Who is going to win the 2019 World Championship?

[Hal]

Has ROS ever lost when it's down to the one table?

Yeah, multiple times. He has lost the final to Mark Selby and couple more times in semifinals - quick check, 4 times.

[JimMalone]

Each year when I read Odrl's and Jim Malone's write-ups I know the long waiting for the WSC has nearly come to an end. Thanks to both of you!
I predict Wilson vs. Robertson and Selby vs. Trump in the semis with Selby winning the final against Robertson.

Thanks for the thanks
Sadly I couldn't go more into depth in my analysis this time, well I would have had at the airport today, but thought I'd still have work to do

I'd really like to see the outcome of the world championship exactly the way you predicted.

[DeanH]

Has ROS ever lost when it's down to the one table?

Once as runner up and 5 semi finals

[Nina]

Thanks for a great text and fantastic analysis! Agree completely....I think Trump will win this years...

[Ronnie's tip]

I favor Trump. The biggest doubt for him is that he meets ROS in the 1/4 and Selby in the 1/2. Robertson in the top half would lose a final to Trump, ROS or Selby IMO, but I struggle to see him failing to make the final whereas Trump/ROS/Selby could all beat each other.

[kibo]

To be honest I’m less intrigued by the World Championships than over the last few years. Some of it has to do with this being a rather poor season with not a great standard of play by most notable players. Partly it’s also because my favourite players were doing especially poor. However this is the World Championship and therefore still the by far most exciting snooker period in the year for every fan.


When evaluating the players‘ chances of becoming the 2019 World Champion two names stand out for me:
Neil Robertson and Ronnie O’Sullivan both won three titles this year, among them the two most important ones with the China Open and the UK Championship respectively and they both clearly lead the way in terms of the One-Season-Rankings.


However when you are looking at the past years it was rarely the best player of the season, who also excelled at the World Championship and won Snooker’s most important title at Sheffield. The only one who did so that comes to my mind was Mark Selby in 2017. It bodes well for Robertson that Selby was also the only one in recent past who won the penultimate title in China before the World Championship along with the big one as well. So maybe Robertson can repeat that feat?
Or can O’Sullivan add a sixth World Crown to his tally? He is rightfully the bookie’s favourite, but when he was in that position that often didn’t go to well for him.



Now let’s have a look at the draw:


First Quarter:
Usually this would be a great section, but right now it might be the weakest quarter of the draw. There are three notable names, not least the defending champion Mark Williams, but he as well as Kyren Wilson and Barry Hawkins were not playing well and successful over the last few weeks. But Wilson and Hawkins are two players, who always keep their best for the World Championship, so there’s hope and I’d love to see a second-round-encounter between those two fighters and it's not unlikely, cause both of them play debutants first with Scott Donaldson and Li Hang respectively.

As for Mark Williams: We all know that since Stephen Hendry only Mark Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan were able to repeat as world champions. I doubt that the Welshman right now has the right mind to make this happen. Honestly I think he might have an early exit in Sheffield, despite his draw being not really tough on paper. Martin Gould is far off his best and while I think Joe Perry and David Gilbert could trouble pretty much any player there could have been much worse opponents in round two if Williams hadn't been world champion and thus the number one seed.

Semifinalist: Either Wilson or Hawkins, leaning towards the former.


Second Quarter:
Going just by names this is the most impressive quarter, featuring four world champions. But well, I said it in the opening paragraph: Many players have disappointed this season and this is true here as well. Except for Neil Robertson of course, who is among the top favourites for the title.

But along with Ding Junhui Shaun Murphy is the player who disappointed the most this season. He is just #41 in the one-year-ranking and really needs a good result in Sheffield to stay in the Top 16 next season. You never know with Murphy obviously. If he suddenly finds his game he can go deep and even win the whole thing, though I don't trust him right now to string five good performances together. His opening opponent is one of the young unpredictable chinese players with Luo Honghao. And I wouldn't be shocked if Murphy, who didn't play well at the Crucible in recent times, fell on the first hurdle again.

John Higgins wasn’t as bad as Murphy, but he can’t be happy with his level of play as well. He reached the final of the China Championship, but didn’t do much outside of this. And while he surprised me two years in a row with final appearances at the Crucible, I think his 2018/19 season was clearly inferior to his campaigns the years before. On top of this he plays Mark Davis first and we know how their history looks like...

I really think Neil Robertson couldn't have asked for a better quarter, in which Stuart Bingham might be his toughest rival for a semifinal spot and the Aussie has a very good record against the 2015 World Champion as well, winning all four meaningful matches between them. There's always the worry with Robertson that puts to much pressure onto himself or might be overconfident. However I find it hard to pick against him in this quarter.

Semifinalist: Neil Robertson.

Third Quarter:
If Judd Trump would be here as well I'd call this the quarter of crazy potters, but even without him you've got Zhao Xintong, Luca Brecel and Jack Liowski here and you might include Mark Allen to this list as well. At his peak I would have said this is a draw Mark Selby would feast on. He would have pulled the thumbscrews tight with his safeties and then converted his chances into breaks. But of course the last time he was playing really well for his standard was probably two years ago at the crucible, when he won the title in probably the most impressive manner in recent years. Has he still something of that game left? I really doubt it for the moment. He has been so erratic this season I wouldn't even be that surprised if he exited in the first round against Zhao. Cause even in the longer matches his dominance seems gone as well as the fear he stroke into his opponents. But if Selby manages to get through the early rounds and finds his groove, who knows?

I fully expect Gary Wilson to take out Luca Brecel to be honest and I think Selby would still beat him as well. The other part of this quarter is a bit stronger. I can see Lisowski - Carter going either way, but I've got a feeling that Carters matchplay might get him over the edge. Mark Allen is a bit of a riddle right now. I've read somewhere that his mind is right focused at snooker which wouldn't be good signs. However he should beat Zhou and might as well get into the rhythm then.

Semifinalist: I find this somehow tough to predict, cause Selby and Allen are mysteries. If Selby finds his game it will be him, but I don't count for it. I could actually see Ali Carter sneaking through here. But I'll pick Mark Allen.

Fourth Quarter:
Thanks to the draw my nightmare final between my two least favourite players Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump isn't an option this year, but I totally count on them meeing in the quarterfinals. Ronnie couldn't have asked for better opponents in the first two rounds. James Cahill is on paper the easiest qualifier and we all know that O'Sullivan loves playing against Maguire, who should beat Tian Pengfei. The only guy I could see prohibiting an encounter between Judd and Ronnie is Ding Junhui. If the chinese is in top form to me he is still the most complete player behind Selby and Higgins, but this if is such a huge if. Cause Ding's season was simply disastrous. I really doubt he has the mentality to be in contention for the title this year. The only hope is that I remember 2016, when nobody though that he would play a role at the Crucible and he made his first and so far only final back then.

Whom would I favour in the Trump - O'Sullivan match? Ronnie is the better and more complete player in my books, but Trump has certainly matured and he looked better against O'Sullivan than most do. It's a plus for Ronnie that this clash would come pretty early in the tournament, cause we know how demanding physically and mentally this World Championship is. Still I've got a feeling this could be Judd's year.

Semifinalist: Judd Trump

Semifinals:
Kyren Wilson beats Neil Robertson
Judd Trump beats Mark Allen

Final:
Judd Trump beats Kyren Wilson

Of course I hope I'm dead wrong.

Selby was amazing at his peak but unless he collects more titles under his belt he wont be remembered as one of the best in the game.

[Odrl]

Selby was amazing at his peak but unless he collects more titles under his belt he wont be remembered as one of the best in the game.

Well, if even Selby doesn't win another title for the rest of his career, the stats will show three World titles, two UK titles, three Masters titles, 14 major ranking titles, and world number 1 for virtually seven years in a row. So I don't see how he could possibly be remembered as anything other than one of the best. :wink:

[JimMalone]

Selby was amazing at his peak but unless he collects more titles under his belt he wont be remembered as one of the best in the game.

He certainly will. 3 World Titles have pretty much cemented this. Unless you want to reduce the "best in the game" in the modern era exclusively to Hendry, Davis, Reardon, O'Sullivan and John Higgins. If you add any other player you automatically have to include Selby as well.

[DeanH]

He certainly will.

he has an era of the World Championship named after him on Wiki, so his place in history is secure

[jrc750]

Selby was amazing at his peak but unless he collects more titles under his belt he wont be remembered as one of the best in the game.

How wrong can you be

[kibo]

Well, if even Selby doesn't win another title for the rest of his career, the stats will show three World titles, two UK titles, three Masters titles, 14 major ranking titles, and world number 1 for virtually seven years in a row. So I don't see how he could possibly be remembered as anything other than one of the best. :wink:

My mistake.
I even forgot he got three and not two WC titles .

[jrc750]

Well i've never been a betting man, but just opened an online account and stuck £10 on Trump to win

[Glasgowpunter]

I got Bingham at 40/1 a few months back before he really hit the form. That said I’ve had a terrible season but still really fancy him in that half of the draw.

[jrc750]

Well i've never been a betting man, but just opened an online account and stuck £10 on Trump to win

Also got £30 in free bets for being a newbie, so iv'e now got Trump, Selby, Robbo or Un nooh to win, surely i cannot lose there

[anish147]

Also got £30 in free bets for being a newbie, so iv'e now got Trump, Selby, Robbo or Un nooh to win, surely i cannot lose there

That's exactly what I was planning on doing...though I'd choose Bingham over Selby