Richard Mann nominates his best bets from the first round of the World Snooker Championship, with three tips for Monday.
Snooker betting tips: World Championship
1pt Dave Gilbert to beat Si Jiahui at 13/10 (General)
Si Jiahui v Dave Gilbert
- Monday, 19:00
- Sky Bet match odds: Si 4/7, Gilbert 5/4
Two men who seem to come alive at the Crucible, particularly DAVE GILBERT who did very little of note last season until making his second World Championship semi-final.
He was agonisingly denied at the same stage in 2019 when losing to John Higgins in a Crucible epic, and clearly plays his best snooker in Sheffield.
Gilbert had to fight hard to come through qualifying this time, denying the promising Aaron Hill, and that match should have sharpened him up after a quiet spell.
It's been a similar story for Si Jiahui who contested the Wuhan Open final earlier in the season but has looked horribly out of sorts since, namely in the recent Players Series.
The best performance of his career came when reaching the last four of this event in 2023, and he also won his first-round match here last year.
Given these two like to take the game on and tend to produce their best snooker when involved in open matches, I wouldn't be surprised if both managed a couple of centuries, or even more.
You'll get odds-on against for either man to do that if you shop around.
However, the percentage call has to be for Gilbert whose profile is just the more solid, and who should be full of confidence after coming through qualifying.
At 13/10, Gilbert is the clear value.
CLICK HERE to back Gilbert with Sky Bet
Posted at 2150 BST on 18/04/25
Ding Junhui v Zak Surety
1pt Zak Surety to beat Ding Junhui at 3/1 (General)
- Monday 14:30
- Sky Bet match odds: Ding 2/9, Surety 3/1
2016 Crucible runner-up Ding Junhui will start as overwhelming favourite for this one, but beware The Dragon if the last few years are anything to go by.
Ding has crashed out in the first round at the Crucible in each of his last four visits, 12 months ago to Jack Lisowski who hasn't qualified himself this time around.
In fact, Lisowski was beaten on Judgement Day by ZAK SURETY, the pair trading five centuries and the new kid on the block playing brilliantly from 7-4 down to win 10-8.
I say new kid on the block because Surety has been one of the breakthrough stories of the season, reaching the semi-finals of the World Open where narrowly losing to John Higgins having at one stage looked sure to win.
Big-game experience cost him there, but it doesn't appear to have dented his confidence, and those experiences will stand him in good stead on Monday and beyond.
The 33-year-old is something of a late bloomer, but he can certainly play and is improving fast.
Ding, though still playing well and a tournament winner earlier in the campaign, remains vulnerable, particularly at a venue he just doesn't appear to relish anymore.
As such, the general 3/1 about Surety looks well worth snapping up.
CLICK HERE to back Surety with Sky Bet
ALSO READ: Neal Foulds' top 16 profiles
John Higgins v Joe O’Connor
1pt over 17.5 frames in John Higgins/Joe O'Connor match at 2/1 (General)
- Monday, 10:00
- Sky Bet match odds: Higgins 1/3, O'Connor 9/4
I took a chance on Joe O’Connor in my outright preview here, impressed by his defeat of Mark Selby in this tournament last year, and buoyed by another encouraging campaign.
O’Connor played out of his skin to reach the World Open final, where he eventually lost out to today’s rival John Higgins 10-6.
A sluggish start cost O’Connor there, falling 6-1 and 7-2 behind, but he was the better player from that stage onwards, and should have learnt much from the experience.
Higgins is enjoying a fine run of form following another title win at the Tour Championship, but O’Connor has won three of their previous nine meetings and ought to give him a game at the very least.
I don’t see him either man running away with this, so playing overs on the total match frames appeals.
I’ll back OVER 17.5 MATCH FRAMES at 2/1.
Mark Williams v Wu Yize
1pt Wu Yize to have the most centuries against Mark Williams at 6/4 (Sky Bet)
- Saturday, 14:30
- Sky Bet match odds: Williams 4/6, Wu 11/10
A dangerous opening match for three-time champion Mark Williams who won the Champion of Champions earlier in the season but has struggled more recently, most notably in the recent Players Series.
The Welshman has been making worrying noises about the state of his eyesight, and the biggest problem has been his lack of scoring.
In his 10-3 loss to Ding Junhui at the Tour Championship, Williams only made two breaks of fifty or above, and a top break of 68 was all he managed when losing to Kyren Wilson in the preceding Players Championship.
Williams could be vulnerable against richly-talented Chinese youngster Wu Yize who was involved in a terrific match on Judgement Day, knocking in four centuries – one of them a 139 – as he edged out Matthew Stevens 10-9.
Wu has enjoyed a breakthrough season this term, reaching the finals of the English and Scottish Opens, and his break-building has been deeply impressive.
Williams’ greater Crucible experience might just get him over the line here, but Wu could well make the MOST CENTURIES IN THE MATCH, and that looks the way to go.
CLICK HERE to back Wu most centuries in the match with Sky Bet
Related snooker links
- Richard Mann's World Championship outright preview
- World Championship: Top 16 player profiles
- Where are the young snooker players
- Perfect Snooker Player
- Snooker's GOAT: O'Sullivan by the numbers
- O'Sullivan's Triple Crown timeline
- Watch all the Crucible 147 breaks
- Should the worlds stay at the Crucible?
- History of 147 breaks
- Ronnie O'Sullivan's 147 breaks
- O'Sullivan: One of a kind
- History of snooker's number ones
- Best players never to win a world title
- Crucible memories: Ronnie's finest hour
- Crucible memories: Higgins denies Trump
- Crucible memories: White a People's Champion
- Crucible memories: Johnson stuns Davis
- Crucible memories: Foulds' dream debut
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