2017 World Championship - Main Event

[VillaGuy]

What exactly did Murphy say?

[Byrom]

Basically he said I am not getting involved .... then he got involved - something n nothing really - handbags at dawn - adds a bit of spice and gets people talking about snooker though-so it's all good.

[Odrl]

A couple of words on the two matches that start tomorrow...

Ding Junhui v. Liang Wenbo: Only the second proper match between these two players. Ding won the first one, 10-8 in the 1st round of the 2009 World Championship, while Liang has won all of their matches in the short format. I think both players are in a very different place to where they were eight years ago, both appearing as seeded players here, with titles to their name this season. I think Ding produced the better performance in the 1st round. He scored very well, particularly in the first session when he took complete control of the match, and he seemed to enjoy himself and even had a joke or two. Liang's match, on the other hand, was serious business throughout, because Carrington's excellent performance in the first session meant Liang was on the back foot for a large part of the match. In the end he held his nerve a little better than his opponent, but he didn't really impress me with the way he got through. I think an in-form Liang can cause problems for any player, but Liang in average form isn't all that dangerous, and certainly not a match for Ding. The difference is that high scoring comes very naturally to Ding, because his cue-ball control and his touch among the balls are very good, so he inevitably has a good spell or two over the course of a long match. The only exception is the times when he just can't seem to be bothered for some reason, which admittedly happens quite often, but I am not expecting it here. So, for me, this match will largely depend on which Liang turns up. If he plays the way he can, I think this match could go very close. But if Liang is a little out of sorts, I think Ding could win quite comfortably. It will probably be somewhere between these two scenarios, so I will go for Ding to win 13-9. :smile:

John Higgins v. Mark Allen: For some reason these two keep meeting in tournaments this season, and it's 2-1 to Higgins so far in the proper matches. It's not just this season I suppose, they've had quite a nice rivalry over the years, with a number of matches between them on the big stage, and I would say the head-to-head is about even. Their only meeting in a really long match was in the semi-finals of the 2009 World Championship, when Higgins played some tremendous snooker in the first two sessions to take a 13-3 lead, but only won 17-13 in the end after a great comeback from Allen. That was eight years ago... At the time it was hard to imagine that Higgins would still be the favourite if they met eight years later, because he is over 40 now, whereas Allen should be in his prime, but the balance of power hasn't really changed all that much. Higgins still has the top game that is tough for Allen to match, and Allen still doesn't have the kind of consistency that would see him play well most of the time. The only difference now is that Higgins has lost most of his consistency as well, so it really comes down to their form on the day. Obviously Higgins produced one of the better performances of this Championship so far in his 1st round win over Gould, but Allen played better than he usually does as well, although he did so against a less formidable opponent. I think this will be quite a fast and fluent match, with perhaps a few shifts in momentum along the way. But ultimately, I think Higgins is the more likely of the two to find an extra gear in one of the sessions and make a difference in his favour, so I will go for Higgins to win 13-10. :smile:

Looking forward to it. :smile:

[PatBlock]

It's almost as if Murphy's tactic of trying to get under Ronnie's skin hasn't spectacularly backfired. Exactly like it did last time they played here. Maybe one day he'll learn to keep his mouth shut.

You think he'd learn wouldn't you, how many times have we seen this from him before?

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[the lone wolf]

BBC? Get charged a license fee and they can't deliver...
Luckily there's always the home of snooker!

[the lone wolf]

And we're back in the room.

[mikeyd100]

How many of you are going to set up and try Murphy's superb shot - I certainly will.

Hope he starts to give Ronnie a good fight though.

[itsnoteasy]

Just watching a wee bit about making 147s at the crucible and seeing a young Ronnie smiling . Just seeing the joy and the absoloute love of the game in his face and then to see him today, it all seems such a chore for him now.

[Odrl]

I can't believe Bingham managed to lose the frame from that position. To put 35 minutes into a frame and then play one crap shot after another when you only need one more ball... Up there with the frame he lost against Ebdon. :wink:

[Cue crafty]

You think he'd learn wouldn't you, how many times have we seen this from him before?

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The trouble with Murphy is no matter what happens, even if he gets completely hammered by ROS, in his mind he will still be the righteous and morally superior winner. Its etched in his face and evident through those strange Pious and pompous expressions he gurns.

[Billy]

I hope the beeb get things fixed for the 1pm slot

[JimMalone]

A few quick thoughts to the quarterfinals that are already fix:

Mark Selby (1) - Xiao Guodong (44)
On paper Selby has one of the easier tasks of the second round with World Number 44 Xiao Guodong. The defending champions as expected hadn't much trouble with Fergal O'Brien. And while he played a few good frames in the beginning he didn't need to play nearly his best. Xiao beat Ryan Day suprisingly easily 10-4 (though it could have been closer), but he will have to play his best to challenge Selby.
Both met only twice and those matches (both won by Selby) were in 2010 and 2011 respectively and just over Best-of-7. It's the first time for the Chinese to be in the 2nd round of the World Championship and in a Best-of-25-Match. He is playing really, really good, losing only 14 frames (of 54) in qualifying and first round, but will it be good enough for Selby? He can do damage, but I still go with Selby 13-8.

Shaun Murphy (5) - Ronnie O'Sullivan (12)
A duel that got a bit more salt from Ronnies controversy with World Snooker Association and Murphys comments on it. Usually such a controversy ads something to O'Sullivans game. Here it is also the case that O'Sullivan always had Murphys number. They met twice in the World Championship and the five-time world champion won both encounters. A 13-10 in 2011 was followed by a 13-3 thrashing in 2014. A weakness by Murphy certainly is that he is mainly an attacking player and doesn't really have such a great all-around game as it is advisable against O'Sullivan, who likes to play the types like Murphy because he can profit from their mistakes.
Also I liked Ronnie better in the first round here than Murphy, who should get courage out of the fact that he won their last duel - 5-4 at the 2015 German Masters. This time O'Sullivan will prevail - 13-8.

Liang Wenbo (13) - Ding Junhui (4)
The battle of China. The two best players of the country, if we exclude Marco Fu, who plays under the flag of Hongkong. They actually met only once in a tournament of note. At the 2009 World Championship Ding won 10-8. But Liang is definitely a more accomplished player now. He can pot extremely well and has grown mentally as well. Still Ding is definitely the better and especially the more consistent player, also the more experienced one, which can make a difference in the Crucible.
Both had flashes were they played very well in the first round, but Liang also seemed a bit nervous sometimes to me. Overall Dings performance impressed me more. I feel he is playing quite freely compared to other years, though pressure could get to him, when playing a countryman, where he is the favorite. He did well with this challenge in the first round though and while Liang is clearly better than Zhou I say Ding will advance to the quarterfinals for a third time in the row by winning 13-9.

Stuart Bingham (3) - Kyren Wilson (14)
One interesting duel after the other. And this is one more. Both met just a few weeks ago at the China Open, when Kyren Wilson won 5-2. The younger player also won their only other meeting in a ranking event at the 2013 Shanghai Masters as well as two more games in the Championship League. So does Wilson have an advantage in those duels or is it Stuart Binghams time to shine now. Bingham needs a good result at this event to stay at a high ranking and I liked him better than Wilson in the opening round. He mostly needed more chances against Ebdon, and this is something where both players are quite similar, though overall Bingham is the superior break-builder, which could make a difference here.
Wilson though needed even more chances against Grace and could be thankful to have not such a strong opponent. He often run out of position and missed some crucial pots and this generally seems Wilsons main problem for me. The question is: Will Bingham gift him as many chances? In my preview I picked an upset by Wilson here. And Bingham hasn't made enough in the first round to overrule me so for now I'll stand with it and say Wilson to win 13-11.

John Higgins (6) - Mark Allen (11)
Higgins left one of the best impressions of the first round to me. He was in control nearly all time against Martin Gould, one of the most dangerous qualifiers, and made 10 breaks of at least 50 points en route to a 10-6 victory. Allen somehow has often been a tough opponent for Higgins. They met in 8 ranking events with both winning four, though Higgins was winning the most important ones, especially their World Championship semifinal in 2009. But Allen beat him twice at the Masters therefore. They also met four times this season with Higgins winning at the China Championship (9-3) and the UK Championship (6-3) in a spell when both were playing their best snooker of the season. This of course shows that in top form Higgins is the better player and the favorite.
The Scotsman wasn't playing well since new year though and Allen took advantage of this fact in beating him at the Masters (6-5) and the Gibraltar Open (4-1), despite the World Number 11 himself wasn't in good shape this spring. He also had quite good luck with the draw at the Crucible I think, while Higgins looked very comfortable. He did so last year as well though, before succumbing to Alan McManus. These days Higgins form can change dramatically from one match to another, but I still think he will sustain at a high level in this match and win 13-7.

Stephen Maguire (24) - Rory McLeod (54)
The duel of the outsiders, who came through. As some have mentioned McLeod could represent an unconveniant opponent for Maguire, leading the Scotsman to lose his temper once again. I think that Maguire is the much better player though. Important for him will be to get an early lead, then he should feel comfortable and beat McLeod, who was very lucky, that Trump (injured or not) played as terrible as he did. If McLeod keeps it the match close, his better mentality could make Maguire troubles though. I just think that Maguire is happy to be in the next round and will go one further. 13-6 to Maguire.

Neil Robertson (9) - Marco Fu (8)
Fu was already all but out, when he trailed Luca Brecel by 1-7, but recovered to win 10-9. It wasn't all about Fu though. He indeed lifted his game in the second part of the match dramatically, but still his belgian opponent helped him a lot with weak decisions and mistakes. Those are things we have seen also from Neil Robertson this season though. I can't even say how he played against Noppon Saengkham in his convincing 10-4 victory, cause I didn't see this except the last few frames.
I think much here depends on Fu's mental state. How did his comeback help him, how much confidence can he draw from it? Often such a victory after a near out is very helpful. Fu also won the only duel of those two this season, a 4-3 at the Scottish Open, and he has been the better player this year for sure. For me this is the most difficult match to predict, cause Robertsons level of play is even more inconsistent these days than that of other snooker players. Robertson often goes out in fantastic matches at the World Championship as in his 2014 semifinal against Mark Selby or his 2015 quarterfinaly against Barry Hawkins. He'll have another chance here and I'll go with a 13-12 victory for Fu.

Barry Hawkins (7) - Graeme Dott (30)
I wasn't that surprised as most others that Dott beat Carter (I actually picked the Scotsman to win this). Now he plays an opponent of similiar characteristic in Barry Hawkins. A very good player with soild all-around game who just isn't among the very best, but who also has been to the World Championship Final. I think Hawkins is the better player than Carter though these days and especially has the better temper. He has a very good season, being the fourth best player this season and he loves playing in the Crucible. So despite Dott won their only recent meeting of any meaning at the 2015 German Masters I can't see him beating Hawkins in the same way as Carter. The Welsh Open were the only tournament this season, where Dott made it further than the second round and I don't see this happen here. Even with his fighting spirit, Hawkins is the superior player and quite solid these days. 13-8 to Hawkins.

[JimMalone]

Ding has a solid 6-2 lead after the first session.

[JimMalone]

Wilson clenched the fist after the last frame and rightfully so. He needed a foul of Bingham and got this after a great snooker. With a free ball he came back to steal the frame and go out of the session with a 9-7 lead, keeping the 2-frame-gap, despite Bingham was the better player for most of this session.

[Odrl]

Here we go again, Bingham loses another frame where his opponent needed a snooker, so instead of levelling at 8-8, it's now 9-7 to Wilson.

To be fair, Wilson did lay a great snooker, tight behind the pink, with the red in baulk touching the yellow. But still, for Bingham to lose this frame, he first broke down on his initial break, then played an awful safety to leave Wilson in, then missed the snooker, left a free ball... I don't know what he is thinking in this Championship, but he won't be winning this match if he continues like this. Wilson, on the other hand, does indeed resemble Selby in the way he plays and gets frames on the board, at least in this match. There is still a lot of room for improvement though. :smile: