World Championship Snooker

[Yen_Sid]

19th April - 5th May, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.


The first-round draw in full:

Ken Doherty Ire v Liang Wenbo Chn
John Higgins Sco v Matthew Stevens Wal
Ali Carter Eng v Barry Hawkins Eng
Ding Junhui Chn v Marco Fu HK
Mark Selby Eng v Mark King Eng
Peter Ebdon Eng v Jamie Cope Eng
Neil Robertson Aus v Nigel Bond Eng
Steve Davis Eng v Stuart Bingham Eng
Ryan Day Wal v Michael Judge Eng
Ronnie O'Sullivan Eng v Liu Chuang Chn
Mark Williams Wal v Mark Davis Eng
Graeme Dott Sco v Joe Perry Eng
Shaun Murphy Eng v Dave Harold Eng
Stephen Lee Eng v Joe Swail NI
Stephen Hendry Sco v Mark Allen NI
Stephen Maguire Sco v Anthony Hamilton Eng

[Yen_Sid]

Just over a month till this starts, thought I would get the thread going nice and early, give the enthusiasts plenty time to post up bets/fancies etc etc.

Will have a right good look myself over the coming weeks and post up my thoughts.

Good luck anyone having a punt on the snooker.

[Computer Guy]

ah, i see DD gave you one of her toys to use for an avatar like she did with me.

[Yen_Sid]

Competition.

Win tickets etc - here

[Yen_Sid]

Originally Posted by Computer Guy

ah, i see DD gave you one of her toys to use for an avatar like she did with me.

Now don't be filling up my nice snooker thread with filth.

[Bigkegman]

here are the odds from Stan James

World Championship 1st Rnd
19 Apr 10:00 Higgins, John 1/2 13/8 Stevens, Matthew
19 Apr 10:00 Robertson, Neil 2/7 5/2 Bond, Nigel
19 Apr 14:30 Lee, Stephen 4/6 6/5 Swail, Joe
19 Apr 14:30 Ebdon, Peter 4/5 EVS Cope, Jamie
19 Apr 19:00 Carter, Ali 4/7 11/8 Hawkins, Barry
20 Apr 10:00 Day, Ryan 2/5 15/8 Judge, Michael
20 Apr 14:30 Hendry, Stephen 10/11 10/11 Allen, Mark
21 Apr 10:00 Davis, Steve 11/8 4/7 Bingham, Stuart
21 Apr 14:30 Selby, Mark 2/9 3/1 King, Mark
21 Apr 19:00 Williams, Mark 2/5 15/8 Davis, Mark
22 Apr 10:00 Junhui, Ding 4/9 7/4 Fu, Marco
22 Apr 14:30 Dott, Graeme 4/5 EVS Perry, Joe
22 Apr 19:00 Murphy, Shaun 1/6 4/1 Harold, Dave
23 Apr 10:00 Doherty, Ken 4/9 7/4 Wenbo, Liang
23 Apr 14:30 O'Sullivan, Ronnie 1/10 6/1 Chuang, Liu
23 Apr 19:00 Maguire, Stephen 4/11 2/1 Hamilton, Anthony

[mrmuzeman]

The 4 best players of the season go off as the 4 lowest priced to win the tourny, no surprise there then. That would be

O'Sullivan 7/2
Selby 13/2
Maguire 7/1
Murphy 17/2

For people not in touch with how things have shaped up this season, heres who won what in chronological order (August through March) and in the brackets who they beat in the final.

Shanghai Masters - Dominic Dale (Day)
Aberdeen Grand Prix - Marco Fu (O'Sullivan)
Northern Ireland Trophy - Stephen Maguire (O'Brien)
UK Championship - Ronnie O'Sullivan (Maguire)
Masters - Mark Selby (Lee)
Malta Cup - Shaun Murphy (Doherty)
Welsh Open - Mark Selby (O'Sullivan)
China Open - Stephen Maguire (Murphy)

Seems weird seeing the older quality players such as the following at such high odds for this tourny

Doherty 35/1
Hendry 40/1
Williams 40/1
Ebdon 45/1

But thats why I showed whos been winning / making finals this season, as you can see all the above 4 mustered from the entire season was Dohertys runner up to Murphy in the Malta Cup, so they are justified to be higher odds than their younger counterparts.

Heres the drawsheet which is always worth a look to see whos got easier routes etc

Latest Drawsheet

[Yen_Sid]

Christ only 3 days away.

Excellent read there MrM, very interesting the amount of times O'Sullivan and Maguire pop up, definitely seem to be the form players then. I'll have a good look at this later today and get some stuff up.

[2damnhype]

I have been meaning to make a contribution here, but time looks as though it is going to get the better of me.

I have backed Ebdon to come through in the first round against Cope @ 5/6.
Cope is definitely a prospect for the future, but having reached 2 finals last season he has struggled this season. I feel that the longer matches and the Crucible bring the best out of Peter Ebdon, he has the experience and mental strength to grind it out where necessary, and against a player like Cope, whose temperament is questionable at times, I think these tip the balance in Ebdon's favour.

In terms of the outright it seems the most open for years, O'Sullivan is not a prohibitive favourite, but as has been said many times he definitely has the timeform squiggle.
Will try and put some research in tomorrow.

[Chief77]

John Higgins 0
Matthew Stevens 0

2 Ryan Day 0
Michael Judge 0

3 Ding Junhui 0
Marco Fu 0

4 Stephen Hendry 0
Mark Allen 0

5 Ronnie O'Sullivan 0
Liu Chuang 0

6 Mark Williams 0
Mark Davis 0

7 Stephen Lee 0
Joe Swail 0

8 Ken Doherty 0
Liang Wenbo 0

9 Shaun Murphy 0
Dave Harold 0

10 Allister Carter 0
Barry Hawkins 0

11 Mark Selby 0
Mark King 0

12 Peter Ebdon 0
Jamie Cope 0

13 Neil Robertson 0
Nigel Bond 0

14 Stephen Maguire 0
Anthony Hamilton 0

15 Steve Davis 0
Stuart Bingham 0

16 Graeme Dott 0
Joe Perry 0

Bolded the ones I reckon will win their 1st rd matches. Reckon Marco fu could upset Ding who hasn't really pushed on this season and has been on the whole disappointing. Mark Allen will also fancy his chances against Hendry. He knocked out Doherty last season in the 1st rd and if he's at his best he has a great chance of winning this one.

Few matches there I wouldn't touch with a 10 ft barge pole. Dott-Perry Robertson-Bond Carter-Hawkins and Davis-Bingham are all tough to call. This will be the 1st time in a few years I've not backed Ebdon but he's been bad this season and I can't see him making many waves this year.

Using the drawsheet I came up with this 1/4 final line up.

Higgins V Fu
Ronnie V FatFace Lee(Sorry Ken)
Murphy V Selby
Maguire V Perry

Right so for the Quarter betting I'm taking
Fu @8/1
Ronnie @1/2
Murphy @2/1
Maguire @11/8( He looks a cert for this 1/4, great draw for him)

Ronnie should win his quarter but he's Ronnie so taking himwith big money at 1/2 to prevail is a bit nuts if you ask me. However the 3/1 for the outright could look kinda big if he's in the mood, especially if Fu beats Higgins which will open up his side of the draw nicely. I'm hoping for another Murphy Maguire Semi Final. Think theres been 3 already this season with Maguire winning them all. They sort of hate each other so it would be a cracking semi if it came to pass.

Anyway I'm thinking it'll be a Ronnie Maguire Final and I'm gonna dutch the two of them for the outrights. Also taking the 10/1 for a Ronnie Maguire final and the 66/1 for a Fu Maguire Final.

1st Rd Matches:
Ebdon(-1.5) @Evens
Allen @5/6
Williams @1/3
Day(-2.5) @Evens
Ronnie(-4.5) @Evens

Quarters
Fu @8/1
Ronnie @1/2
Murphy @2/1
Maguire @11/8

Outrights:
Maguire @7/1
Ronnie @3/1

[engineer]

Great stuff, people

Hope for a profitable one

I'll make the thread sticky during the tournament.

[2damnhype]

Nice write up Chief - the 1/2 for Ronnie to win his quarter is a typo isn't it - there is plenty of 4/5 about.

[Chief77]

Originally Posted by 2damnhype

Nice write up Chief - the 1/2 for Ronnie to win his quarter is a typo isn't it - there is plenty of 4/5 about.

Yeah madea boo boo there alright 2damnhype. Should read 8/11.

Gonna dutch the 10-4, 10-5 and 10-6 scorelines in the Selby-King match. Double my money if any of the scorelines come in.

Selby to win 10-5 @6/1
Selby to win 10-6 @6/1
Selby to win 10-7 @7/1

[Chief77]

Originally Posted by Chief77

by-King match. Double my money if any of the scorelines come in.

Selby to win 10-5 @6/1
Selby to win 10-6 @6/1
Selby to win 10-7 @7/1

Selby crashes out! Unbelievable, first thingof note King has done since he challenged Quinten Hann to a fight 4 years ago!

Bad news for my dutching bet above but good news for my Murphy to win his quarter bet.

[mrmuzeman]

Now that Selby has gone, Murphys 1/4 has opened up tremendously and im gona take my 1st outright bet and back Murphy at just over 6/1 at Betfair. Dave Harold, Alli Carter and then King/Ebdon, very good quarter lined up there for him. I was gona totally hang fire and let the 1st round play its course but I think its worth it, without Selby in his 1/4 his chances are much improved.

The other im interested in is Ken Doherty. Im gona sit back and watch his 1st match against Liang Wenbo and see what he looks like. I saw him very early in the season (dont recall which tourny) and something about his demeanour and the way he was speaking in interviews, I just liked his attitude and I said to myself I bet he wins something this season. I see he got to the final of the Malta Cup recently so he must be playing some good stuff since to some extent anyway. If he gets past Wen Bo in good fashion his odds will still be 20/1+ so wont be prohibitive.

I was also interested in Maguire but Robertson is a bit of a livewire and he'll face him next so im steering clear of that.