Robertson, Bingham and Murphy make up Crucible treble
Published:Fresh off victory in the China Open, Neil Robertson gets underway at the Crucible against Robert Milkins, whom the Aussie thumped 5-0 in their only previous meeting.
Robertson’s 1st round record in Sheffield is fairly ominous for Milkins too. Since 2006, the Aussie has won the opening round by five frames or more, aside from a shock loss as world number one to Judd Trump in 2011.
With that in mind, we think the man from Down Under could well brush aside Milkins by a 5-6 frame margin at a price of 12/5.
Stuart Bingham has enjoyed one of his strongest years on the tour, notching up three non-ranking tournament titles, and a place in the final of the Welsh Open in February.
Bingham saw off Neil Robertson, Ken Doherty and Ding Junhui along the way to that final defeat by local hero Matthew Stevens, and that should give him the confidence to dispose of Sam Baird.
We don’t expect this to be a walkover for Bingham, but we fancy him to win against his 24-year-old opponent by a 3-4 frame margin at 11/4.
Shaun Murphy and Graeme Dott meet in the second round, with neither man enjoying a particularly stellar season.
Murphy reached the final of the UK Championship, losing out 10-6 to Mark Selby, while Dott was also beaten into a runner-up spot by Selby, in the European Tour in January.
Dott sent Peter Ebdon packing in the opening round, while Murphy saw off Martin Gould. But the 2005 world champion has won each of the last three meetings against Dott, and we expect Murphy to make it four.
Dott is a former champ at the Crucible, and Murphy will be pushed hard, but we think the Harlow man can get past the Scot and claim a place in the quarter-finals at a price of 1/2, for a total treble return of 19/1.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
