Higgins favourite to reach Crucible final – but Hawkins will make him sweat

As the May Day Bank Holiday approaches, so too does the conclusion of the World Snooker Championship.

Before that though, we’re set to be treated to some fantastic action on the baize.

While Mark Selby and Ding Junhui do battle in one Semi-Final, John Higgins takes on Barry Hawkins in the other.

Now if you were paying attention before the tournament got underway at Sheffield’s famous crucible, you’ll have seen us tip up Higgins for a fifth world crown at 16/1.

Today the 41-year-old Scot is just 3/1, and is 4/6 favourite to overcome 2013 finalist Hawkins.

The Kent potter is the 6/5 outsider, having endured a somewhat scrappy match to overcome Stephen Maguire 13-9 in the quarter-finals.

However, in his press conference afterwards Hawkins made clear that he needs to be at his best to beat Higgins, who saw off Kyren Wilson 13-6 in the last eight.

The pair have met once in this competition before, with Higgins running out a 10-6 victor back in 2010.

Overall however, the head-to-head record reads 7-7.

And both men have enjoyed good seasons on tour.

Higgins has won the Championship League, the Champion of Champions and the China Championship.

And Hawkins has claimed the World Grand Prix, was runner-up at the Northern Ireland Open and has reached three further semi-finals.

With all that in mind, it’s odds-on at 8/15 we see over 28.5 frames over the next two days.

You can back Higgins – 1.5 frames at 4/5, while Hawkins is Evens + 1.5.

Selby and Ding may well bring the fireworks in the other semi, but Higgins versus Hawkins is the clash for the purists.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing