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So, the World Championship starts tomorrow...
I wasn't sure about doing one of these threads this year, as the time between the end of the qualifiers and the start of the main event is ridiculously short, and the long break due to the pandemic was like pressing a massive reset button ahead of this event. Usually I have a look at what kind of a season each of the main contenders has had, but the World Championship doesn't really feel like a season finale this year. It feels somewhat detached from everything that happened before March, so making any kind of predictions seems like complete guesswork here. That said, I think an abbreviated look through the draw is still in order.
I read a comment from John Higgins a while back, saying how the standard in this year's WC could be at an all-time high, due to the extra time everyone has had to prepare. I'm not sure I would agree with that to be honest. We've had this situation quite frequently a decade ago when the calendar was a lot less busy, sometimes with a month or two between major events, and it didn't always result in a high standard of play. There is no substitute for proper competitive snooker, so we could see a few players struggling to find their best form, especially those who have not played in anything since March. Obviously the 16 qualifiers have an advantage here, coming into the tournament with a bit of momentum, but I guess that's true every year to some extent. Looking at the players who have qualified, I actually think this is the worst field we've had at the Crucible for a long time. Losing most of the Chinese players was always going to be a big hit, especially in the longer format where some of them have had solid results in recent years. But even among the players who did take part, the majority of those who would have been considered the most dangerous qualifiers back in April have gone out, most notably Ali Carter, Gary Wilson, Joe Perry and Graeme Dott. I think there are very few qualifiers who would even be considered a tricky draw in a "normal" year. I know a lot of people don't believe in this particular conspiracy, but I just have this unpleasant feeling that the tables could be quite generous this year, in a misguided attempt to make sure the tournament is especially entertaining...
But anyway, let's move onto the question at hand. Who is going to win the 2020 World Championship?
As always, let's begin at the other end, with a few players who have absolutely no chance of going all the way. I think this group is reserved for the five debutants this year. Jamie Clarke is the lowest ranked player in the tournament, and just getting to the Crucible is already the best result of his career so far. In fact, the only main venue he has ever won a match at is Gibraltar. Similar story with Ashley Carty, he has only won one match at a venue all season, and he has never got beyond the last 32 stage of any event. The latter is true of Jordan Brown as well, but he does tend to win a few more matches at least. I think any of these three players winning their opening match here would be a major surprise.
The other two debutants have a slightly better case, but still not that great. They are both reaching an age where they are expected to raise their game to a higher level. Elliot Slessor got to the QF of the German Masters earlier this season, an event that has matches of medium length, so that's a good sign for him. Alexander Ursenbacher got to the same stage of the Northern Ireland Open, in the short format, and he beat some very strong opponents to get there. He also has a ranking SF from a couple of seasons prior, also in the short format. It could be time for one of these two to do something notable on the big stage. They've drawn the two lowest seeds here, which should be favourable on paper I suppose, although I don't think that Yan and Hawkins are any easier to beat than some of the players ranked a little higher.
Moving onto some of the more experienced players, I think we can safely rule out Noppon Saengkham as well. He was actually on his way to establishing himself as a solid top 32 player last season, getting within a frame of reaching the World Open final, but nothing has gone right for him after he lost that match from 5-2 up. He has the game to cause problems for most players in the long format, but it's difficult to see him putting a few wins together here. Like Saengkham, Kurt Maflin is also making his second appearance at the Crucible. The first time he played here he pushed the defending champion Selby all the way in the 1st round, so he clearly has the game to trouble anyone. A few decent results this season as well, a SF in Riga right at the start, and an even more impressive run to the QF of the China Championship in the traditional format. He hasn't been as strong in the second half of the season, but he scored quite strongly in the qualifiers a few days ago, so that's a good sign. I would rule out Mark King as well. His lone good result this season is a run to the QF in Riga, in the short format and with very limited competition, and King has never actually won more than one match at the Crucible before, despite being a seeded player on many occasions. Alan McManus returns to the Crucible for the first time since his remarkable run to the SF in 2016, but unfortunately he hasn't come anywhere near to reproducing that kind of form in any event since, so I don't think we can expect much from him. Especially since he barely made a break over 50 in qualifying. For the record, I would have put Anthony Hamilton somewhere around here as well, but I don't think there is any further need to comment on his chances now that he has withdrawn.
I would also rule out Matthew Stevens. Perhaps I should have already mentioned him alongside the previous group, but I haven't forgotten what I said after his remarkable run in the International Championship last season. :smile: That week I kept saying how Stevens had virtually no chance before every match he played, but he somehow kept winning and made the semi-finals. I promised not to dismiss him so quickly again. That said, the run to the QF of the UK Championship this season is the only time he has come anywhere close to reproducing that kind of result, so I don't fancy his chances here. He simply doesn't have the kind of strong scoring he had in the early 00s anymore. Martin Gould is quite clearly not the player he once was either. His one and only major ranking title was actually not that long ago, nor is he too old to recapture his best form, but he has played some pretty dreadful snooker in the past two seasons and dropped way down the rankings as a result. On top of that, he is another player who has never won more than one match at the Crucible. Speaking of dreadful form, Liang Wenbo also dropped way down the rankings in the seasons after his biggest triumph, around the same time as Gould in fact. But at least he has reversed that trend a little recently, with a run to the QF of the UK Championship as this season's highlight. I don't have any confidence in Liang's ability to play his best for a prolonged period, which is something you need to do to win the WC, but he does tend to have those short bursts of great scoring, so I don't think Robertson will be particularly happy with this draw. The last player I would rule out purely on the basis of recent form is Anthony McGill. When I say recent, I am excluding the WC qualifiers where he actually played quite well. It's his form in the rest of the season that's been more problematic. He hasn't reached the business end of any proper event, not even in the best-of-7 format, and it was the same last season as well for that matter. For a player who was not too long ago considered to be on par with the likes of Kyren Wilson and Jack Lisowski, this is pretty disappointing stuff. On the plus side, Lisowski is probably one of the seeds every qualifier wanted to draw here, so winning that match would allow McGill to play himself into the tournament and perhaps do something notable. In any case, I definitely expect him to climb back up the rankings at some point.
Of the players who have played well this season, I somehow don't see Tom Ford ever winning the World title. That said, this has been one of the best seasons of his career so far, with two semi-finals in the short format, and also a run to the QF of the International Championship. He scored quite well in the qualifiers as well. The last time he played Trump at the Crucible I remember it being quite a poor and tedious match, but I expect this one to be quite a bit better. I would also rule out Thepchaiya Un-Nooh at this point. He has played some impressive stuff this season, particularly in his run to the final of the World Open, but his poor shot selection and tactical awareness make for quite an inefficient game, so he struggles any time the frames go scrappy or any time his own game is slightly off. He is in his mid 30s now, so I don't think there is much hope that he will ever correct those weaknesses. All of that pretty much applies to Jack Lisowski as well, except the last part perhaps, because Lisowski still has a bit more time on his side to raise his all-round game to a higher level. Not as good this season as he was the season before, but a run to the final of the Scottish Open in the short format is still a decent result for him. He still has something to prove when it comes to winning titles though, particularly when the pressure is really on, so for me Lisowski is the only seeded player this year that I can't really see going all the way.
The other 15 players all have at least an outside chance of winning this title in my opinion.
Let's start with David Gilbert, as he is the only remaining player who has never won anything in snooker. We've been saying all season that he is due a big title though. He played terrifically well to get to the SF of the World Championship last year, then followed it up with more good performances in the first half of this season, both in China and the UK. The Masters is perhaps where he played his very best snooker, looking like the tournaments favourite at one point, before running into his bogey player Bingham in the SF. Well, he finds himself in the easiest quarter of the draw here, so I for one wouldn't be surprised to see him at the business end again. He plays quite a straightforward and simple game, scoring very highly when he finds his form, and it doesn't seem like he puts himself under too much pressure to win. Pressure is something you can't really escape though, and we've seen Gilbert lose a ranking final from 9-5 up before, so there will always be questions about how he will handle the pressure if the World title is actually within reach.
I think Yan Bingtao is a very dangerous player, quite possibly a bigger obstacle to Trump in the 2nd round than most people are expecting. A while ago I predicted Yan to win a ranking title before he turned 20, which turned out to be correct when he won in Riga at the start of the season, but success in that particular tournament doesn't really impress me all that much. I find Yan's run to the SF of the UK Championship much more telling, particularly the way he nonchalantly disposed of Robertson and Higgins. He played like the kind of top player I fully expect him to become in future years, where performances like that will become the standard rather than an occasional occurrence. He had similar success in the Players Championship, only losing in the final against a very strong Trump. That's the problem though, he might not quite have the game to beat some of the very best players in the world in the long format just yet, although the signs are definitely encouraging. He doesn't play the kind of crazy attacking game that most players his age play, so not having that obstacle to overcome is already an advantage when it comes to his chances of becoming a World champion one day. This year might be a bit too early for him though.
Now, let's talk about Barry Hawkins. I know a lot of people rate his chances very highly every time we get to the Crucible, but I wouldn't put him near the very top of my list of favourites. The biggest argument in his favour is of course his tremendous consistency at the Crucible over the last seven years, with five runs to the SF or further, which is something no one else has quite been able to do. And of course those results are no fluke, as Hawkins has produced some of the most memorable Crucible wins of recent times. Even last year, which was his least successful year in a long time, his performance in losing to Kyren Wilson was superb at times. The main problem I have with Hawkins is that there often comes a point where he seems to hit a wall and can't live up to his performances from previous rounds anymore. We've seen him lose with a session to spare or come closing to doing so after a big win on several occasions now, enough to call it a pattern I think. On top of that, he hasn't come close to winning anything notable all season, and his first ranking title in the 2012 Australian Open remains the only one he has won outside of the short format to date. Still, Hawkins is pretty much a complete player when he plays his best, so I'm hoping we see his usual Crucible performance again. :smile:
I would only give Mark Williams an outside chance this year as well. A bit weird to say that about the 3rd seed, especially in an era where rankings are updated so frequently, but I really don't think Williams is playing the kind of snooker you would expect from a top 4 player this season. He did come within a frame of winning the China Championship after a big comeback in the final, but that's about all he has done this season. Apart from Gibraltar, it's been early exits all year, and mostly in a pretty disappointing manner. Even though he's never said it directly, I think Williams has quite clearly implied that winning the 2018 World Championship satisfied any ambition he still had in snooker, so everything he manages to achieve after that is just a bonus. We've seen him struggle to stay motivated several times throughout his career, going from being the best player in the world to losing in the early rounds of tournaments in no time at all. Two years ago he was potting all kinds of balls and looking unplayable at times, but that kind of form seems very far away these days, and I don't think it will return unless Williams really puts the work in again. Frankly, I would have dismissed his chances completely in April, but obviously no one really knows how well the players have prepared after the tournament got postponed. I'm happy to be surprised. :smile:
It's good to be able to say Stephen Maguire has an outside here, after several years of not really being a strong contender. In my review of the past decade in snooker I mentioned that Maguire started the decade as the world number 2, then shockingly failed to win a single tournament outside of the short format over the next ten years, even though he was supposed to be in his prime. Well, his recent win in the Tour Championship is probably his most satisfying result in a long, long time. Okay, it's not really a proper ranking event since there are only eight players involved, but it's still a big title to win, with the big top prize and the longer format. And to win it after coming in as a last-minute replacement for Ding must have felt even better. But of course that's not the only highlight of Maguire's season. He also played very well to get to the UK final, particularly in his whitewash of Allen in the semi-finals, which stands out as one of the best performances of anyone this season. With that kind of snooker Maguire could easily win this WC, but of course the things that have held him back all these years could prove difficult to overcome once again. To be specific, his inability to cope with any kind of setback during matches has been his worst enemy over the years. He often lets himself get into a kind of enraged state that makes it impossible for him to play great snooker, so it will be very important for him to keep that to a minimum here. He's had some success in doing just that this season, so it's all in his hands...
That leaves the ten players who, in my opinion, have the most realistic chance of winning this title.
Stuart Bingham has perhaps had the least consistent season among them, especially when it comes to ranking events, but his triumph at the Masters surely makes him a strong contender here as well. It's interesting, Bingham has stuck around as a top player after surprisingly winning the WC in 2015, in fact, he has probably exceeded most people's expectations, but he has never been able to produce that standard at the Crucible again. He has only won two matches in his four subsequent appearances here, so I suspect this is a statistic he very much wants to correct. I actually think he is ranked lower than his current ability deserves. The prize money from the Masters would have got him in the top 8 if it counted towards the rankings, which would be closer to my own personal estimation of the players' current strength. He may be the lowest seed in a quarter that people expect to be mostly about O'Sullivan and Ding, but I think Bingham could be a big danger here. Very experienced, scores very heavily on his day, and he has proven himself to be a champion who can stand up to the pressure on the big stage. There also isn't that much expectation on him this year, so we might see a relaxed and confident performance from him.
Ding Junhui is the other player in this group who has only had one major triumph this season rather than playing well on a consistent basis. His UK title came out of nowhere after a prolonged period of mediocre results, but we'd seen that from him before. He clearly goes through periods where he doesn't really enjoy playing snooker, and that results in a number of half-hearted performances where he doesn't really look like he wants to be there. Prior to this season he was even skipping a lot of events the way O'Sullivan does, but this season he has played a lot more, even if it's mostly been early exits. The thing is, Ding is still one of the very best players in the world when his heart is in it. His performance to win the UK Championship rivals any performance from Trump or Robertson this season, and that's a pretty high standard to reach. He actually never looked like losing at any point once we got to the business end. Even when Maguire put some pressure on in the final, Ding just raised his own game to the same level and never looked like conceding his lead. Sometimes it's difficult to understand how a player who plays the game with such finesse and scores so impressively can play so far below his capabilities. Last year he had a golden chance to knock Trump out of the WC in the 2nd round and completely change the course of history, but he played crap when it mattered the most. Apart from that occasion, Ding's results at the Crucible in recent years have actually been pretty solid and consistent, so his struggles with the venue are clearly over. Landing next to O'Sullivan in the draw could be an obstacle as well, but he's shown that it's not really a problem for him when he plays well. He beat O'Sullivan on his way to the final in 2016, and he beat him in the UK Championship this season as well, without much fuss, so whatever problems he has only manifest themselves when he is not up for it mentally. Unfortunately that seems to be quite often, but I for one hope to see Ding at his best here. If that happens, there aren't that many players that can match him.
I wonder what Mark Allen can do this year. Last year he came to the Crucible on the back of a very good season and lost in the 1st round, so he kind of has a point to prove here. No titles this season, but a series of SF appearances is a pretty decent consolation prize, especially since it includes some of the most important tournaments. I'm sure he would trade them for a title or two though, as he is now at the point of his career where just getting to the business end of tournaments isn't really good enough. Allen's Crucible record is actually surprisingly underwhelming in recent years, as he has the kind of game that usually produces results in the longer format. He often produces burst of very strong scoring, he plays the right shots and fights for every frame, and he recognises momentum shifts and important points of the match, which can be crucial in matches played over multiple sessions. As I said, it's surprising not to see him doing better at the Crucible, although to be fair, he was the victim of some really strong performances in the early rounds in recent years. I don't think that excuse will be valid this year though. He couldn't really have asked for a more favourable draw, so he has every chance of getting to the QF and beyond. As long as his physical condition is at an adequate level...
John Higgins is another player who has played consistently well this season, but not quite well enough to win any titles. In fact, titles have eluded him for more than two years now, which is a long drought for someone of his ranking. Of course his ranking has been helped tremendously by reaching the World final for three years in a row, and that statistic alone makes him contender this year as well. He has a huge advantage in experience against most of his competition when it comes to the longer format, especially since the WC is now the only time most players even get to play matches over more than one session. I've said this quarter of the draw is relatively weak several times now, and of course that's relevant for Higgins as well. He doesn't really tend to play any bad matches once he gets himself to the business end of tournaments, especially in this format. Even in last year's World final which he lost heavily, his own performance was still very respectable and could have easily been enough to win against a less-inspired opponent. I do think that final set the tone for the following season though, because Trump has knocked Higgins out of four tournaments this season. Together with Higgins' defeat to Selby in the 2017 World final, I think these two matches have shown that Higgins is perhaps a couple of frames short when facing the best player in the world at this point of career, in the same way that he was a few frames too strong for the opposition when he himself was the man to beat. He may not be right at the top of my list of favourites, but I'm by no means writing him off either.
Let's continue with Kyren Wilson, another player who has not won a title this season. I don't really know what to say about him. I guess I have mixed feelings about his chances, because he often looks like he could play at a similar level we've seen from Selby over the past decade, and with similar style as well. He is one of those players who fight for every point, which is rare to see in the younger generation. He lacks a bit of fluency at times, but he scores well enough when he needs to, and he is quite sound tactically as well. But at the end of the day it's about winning titles, and Wilson has not proven himself to be a consistent winner just yet. Some of the finals he's contested over two sessions against other top players have ended in very one-sided defeats, including of course the 9-1 loss to Murphy in the Welsh Open final this season. On the plus side, the best age for snooker players tends to be over 30 these days, so Wilson still has some time to raise his game to a higher level. Even in his current state he is tough to crack in the longer format, as shown by his reaching at least the QF for four years in a row at the Crucible. It would only take a small improvement for him to be considered among the big favourites in future years. I guess one thing worth mentioning is the fact that he finds himself in a pretty unique position here after Hamilton's withdrawal, which basically makes it a one-week tournament for him. That should help him not get exhausted as much as his rivals, but it also puts him at a disadvantage against his first opponent, having not had the chance to get used to the playing conditions against what should have been an easier opponent on paper. If it's an in-form Maguire in the 2nd round, things could be tricky...
Shaun Murphy is only the 10th seed here, but I suspect most people will have him quite close to the top of their list this year. I do think he is more dangerous than his ranking suggests. It's last season's results that are mostly dragging him down, so he is actually set to climb up the rankings quite quickly again, especially since he has no points to defend from the WC two years ago. This has been one of the best seasons of his career so far. His win in the China Championship was his first ranking title in the traditional format in more than five years, followed by another title in the Welsh Open, this time in the short format. He also added a couple of big finals and semi-finals, and he is one of the very few players to challenge Trump's domination this season, beating him on more than one occasion. Looking over the stats now, I think Murphy should probably be in the last group along with Trump and Robertson, and I probably would have structured this post that way if I was doing it in April. But the "massive reset button" I mentioned at the start of the post has made recent form a little less relevant, and a little less recent for that matter, as all the good results are four months older than they would have been in April. Murphy may very well still find his best form here, but I definitely think he is one of the players who didn't really need or want this long break. He was playing good stuff before. He didn't have much luck with the draw either, landing in what is arguably the toughest quarter of the draw. We'll see... His pressure play has been quite good in recent times, so if the long balls are going in, Murphy could be one of the men to beat here. Four early exits in a row at the Crucible are slightly concerning, but this is a chance to put things right.
The group of big favourites should perhaps only include two names this year, but my gut feeling is telling me to add a couple of names now that the long break has shuffled the cards a little...
I think Ronnie O'Sullivan is one of the players whose chances have improved somewhat. In April I would have said that this has not been the best season for him. Winning the Shanghai Masters has been the highlight, and I guess that's not a bad highlight to have now that the event rivals the Masters in terms of prize money. He also got to the final in Belfast, and did quite well to make a match of it against a superb Trump. Apart from that, his season has again been notable mostly for playing very little and skipping some of the biggest tournaments. He even skipped the Masters this time, which I suspect might have been a rushed decision he ended up regretting. However... No one has played much competitive snooker in the last few months, so it's kind of a level playing field now in that respect. O'Sullivan has shown several times in the past that it doesn't take much for him to regain his form after a long break, most notably by winning the 2013 WC after only playing in one other event all season. His long potting comes and goes these days, and his mental approach varies from one match to another, but I don't think I've ever seen his scoring ability at anything other than an impressive level in all the time I've been watching snooker. It's extremely reliable. He has also landed in a quarter with three seeds he has overwhelmingly good records against, which is always a plus. That said, almost all of his defeats at the Crucible in recent years were against players he previously had very good records against. The exception was last year, but of course losing to Cahill in the opening round was an even more surprising result than his other defeats. I do think he has let the pressure get to him a little in recent times. He has won just about everything there is to win in snooker, so the only way to really improve his legacy in any significant way now would be to win another World title. It's a tough burden to overcome. I don't know, perhaps he will unceremoniously go out in the early rounds again, but somehow I get the feeling it could be he who gets through that tricky third quarter. :wink:
Mark Selby is often seen as the opposite of O'Sullivan in many aspects, but I think the argument in favour of his chances here is largely the same. When you take form and momentum away from players, the ones who perform best will usually be those that always have elements of their game they can rely on. Selby seems to have unlimited reserves of patience and a willingness to grind out results any way he can. He also has a pretty bulletproof safety game that has only really let him down in some recent periods where he was completely out of sorts. What comes and goes for him is his potting and his fluency. He was strong in those departments for most of his three World title runs, so he needs to find some of that form again to have a chance here. I can't really see him getting through a quarter that includes Murphy, Hawkins and Robertson by playing anything other than great snooker. Is he still capable of playing great snooker? Well, he has won two events this season, but both were in the short format, and he was fortunate to avoid the likes of Trump, Robertson and Murphy both times. It's not bad for a player who has mostly been struggling with his form in recent times. The standard he has previously set for himself is a little higher though. In fact, if he fails to win this World Championship, it will be the first time in nine seasons that he will have failed to win a major event outside of the short format. Perhaps I am overrating his chances a little, at least compared to the likes of Murphy, but it's worth saying that Selby has won the World title three times in the last six years, so it will take another few years of mediocre results for me to dismiss him more readily. We did see him displaying some frustration when things weren't going his way last year, but hopefully he comes here in a better frame of mind this time. We are so used to seeing him as the 1st or 2nd seed at the Crucible, but this time there won't be nearly as much attention on him, and I think that can only help him.
It's not been all good for Neil Robertson this season, but there were some tournaments where he really did play ridiculously well. No one won more than two frames against him in the European Masters, even though it was a best-of-9 event with a two-session final. He actually threatened to repeat that achievement in the German Masters the following week, but he ran into an inspired Trump in the final. The two also played what has arguably been the match of the season in the final of the Champion of Champions, with Robertson prevailing on that occasion. He has come the closest to challenging Trump's dominance this season. He can't quite match him in consistency, but when it comes to their top game there isn't really much difference. It's simply not possible to play snooker much better than Robertson has done during his triumphs this season. Same problem as Murphy though, this break didn't really come at a good time for Robertson. Or did it? Robertson has won the opening tournament of the season four times in the last seven years, so summer breaks don't seem to bother him much, nor does playing snooker in August. Could this actually be a blessing in disguise for him? I guess we'll find out soon. :smile: Much like Allen, Robertson too has been the victim of some really inspired performances in the early rounds in recent years, so his Crucible record is not quite as good as one would expect. In fact, he has said he would be disappointed if he only won the WC once in his career. I think I would have to agree with that. He was pretty much on par with Selby until he took his foot off the gas for a couple of seasons, so he definitely could have won more. Good to see him playing with the kind of hunger and determination we used to see from him in the past again. On paper, he should be the favourite to reach the final in the bottom half, but that nasty fourth quarter of the draw will be tough for everyone...
And it's only fitting that we conclude with Judd Trump. We could even have a category for Trump alone, because he is the biggest favourite we've had before the start of the tournament in all the time I've been doing these previews, which must be something like 12 years now. Well, that's what I would have said in April anyway... In a way it's a real shame we've had this break, because if Trump fails to defend his World title now, there will always be that question whether he might have done it in normal circumstances. He was even on course to possibly have the best season anyone has ever had, beating Stephen Hendry's tally of five major ranking titles and the Masters in 1990/1991. The cancellation of the China Open was the first big setback, as that would have been the second most lucrative tournament of the season. The uncertain fate of the World Championship was the second big setback, but here we are, there is still a chance to make history. It's been a pleasure to witness Trump's transformation into a serial winner over the past year and a bit. He was vulnerable early on in the WC, then grew stronger with every match, culminating in one of the all-time great performances in the World final. It was quite clearly going to be more of the same this season after he thrashed everyone in the International Championship right at the start. He then added another two major ranking titles in the traditional format, plus three other titles where he was just as impressive. I guess the only stain on his record are the early exits in the UK Championship and the Masters, especially for the people who keep trying to make the "Triple Crown" a thing. It's actually quite similar to Ding's impressive season in 2013/2014. The difference being of course that Trump still has the chance of adding the World title to his list of triumphs. I think the one good thing to come out of this break for Trump is that all the Crucible Curse stuff probably won't be focused on as much as it would have been in April. I don't know exactly what the protocol will be like as far as press conferences and other media commitments are concerned, but I would assume things will be a little less chaotic and stressful than usual for the players. That should give Trump the chance to focus more on his snooker rather than all the off-table stuff. For the record, I will be voting for him in this poll, but I am by no means confident about that prediction. :smile:
So there we are... I hope that was worth your time. If not, thanks for reading anyway. :smile: I will leave the poll open for a week or so to give everyone a chance to vote, but do so quickly if you can, otherwise the results will be really distorted after Trump goes out tomorrow. :biggrin:
I know I will enjoy the snooker whatever happens, so my only wish really is for everything to go smoothly as far as the pandemic is concerned. I can't imagine what would happen if the players got sick mid way through the tournament... Best not to think about it probably. Anyway, I'll get a few hours of sleep if I can, then get up for Trump-Ford in the morning. :smile:
Who do you think is going to win the 2020 World Championship? :smile:
I wasn't sure about doing one of these threads this year, as the time between the end of the qualifiers and the start of the main event is ridiculously short, and the long break due to the pandemic was like pressing a massive reset button ahead of this event. Usually I have a look at what kind of a season each of the main contenders has had, but the World Championship doesn't really feel like a season finale this year. It feels somewhat detached from everything that happened before March, so making any kind of predictions seems like complete guesswork here. That said, I think an abbreviated look through the draw is still in order.
I read a comment from John Higgins a while back, saying how the standard in this year's WC could be at an all-time high, due to the extra time everyone has had to prepare. I'm not sure I would agree with that to be honest. We've had this situation quite frequently a decade ago when the calendar was a lot less busy, sometimes with a month or two between major events, and it didn't always result in a high standard of play. There is no substitute for proper competitive snooker, so we could see a few players struggling to find their best form, especially those who have not played in anything since March. Obviously the 16 qualifiers have an advantage here, coming into the tournament with a bit of momentum, but I guess that's true every year to some extent. Looking at the players who have qualified, I actually think this is the worst field we've had at the Crucible for a long time. Losing most of the Chinese players was always going to be a big hit, especially in the longer format where some of them have had solid results in recent years. But even among the players who did take part, the majority of those who would have been considered the most dangerous qualifiers back in April have gone out, most notably Ali Carter, Gary Wilson, Joe Perry and Graeme Dott. I think there are very few qualifiers who would even be considered a tricky draw in a "normal" year. I know a lot of people don't believe in this particular conspiracy, but I just have this unpleasant feeling that the tables could be quite generous this year, in a misguided attempt to make sure the tournament is especially entertaining...
But anyway, let's move onto the question at hand. Who is going to win the 2020 World Championship?
As always, let's begin at the other end, with a few players who have absolutely no chance of going all the way. I think this group is reserved for the five debutants this year. Jamie Clarke is the lowest ranked player in the tournament, and just getting to the Crucible is already the best result of his career so far. In fact, the only main venue he has ever won a match at is Gibraltar. Similar story with Ashley Carty, he has only won one match at a venue all season, and he has never got beyond the last 32 stage of any event. The latter is true of Jordan Brown as well, but he does tend to win a few more matches at least. I think any of these three players winning their opening match here would be a major surprise.
The other two debutants have a slightly better case, but still not that great. They are both reaching an age where they are expected to raise their game to a higher level. Elliot Slessor got to the QF of the German Masters earlier this season, an event that has matches of medium length, so that's a good sign for him. Alexander Ursenbacher got to the same stage of the Northern Ireland Open, in the short format, and he beat some very strong opponents to get there. He also has a ranking SF from a couple of seasons prior, also in the short format. It could be time for one of these two to do something notable on the big stage. They've drawn the two lowest seeds here, which should be favourable on paper I suppose, although I don't think that Yan and Hawkins are any easier to beat than some of the players ranked a little higher.
Moving onto some of the more experienced players, I think we can safely rule out Noppon Saengkham as well. He was actually on his way to establishing himself as a solid top 32 player last season, getting within a frame of reaching the World Open final, but nothing has gone right for him after he lost that match from 5-2 up. He has the game to cause problems for most players in the long format, but it's difficult to see him putting a few wins together here. Like Saengkham, Kurt Maflin is also making his second appearance at the Crucible. The first time he played here he pushed the defending champion Selby all the way in the 1st round, so he clearly has the game to trouble anyone. A few decent results this season as well, a SF in Riga right at the start, and an even more impressive run to the QF of the China Championship in the traditional format. He hasn't been as strong in the second half of the season, but he scored quite strongly in the qualifiers a few days ago, so that's a good sign. I would rule out Mark King as well. His lone good result this season is a run to the QF in Riga, in the short format and with very limited competition, and King has never actually won more than one match at the Crucible before, despite being a seeded player on many occasions. Alan McManus returns to the Crucible for the first time since his remarkable run to the SF in 2016, but unfortunately he hasn't come anywhere near to reproducing that kind of form in any event since, so I don't think we can expect much from him. Especially since he barely made a break over 50 in qualifying. For the record, I would have put Anthony Hamilton somewhere around here as well, but I don't think there is any further need to comment on his chances now that he has withdrawn.
I would also rule out Matthew Stevens. Perhaps I should have already mentioned him alongside the previous group, but I haven't forgotten what I said after his remarkable run in the International Championship last season. :smile: That week I kept saying how Stevens had virtually no chance before every match he played, but he somehow kept winning and made the semi-finals. I promised not to dismiss him so quickly again. That said, the run to the QF of the UK Championship this season is the only time he has come anywhere close to reproducing that kind of result, so I don't fancy his chances here. He simply doesn't have the kind of strong scoring he had in the early 00s anymore. Martin Gould is quite clearly not the player he once was either. His one and only major ranking title was actually not that long ago, nor is he too old to recapture his best form, but he has played some pretty dreadful snooker in the past two seasons and dropped way down the rankings as a result. On top of that, he is another player who has never won more than one match at the Crucible. Speaking of dreadful form, Liang Wenbo also dropped way down the rankings in the seasons after his biggest triumph, around the same time as Gould in fact. But at least he has reversed that trend a little recently, with a run to the QF of the UK Championship as this season's highlight. I don't have any confidence in Liang's ability to play his best for a prolonged period, which is something you need to do to win the WC, but he does tend to have those short bursts of great scoring, so I don't think Robertson will be particularly happy with this draw. The last player I would rule out purely on the basis of recent form is Anthony McGill. When I say recent, I am excluding the WC qualifiers where he actually played quite well. It's his form in the rest of the season that's been more problematic. He hasn't reached the business end of any proper event, not even in the best-of-7 format, and it was the same last season as well for that matter. For a player who was not too long ago considered to be on par with the likes of Kyren Wilson and Jack Lisowski, this is pretty disappointing stuff. On the plus side, Lisowski is probably one of the seeds every qualifier wanted to draw here, so winning that match would allow McGill to play himself into the tournament and perhaps do something notable. In any case, I definitely expect him to climb back up the rankings at some point.
Of the players who have played well this season, I somehow don't see Tom Ford ever winning the World title. That said, this has been one of the best seasons of his career so far, with two semi-finals in the short format, and also a run to the QF of the International Championship. He scored quite well in the qualifiers as well. The last time he played Trump at the Crucible I remember it being quite a poor and tedious match, but I expect this one to be quite a bit better. I would also rule out Thepchaiya Un-Nooh at this point. He has played some impressive stuff this season, particularly in his run to the final of the World Open, but his poor shot selection and tactical awareness make for quite an inefficient game, so he struggles any time the frames go scrappy or any time his own game is slightly off. He is in his mid 30s now, so I don't think there is much hope that he will ever correct those weaknesses. All of that pretty much applies to Jack Lisowski as well, except the last part perhaps, because Lisowski still has a bit more time on his side to raise his all-round game to a higher level. Not as good this season as he was the season before, but a run to the final of the Scottish Open in the short format is still a decent result for him. He still has something to prove when it comes to winning titles though, particularly when the pressure is really on, so for me Lisowski is the only seeded player this year that I can't really see going all the way.
The other 15 players all have at least an outside chance of winning this title in my opinion.
Let's start with David Gilbert, as he is the only remaining player who has never won anything in snooker. We've been saying all season that he is due a big title though. He played terrifically well to get to the SF of the World Championship last year, then followed it up with more good performances in the first half of this season, both in China and the UK. The Masters is perhaps where he played his very best snooker, looking like the tournaments favourite at one point, before running into his bogey player Bingham in the SF. Well, he finds himself in the easiest quarter of the draw here, so I for one wouldn't be surprised to see him at the business end again. He plays quite a straightforward and simple game, scoring very highly when he finds his form, and it doesn't seem like he puts himself under too much pressure to win. Pressure is something you can't really escape though, and we've seen Gilbert lose a ranking final from 9-5 up before, so there will always be questions about how he will handle the pressure if the World title is actually within reach.
I think Yan Bingtao is a very dangerous player, quite possibly a bigger obstacle to Trump in the 2nd round than most people are expecting. A while ago I predicted Yan to win a ranking title before he turned 20, which turned out to be correct when he won in Riga at the start of the season, but success in that particular tournament doesn't really impress me all that much. I find Yan's run to the SF of the UK Championship much more telling, particularly the way he nonchalantly disposed of Robertson and Higgins. He played like the kind of top player I fully expect him to become in future years, where performances like that will become the standard rather than an occasional occurrence. He had similar success in the Players Championship, only losing in the final against a very strong Trump. That's the problem though, he might not quite have the game to beat some of the very best players in the world in the long format just yet, although the signs are definitely encouraging. He doesn't play the kind of crazy attacking game that most players his age play, so not having that obstacle to overcome is already an advantage when it comes to his chances of becoming a World champion one day. This year might be a bit too early for him though.
Now, let's talk about Barry Hawkins. I know a lot of people rate his chances very highly every time we get to the Crucible, but I wouldn't put him near the very top of my list of favourites. The biggest argument in his favour is of course his tremendous consistency at the Crucible over the last seven years, with five runs to the SF or further, which is something no one else has quite been able to do. And of course those results are no fluke, as Hawkins has produced some of the most memorable Crucible wins of recent times. Even last year, which was his least successful year in a long time, his performance in losing to Kyren Wilson was superb at times. The main problem I have with Hawkins is that there often comes a point where he seems to hit a wall and can't live up to his performances from previous rounds anymore. We've seen him lose with a session to spare or come closing to doing so after a big win on several occasions now, enough to call it a pattern I think. On top of that, he hasn't come close to winning anything notable all season, and his first ranking title in the 2012 Australian Open remains the only one he has won outside of the short format to date. Still, Hawkins is pretty much a complete player when he plays his best, so I'm hoping we see his usual Crucible performance again. :smile:
I would only give Mark Williams an outside chance this year as well. A bit weird to say that about the 3rd seed, especially in an era where rankings are updated so frequently, but I really don't think Williams is playing the kind of snooker you would expect from a top 4 player this season. He did come within a frame of winning the China Championship after a big comeback in the final, but that's about all he has done this season. Apart from Gibraltar, it's been early exits all year, and mostly in a pretty disappointing manner. Even though he's never said it directly, I think Williams has quite clearly implied that winning the 2018 World Championship satisfied any ambition he still had in snooker, so everything he manages to achieve after that is just a bonus. We've seen him struggle to stay motivated several times throughout his career, going from being the best player in the world to losing in the early rounds of tournaments in no time at all. Two years ago he was potting all kinds of balls and looking unplayable at times, but that kind of form seems very far away these days, and I don't think it will return unless Williams really puts the work in again. Frankly, I would have dismissed his chances completely in April, but obviously no one really knows how well the players have prepared after the tournament got postponed. I'm happy to be surprised. :smile:
It's good to be able to say Stephen Maguire has an outside here, after several years of not really being a strong contender. In my review of the past decade in snooker I mentioned that Maguire started the decade as the world number 2, then shockingly failed to win a single tournament outside of the short format over the next ten years, even though he was supposed to be in his prime. Well, his recent win in the Tour Championship is probably his most satisfying result in a long, long time. Okay, it's not really a proper ranking event since there are only eight players involved, but it's still a big title to win, with the big top prize and the longer format. And to win it after coming in as a last-minute replacement for Ding must have felt even better. But of course that's not the only highlight of Maguire's season. He also played very well to get to the UK final, particularly in his whitewash of Allen in the semi-finals, which stands out as one of the best performances of anyone this season. With that kind of snooker Maguire could easily win this WC, but of course the things that have held him back all these years could prove difficult to overcome once again. To be specific, his inability to cope with any kind of setback during matches has been his worst enemy over the years. He often lets himself get into a kind of enraged state that makes it impossible for him to play great snooker, so it will be very important for him to keep that to a minimum here. He's had some success in doing just that this season, so it's all in his hands...
That leaves the ten players who, in my opinion, have the most realistic chance of winning this title.
Stuart Bingham has perhaps had the least consistent season among them, especially when it comes to ranking events, but his triumph at the Masters surely makes him a strong contender here as well. It's interesting, Bingham has stuck around as a top player after surprisingly winning the WC in 2015, in fact, he has probably exceeded most people's expectations, but he has never been able to produce that standard at the Crucible again. He has only won two matches in his four subsequent appearances here, so I suspect this is a statistic he very much wants to correct. I actually think he is ranked lower than his current ability deserves. The prize money from the Masters would have got him in the top 8 if it counted towards the rankings, which would be closer to my own personal estimation of the players' current strength. He may be the lowest seed in a quarter that people expect to be mostly about O'Sullivan and Ding, but I think Bingham could be a big danger here. Very experienced, scores very heavily on his day, and he has proven himself to be a champion who can stand up to the pressure on the big stage. There also isn't that much expectation on him this year, so we might see a relaxed and confident performance from him.
Ding Junhui is the other player in this group who has only had one major triumph this season rather than playing well on a consistent basis. His UK title came out of nowhere after a prolonged period of mediocre results, but we'd seen that from him before. He clearly goes through periods where he doesn't really enjoy playing snooker, and that results in a number of half-hearted performances where he doesn't really look like he wants to be there. Prior to this season he was even skipping a lot of events the way O'Sullivan does, but this season he has played a lot more, even if it's mostly been early exits. The thing is, Ding is still one of the very best players in the world when his heart is in it. His performance to win the UK Championship rivals any performance from Trump or Robertson this season, and that's a pretty high standard to reach. He actually never looked like losing at any point once we got to the business end. Even when Maguire put some pressure on in the final, Ding just raised his own game to the same level and never looked like conceding his lead. Sometimes it's difficult to understand how a player who plays the game with such finesse and scores so impressively can play so far below his capabilities. Last year he had a golden chance to knock Trump out of the WC in the 2nd round and completely change the course of history, but he played crap when it mattered the most. Apart from that occasion, Ding's results at the Crucible in recent years have actually been pretty solid and consistent, so his struggles with the venue are clearly over. Landing next to O'Sullivan in the draw could be an obstacle as well, but he's shown that it's not really a problem for him when he plays well. He beat O'Sullivan on his way to the final in 2016, and he beat him in the UK Championship this season as well, without much fuss, so whatever problems he has only manifest themselves when he is not up for it mentally. Unfortunately that seems to be quite often, but I for one hope to see Ding at his best here. If that happens, there aren't that many players that can match him.
I wonder what Mark Allen can do this year. Last year he came to the Crucible on the back of a very good season and lost in the 1st round, so he kind of has a point to prove here. No titles this season, but a series of SF appearances is a pretty decent consolation prize, especially since it includes some of the most important tournaments. I'm sure he would trade them for a title or two though, as he is now at the point of his career where just getting to the business end of tournaments isn't really good enough. Allen's Crucible record is actually surprisingly underwhelming in recent years, as he has the kind of game that usually produces results in the longer format. He often produces burst of very strong scoring, he plays the right shots and fights for every frame, and he recognises momentum shifts and important points of the match, which can be crucial in matches played over multiple sessions. As I said, it's surprising not to see him doing better at the Crucible, although to be fair, he was the victim of some really strong performances in the early rounds in recent years. I don't think that excuse will be valid this year though. He couldn't really have asked for a more favourable draw, so he has every chance of getting to the QF and beyond. As long as his physical condition is at an adequate level...
John Higgins is another player who has played consistently well this season, but not quite well enough to win any titles. In fact, titles have eluded him for more than two years now, which is a long drought for someone of his ranking. Of course his ranking has been helped tremendously by reaching the World final for three years in a row, and that statistic alone makes him contender this year as well. He has a huge advantage in experience against most of his competition when it comes to the longer format, especially since the WC is now the only time most players even get to play matches over more than one session. I've said this quarter of the draw is relatively weak several times now, and of course that's relevant for Higgins as well. He doesn't really tend to play any bad matches once he gets himself to the business end of tournaments, especially in this format. Even in last year's World final which he lost heavily, his own performance was still very respectable and could have easily been enough to win against a less-inspired opponent. I do think that final set the tone for the following season though, because Trump has knocked Higgins out of four tournaments this season. Together with Higgins' defeat to Selby in the 2017 World final, I think these two matches have shown that Higgins is perhaps a couple of frames short when facing the best player in the world at this point of career, in the same way that he was a few frames too strong for the opposition when he himself was the man to beat. He may not be right at the top of my list of favourites, but I'm by no means writing him off either.
Let's continue with Kyren Wilson, another player who has not won a title this season. I don't really know what to say about him. I guess I have mixed feelings about his chances, because he often looks like he could play at a similar level we've seen from Selby over the past decade, and with similar style as well. He is one of those players who fight for every point, which is rare to see in the younger generation. He lacks a bit of fluency at times, but he scores well enough when he needs to, and he is quite sound tactically as well. But at the end of the day it's about winning titles, and Wilson has not proven himself to be a consistent winner just yet. Some of the finals he's contested over two sessions against other top players have ended in very one-sided defeats, including of course the 9-1 loss to Murphy in the Welsh Open final this season. On the plus side, the best age for snooker players tends to be over 30 these days, so Wilson still has some time to raise his game to a higher level. Even in his current state he is tough to crack in the longer format, as shown by his reaching at least the QF for four years in a row at the Crucible. It would only take a small improvement for him to be considered among the big favourites in future years. I guess one thing worth mentioning is the fact that he finds himself in a pretty unique position here after Hamilton's withdrawal, which basically makes it a one-week tournament for him. That should help him not get exhausted as much as his rivals, but it also puts him at a disadvantage against his first opponent, having not had the chance to get used to the playing conditions against what should have been an easier opponent on paper. If it's an in-form Maguire in the 2nd round, things could be tricky...
Shaun Murphy is only the 10th seed here, but I suspect most people will have him quite close to the top of their list this year. I do think he is more dangerous than his ranking suggests. It's last season's results that are mostly dragging him down, so he is actually set to climb up the rankings quite quickly again, especially since he has no points to defend from the WC two years ago. This has been one of the best seasons of his career so far. His win in the China Championship was his first ranking title in the traditional format in more than five years, followed by another title in the Welsh Open, this time in the short format. He also added a couple of big finals and semi-finals, and he is one of the very few players to challenge Trump's domination this season, beating him on more than one occasion. Looking over the stats now, I think Murphy should probably be in the last group along with Trump and Robertson, and I probably would have structured this post that way if I was doing it in April. But the "massive reset button" I mentioned at the start of the post has made recent form a little less relevant, and a little less recent for that matter, as all the good results are four months older than they would have been in April. Murphy may very well still find his best form here, but I definitely think he is one of the players who didn't really need or want this long break. He was playing good stuff before. He didn't have much luck with the draw either, landing in what is arguably the toughest quarter of the draw. We'll see... His pressure play has been quite good in recent times, so if the long balls are going in, Murphy could be one of the men to beat here. Four early exits in a row at the Crucible are slightly concerning, but this is a chance to put things right.
The group of big favourites should perhaps only include two names this year, but my gut feeling is telling me to add a couple of names now that the long break has shuffled the cards a little...
I think Ronnie O'Sullivan is one of the players whose chances have improved somewhat. In April I would have said that this has not been the best season for him. Winning the Shanghai Masters has been the highlight, and I guess that's not a bad highlight to have now that the event rivals the Masters in terms of prize money. He also got to the final in Belfast, and did quite well to make a match of it against a superb Trump. Apart from that, his season has again been notable mostly for playing very little and skipping some of the biggest tournaments. He even skipped the Masters this time, which I suspect might have been a rushed decision he ended up regretting. However... No one has played much competitive snooker in the last few months, so it's kind of a level playing field now in that respect. O'Sullivan has shown several times in the past that it doesn't take much for him to regain his form after a long break, most notably by winning the 2013 WC after only playing in one other event all season. His long potting comes and goes these days, and his mental approach varies from one match to another, but I don't think I've ever seen his scoring ability at anything other than an impressive level in all the time I've been watching snooker. It's extremely reliable. He has also landed in a quarter with three seeds he has overwhelmingly good records against, which is always a plus. That said, almost all of his defeats at the Crucible in recent years were against players he previously had very good records against. The exception was last year, but of course losing to Cahill in the opening round was an even more surprising result than his other defeats. I do think he has let the pressure get to him a little in recent times. He has won just about everything there is to win in snooker, so the only way to really improve his legacy in any significant way now would be to win another World title. It's a tough burden to overcome. I don't know, perhaps he will unceremoniously go out in the early rounds again, but somehow I get the feeling it could be he who gets through that tricky third quarter. :wink:
Mark Selby is often seen as the opposite of O'Sullivan in many aspects, but I think the argument in favour of his chances here is largely the same. When you take form and momentum away from players, the ones who perform best will usually be those that always have elements of their game they can rely on. Selby seems to have unlimited reserves of patience and a willingness to grind out results any way he can. He also has a pretty bulletproof safety game that has only really let him down in some recent periods where he was completely out of sorts. What comes and goes for him is his potting and his fluency. He was strong in those departments for most of his three World title runs, so he needs to find some of that form again to have a chance here. I can't really see him getting through a quarter that includes Murphy, Hawkins and Robertson by playing anything other than great snooker. Is he still capable of playing great snooker? Well, he has won two events this season, but both were in the short format, and he was fortunate to avoid the likes of Trump, Robertson and Murphy both times. It's not bad for a player who has mostly been struggling with his form in recent times. The standard he has previously set for himself is a little higher though. In fact, if he fails to win this World Championship, it will be the first time in nine seasons that he will have failed to win a major event outside of the short format. Perhaps I am overrating his chances a little, at least compared to the likes of Murphy, but it's worth saying that Selby has won the World title three times in the last six years, so it will take another few years of mediocre results for me to dismiss him more readily. We did see him displaying some frustration when things weren't going his way last year, but hopefully he comes here in a better frame of mind this time. We are so used to seeing him as the 1st or 2nd seed at the Crucible, but this time there won't be nearly as much attention on him, and I think that can only help him.
It's not been all good for Neil Robertson this season, but there were some tournaments where he really did play ridiculously well. No one won more than two frames against him in the European Masters, even though it was a best-of-9 event with a two-session final. He actually threatened to repeat that achievement in the German Masters the following week, but he ran into an inspired Trump in the final. The two also played what has arguably been the match of the season in the final of the Champion of Champions, with Robertson prevailing on that occasion. He has come the closest to challenging Trump's dominance this season. He can't quite match him in consistency, but when it comes to their top game there isn't really much difference. It's simply not possible to play snooker much better than Robertson has done during his triumphs this season. Same problem as Murphy though, this break didn't really come at a good time for Robertson. Or did it? Robertson has won the opening tournament of the season four times in the last seven years, so summer breaks don't seem to bother him much, nor does playing snooker in August. Could this actually be a blessing in disguise for him? I guess we'll find out soon. :smile: Much like Allen, Robertson too has been the victim of some really inspired performances in the early rounds in recent years, so his Crucible record is not quite as good as one would expect. In fact, he has said he would be disappointed if he only won the WC once in his career. I think I would have to agree with that. He was pretty much on par with Selby until he took his foot off the gas for a couple of seasons, so he definitely could have won more. Good to see him playing with the kind of hunger and determination we used to see from him in the past again. On paper, he should be the favourite to reach the final in the bottom half, but that nasty fourth quarter of the draw will be tough for everyone...
And it's only fitting that we conclude with Judd Trump. We could even have a category for Trump alone, because he is the biggest favourite we've had before the start of the tournament in all the time I've been doing these previews, which must be something like 12 years now. Well, that's what I would have said in April anyway... In a way it's a real shame we've had this break, because if Trump fails to defend his World title now, there will always be that question whether he might have done it in normal circumstances. He was even on course to possibly have the best season anyone has ever had, beating Stephen Hendry's tally of five major ranking titles and the Masters in 1990/1991. The cancellation of the China Open was the first big setback, as that would have been the second most lucrative tournament of the season. The uncertain fate of the World Championship was the second big setback, but here we are, there is still a chance to make history. It's been a pleasure to witness Trump's transformation into a serial winner over the past year and a bit. He was vulnerable early on in the WC, then grew stronger with every match, culminating in one of the all-time great performances in the World final. It was quite clearly going to be more of the same this season after he thrashed everyone in the International Championship right at the start. He then added another two major ranking titles in the traditional format, plus three other titles where he was just as impressive. I guess the only stain on his record are the early exits in the UK Championship and the Masters, especially for the people who keep trying to make the "Triple Crown" a thing. It's actually quite similar to Ding's impressive season in 2013/2014. The difference being of course that Trump still has the chance of adding the World title to his list of triumphs. I think the one good thing to come out of this break for Trump is that all the Crucible Curse stuff probably won't be focused on as much as it would have been in April. I don't know exactly what the protocol will be like as far as press conferences and other media commitments are concerned, but I would assume things will be a little less chaotic and stressful than usual for the players. That should give Trump the chance to focus more on his snooker rather than all the off-table stuff. For the record, I will be voting for him in this poll, but I am by no means confident about that prediction. :smile:
So there we are... I hope that was worth your time. If not, thanks for reading anyway. :smile: I will leave the poll open for a week or so to give everyone a chance to vote, but do so quickly if you can, otherwise the results will be really distorted after Trump goes out tomorrow. :biggrin:
I know I will enjoy the snooker whatever happens, so my only wish really is for everything to go smoothly as far as the pandemic is concerned. I can't imagine what would happen if the players got sick mid way through the tournament... Best not to think about it probably. Anyway, I'll get a few hours of sleep if I can, then get up for Trump-Ford in the morning. :smile:
Who do you think is going to win the 2020 World Championship? :smile:
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