Snooker betting tips: World Championship qualifying preview and best bets

Snooker betting tips: World Championship qualifying

1pt He Guoqiang to win section 16 at 4/1 (General)

0.5pt Artemijs Zizins to win section 2 at 20/1 (General)

0.5pt Bulcsu Revesz to win section 15 at 33/1 (Boylesports)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

With Wu Yize eliminated early in the Tour Championship, we now know all 16 seeds for Sheffield’s showpiece event, with last year’s finalist Jak Jones the last man in.

Excitement builds ahead of the Crucible but for the snooker purist (for my money anyway) the best 10 days or so gambling on the sport all year comes at the Institute of Sport, where livelihoods are laid bare in far-from salubrious surroundings.

We take a break from the robotic genius of Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson et al for the bread and butter of the game in best-of-19 frame wars of attrition.

I’ve profiled a couple of European dark horses along with a slightly more established Chinese player, all of whom look slightly overpriced to successfully navigate their respective section.

ARTEMIJS ZIZINS

• 2024/25 MATCHES* WON: 9 /EXPECTED WINS: 7.82 (+1.18)

A European under-16 champion in 2022 and a Latvian National Championship winner the following year, Artemijs Zizins clearly possessed more than his share of ability as a junior but it was still a major surprise that he was street-wise enough to come through the choppy waters of Q School last year.

Zizins did just that, and even more impressively, in the first event of the series, claiming the scalps of Iulian Boiko and Mark Joyce in the process.

At aged 18 in a totally new environment, 2024/25 has been a more-than-acceptable debut season for Zizins, surpassing his expected wins total, primarily due to a brace of victories over Robbie Williams along with a well-documented success over Matt Selt.

It could have been even better for Zizins, too, given he led Mark Selby 4-3 in a best-of-nine World Open qualifying clash.

Due to his current ranking, Zizins starts from round one of qualifying but with a two-year tour card under his belt, he won’t be feeling the pressure of many of those around him as a result, namely Dylan Emery in round one.

Emery is a very talented potter and finished the Q Tour campaign in second place, behind the proverbial Group horse in a handicap in Zhao Xintong.

I’d have Zizins a very slight favourite to progress in that match and were he to do so, Joe Perry would be his next opponent.

The pressure may be off Perry somewhat given that he’s expressed his desire to retire from the sport but on his form this season, Zizins wouldn’t be a big outsider with me.

As you’d expect for a tiered format, it cranks up a notch after with Yuan Sijun and Zhou Yuelong, though the latter has lost a slight air of invincibility at this level (Ishpreet Singh Chadha will fancy the job if getting a shot at him in round three) and the former is a slightly mercurial character for me.

This will be his first exposure to best-of-19 qualifiers, but Zizins plays with a maturity beyond his years and I think his style of play will lend itself well to this format, so he looks worth chancing at 20/1.

BULCSU REVESZ

• 2024/25 MATCHES*, WON: 12/ EXPECTED WINS 9.1 (+2.9)

In several ways, Bulccsu Revesz and Artemijs Zizins boast very similar profiles.

Both are aged just 18, represent an unfashionable mainland European nation when it comes snooker (and also a proof reader’s nightmare) and each has recorded the exact same prize money on their first season on the main circuit.

That is despite the fact that Revesz has amassed 12 victories so far this season at a significant over-performance based on his schedule.

Victories over Ali Carter, Yuan Sijun and Mark Davis respectively certainly helped Revesz in that regard.

Given his age, Revesz graduated to the main tour in a slightly more orthodox manner courtesy of the WSF Junior Championship.

He defeated Gong Chenzhi (who also gained tour status) in the final to become the first Hungarian player to play professionally.

Unlike Zizins, Revesz had a little more exposure to top-level competition before this term, with a series of top-up invites, and he won his first qualifying match at Sheffield a year ago, recovering from 6-1 down to relegate Sean O’Sullivan from the tour.

He came up shy against James Cahill in round two and while his break building is not yet at the required standard to really trouble the elite players over the course of a season, from what I’ve seen of Revesz, he has the safety game and temperament to make a big impact in long-form matches.

Again like Zizins, Revesz has a similar-looking draw to negotiate.

First up is another 50/50 clash with Stephen Hallworth, who will be hoping to avoid commentary duties for as along as possible in this event and given he’s back on the tour next season, he’ll be going into this pretty high on confidence.

Like Perry, Anthony Hamilton is another popular veteran at the twilight of his career.

A back issue means he doesn’t do anything quickly these days, Hamilton, and this season hasn’t been a good one for the Sheriff.

Hamilton is always a tricky one for an inexperienced player to compete against given his quirks but form isn’t something that can be turned on and off, so I’d be hopeful that Revecz can pass that test.

Matt Selt then probably Jimmy Robertson/Stan Moody is unquestionably a tough conclusion but on the plus side, we are more than compensated for that with prices up to 33/1 (28/1 general).

HE GUOQIANG

• 2024/25 MATCHES* WON 13/ EXPECTED WINS 12.13 (+0.87)

At 24, He Guoqiang is slightly more established than the above pair and his 2023.24 campaign was a superb one.

So much so, that Guoqiang was awarded the Rooke of The Year honours and it was a season that almost culminated with a Crucible appearance.

Guoqiang compiled nine 50+ breaks when seeing off Ross Muir before a commanding 10-5 win against another Scottish opponent, this time Anthony McGill, who is often the benchmark for this sort of level.

I suppose, on the back of that excellent debut season, a push towards the top 32 would have been a realistic goal set by many.

That hasn’t quite materialised yet, with Guoqiang 49th on the one-year list this season, a fairly annoying spot for him as it does mean an extra round of qualifiers next month.

A solitary last-16 finish in the English Open means that the campaign so far can only be considered a respectable one, though he has just about surpassed his “expected wins” forecast, aided by downing Ronnie O’Sullivan in the British Open.

One thing that certainly remains on track is the Guoqiang scoring prowess and his best game is more than capable of mixing it with the 17-32 ranked bracket.

Bai Yulu was a terrific story when she won three consecutive ranking matches in the UK Championship but Liam Highfield is about as bad as it could have got as a first-round opponent.

Following a surprise relegation off the tour, Highfield secured a two-year card last month in Turkey.

He will likely be Guoqiang’s first opponent and while he is respected, the layers haven’t taken any chances with Highfield at 7/1 outright and I’d rather plump for the 4/1 about a current tour player in Guoqiang.

Ali Carter will be happy with his draw and at 8/15, will be the staple of a few people’s accumulators, but I’d have Guoqiang a little closer to him in the market than that.

*Excludes Championship League and Shoot Out matches

Posted at 1525 GMT on 04/04/25

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