It’s down to the business end at the Crucible now.
Just eight men are left standing to fight it out to become the 2018 snooker world champion. We’ve lost some big names in the opening week but are still blessed with a star-studded line-up.
With the quarter-final action getting under way on Tuesday morning, our reporter Gary Moss gets his teeth into the ties ahead with his preview to the first two big match-ups.
Barry Hawkins v Ding Junhui
Ding was quickly installed as the bookmakers’ favourite for the title after Ronnie O’Sullivan bit the dust on Saturday afternoon. With the pressure heaped on, he responded in superb fashion crashing in two centuries and five breaks over 60 to storm to an 8-0 lead over Anthony McGill. He finished the job 13-4 to add to his equally comfortable 10-3 win over Xiao Guodong in round one. He hasn’t looked troubled at all so far and has shown his break-building brilliance once again. It really feels like it really could be his year. He’s playing with a smile on his face and looks like he’s really starting to relish playing at the Crucible.
His opponent Hawkins though is turning into a Crucible specialist playing in this his sixth consecutive quarter-final while also making it to the one-table setup in four of the last five years. He came through a scrappy first round tie against Stuart Carrington 10-7 and looked better to dispatch of Lyu Haotian 13-10 in round two, even though he had to stave off an impressive fightback. Ding will be the rightful favourite in this one but Hawkins knows how to play smart at the World Championship and will not be flustered by anything the Chinese cueman has to throw at him.
Prediction: Hawkins will stay in touch but won’t have enough to stop an inspired Ding
Mark Allen v Kyren Wilson
It’s not long ago since these two met on the big stage in a re-run of the Masters final back in January. Back then, it felt like it was Allen’s time as he closed out a 10-7 win to land his first Triple Crown title. Things might be a bit different here. While this is Allen’s first run to the quarters since 2011, Kyren is lining up in the last eight for the third consecutive season and seems to save his best for Sheffield.
Wilson is so level-headed that he seems to just have the knack of delivering results over multiple-session matches. He took advantage of an out-of-sorts Matthew Stevens in round one and then got on top of Jamie Jones early in round two and didn’t take his foot off the throat. Allen beat Liam Highfield in his opener and then after being neck and neck with Joe Perry throughout their first two sessions in round two, hit five frames on the spin to finish in style.
This will be the first real test for both players and you just have to feel that they will both respond with a strong performance.
Prediction: The toughest quarter-final match to predict. It’s hard to separate the two, but with my neck on the line I’ll go Wilson for in a decider
