World Championship Snooker

This weekend sees the start of the World Snooker Championship. Below I shall try to pick through the early rounds of the draw and rate the players chances. John Higgins starts off against Liang Wenbo, a crucible favourite after his debut performances. A tough test for the Scot but one his matchplay should see him overcome. The winner of that will face Stuart Bingham or Stephen Hendry. Hendry had to qualify for this years Championships but now he has, who would bet against him. It won't be easy as Bingham has seen a rise in form but I think Hendry's craft should just see him get through. A tough first round match sees Graeme Dott take on Joe Perry. Both players are capable of long runs in the Worlds and this match is simply to close to call. It has the makings of a last frame decider. Whoever wins that will face the winner of Stephen Maguire or Luca Brecel. The Belgian won't be overawed by the crucible crowd but I think Maguire shuld win this match up. Shaun Murphy takes on Jamie Jones. Admittedly I don't know to much about Jones and he may falter under the crucible atmosphere. I'm picking Murphy to win that match. The winner will take on Stephen Lee or Andrew Higginson. This is hardly going to be a quick fire match but I think Stephen Lee will win this one. Ali Carter takes on Mark Davies. Carter should have enough to win this match as long as he keeps his emotions in check. The winner will face Judd Trump or Dominic Dale. You have to feel sorry for Dale with his luck in first round opponents. Trump will win this match. That is the easier half of the draw in my opinion. Potential quarter finals are; Higgins/Wenbo or Bingham/Hendry v Dott/Perry or Maguire and the other quarter final being Murphy or Lee v Carter or Trump In the bottom half of the draw Mark Williams takes on Liu Chuang. A potentially tricky encounter but I think Williams will come through. The winner of that faces Ronnie O'Sullivan or Peter Ebdon. O'Sullivan can either be brilliant or terrible and we won't know which until that first frame. If he is prepared to fight then I'll pick him to win. Martin Gould takes on David Gilbert. Gould's recent experiences will see him overcome Gilbert I think. The winner will face the winner of arguably the tie of the round in Neil Robertson and Ken Doherty. Which Doherty will turn up. I expect a cracking match and unfortunately for the neutrals, I think Robertson will win this. Ding Junhui opens up with a tough match against Ryan Day. If there is to be a shock in round one then this could be the tie. I think a tough game will be decider again by a frame or two. The winner of that finds Mark Allen or Cao Yupeng waiting. I think the frustrated Irishman will see off his Chinese competitor to set up another intriguing tie. Matthew Stevens faces a tough Marco Fu in the first round. Another match that is to tough to call and either player will just be happy to get through. The winner will face Mark Selby or Barry Hawkins. While Hawkins possesses the game to frustrate most players, in Selby he is against the best all round player. I think Selby will win that one. So the potential quarter finals in the bottom half are; Williams or O'Sullivan/Ebdon v Robertson and Ding Junhui/Day and Allen v Stevens/Fu and Selby Nearly time to sit back and simply enjoy the drama as it unfolds.