Snooker World Championship: We plot O’Sullivan and Trump’s routes
Published:
Our traders now see the 2018 Snooker World Championship as Ronnie O’Sullivan’s to lose after Mark Selby’s stunning first-round exit.
The Jester from Leicester was dumped out by Joe Perry at the start of the week to leave O’Sullivan as the 6/5 favourite.
The Rocket suffered a scare of his own after going 6-3 behind to 2004 world champion Stephen Maguire.
But a supercharged second session saw the Essex-based potter reel off seven frames from eight to advance through 10-7.
We’ve looked at his potential route to the final, alongside that of tournament second favourite Judd Trump.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
With Maguire out of the way, it’s Ali Carter (80/1) up next for O’Sullivan.
The 42-year-old has won 16 of 17 matches against The Captain and is the odds-on favourite at 1/8 to continue that impressive record.
Should he come through that tie, it sets up a possible quarter-final tilt against either Mark Williams (11/1) or Robert Milkins (150/1), who play on Saturday.
Then he’ll likely face a semi-final against Ding Junhui (7/1), who conquered Xiao Guodong in round one.
It’s Anthony McGill or Ryan Day up next for Ding, who then looks set to take on Barry Hawkins (22/1).
If he can make it through those two tests, then the odds suggest he’ll slug it out with O’Sullivan over the bets of 33 frames.
Judd Trump
Trump hasn’t made it past the semi-finals at the Crucible Theatre since reaching the final in 2011.
But with Selby out of the way in his half of the draw, things are beginning to open up for the Juddernaut. He’s now 7/1 to land a maiden world championship. And with good reason.
Victory over Chris Wakelin looks to be assured, which would set up a match in the next round with Ricky Walden (80/1).
The Walnut has a decent enough record against Trump. But that will be tested to the limit over the longer format.
Should the 28-year-old win that as expected, then we look set for a mouth-watering quarter-final match-up with John Higgins (6/1).
The Scotsman is the main danger in this half of the draw. He’ll face the conqueror of Stuart Bingham, Jack Lisowski, before getting a potential crack at Trump.
If Trump (or Higgins) come through that, then our traders make Mark Allen (12/1) or Kyren Wilson (16/1) the most likely semi-final opponent.
Click here for the latest World Championship odds.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
