SOME LATE CRUCIBLE PREDICTIONS
Nonstop snooker - or almost nonstop this year - continues in Sheffield, as Round 2 just got underway at the Crucible Theatre.
I decided to wait until this point to lay out my predictions - bit of a cheat really, but since many contenders had not played in the last few tournaments, I thought that pre-tournament predicitons could turn out clueless.
So, here's the draw with my predictions (in bold the players I expect to win their second-round matches, and in blue my picks to win that quarter section):
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Hossein Vafaei
Luca Brecel v Mark Williams (score level at 4-4 by the time I write)
Anthony McGill v Jack Lisowski
Robert Milkins v Si Jiahui
Mark Allen v Stuart Bingham (Allen leads 5-3 by the time I write)
Jak Jones v Neil Robertson
Kyren Wilson v John Higgins
Gary Wilson v Mark Selby
So far in my view, the best snooker of the tournament has been played by Neil Robertson and Kyren Wilson. Both made history in their first round matches, with Robertson hitting two 146's and Wilson becoming only the ninth player to make a maximum 147 break at the Crucible.
With Neil having had a below-average season given his own very high standards, there's been much less talk about all his struggles at the Crucible - which I think could help him getting deep.
As for Kyren, I know he loves the format and venue but the draw he's got is granite: Higgins in round two, Selby likely in the quarters.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Wilson getting to the final, but I saw Selby scoring well in round one and therefore he's still my "safe tip" to win the title, because whenever he combines his ability to grind out sessions with some scoring he's basically unbeatable over these long matches.
In the top half it's all very open. Of course Ronnie is an "easy" choice, but he didn't really play his best in round one. Whenever he won it, he hit the ground running and showed signs from day one. Will the well documented beef with his next opponent, Hossein Vafaei, help spark something in him? We'll see very shotly, as they begin their last 16 meeting at 14:30 this Friday (21).
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