O’Sullivan plays, but Selby best bet for snooker world title
Published:Ronnie O’Sullivan may have stolen the headlines in the build up to this year’s Snooker World Championships, but Mark Selby may be most in the news come the end of the tournament at the Crucible in Sheffield.
O’Sullivan has not won a match since November and his disillusionment with the game led to him telling snooker’s governing body that he wanted to pull out of the competition.
Thankfully for snooker fans he opted to change his mind a day later and has even had some sessions with sports psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters in an effort to regenerate his enthusiasm.
A rejuvenated O’Sullivan would be tough to beat at the Crucible and he is 8/1 in the snooker odds to be crowned a four-time world champion.
His first challenge is to break his winless streak when taking on Dominic Dale in the first round and O’Sullivan is 2/9 to safely progress through to round two.
However, even if he does beat Dale, the chances of O’Sullivan winning the tournament are hampered by the fact that John Higgins and Shaun Murphy are in his section of the draw.
Therefore, the smart money to win the tournament may be on Mark Selby, who appears to have the easiest path to the final.
Selby is 6/1 in the Snooker World Championship betting and begins his account against little-known Jimmy Robertson.
The Jester from Leicester is 1/12 to win this match and will then also be fancied to beat either Stephen Hendry or Joe Perry in the second round.
Things will get tougher from there onwards with Ding Junhui and defending champion Neil Robertson potentially blocking his path to the final.
But Selby has shown that he has the temperament to be suited to the World Championships in the past and will be driven by the thought of a first Crucible success.
A £300 stake on Selby winning the World Championship would return £180. New customers can sign up here for a free £30 bet.
