The quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship begin on Tuesday morning – our team have every match previewed here.
Snooker betting tips: World Championship quarter-finals
1.5pts over 4.5 centuries in the Zhao Xintong/Shaun Murphy match at 4/5 (General)
Zhao Xintong v Shaun Murphy
- Tuesday 10:00
- Sky Bet match odds: Zhao 4/11, Murphy 2/1
Shaun Murphy is never one to downplay his own long potting and break-building prowess, and nor should he, while Zhao Xintong has been peerless in those departments for most of the season.
Zhao was a quite breathtaking winner of last year's World Championship, potting and scoring at will, and in many ways his performance mirrored that of Murphy's when the Englishman won this tournament way back in 2005.
Incredibly, both men came through qualifying the years they claimed Crucible glory.
What Zhao achieves from this point remains to be seen, but predictions of greatness appear completely justified at this stage.
Murphy has enjoyed a highly-decorated career himself, including three more world finals since 2005, along with a pair of wins at the Masters and one UK Championship title.
At the end of another strong season which has included victory at British Open and two more finals, the 43-year-old will fancy the job in a match that promises to be played on his terms.
Murphy certainly won't take a backwards step, and with Zhao already calling for 'all-out attack' from Murphy, we can expect fireworks.
The nippy nature of the pockets at this championship means there is a caveat to betting OVER 4.5 TOTAL MATCH CENTURIES, but Murphy reeled off four tons in his 13-3 win over Ziao Guodong in round two.
As for Zhao, he made three centuries in his 13-9 defeat of Ding Junhui where he still looked to be operating below fifth gear. He had earlier made three against Liam Highfield.
The sense is that Zhao will raise his game when required, and with Murphy clearly in good nick, this has the makings of a proper Crucible dust-up.
Expect plenty of big breaks. (Preview by Richard Mann)
Mark Allen v Barry Hawkins
- Tuesday 10:00
- Sky Bet match odds: Allen 8/11, Hawkins 11/10
Of all the quarter-final ties, the one between Mark Allen and Barry Hawkins is most likely to go under the radar.
But, for the purists, it might just be the most interesting of the lot.
Allen is quite the puzzle. A single-ball potting sensation when first breaking onto the scene, he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan on just his third Crucible appearance en route to the semi-finals in 2009.
At that point in his career, it seemed that some fine tuning to his game and natural maturing would see Allen return and one day become world champion.
Fast forward nearly 20 years and Allen's game is most certainly refined, and he has matured and evolved into a brilliant operator.
A couple of Triple Crown wins and 12 ranking titals in total confirm the Northern Irishman to be one of the biggest hitters among the modern-day players.
Allen's game has become wonderfully well-rounded, with a rock-solid temperament and a safety game few can match.
If anything, Allen has been criticised for going too far with his new approach, and he was happy to exchange verbals with Stephen Hendry in recent days.
Allen's record and number of tournament wins over the last few years, he would argue, suggest he knows best.
The Crucible remains a glaring omission from his CV, however, and the fact he has only made one more semi-final here since 2009 is baffling.
As for Hawkins, you won't find him exchanging verbals with very many people, but don't be fooled. This is a granite operator.
Where Allen has generally struggled for peak form at the Crucible, Hawkins has revelled in the famous old theatre.
Hawkins made the final – when losing to an unstoppable Ronnie O'Sullivan – and four more semi-finals in a golden run between 2013 and 2018. Hawkins and the World Championship have always felt like a perfect fit.
Though less consistent in more recent years, Hawkins reminded everyone of his undoubted class when reaching the final of last season's UK Championship, pushing Judd Trump close but eventually falling short of that elusive Triple Crown win.
But he resumed winning ways at the Welsh Open only last month, and where Allen has openly admitted to have lost a little bit of confidence of late, Hawkins appears very happy with his lot.
And why not? He was very impressive in dispatching Welsh duo Matthew Stevens and Mark Williams in the first two rounds, particularly in his 13-9 win over Williams who is very rarely outplayed in all departments of the game like he was there.
Allen finished like a train against Zhang Anda, and started well and finished well against Kyren Wilson, generally looking very good but for a stumble in the mid-part of the match.
The more prolific, high-profile winner, I can understand why Allen has been chalked up as favourite, but Hawkins' Crucible record is far superior, so too the overall body of his form since Christmas.
I have this as a choice affair, so had to be tempted by quotes of 11/10 about Hawkins, for all I'm struggling to take a strong view.
Perhaps over 22.5 total match frames is the way to go, but I'm not itching for a bet so won't recommend one. (Preview by Richard Mann)
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