World Championship Acca: Carter kicks off 8/1 Crucible fourfold

The Snooker World Championship moves into the third day of action and we’ve lined up an 8/1 fourfold for the next few days’ play that’s sure to keep things interesting.

Ali Carter to beat Ben Woollaston @ 2/7

Last year’s beaten finalist Carter looks to make another assault on Crucible glory this time around and gets his tournament underway against fellow countryman Woollaston.

The Captain hasn’t been in the best of knick of late, crashing out in the first round of four of his previous six tournaments and only making it to the last-16 of the other two. While he’s expected to see off Woollaston, his current form means he shouldn’t be backed for a hefty win in the handicap stakes.

Stephen Maguire (-3.5) to beat Dechawat Poomjaeng @ 1/2

Thai debutant Poomjaeng is surely in for a long day against On Fire here, who will overcome a 3.5-frame handicap to win this match. The price isn’t the longest given the substantial arrears he will have to make up to win, but it looks a relatively safe bet.

Poomjaeng was comfortable in qualification, beating three of his four opponents by at least a six-frame deficit in a first-to-10 format. None of these were of Maguire’s class, however, and the Scot will come out on top.

Having won the Welsh Open and making the semis of the China equivalent, he’s obviously in good shape and anything but a comprehensive victory will come as a shock here.

Marco Fu to beat Matthew Stevens @ 1/1

This first round clash pits too well-matched opponents together and the slight underdog has it in him to progress.

History favours Fu as, when these two square off, one player tends to enjoy a spell of success at the other’s expense.

Welshman Stevens had won five on the spin against his next opponent, including a tie at this stage of the World Championship last year, but Fu snapped that losing run with victory at this season’s China Open.

He’d won three on the bounce prior to his losing streak against Stevens and is out for some Crucible revenge here.

Dominic Dale (+3.5) to beat Judd Trump @ 5/4

Massive underdog Dale can make this scrap a much more closely contested affair than anticipated.

Media-darling Trump has beaten Dale in each of their four face-offs, but their meeting in this round of the competition last year should give the Welshman some confidence. He was beaten 10-7 on the day and while he was still eliminated, a defeat of this magnitude again will be good enough to see the bet cop.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date