David Gilbert 13-10 Robert Milkins
The first match
of the last 16 pits two players that came through first-round deciders against
each other. Though the way Gilbert closed out his high-quality match with World
Champion Luca Brecel was far more eye-catching than how Milkins laboured to
victory against Pang Junxu. Winning the final four frames with 4 breaks of 50+
is a sign that Gilbert’s game is in a very good place at the minute and he will
be fancying his chances of making this years quarter-finals at the very least. Although
breathing a huge sigh of relief after coming through the first round, Milkins’
performance will have to significantly improve to compete with the ‘Angry
Farmer’. Now he's got the opener out of the way, hopefully we'll see him relax
and produce the free-flowing, exciting snooker that he's well capable of. He
has a positive head to head record against Gilbert (7-4 Milkins) and has won
both their encounters this season including a 4-0 triumph at the Welsh Open so
will have confidence in defeating his opponent again. They've both had very
similar seasons in terms of lack of real highlights so it’s very hard to be confident
on the outcome but Gilbert’s display against Brecel along with his form shown
in the qualifiers may just edge it.
Judd Trump 13-7 Tom Ford
The first session of Judd Trump’s victory over Hossein Vafaei was particularly impressive as he showed signs of the form that has made him 2nd favourite to claim his 2nd World title this year. With 5 titles to his name already this season, he comes here in good form and with a positive head-to-head record against his opponent (13-6 Trump) including a 5-0 thrashing in their latest encounter at the 2023 Wuhan Open he will be confident of progressing to another Crucible quarter-final. Thriving on confidence and getting the monkey off his back to claim his first victory in 5 attempts at the Crucible will help Ford. He played solidly making seven 50+ breaks in defeating Ricky Walden in Round 1 and if playing like that against Trump, he will no doubt cause him problems. If both players play their best, Trump should win but if dropping his standard Ford is capable of picking up the pieces and causing a shock.
Jak Jones
13-12 Si Jiahui
This match
sees two contrast in styles go head to head. Jones tends to wait patiently for
his opponent to offer up an opportunity while Jiahui is very attacking and
doesn’t turn down many shots. It sets it up for a very interesting match and we
know both players feel comfortable at the Crucible having gone deep in last season's
tournament. Jones surprisingly came through comfortably against Anda and showed
signs throughout of the grit and determination he is well known for. Jiahui was
victorious in a final frame decider with Mark Williams. Even though the
Welshman wasn’t at his best, Jiahui held his nerve impressively to get over the
line, producing a brilliant break of 77 in the decider. Jiahui did lose to
Jones earlier this year and the Welshman currently leads the head-to-head 2-1, all
things considered this is a very close tie to call as both players clearly
enjoy the longer formats, Jones to nick it.
Stephen Maguire 9-13 Shaun Murphy
A rivalry
that goes back 20 years, there’s guaranteed to be needle in this one. This is a
repeat of their first-round match two years ago where Maguire came out on top
10-8. Maguires first-round win against Ali Carter was very impressive as he hit
2 centuries on route to 10-7 victory. He has struggled with consistency over
the last few years but including his 2 qualifying round wins last week, the Scotsman
may be building up some momentum. Murphy came through against Lyu Haotian with
the minimum of fuss and the 2005 World Champion will see this as a big opportunity
to make the quarter-final. His scoring his one of his main assets and he
managed to make eight 50+ breaks in round 1. Two of the most attacking players
in the game, their head to head record is tied on 14-14, it's hard to escape
the view that this should be a cracker but I’m going to side with Murphy due to
a stronger all-round game.
John Higgins 10-13 Mark Allen
An improvement from round 1 will be needed from both, the last few meetings between the pair have been very close and I expect this one to be no different. Allen never looked in trouble in Round 1 against Robbie Williams but dropped off in the 2nd session, he looked very good at the start of the match but will have to keep up that form when playing an opponent of Higgins’ class. The Scotsman held off a spirited fight back from Jamie Jones to come through in round 1, Jones is well known for his battling qualities but Higgins showed his class to come through comfortably 10-6. He knows he can defeat Allen but will have to be on the top of his game, Allen’s become a much more dangerous opponent over the last few seasons. I expect a close match but the Northern Irishman to just edge it.
Joe O’Connor 11-13 Kyren Wilson
Before the Championship, there was very few
tipping Kyren Wilson to be a possible title contender but the emphatic fashion
of his 10-1 demolition of Dominic Dale in round 1 has made people take notice. Facing
a tough opponent in Joe O’Connor who’s confidence will be high coming off the
back of defeating practice partner Mark Selby fairly comfortably 10-6. It was a
huge confidence boost for O’Connor on his debut at the Crucible and both
players will see this as an opportunity to advance to a quarter-final where the
winner of Mark Allen and John Higgins will be waiting. The pair are definitely better
suited to the longer format and a close tie is expected with neither player pulling
away. Former finalist Wilson may just have the extra added experience to get
over the line.
Jack Lisowski 10-13 Stuart Bingham
Two players that came through the qualifiers, a hard game to call. In their 12 meetings up to now the score is 6-6 so there’s very little between the pair. Judging by his last few matches, Lisowski’s game seems to have matured and he looks to be harder to play against. He is more than capable of making his 2nd quarter-final in 3 years and if replicating the form that got him through a deciding frame against Ding Junhui last time out, Bingham will have his hands full. Despite all the talk of Bingham switching his focus towards the pool scene, he is very much a live contender to keep progressing this year after he upset the odds to come through 10-5 in the last round against Gary Wilson. When on form, he can be as enjoyable to watch and fluent as anyone on tour. I fancy the former World Champion to outlast Lisowski in this one due to his Crucible experience.
Ryan Day 6-13 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Hard to envisage anything but a Ronnie win but
if Day can replicate his performance in the last four frames in his opening round win against
Barry Hawkins he can put it up to the world number 1. He hasn’t had a
particularly good season to date but 3 World Championship match victories to
get to this stage mean he comes into this match with some momentum built up. Day
is a class act when on his game, a heavy scorer and a terrific potter, he can
be streaky and very dangerous. The pair met at this stage of the 2006 World Championship
with Ronnie prevailing 13-10. The 7 time World Champion looked in ominous form in
his 10-1 defeat of Jackson Page in round 1. The rocket was bullish about his
chances in his post-match interview which could spell bad news for his
competitors. I think this will be another step on his journey to win his 8th
World title.
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