Quarter Final 1
- Ronnie O'Sullivan V Luca Brecel
This however, will be a different test as we seen the emphatic win for Ronnie over Vafaei in the last 16 with a session to spare,
I have a feeling if Ronnie is in similar form, how well Brecel is playing will not matter as there is very few players that can live with Ronnie when on song.
Prediction: Ronnie O'Sullivan 13-8 Luca Brecel
Quarter Final 2
- Anthony McGill V Si Jiahui
Having played 3 times previously, McGill has yet to beat Jiahui before, They have yet to play in a match longer than best of 9 and McGill will know that! The way he grinded his way through to beat Lisowski was very impressive and will approach this similarly.
On his Crucible debut, 20 year old Jiahui has gained a lot of fans over the last couple of weeks showing no signs of nerves especially when beating Shaun Murphy in a final frame decider & Robert Milkins,
I've been very impressed with the way McGill has beaten both Trump & Lisowski and have a feeling he will continue on his run to reach his second semi final since 2020.
Prediction: Anthony McGill 13-7 Si Jiahui
Quarter Final 3
- Mark Allen V Jak Jones
Most recent meeting between the pair was in the Turkish Masters in 2022 where Jones came out on top 6-5, that suggests the pair are well matched and this could be another close affair.
Having come through matches against Barry Hawkins, Ali Carter & Neil Robertson is seriously impressive in his first year at the crucible and it shows the experience has not phased him at all so far.
First half of the season's form player Allen has had a comfortable route to this stage so far, defeating Fan Zhengyi & Stuart Bingham with minimum fuss, Allen will be eyeing up his first semi final since 2008 and no doubt will be favourite going into this one.
Prediction: Mark Allen 13-8 Jak Jones
Quarter Final 4
- John Higgins V Mark Selby
No doubt the tie of the round, two absolute legends of the game in what could easily be a World Championship Final, the pair have met 34 times over the years, Selby holds a slender advantage (18-16),
Higgins' emphatic victory over Kyren Wilson 13-2 in the previous round showed after a relatively quiet season, he is returning to form and that is a worrying sign for any opponent he may come up against,
Selby came into this season's showpiece event as a strong contender as always for this title, he recently won the WST classic where he came through against Higgins 4-2 in the quarter final, we've seen his compete at the top level for so long even when not at the top of his game,
The pair played in 2017's World Championship Final with Selby prevailing 18-15 in a classic.
Everything points towards a tight match and is very difficult to call a winner.
Prediction John Higgins 13-11 Mark Selby
No comments:
Post a Comment