There have already been a few shocks and surprises at the Crucible since the tournament started on Saturday, including last year’s World Champion, Luca Brecel, bowing out early at the weekend.
Some of the big guns, such as Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, and Mark Allen, haven’t been seen so far at the Crucible, but they are all due to feature in the coming days, where there could be some tight games on show.Â
For the last few matches of the opening round, I’m going to be previewing three matches that I think could be worth putting into a treble.
Ding Junhui v Jack Lisowski (Tuesday)
For someone of Ding Junhui’s stature, he doesn’t have the greatest of records at the Crucible. In fact, he’s not made it past the first round in his last three visits, so it might be siding with Jack Lisowski, who is the outsider at 6/5 with Rhino.
Lisowski has been in great form in the qualification rounds after a pair of comfortable victories against Matthew Stevens and Liu Hongyu. With him coming into the match in a good place, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him add to Ding’s recent woes in this event.
Selection: Jack Lisowki To Beat Ding Junhui (6/5)
Barry Hawkins v Ryan Day (Tuesday)
This is quite a close match on paper, but I am just going to side with Ryan Day, who is again the marginal outsider at 7/4. He’s another player who has come through the qualification after he just managed to beat Scott Donaldson 10-9 in the last round. He’ll have the match sharpness over Barry Hawkins, which could count for a lot.
Hawkins hasn’t found the Crucible to be a happy hunting ground in recent years, despite his record in the mid-2010s, where he progressed to the latter stages of the tournament on several occasions. Unfortunately, I don’t think he’ll be rolling back the years here.
Selection: Ryan Day To Beat Barry Hawkins (7/4)
John Higgins v Jamie Jones (Wednesday)
Despite now getting on into his late forties, John Higgins is still proving that he can be very competitive after reaching the latter stages of several tournaments in recent months. His last two performances at the Crucible have still been respectable, where he has reached the quarterfinals and semi-finals.
His opponent in the opening round is Jamie Jones, who does deserve respect after he knocked out Neil Robertson in qualification. However, Jones hasn’t made it far in many tournaments this season and has been knocked out in the early rounds far too often. With Higgins’ class and experience, I expect to overcome Jones in this match.
Selection John Higgins To Beat Jamie Jones (2/7)
Treble Pays Out = 7.79/1
I hope you are all enjoying the action in Sheffield and please remember to gamble responsibly if you’re having a bet.
