occasion was 10-7 and after an improved season this time around he will certainly fancy the job again. In fact, when comparing their two seasons Dott is 15th on the provisional one season money list (including his guaranteed money for qualifying) while Carter is way down in 34th after a string of early exits throughout the season. These exits for Carter include at the last 64 stage of the China Open, Welsh Open, Scottish Open and the Northern Ireland Open as well as first round exits in the Masters, World Grand Prix and UK Championships.
Dott though has had one of his best season's for a long time. He was very impressive in making the final of the German Masters in February, as well as making the last 16 of the UK and China Championships with wins over Judd Trump in both. As well as his first round win last year against Carter as a qualifier, Dott has also had Crucible success as a qualifier in recent years when he overcame Ricky Walden in 2015 and as a former winner and two time runner-up there will be nothing but good memories when he enters the arena.
The same is also more than true for five time World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has been the best player this season by a mile but he now needs to back that up on the biggest stage of them all. Winning five ranking events this season will not mean as much to him if he is unable to win the World Championships. The key for O'Sullivan in his victories is that he has stepped up in the big events to take the UK Championships as well as the World Grand Prix and Players Championships, the last two of which he would describe as "numpty free zones". It may be five years since his last world title but in that time he lost in the final in 2014, as well as quarter-finals in 2015 and 2017. His last round one exit was in 2003 but this year he has a very tough opening obstacle in Stephen Maguire.
Maguire qualified with wins over Allan Taylor, Hammad Miah and a tough test against Hossein Vafei. The Scotsman looked decent in qualifying and proved dangerous as a qualifier last year when he then overcame Anthony McGill and Rory McLeod comfortably at the venue to make the quarter-finals. Maguire has also faced O'Sullivan twice this year in big matches, both semi-finals at the UK Championships and World Grand Prix and both times Maguire was on the wrong end of things. Overall, his record against O'Sullivan is not great but the same could be said of many a player, but that does not mean he cannot beat the Rocket in this one off encounter. On the whole though, everything about O'Sullivan's season suggests that he is well in the hunt for a sixth world title and if he's in the mood, he will take some serious stopping this year.
His first round opponent is Jimmy Robertson who is here at the Crucible for the fourth time but still searching for his first victory here. He is also searching for his first victory against Mark Williams having lost each of their previous six meetings, so victory here could be a big breakthrough for him. His route for qualifying started with an easy win against Alex Borg followed by back-to-back 10-7 wins against tough opponents in Sam Baird and Michael White. This has been one of Jimmy's best seasons ever, and he had his best ever run in a ranking event making the German Masters quarter-finals, a run Williams ended. While he has taken more frames each year of his three Crucible appearances to date, on this occasion he really has been handed a very tough task if he is to get that maiden success in the theatre of dreams.
Neil Robertson and Robert Milkins is a repeat of five years ago when Milkins overcame Robertson in the first round. I seem to remember that Robertson was quite heavily fancied that year and he still made the tournament high break despite losing to Milkins. The 2010 champion has only been back to the one table set up once in the seven years since that success, losing in the semi's to Selby in 2014. By contrast, he has lost in the first round three times, falling at the first hurdle in his 2011 defence when he played Trump, and in 2016 where Michael Holt got the better of him, as well as the 2013 exit. For a week in December Robertson had dipped out of the top 16, which was enough to keep him out of the Masters, following a last 32 exit at the UK Championships. The Australian went on to win the Scottish Open the next week, though that win was the first time he had made the semi-finals in a ranking event for nearly 15 months. He is now back up to 10 in the world rankings but it does not quite feel like he has kicked on, despite making the China Open semi-finals recently. Evidence of that would be heavy defeats to Mark Selby and Judd Trump in the World Grand Prix and Players Championships respectively.
Milkins came through qualifiers with easy wins against World Seniors winner Aaron Canavan and Michael Holt with a tough match against Scott Donaldson in between those two. He has nothing to lose here and I'm sure he will be happy enough to have drawn someone he has beaten on this stage before, as well as beating him earlier this season in the Northern Ireland Open. The pair also played a very even match in the 2015 Masters which Robertson narrowly won 6-4 before going on to make the final, and there is nothing to say that Milkins will not give Robertson another tough time here or even beat him again.
Speaking of repeats, you only have to cast your minds back one year to when Graeme Dott upset the odds and overcame Ali Carter at the Crucible. The victory for Dott on that occasion was 10-7 and after an improved season this time around he will certainly fancy the job again. In fact, when comparing their two seasons Dott is 15th on the provisional one season money list (including his guaranteed money for qualifying) while Carter is way down in 34th after a string of early exits throughout the season. These exits for Carter include at the last 64 stage of the China Open, Welsh Open, Scottish Open and the Northern Ireland Open as well as first round exits in the Masters, World Grand Prix and UK Championships.
Dott though has had one of his best season's for a long time. He was very impressive in making the final of the German Masters in February, as well as making the last 16 of the UK and China Championships with wins over Judd Trump in both. As well as his first round win last year against Carter as a qualifier, Dott has also had Crucible success as a qualifier in recent years when he overcame Ricky Walden in 2015 and as a former winner and two time runner-up there will be nothing but good memories when he enters the arena.
The same is also more than true for five time World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has been the best player this season by a mile but he now needs to back that up on the biggest stage of them all. Winning five ranking events this season will not mean as much to him if he is unable to win the World Championships. The key for O'Sullivan in his victories is that he has stepped up in the big events to take the UK Championships as well as the World Grand Prix and Players Championships, the last two of which he would describe as "numpty free zones". It may be five years since his last world title but in that time he lost in the final in 2014, as well as quarter-finals in 2015 and 2017. His last round one exit was in 2003 but this year he has a very tough opening obstacle in Stephen Maguire.
Maguire qualified with wins over Allan Taylor, Hammad Miah and a tough test against Hossein Vafei. The Scotsman looked decent in qualifying and proved dangerous as a qualifier last year when he then overcame Anthony McGill and Rory McLeod comfortably at the venue to make the quarter-finals. Maguire has also faced O'Sullivan twice this year in big matches, both semi-finals at the UK Championships and World Grand Prix and both times Maguire was on the wrong end of things. Overall, his record against O'Sullivan is not great but the same could be said of many a player, but that does not mean he cannot beat the Rocket in this one off encounter. On the whole though, everything about O'Sullivan's season suggests that he is well in the hunt for a sixth world title and if he's in the mood, he will take some serious stopping this year.
Quarter Winner: Ronnie O'Sullivan
Predicted World Champion: John Higgins
With the strength of that draw from top to bottom I believe that this will be one of the strongest and most exciting World Championships for a number of years. So many players could walk away with the title, while plenty of the seeded players are in for a tough time in round one.
Sit back, relax and enjoy as the next 17 days of snooker could be very special indeed.
