Betfred.com World Snooker Championship 2011: Predictions and Views
The Betfred.com World Snooker Championship, which is the most prestigious event in the history of snooker in terms of prize money and ranking. The mega event will be held under the artistic valour of the Crucible Theatre from 16 April to 2 May in Sheffield.
All the best players from across the globe are going to fight for this monumental championship.
The defending champion of the tournament, Neil Robertson, who is also the first Australian to win the championship at the Crucible Theatre in 2010, is going to raise the curtains on 16 April with Judd Trump. As per the format and tradition, last year’s defending
champion is supposed to inaugurate the championship title.
Trump, who is 21 years old and hails from Bristol, won his first championship title by beating Mark Selby with a frame score of 10-8 in the 2011 Bank of Beijing China Open final. The tournament was held in the Beijing University Students Gymnasium in China.
Despite all odds and high-ranked players in the lineup, Trump came out with a triumph and has all the paraphernalia of skills to display similar kind of performance in the Crucible Theatre.
Graeme Dott and Robertson can have a probable clash in the quarter-finals. Last year, Robertson defeated Dott to win the last year’s title. However both of them will have to make it through the first two rounds. If Robertson comes victorious in his second
game, against Dott, then he would meet Marco Fu in the last-16. Graeme Dott and Ali Carter can also face each other in round-2.
There are other tantalizing prospects for the round two, as the seven-time world champion, Stephen Hendry, will take on Mark Selby in last-16, provided if they clear the first round. Last year, Selby came on the top when they faced each other in 2010.
World’s number one snooker player, John Higgins, will be one-on-one against Stephen Lee. It can be a potential clash, as both players are plying on the top of their game. However, the Welsh Dragon, Matthew Stevens, might face the Pistol, Mark Allen, in his
first round clash.
The three-time world champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan, can meet the former world champion, Shaun Murphy, in the last-16, provided if Ronnie wins the first two rounds. However, O’Sullivan’s performance is pretty much doubtful right now as he has not appeared in
10 out of the 12 events due to prolonged illness and family issues. He also brought himself to the 10th number in the world rankings because of these issues. The snooker fan will have their fingers crossed for this clash.
The Welsh Potting Machine, Mark J Williams, who recently won the German Masters, can encounter Jamie Cope in the last-16. In round-2 the Chinese Ace, Ding Junhui, can be up against Peter Ebdon.
The last-32 is going to be a best-of-nineteen, last-16 and quarter-final are going to be a best-of-twenty-five, semi-final a best-of-thirty-three and the final is going to be a best-of-thirty-five. However, the number of matches to be played per session
is subject to change.
The qualifying matches for the world championship were held from 3 March till 13 March at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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