The Last 16 commences
Once 16 players have progressed and 16 are out of the way, it’s time to look forward to the second round which gets underway on Thursday to a notional 50% crowd, though based on the take up in Round 1, I’d not get too excited about that.
Anyway, these are obviously now played over the best of 25 over three sessions, just click on the match to take you to the head to head stats and the safe haven for all anoraks that is Cue Tracker.
TABLE 1
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Anthony McGill
Thurs 1pm, Fri 10am/7pm
Ronnie took a while to get going in Round One against Mark Joyce, whether that was down to his own mood or the fact the table was playing badly in the first session I don’t know but what is for certain is that when he did get going he looked as good as ever and that is a good sign for his fans. He told Rob afterwards that the fans had ‘plenty more to look forward to’ which knowing Ronnie is a cryptic way of him saying that he’s here to defend his title successfully, but who knows? As for McGill, he did what he had to do against Ricky Walden who doesn’t really seem to be able to raise his game to the level he used to these days and McGill pulled away impressively at the end and never looked like losing. The head to heads here show that in six attempts, the Scot is yet to beat Ronnie but we know that McGill tends to save his best form for The Crucible and they have never met here. I think the clues are there that Ronnie is bang up for this and fancies his chances of retaining the title so I’d not rush in to back against him just yet. This has a feel of a match where O’Sullivan takes command at the start and McGill never quite gets back on level terms.
PREDICTION: O’Sullivan 13-7
BETS: O’Sullivan -4.5 frames at 5/6. Over 4.5 centuries in the match at 10/11.
Sun 10am/7pm, Mon 1pm
Heralded on the BBC as being a ‘massive shock’ Jamie Jones came from 3-1 down to absolutely steamroller Stephen Maguire in the last round, looking exactly the same determined, tenacious and busy player that he looked when he qualified. To me at least, that result was very predictable and far from the skyscraper shocker that some may pretend it was. Bingham came through the mill in a three session thriller against Ding and it’s the two qualifiers who do battle for a Quarter Final place. Avid readers and followers will know that I think Jones may be this year’s Gilbert/Gary Wilson/McGill (delete as appropriate) and I’m still convinced that he’s got the game to really make a name for himself in this. Bingham remains one of the biggest names in the sport and his scoring of late has been extremely impressive so I expect this to be a fast paced high scoring affair. Of the two in the first round I think Jamie made less mistakes but Stuart looked the more comfortable in the balls so it’s a really tough one to call. The bookies make Bingham a very heavy favourite, I don’t think it’s anything like that clear cut so that to me means there is some value out there.
PREDICTION: Jones 13-11
BET: Jones -1.5 frames at 11/4. Bingham over 2.5 centuries in the match at 11/10.
Fri 2.30pm, Sat 10am/7pm
What more can be said about these two that hasn’t already been said? 29 years as professionals and still at the top of the sport. Many may have believed that their last epic encounter here in 2018 when Williams made off with the trophy on his way to a season long bender was to be their last, but no, three years later they are here again and both have live and realistic aspirations of landing yet another title to their tally. Of the two, Williams was most impressive in the first round, Higgins was uncharacteristically poor but I think it’s unlikely that he’ll play like that again, if he does, it goes without saying that he’ll lose. Williams seems very relaxed, confident even in so much as talking up his chances for a change. He’s still a fantastic asset to the sport and even though he has his critics for his negative break-off shot you can’t underestimate his thought patterns behind it, he is doing it for a reason that he thinks benefits him and to hell with the critics. I think they’ll again bring out the best in each other here and to me Williams has the look of a player with another big run on his mind.
PREDICTION: Williams 13-11
BET: Williams to win at 6/4. Over 22.5 frames in the match at 11/10
Sat 2.30pm, Sun 2.30pm, Mon 7pm
The immediate thing you notice on the head to head stats between these two is that of the 12 times they have faced each other, no fewer than 7 times they have gone to a decider, with the 6-5 scoreline being an incredibly regular outcome. On first round showings there is also little to choose between them with them both scoring runaway wins to get here, so all the evidence points to another very close match here. Allen was my pick to make it out of this half at the beginning and I don’t see any reason to change my mind but whoever emerges from this as the winner is obviously a massive contender to win it, Selby looked more or less back to his best but he wasn’t tested in the first round and Allen’s opponent similarly offered little resistance so they both come into this fresh and unscathed. Sit back and enjoy.
PREDICTION: Allen 13-12
BET: Over 22.5 frames in the match at 11/10
TABLE 2
Neil Robertson v Jack Lisowski
Thurs 7pm, Fri 2.30pm, Sat 10am
The head to head record between these two shows that in 5 attempts, Jack is yet to get the better of Neil with their last meeting being over 19 frames in the recent Tour Championship with Robbo coming out a comfortable 10-5 winner. Jack is another who came through a really tense first round and the way he held himself together in the decider against Ali Carter shows how much he’s developing as a player in the more tense situations. Neil on the other hand did an absolute demolition job on Liang and looks very much like he’s bringing his recent form here with him to the main event. Neil is a heavy favourite to win this match and on that this time I agree with the bookies, Jack, despite his impressive win, was still missing balls against Carter which he won’t get away with missing here, he’s also not in the same county as Neil when it comes to the tactical side of things. I think the only way Jack can beat Neil here is by playing near on no miss snooker for three sessions and that is a very tall order for anyone.
PREDICTION: Robertson 13-7
BET: Over 4.5 centuries in the match at 5/6.
Fri 10am/7pm, Sat 2.30pm
Two of the most consistent Crucible performers meet up in what is likely to be a very high quality encounter judging by their first round form. I’ve been so impressed with Kyren recently, the one part of his overall game that was lacking, the heavy scoring, is now well and truly fixed and I can’t actually think of any weakness in his game. He can score, he is tactially astute and his temperament is superb. As for Barry, I’ve been guilty in the past a few times of underestimating him and it’s come back to bite me on the backside. He hardly missed a ball when let in against Selt, OK Selt had lots of chances early on in frames so Barry will need to tighten up on that side of things, but when he missed the Hawk well and truly swooped and won deceptively easily if you just take the scoreline at face value. I think Kyren just has the edge here but these two are really evenly matched so I’d not bother with the match odds, instead I can’t see any way that this won’t be close.
PREDICTION: Wilson 13-12
BET: Over 22.5 frames in the match at Evens. Kyren to make more than 2 centuries at 11/8.
Sat 7pm, Sun 2.30pm, Mon 7pm
Masters Champion Yan made his Crucible debut 4 years ago against Murphy, he gave him a bit of a scare but the seed emerged on that occasion a 10-7 winner. A lot has changed since then and Murphy has had a quiet season while his opponent has been busy scooping up his first triple crown win, presumably of many. The last time they met was over a year ago and Yan dished out a right old pasting to Shaun so there is a score to settle on Murphy’s part to cancel out that Crucible first rounder. This is another that I think will go very close and might be decided with not many frames to spare. I think Yan looked the stronger of the two in his first round performance so on the strength of that alone I’ll side with him to just nick it.
PREDICTION: Yan 13-10
BET: No Bet.
Sun 10am/7pm, Mon 1pm
Another potentially mouth-watering second rounder if Dave Gilbert can carry over his first round form to a meeting with the championship favourite. The first round was the best Gilbert has played all season and he seemed to be thoroughly satisfied with himself afterwards. As with Mark Allen, sometimes a quiet (let’s not beat about the bush, not very good) season can focus the mind and he’ll approach this match I’m sure with a ‘nothing to lose, everything to gain’ attitude and that makes him dangerous. Judd was eager to stress (three times in about two minutes) that he wants to play ‘with a smile on his face’ this year, he’s not making a very good job of it as he still doesn’t always look that happy out there but perhaps I’m taking this too literally. Expect a wide open attacking match with plenty of frames decided in one visit.
PREDICTION: Trump 13-11
BET: Gilbert +4.5 frames at 5/4
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