It’s World Championship Snooker time and while Luca Brecel goes to the Crucible as the top seed this year after his sterling success in Sheffield last season, the story this time is whether Ronnie O’Sullivan can finish off his fantastic campaign by winning the biggest tournament of them all.

Tip 1: Ronnie O’Sullivan to win Title

Ronnie O’Sullivan has returned to somewhere near his best this term, winning five events this season, and he will be tough to beat in this year’s World Championship. He should fear nobody in the game, although a first-round clash against heavy-scoring Welshman Jackson Page is a date the Rocket could probably have done without.

But as long as he can find a way past Page, it’s difficult to see where O’Sullivan might falter. It’s hard to see any of the seeds in the bottom half of the draw stopping him – and that takes in Judd Trump, Mark Williams, Ding Junhui, Gary Wilson, Zhang Anda, Tom Ford and Barry Hawkins – as he looks a cut above the rest of the circuit right now. 

The chief threat to UK and Masters champion O’Sullivan’s chances of landing a modern-record eighth Crucible title and joining the few to have won all three major tournaments in the same season could come from a qualifier, so it’s not surprising to see the Rocket installed as a warm favourite for Sheffield.

Tip 2: Mark Selby to reach final

Mark Selby contemplated calling time on his career after a below-par performance recently, but the former world number one and four-time Crucible champion is more than capable of turning around his fortunes and putting on a show in Sheffield. Selby is one of the finest players ever to grace the baize – he’s a model professional.

And while he is struggling these days to keep up with long-time rival O’Sullivan, he can still dismiss almost any opponent in the game on his day. Fortunately for Selby, he is drawn in the opposite half of the draw to the Rocket and that affords his supporters the opportunity to have an interest in the Jester from Leicester making successive finals – he was undone in the title match by Luca Brecel last May.

Mark Allen, John Higgins and Kyren Wilson are the other luminaries in Selby’s section, but Wilson has been below-par for a lot of the campaign while Allen is no certainty to defeat Higgins, let alone the selection. And should the Jester from Leicester reach the last eight, he would almost certainly be favourite to win his semi-final with Brecel, Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter and Robert Milkins the seeds in the first quarter.

Tip 3: Ricky Walden to win third quarter

Qualifier Ricky Walden is still only 41 years of age and considering he is pretty much playing free of back pain right now, he could enjoy a prosperous World Championship. Walden is a former top-16 performer who made the semi-finals at the Crucible in 2013, when he had chances to beat Barry Hawkins but came up short with the finishing line in sight.

However, Walden, one of the game’s tallest professionals, loves the game dearly and has carried on, even though spinal pain nearly saw him end his career prematurely. Victories in qualifying over seasoned duo Ian Burns and Mark Davis mean Walden is entitled to plenty of respect in the coming days. And while his first-round opponent Ford is achieving more on the baize these days, the Leicester cueman remains inconsistent.

Trump and Williams dominate the betting to win the third quarter of the draw, but the pair are far from certain to set up a last-eight clash so there could be value in backing Walden to progress to the semis for the second time.

World Championship Snooker: 2024 Outright Tips

Ronnie O’Sullivan to Win @ 2.95 with kwiff

Mark Selby to reach the final @ 4.20 with kwiff

Ricky Walden to win his quarter @ 18.0 with kwiff

By Phil Agius

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