World Snooker Championships

[Charlie Wong]

Re: World Snooker Championships already got Selby AP at 10/1 Ronnie's bound to attract alot of support, my only concern is whether the rocket 'blows up' during the tournie, best player in the world but can lose it, as he's shown on previous occasions. aswell as Selby, Higgins is a solid match player, been there and done it before, looks very fair at 12/1, his tester will be against Ding(providing they both get that far).

[Wanderer89]

Re: World Snooker Championships Already lumped on ronnie winning his quater, generous odds considering who's in it, docherty being 2nd fav for the quater. Selby as a value bet for title

[kevshat]

Re: World Snooker Championships

Selby as a value bet for title

I beg to differ. I don't think there's any value in Selby at 13/2. There may have been value at 10s and 12s but not for me at 13/2. He looked tired in China and he's had a long old season. I prefer fresher players at Sheffield.

[Papper boy]

Re: World Snooker Championships hello... now maybe too early for picks but i will post some matches where i can see a winner and the odds are not so low.. Bingham to beat Davis 1.62 pinny I know that steve isnt gone yet..but his breakbuildnig skills are preety limited now and he often lose a position when among the balls...Stuart good matchplayer nothing special but sholud clinch it.. Swail to beat Lee 2.280 pinny SWail played a nice match with young gun Trump...Lee showed some good performances on non ranking events but in my eyes these odde on the Ireland man are too big Hawkins - Carter over 16.5 1.8 pinny we all remember what happened last time they played Catrer had the match in his hands and then Barry made a nice comeback.. Maybe Carter a bit better player but barry is a fighter and i see a close one again here Perry to beat Dott 1.66 pinny Maybe Grahme woludt even participate in Sheffieldhttp://www.sportinglife.com/snooker/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=snooker/08/04/12/SNOOKER_Dott.html but if he does i dont expect him to progress over A fighter like perry... Perry inst a perfect breakbuilder but he alwais give his best and like the big format.....dont see dott change his style in a week or two i wolud aprecciatre if someone will make a critic

[Wanderer89]

Re: World Snooker Championships

hello... now maybe too early for picks but i will post some matches where i can see a winner and the odds are not so low.. Bingham to beat Davis 1.62 pinny I know that steve isnt gone yet..but his breakbuildnig skills are preety limited now and he often lose a position when among the balls...Stuart good matchplayer nothing special but sholud clinch it.. Swail to beat Lee 2.280 pinny SWail played a nice match with young gun Trump...Lee showed some good performances on non ranking events but in my eyes these odde on the Ireland man are too big Hawkins - Carter over 16.5 1.8 pinny we all remember what happened last time they played Catrer had the match in his hands and then Barry made a nice comeback.. Maybe Carter a bit better player but barry is a fighter and i see a close one again here Perry to beat Dott 1.66 pinny Maybe Grahme woludt even participate in Sheffieldhttp://www.sportinglife.com/snooker/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=snooker/08/04/12/SNOOKER_Dott.html but if he does i dont expect him to progress over A fighter like perry... Perry inst a perfect breakbuilder but he alwais give his best and like the big format.....dont see dott change his style in a week or two i wolud aprecciatre if someone will make a critic

Apart from that one match were he did ok hasn't swail been terrible this year? Especially in the malta cup, he was awful! i'm leaning more towards lee on this one.

[stuart]

Re: World Snooker Championships I can't believe Hendrys down at 40s this year. I know he's been totally guff in the last few years but i still remember when he was a stick on to win every year. How times have changed... I usually say that dings gonna do well since he came onto the scene but to be honest i dont fancy him at all this year. he seems to have lost his bottle a little in recent big tournaments. I might back maguire if i bet on the outrights and I'll definately look at him to win his quarter. He's come on leaps and bounds recently and being the best scottish hope this year I'd feel bad no supporting him :ok

[Papper boy]

Re: World Snooker Championships

Apart from that one match were he did ok hasn't swail been terrible this year? Especially in the malta cup' date=' he was awful! i'm leaning more towards lee on this one.[/quote'] yep not a good seson but had some victories in aberdeen and fancy the price and expect close one...

[Papper boy]

Re: World Snooker Championships Dott decides to make a world challenge http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/snooker/display.var.2203096.0.Dott_decides_to_make_a_world_challenge.php

[Wanderer89]

Re: World Snooker Championships

Dott decides to make a world challenge http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/snooker/display.var.2203096.0.Dott_decides_to_make_a_world_challenge.php

Worth backing perry then i rekon.

[stuart]

Re: World Snooker Championships

Worth backing perry then i rekon.

Seems like a good call. I still dont know how dott ever won the worlds.

[mowgli77]

Re: World Snooker Championships How has Neil Robertson done this year? I backed him last year and feel on his day he is a terrific player and seems to be in the better half of the draw.

[Mr Intensity]

Re: World Snooker Championships Taking a view in the quarters.... Quarter 1 HIGGINS @ 3.75 Skybet. This looks like a pretty tough quarter, but I'm willing to back Higgins at this price. He hasn't been great this season, but seems to have played pretty well just not getting the wins in short formats. Back to long matches and I expect him to do well, and make the semis at least. He plays Stevens first, and it's easy to argue that he always steps up for the Worlds but to be honest I think he's gone, and I think Higgins takes that down comfortably. Then it's Day or Judge, so probably Day. Over a short match I'd fancy Day to take it but 25 frames you have to give a big edge to Higgins. Then the next section is very interesting, being between Ding, Fu, Hendry and Allen. No idea who'll come through that but I'm willing to take Higgins against any of them. Quarter 2 DOHERTY @ 6 VC. Taking a chance here going against O'Sullivan. Mentally you never know where he is, and he could have a tough couple of matches against Williams and Doherty to win this quarter. Doherty has been in good form this season, and could be due another big run here. Got a decent starter against Wenbo then the winner of Lee/Swail both of which I think Doherty should be decent favourite against. Needing some luck to get this done, but the price is reasonable. Quarter 3 SELBY @ 2.75 Skybet. Might seem a little short, but I just see Selby coming through! Selby has been excellent this year, his break building has improved and he looks like the best match player in the world. Had a poor match against Murphy in China, but I don't see that as such a bad thing. Could serve as a reality check and he's had a few weeks to get over it and get prepared for this week. He should be very comfortable against King, then face showdowns against Ebdon and Cope. Ebdons mind games and slow play won't affect Selby as it does other players, he'll just respond in kind! That match might take a while, but I see Selby pulling away and taking it something like 13-8 or 13-9. Then should be Murphy which will be a big battle, but I'd rather have Selby on my side. Quarter 4 MAGUIRE @ 2.4 Boylesports. Another fav, but I don't see Maguire having any problems in this quarter. He's been in excellent form this year and I look for him to perform well here. It looks a pretty weak quarter with guys like Robertson and especially Dott out of form. Don't expect much from old-timers Davis and Bond and Bingham, Hamilton and Perry aren't in the same class as Maguire. I can't see anyone getting close to Maguire and anything over evens looks very good for this bet.

[Mr Intensity]

Re: World Snooker Championships

How has Neil Robertson done this year? I backed him last year and feel on his day he is a terrific player and seems to be in the better half of the draw.

I read that and the only word that sprung to mind was "wank":ok He's had some tight losses....hasn't play too bad....not won much....wank:lol:lol

[Mr Intensity]

Re: World Snooker Championships Onto the match betting.... EBDON @ 1.83 Sportingbet. Got to go for Ebbo at this price. Cope seems to have had some cueing problems this year and his form has really fallen away. Over a longer format, I see him having a lot of problems in this one. Ebbo bases his whole year around this event and I expect him to turn up well prepared. I really think this short be a lot shorter, something like 1.55-1.6.

[kevshat]

Re: World Snooker Championships

How has Neil Robertson done this year? I backed him last year and feel on his day he is a terrific player and seems to be in the better half of the draw.

Hasn't had the best of seasons mate but as you'll see below I like him to do some damage this week. He was in no form at all then earlier this week in the Championship League (Premier League qualifying tournament broadcast on the net) he suddenly started hammering in century after century!! Could be coming into this at the right time and I always prefer to have fresh players coming in here. 4 outrights for me. 4pts S.Murphy to win World Championship 8/1 Betfred Other than being in the trickier half of the draw, Shaun Murphy ticks all the boxes coming into this event. He scores so well that he will be able to win matches by a comfortable enough margin that mental tiredness shouldn't play too much of a part, his safety game has improved no end and he's as consistent as anyone. He's already been the distance here so he knows how to pace himself when it comes to winning this and there's little doubt he's a better all round player now than he was when he lifted the trophy. He's won a couple of tournaments this season and is playing really well. Mark Selby is the obvious problem but Selby was beaten by Murphy in China and Selby could fall short this week. Knowing what it takes to win this is a massive head start IMO and with almost everything on his side I'll go with the god lover to win his 2nd world crown. 2pts R.Day to win 1st Quarter 8/1 Stan James Ryan Day has had a really good season this term, particularly in China. He made the final of the Shanghai Masters at the start of the season and then made the semi finals of the China Open last month. He's a heavy scorer who if the draw opens up, and it easily could if Stevens beats Higgins on the opening day, could easily see his way through to a semi final. His safety game isn't the best but looking down the list of players in this quarter, Higgins aside, who's is? Day's in form though and he's the sort of player who can catch fire and make at least the semis. 2pts M.Williams to win 2nd Quarter 8/1 Sportingbet Mark Williams has started showing signs that he could be coming into form again. He made the quarter finals in China last month and that came after a couple of last 16's. He made the quarter finals in the UK Championship and he's won this twice so he knows how to come through the draw. If his game is on then even with O'Sullivan in this quarter 8/1 is a silly price. O'Sullivan often gets bored and does something stupid during the 17 days of this event so Williams could be the one to capitalise on that should any slip arrive and make it to another world semi final. 2pts N.Robertson to win 4th Quarter 10/3 Totesport Neil Robertson has had an awful season but in the long run here that might play into his hands. He's not going to be tired at any stage of this event and his game appears to be coming back at just the right time. He had an excellent run in the Championship League earlier this week where he was potting balls from everywhere and knocked in 6 centuries in the two days. Stephen Maguire is an obvious danger in this quarter but he's played a lot of snooker this season and the fresher man could just prevail there. Overcome Maguire and a semi final spot beckons for the Melbourne Machine and I'll take him to win the bottom quarter.

[kevshat]

Re: World Snooker Championships 2 match bets for tomorrow. Will put the rest of the 1st round bets up when I get back from Notts Forest tomorrow. 10pts P.Ebdon to beat J.Cope 5/6 Sportingbet Peter Ebdon beat Jamie Cope last month in China. He beat him well too 5-1 and the one thing we know about Ebdon is he'll turn up for this. This event means everything to him and he never comes here underprepared. In truth there isn't a lot between these two in terms of ability but mentally they are on different planets. This match could well come down to who takes the scrappier frames and that's likely to be Ebdon. I'd have Ebdon clearer favourite than a pick em line so he's the call at 5/6. 10pts A.Carter -1.5 frames to beat B.Hawkins Evs Blue Square Ali Carter is a solid player who usually performs solidly enough here at Sheffield and when he's on song he can break build with the best of them. He's had a couple of solid performances on the circuit this season too. His safety game has improved big time and if can get in from of Hawkins he could be over the hill pretty quickly as he's usually a good front runner. Hawkins is a solid player but you don't see him winning too many frames in one visit. Since the turn of the year that's exactly what Carter's been doing and I think he'll just have too much for Hawkins and can beat him 10-8 or better.

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: World Snooker Championships Outrights, 27.5 pts staked: Maguire 7/1 5 pts e.w and 7.5 pts to win his quarter 7/5. The snooker world has been quite open the last 2 years or so (ie. not a dominant force, lots of different winners) and maybe you can go back even further in saying that but i would say that this season four players (Murphy, Selby, O'Sullivan and of course Maguire) have just started to pull away from the others a touch and thats evident in that the winner of every tournament since Shanghai has come from those 4. Of the four, Maguire can claim imo to be in the best form and the fact he tops the year ranking list shows that. He has two rankings wins and another final loss this season. The longer matches are something he thrives on being a former uk winner/runner up and of course a semi finalist last year when he just lost to Higgins in a good match, having come into the championship in nowhere near the form of this season. His draw looks quite nice as well, certainly his quarter, Dott is the highest seed in his section and we know his problems, Davis/Bingham/Perry would not scare Maguire in a long disatnce match, neither would Hamilton in round one. Robertson is a potential dark horse in the last 16 but he has had a really poor year having looked a future world champion in the making last season, ok he might be playing better in Barry Hearne's back yard but that is a completely different ball game to here and on form Maguire has to be the selection over him. If he plays like he has all year, he has a very good chance of winning it and at least taking advantage of a 'kind' draw to get to the semis to win the quarter. Day 40/1 2 pts e.w and 2 pts to win his quarter 8/1. Day has been an emerging young player for a while but since getting into the top 16 he has started to make a further breakthrough towards the real elite. That fact he lies no.7 provisionally shows that and that is down to another good season where he has reached a final and a semi of ranking tournaments and indeed is the only player to have reached at least 1000 points for every ranking tournament this season which shows good consistency as well which in the past has been a problem. He is a very good break builder when he gets going and of cousre he went very close to beating Ronnie and Higgins here in the past so he can mix with the best under the most intense pressure no problem. His quarter is ok. Judge in first match he should win but then he faces a tough game, Higgins or Stevens who I think it might just be and despite the older Welshman's fantastic record here, his record over Day is less impressive and that makes Day the pick, Ding/Fu/Allen/Hendry would not be easy in a q/f but no q/f would be easy and if day was to get there then he would not be out of his place at all. He can have a good championhsip. Hawkins 125/1 1 pt e.w and to win his quarter 20/1 2 pts. Just a complete outsider, Hawkins is such a well known battler that you know he will never give in and whilst his form since he had an awesome year which put him in the top 16 from nowhere and included a victory over ding in final world championship qualification when ding was the rising star is not that good he might just be a fraction too big here. Provisionally he is jsut in the top 32 but for the year rankings so far he is in the top 16 through solid if unspectacular results. Selby and Murphy are the real form players in the quarter and the winner on paper should come from those two but Hawkins should not be completely overlooked, he will fight all day long and those two would not relish him in a match nor Carter in round one who must have nightmares about facing him after the uk, players of a similar style to Hawkins in Ebdon and Dott have gone well here in the past and Hawkins may just cause the odd upset.

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: World Snooker Championships For the first games and a few outsiders :hope: Stevens 2/1 10 pts Stevens is a different player here to anywhere else. He has a brilliant record in the world championships and in the longer frame matches in general being a former UK winner. Twice a runner up having been in comfortably leads and a numerous semi finalist and quarter finalist he has the pedigree to do very well here and if it was not for his shocking record against Day (potentially a second round opponent) i would probably be looking at him as a quarter winner. It is fair to say he is not in the form of old and after his collapse against Murphy here last year he dropped out of the top 16 however higgins has not quite had the form of last year all season really and there is a lot of pressure on him being the defending champ and they often have a poor record here the year after they won particularly in round 1. Stevens is not a draw he would have wanted whatever the form of the Welshman. Hawkins 11/8 10 pts As I mentioned earlier, Hawkins is a really gritty player and he will battle all day long and i think the bookies might have underestimated him here not to mention the history between the two (him and Carter.) His form this season alone would have him in the top 16 just and Carter has played quite all season without really being exceptional, probably quite similar to Hawkins in truth. However the key here may well be the match between the pair at the uk earlier in the season, Carter led 8-2 only then to lose 9-8 which just typifies Hawkins' never say die attitude. I dont care who you are, that must have some impact on you and in what i see as possibly a tight match, I favour Hawkins to win another long disance match against Carter. Lee v Swail over 16.5 frames 13/16 10 pts Lee is in real trouble in terms of staying in the top 16 and unless he has a good championship he is out for the first time in over a decade. That in itself brings pressure for the man who does not have a great record with dealing with pressure. Bar his good run at the Masters he has an ok year, nothing to spectacular, 2 qfs and thats it. Swail is actually in with a better chance of a top 16 place of the two following a good year last year and not to mention an early semi this although his form has tailed off somewhat. I considered, Swail but given how both these players look very closely matched and Swail's possible decline in form, I went for there to be at least 17 frames in a match with a lot to play for rather than an outright pick on Swail. Robertson v Bond over 16.5 frames 10/9 10 pts Many fancy Robertson to win this with ease but on what he has showed in the proper tournaments this season and combined with solid play of Bond it could be a bit more of a struggle for the Aussie. I expect he will probably win but Bond has had a better season that his more fancied opponent, Bond is in the top 16 on this seasons form alone whereas Robertson is barely in the top 32. Bond also has the tight safety game and plenty of experience including here (former finalist) to make the Aussie fight for it and make sure there are at least 17 frames.

[Charlie Wong]

Re: World Snooker Championships Lee Vs Swail really like the 6/5 on offer for swail, think both players are evenly matched here, Lee has had the better recent form hence the shorter price but swail is more than capable on his day.

[kroni]

Re: World Snooker Championships Marco Fu @ 2.5 to beat Ding Junhui is abit of value imo, Marco has had a much better season than Ding reaching the semi-final in the masters and in winning the grand prix. There last meeting at the masters Marco came out on top and can do again here. If Ding comes out and plays his best game then he deserves to be favourite but he hasn't exactly shown much lately. I just think they should be more evenly matched on current form.:hope

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: World Snooker Championships I had a schoking start to the championship yesterday and unless things dramatically turn around, will be in a poor position after tomorrow. Two picks: Allen evens 10 pts Hendry probably goes into this championship at the biggest price he has been since Ive been born and that reflects on Hendry's performance of the last few years. He can still play quite well and he has shown the odd glimpse of that this season at the Welsh Open where he reached the semi for one example but he is not the prolific winner he used to be and whereas in the past he would need one visit to win a frame, too often these days he does not put his opponent away in one visit. He also faces a big problem in that he faces one of the best up and coming players in the game in the aggressive Allen. Allen has had another good season, a Northern Ireland semi probably the highlight but he has had some other good steady performances in ranking events including a thrashing of Hendry in the UK, 9-4. He can take the big names in here as he showed when he beat Doherty in round 1 last season and another big scalp may awake. His form is better this season in that on the one year ranks he is ranked substantially higher and he can take another big scalp. Day -2.5 frames evens 10 pts Put Day up outright and I think he has the game to beat Judge at the worst 10-7. As I mentioned earlier, Day is in good form all season and he has done it consistently well all year, this is shown by the fact that he is the only player on the circuit to score at least 1000 ranking points at every event. Judge makes his first appearance here for 6 years so there will be a bit of nerves and he just doesnt really have the scoring firepower that the Welshamn has. His results this season should just see him creep into the top 32 but clearly that shows the gap between the two, one is pushing for a top 8 place and Judge considerably further back and I think Day can win this and well although the way my tips went on day 1 he will probably get thrashed.

[Wanderer89]

Re: World Snooker Championships Just backed ebdon to come back at 11/10 not much in it at 5-4. I have a feeling ebdon will come out stronger and really have a go at cope so hopefully he'll come through!

[kevshat]

Re: World Snooker Championships This Ebdon match is getting really tense. 7-7 now and could go all the way and be one of those Crucible classics.

[kevshat]

Re: World Snooker Championships 8-8 in the Ebdon match now. Centuries galore :loon. Carter losing his 9-6 lead before winning 10-9 sees me -10 for the tournament although hopefully Ebdon will redress that in a short while. Gonna go with 2 tomorrow. 1 slightly speculative and not nomally a market I'd visit to often, the other a confident handicap. 10pts M.Selby vs M.King - Selby's highest break Over 111 7/4 Stan James Mark Selby is becoming a very heavy scorer in the game of snooker. He's made 24 centuries in competition this season without including the Championship League. Many of those have been over 111. Usually in a best of 19 match Selby, who made 12 centuries on his way to the final here last season of which 8 were over 111, will make a century if not more than one. Mark King isn't the tightest safety wise and he does go for his shots and it only takes one of those to go wrong, give Selby an easy starter and before King knows it Selby's cleared up. As I type the 1st two days aren't yet complete and we've seen 11 centuries so the tables are obviously playing well and 7/4 looks a tad big for Selby to score a decent sized ton. 10pts M.Williams -2 frames to beat M.Davis 10/11 VC Mark Williams is just coming into form at the right time and I expect him to see off Mark Davis easily enough to cover what is effectively a 2.5 frame handicap as VC offer the tie. When the Welshman was at the top of his game he had a sensational record in these 1st round matches and went on a really long run without losing them so he should be fairly comfortable going into this match. His opponent might not be though. He has played at the Crucible before but not since 2002 so there may be a few nerves in him. He's done well to get here but assuming Williams continues the form he's shown I expect him to win this no worse than 10-7.

[mowgli77]

Re: World Snooker Championships Well i've gone for a bet on Robertson at 18.0 on Betfair and also took 10.0 on Higgins and didn't know he was already through the 1st round. Higgins is one of those I back religiously every year and then didn't bother backing last year. Robertson might have been poor so far this year but if he finds his form now he could be a real danger, always seems capable of knocking in a decent break and putting a few frames on the board. I fancy him to get quite far this year.

[Mr Intensity]

Re: World Snooker Championships Yeah to be fair to Robertson he did look much better in the 1st round than he has all season.

[Wanderer89]

Re: World Snooker Championships wow! what a great match that was. I had a feeling it was going to be tight and the risk in the bet when he was 5 4 down paid off.

[kickthebookie]

Re: World Snooker Championships

wow! what a great match that was. I had a feeling it was going to be tight and the risk in the bet when he was 5 4 down paid off.

Indeed it was! Thank you, Peter Ebdon! You're great! :cow My bet personally was @ 3-5! :nana

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: World Snooker Championships Will update my position after round 1 but its not pretty, Hawkins could have made it better but despite a typical battling effort, he went down in the last frame again at the Crucible in slightly controversial circumstances after a delay to play the final frame. Bingham -2 frames 11/8 10 pts. I dont like taking on Davis in that I respect him for what he has achieved in his career and particularly in a handicap market given the way he always battles and grinds right until the end but whilst Bingham's match odds have shrunk lately I will stake take him in this handicap to win at the worst 10-7, could have done it so 10-8 would have done but not as much of a price. Bingham is in much the better form than Davis. On provisional rankings Bingham is ahead of Davis and indeed a top 16 place is not out of the question for Bingham whereas Davis seems resigned to dropping out of the top 16 again and this time it will be harder to come back. On the one year ranks, Bingham is in the top 10, Davis barely the top 32 and Bingham's has solid results which have seen him score more than 1000 points in every ranking event bar one this season. Bingham beat Davis comfortably in the similar format of the UK and leads the veteran 4-0 I believe on head to heads. There is a chance that almost being resigned to losing his top 16 place, Davis could be more relaxed and therefore possibly more adventurous which may be beneficial and dangerous for this bet but i imagine Davis will try his steady safety style which Bingham has shown judging by past results he can overcome and hopefully he will have enough to so so again and with a degree of ease.

[boyd]

Re: World Snooker Championships So far just had a small profit from the championship after backing Ebdon to beat Cope betting in play when 5-4 down and backing him again when at 9-9. My bets for later today are on the correct scores for Selby v King. I've backed Selby to win 10-5 and 10-6 with bigger stakes to get a nice profit at betfair, and then 10-4 and 10-7 as cover bets but would still get a profit. I've done this bet because even though Selby has been on great form i don't think he will steamroll his way past King. I think King is definitely capable of winning four frames in the match but it wont go right to the wire. I will be keeping an eye on the game to see if i do need to bet in play again, but hopefully wont need to.