As Ronnie O’Sullivan stated in this week’s pre-tournament press conference, the opening round of the Snooker World Championship is often like the first corner of a Formula 1 race…
“Carnage”
And 2022 isn’t expected to be much different, with a very strong field heading to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, attempting to pot their way into snooker’s cherish annals of history.
There are some tantalising match-ups in the opening round of the 2022 Snooker World Championship as Mark Selby looks to defend his throne, Ronnie O’Sullivan attempts to make it a magic seven and Neil Robertson tries to extend his blistering start to the new year.
We’ll be here throughout the tournament at freebets.com offering up insight on the best matches from inside the Crucible Theatre.
Let’s take a look at our three big tips for the first round in Sheffield:
Ronnie O’Sullivan v David Gilbert – Over 16.5 Frames
This first round tie could arguably grace many finals on the World Snooker Tour.
In short, Ronnie O’Sullivan has been handed one of the trickiest ties to navigate in the opening round.
Gilbert is ranked 19 in the world and has had a solid season on tour winning the Championship League and reaching the last eight at the British Open, Northern Irish Open, Scottish Open and European Masters.
He’s also a former World Championship semi-finalist, losing a nail-biting 17-16 shoot-out to John Higgins back in 2019 as a place in the final slipped through his fingers.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is Ronnie O’Sullivan: you can always expect magic on the baize, mixed with a hint of madness.
He has either won the World Championship, or been knocked out before the quarter-finals in five of his last six years and is certainly susceptible from a big push from Gilbert.
The “Rocket” is a man of extremes and his season has followed this moniker – he either runs deep into a tournament (more often than not!) or falls pretty early.
We can see this match being the star of the opening round with over 16.5 frames a solid option at Evens.
Matthew Stevens to beat Jack Lisowski
Matthew Stevens is a member of the unfortunate club of excellent players to have never won the Snooker World Championship.
The Welshman is now 44 and scraped through the qualifying rounds via some hairy moments, but has good pedigree in Sheffield and will be looking to rely on muscle memory inside the Crucible as he has another shot at glory.
Two final appearances in 2000 and 2005 as well as four semi-finals in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2012 may seem like a lifetime ago, but the “Welsh Dragon” enters this week in high spirits and in good form.
You could argue that Jack Lisowski was one of the best seeded picks for Stevens to draw.
Stevens has only got past the first round once since 2012, but “Jackpot” has had a fairly average season.
Lisowski has never got past the second round inside the Crucible and is running off the back of a final-less season, with a semi-final outing at the Welsh Open his biggest coup.
6/4 for Stevens to roll back the years and provide a mini-shock is priced well.
Neil Robertson v Ashley Hugill – 147 in match
Nobody in world snooker is playing as well or as confidently as Neil Robertson at the moment.
The Australian has scooped the Masters, Tour Championship, Players Championship and English Open this season and has developed a mindset on the table where he believes he is never beaten.
There have only ever been 11 maximum breaks at the Snooker World Championships – with John Higgins the last to achieve this feat in 2020 – but if there is anyone likely to nail the perfect break in Sheffield, then it’s the “Thunder from Down Under”.
At 25/1 this is a real stab in the dark but in the opening round Robertson is expected to be playing with freedom and will want to put down a marker against a competitive field.
* Betting odds correct at the time of writing. Subject to changes.
