Quarter 1:
John Higgins (1) v Liang Wenbo
Stuart Bingham (16) v Stephen Hendry
Graeme Dott (9) v Joe Perry
Stephen Maguire (8) v Luca Brecel
LUCA BRECEL will become the youngest ever player to make his Crucible debut when he faces Scot Stephen Maguire in the first round on Sunday.
The 17-year-old from Dilsen-Stokkem in Belgium qualified for the main draw after battling through four rounds of preliminaries against Ian McCulloch, Barry Pinches, Michael Holt and Mark King.
And, having beaten King 10-8 in the fourth qualifying round, Brecel will break the record of Stephen Hendry from 1986 in being the youngest player at snooker's blue ribbon event in Sheffield.
Hendry, himself, had been
subject to the qualifiers for the first time since 1988 after he dropped out of the top 16.
Nevertheless, the seven-time champion came through unscathed against China's Yu Delu, winning 10-6 in the final round, and he will now play the lowest seed, Stuart Bingham.
Brecel and Hendry are actually in the same quarter of the draw, and this quarter also features three-time and defending champion John Higgins.
The Wizard from Wishaw has had a quiet year in ranking tournaments but he should still have too much for the inconsistent Chinese player Liang Wenbo.
Liang blows hot and cold even within the course of a match sometimes - and this was no better exemplified than by his performance in the final qualifying round when he gave away an 8-2 lead against Marcus Campbell, only to win a deciding frame.
Hendry is now also too inconsistent to be a real threat for the title in the way that he was in the 1990s but he will fancy his chances against Bingham, and in doing so setting up a second round tie against Higgins.
Indeed, the whole top quarter is dominated by men from north of the border with another former world champion, Graeme Dott, seeded against Joe Perry as well as the aforementioned Maguire-Brecel match-up.
Dott seems to revel in the atmosphere at the Crucible, as the longer matches seem to give him more time to settle into his rhythm. As such, the 2006 champion will be strong favourite against Perry.
Similarly, Maguire should come through against Brecel for, as long as he remains cool in the competitive early tussles, experience usually wins out in the end.
Predictions: Higgins, Hendry, Dott and Maguire to make it an all-Scottish affair in the last 16 in this quarter.
Quarter 2:
Shaun Murphy (5) v Jamie Jones
Stephen Lee (12) v Andrew Higginson
Ali Carter (13) v Mark Davis
Judd Trump (4) v Dominic Dale
WHILE the top quarter is dominated by the Scottish, England fields four seeds in the second group of eight, including an outstanding talent in Judd Trump.
Trump had a brilliant year in 2011 - he won his first ranking tournament in China a month before knocking out reigning world champion Neil Robertson on his way to contesting the Crucible final himself, narrowly losing 18-15 to John Higgins.
The Bristolian did not really need to prove his success was a fluke but, for good measure in December last year, he won the UK Championship at York, beating Mark Allen 10-8 in the final.
And so, even at just 22, Trump has enough big game experience to make light work of Welsh veteran Dominic Dale who he also beat in the first round in York.
Another player enjoying some great form is 12th seed Stephen Lee, although it is fair to say that the 37-year-old from Trowbridge has had to wait a little longer than Trump for his purple-patch.
Only once a semi-finalist at the Crucible, in 2003, Lee has had a resurgence in early part of 2012.
In February, he reached the final of the World Open in China and, in the very next tournament, won the finals of the Players Tour Championship for his first ranking title in six years.
Lee seems to be enjoying his snooker and it would therefore be a major surprise if he failed to get past Andrew Higginson, for whom this is only a second Crucible appearance.
24-year-old Jamie Jones has not even had that much experience and, along with Brecel, makes his debut this year in the World Championships proper.
Neath man Jones caught the eye with a stunning 10-2 win over Ricky Walden in the final round of the qualifiers but he now faces fifth seed Shaun Murphy in a tough baptism of fire.
The Welshman will be hoping to take advantage of the fact that this has been a hugely frustrating season for the 2005 champ - though that Murphy is still without a ranking title this season is not through the want of trying.
The 29-year-old from Harlow has reached three semi-finals and three quarter finals without success, and he also lost in the final of the Masters to Neil Robertson.
Nevertheless, once again, it seems likely that this tie will come down to experience, and Murphy will have too much of that for Jones.
The remaining tie in this quarter looks to be the tightest of the four. Aged 39, Mark Davis is not about to storm up the ranking but he has improved in the latter stages of his career, reaching the second round of the World Championships for the first time in 2010.
His opponent Ali Carter has good pedigree at the Crucible, having reached the final in 2008 and the semi finals two years.
But the man nicknamed the Captain
cast major doubts on his continuation in the sport, announcing on Twitter after his defeat in the UK Championships: "I'm going to retire at the end of the season! And I can't wait!"
In 2003, Carter was diagnosed with the auto immune disease, Crohn's, an inflammatory bowel disorder which also causes fatigue - it is hardly ideal for this 17-day snooker marathon.
And, although Carter later stated his Twitter comments had been made "in the heat of the moment", he has recently dropped out of the top 16 and gives an impression that he is no longer enjoying his snooker. Davis must sense his chance.
Predictions: The all-English quartet of Murphy, Lee, Davis, and Trump to prevail.
Quarter 3:
Mark Williams (3) v Liu Chuang
Ronnie O'Sullivan (14) v Peter Ebdon
Martin Gould (11) v David Gilbert
Neil Robertson (6) v Ken Doherty
RONNIE O'SULLIVAN received perhaps his biggest nightmare when the draw for the Crucible was made earlier this week after it was
announced he would face Peter Ebdon yet again.
To say that O'Sullivan-Ebdon is a clash of styles rather understates the matter but there is more than one way to play this game and Ebdon successfully gets right under O'Sullivan's skin.
After
beating the Rocket in the quarter finals in 2005, Ebdon said: "People can say what they like but I don't care. When I'm trying my hardest I seem to go slow. I don't do it intentionally."
Nevertheless, O'Sullivan will be favourite to level up their Crucible head-to-head record at 2-2 when they meet on Monday and Tuesday.
Get past Ebdon and O'Sullivan will fancy his chances of going deep into the tournament.
For, while it still seems unlikely that the Rocket will carry off a fourth world title - and the opener against Ebdon will be hard graft - O'Sullivan
usually enjoys playing against his potential second round opponent Mark Williams.
Indeed, O'Sullivan leads his head-to-head against Williams 23-7 and has won his last 12 matches against the Welshman.
Meanwhile,
Williams has hardly endeared himself to the Sheffield crowd after stating he "hates" the Crucible Theatre, adding that he would "rather play at Pontin's" and hopes the tournament moves to China.
There is little chance of that happening anytime soon with the current contract at the Crucible running until 2014 - but what a strange thing for the twice world champion to say!
Perhaps it was Williams's way of motivating himself ahead of his opener against one of the four Chinese players in the draw, Liu Chuang. It is likely, though, that the Welshman's talent will be enough, anyway.
Another possible last 16 tie is Neil Robertson v Martin Gould. This fixture should immediately recall the
famous match-up from just two years ago when the Aussie recovered from 6-0, 11-5 and 12-10 down to win 13-12 on his way to becoming world champion.
In order for that second round match to be repeated, Robertson must first beat Irish veteran Ken Doherty - after the 1997 champion qualified by beating Nottingham potter Anthony Hamilton in a decider - while Gould must overcome fellow Englishman David Gilbert. Both Robertson and Gould should make it through.
Predictions: The four seeds - Williams, O'Sullivan, Robertson and Gould - to get through from this section.
Quarter 4:
Ding Junhui (7) v Ryan Day
Mark Allen (10) v Cao Yupeng
Matthew Stevens (15) v Marco Fu
Mark Selby (2) v Barry Hawkins
WORLD number one Mark Selby and China's great hope Ding Junhui both sum up this section of the draw perfectly for, despite their undoubted talent, neither has won a world title. In fact, none of the eight men listed above has.
Selby has at least achieved number one status out of his commendable consistency in ranking tournaments.
But, with 'only' the 2008 Welsh Open and this season's Shanghai Masters in the trophy cabinet, it is about time that the Jester from Leicester really stepped up on the big stage.
In this world championship, that means starting well against Barry Hawkins who, last year, finally broke his Crucible duck... at the sixth attempt.
That victory came against an out-of-sorts Stephen Maguire but this is a tougher draw for Hawkins, and Selby's matchplay should prove too much.
Hawkins is far from the only player to struggle at the Crucible. Indeed, until last year, Ding had a pretty poor record in the World Championships, having failed to get past the last 16 in four attempts.
In 2011, though, the Chinese cueman added a bit of steel to his game and made the semi finals before losing 17-15 from being 15-14 up against Trump.
That defeat was a bit of a shock for Ding but he is in decent enough form to go on another run this time, having beaten Selby in this season's Welsh Open final for his fifth ranking title.
Mark Allen won his first ranking title this year, beating Stephen Lee 10-1 in the final of the World Open in Haikou, China, despite having earlier
bemoaned the event and even the host nation.
What his Chinese opponent, Cao Yupeng, made of Allen's comments about China is anybody's guess but it may add some spice to this first round encounter.
Actually, for 21-year-old Cao, the whole tournament will be a hell of an experience as he is a third Crucible debutant along with Brecel and Jones, having come through four rounds of qualifying.
Cao beat Kurt Maflin 10-2, Dave Harold 10-9, Nigel Bond 10-7 and Tom Ford in another decider just to get to this stage. But, while the qualifiers show Cao is not short of fight, it seems likely that Allen will still have too much for him.
Last but not least, Matthew Stevens takes on Marcu Fu in an intriguing tie - intriguing because, though Stevens is the seeded player at no15, Fu is the player with the slightly better recent record in Sheffield.
Welshman Stevens has reached just one quarter final - and failed to qualify twice - in six years since he lost the 2005 final to Shaun Murphy.
Fu may not have hit the heights either, having appeared in just one semi final in 2006, but he has at least made it to the World Championships proper for the last eight years.
Hong Kong's Fu can be a dangerous player on his day and 34-year-old Stevens will have to be on his guard.
Predictions: Fu can cause a shock but the other seeds - Ding, Allen and Selby - should make it through.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Best of 19 frames
John Higgins (1) beat Liang Wenbo 10-9
Stephen Hendry beat Stuart Bingham (16) 10-4
Joe Perry beat Graeme Dott (9) 10-1
Stephen Maguire (8) beat Luca Brecel 10-5
Jamie Jones beat Shaun Murphy (5) 10-8
Andrew Higginson beat Stephen Lee (12) 10-6
Ali Carter (13) beat Mark Davis 10-2
Judd Trump (4) beat Dominic Dale 10-7
Mark Williams (3) beat Liu Chuang 10-6
Ronnie O'Sullivan (14) beat Peter Ebdon 10-4
David Gilbert beat Martin Gould (11) 10-8
Neil Robertson (6) beat Ken Doherty 10-4
Ryan Day beat Ding Junhui (7) 10-9
Cao Yupeng beat Mark Allen (10) 10-6
Matthew Stevens (15) beat Marco Fu 10-3
Barry Hawkins beat Mark Selby (2) 10-3
SECOND ROUND RESULTS
Best of 25 frames
Stephen Hendry beat John Higgins (1) 13-4
Stephen Maguire (8) beat Joe Perry 13-7
Jamie Jones beat Andrew Higginson 13-10
Ali Carter (13) beat Judd Trump (4) 13-12
Ronnie O'Sullivan (14) beat Mark Williams (3) 13-6
Neil Robertson (6) beat David Gilbert 13-9
Ryan Day beat Cao Yupeng 13-7
Matthew Stevens (15) beat Barry Hawkins 13-11
QUARTER FINAL RESULTS
Best of 25 frames
Stephen Maguire (8) beat Stephen Hendry 13-2
Ali Carter (13) beat Jamie Jones 13-11
Ronnie O'Sullivan (14) beat Neil Robertson (6) 13-10
Matthew Stevens (15) beat Ryan Day 13-5
SEMI FINAL RESULTS
Best of 33 frames
Ali Carter (13) beat Stephen Maguire 17-12
Ronnie O'Sullivan (14) beat Matthew Stevens (15) 17-10
FINAL
Best of 35 frames
Ronnie O'Sullivan (14) beat Ali Carter (13) 18-11
Session 1 (5-3): 77-37 (57), 121-1 (117), 0-85 (84), 25-57, 86-42 (52), 2-55, 108-0 (92),
141-0 (141)
Session 2 (5-3): 8-84 (56), 73-21, 69-14 (68), 30-62, 73-8, 60-13, 1-83
(59), 74-34 (62)
Session 3 (4-4): 3-52, 101-0, 73-12, 62-48, 81-41 (54), 9-59, 27-105
(105), 2-62 (53)
Session 4 (4-1): 129-4 (64, 55), 90-0 (70), 17-78 (64), 76-0, 82-0 (61)
CENTURY BREAKS
147 Stephen Hendry
142 Stephen Maguire
141 Ronnie O'Sullivan
138 Jamie Jones
136 Martin Gould, Jamie Jones
135 Jamie Jones
134 Jamie Jones, Ali Carter
133 John Higgins
132 Ali Carter, Jamie Jones
131 Neil Robertson
130 Ronnie O'Sullivan
128 Ronnie O'Sullivan
127 Jamie Jones
125 Cao Yupeng, Stephen Maguire
124 John Higgins
123 Stephen Hendry, Matthew Stevens
122 Matthew Stevens
121 David Gilbert
120 Judd Trump
119 Ryan Day
118 Ali Carter
117 Stephen Maguire, Ronnie O'Sullivan
116 Luca Brecel, Matthew Stevens
115 Joe Perry
114 Judd Trump
113 Cao Yupeng, Ryan Day, Ali Carter, Ronnie O'Sullivan
112 Ryan Day, Ali Carter
111 Andrew Higginson, Mark Williams
110 Stephen Lee, Ryan Day, Ronnie O'Sullivan
109 Martin Gould, Neil Robertson
108 Neil Robertson, Cao Yupeng
107 Ronnie O'Sullivan
106 Neil Robertson
105 Ali Carter
104 Ken Doherty, Ronnie O'Sullivan
103 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Joe Perry
102 Shaun Murphy, Stephen Lee
101 Stephen Maguire (x3), Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen, Ali Carter, Matthew Stevens, Jamie Jones, Ronnie O'Sullivan
100 Stephen Hendry, Neil Robertson (x2), Ding Junhui, Ryan Day, Ronnie O'Sullivan (x2)
