The final stages are upon us, we now know that the 2020 World Champion will be one of Kyren Wilson, Anthony McGill, Mark Selby or Ronnie O’Sullivan.
For those who don’t know, the word Crucible means melting pot. Very apt I think you’ll agree. The Crucible Theatre was obviously destined to host Snooker…..
The one table set up at The Crucible, is always talked about by players and pundits, as being even more special than when there are two tables in the arena. The set is slightly changed, obviously one table is removed, the dividing wall is removed and instead of the players sitting right next to each other, they now sit on opposite sides of the arena. With a little more space to breathe.
The first semi-final, sees former semi finalist Kyren Wilson against surprise package of the tournament Anthony McGill. It was well documented that Wilson had a first round walkover, however, he has played some fantastic snooker to defeat Martin Gould and then see off the defending champion Judd Trump 13-9. The old Crucible Curse struck once more!!McGill qualified by only dropping two frames en route to the final stages and his good form has continued. He beat Jack Lisowski 10-9, Jamie Clarke 13-12 and Kurt Maflin 13-10. He is a former ranking event winner and tough competitor, which is to be expected given that he practices with the likes of Higgins, Maguire and McManus.
The second semi sees a match up between two of the all time greats. Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby between them, have won an incredible 27 triple crown events of which, O’Sullivan has won five world titles and Selby three. Their head to head in semi-finals and finals alone, sees Selby lead 7-6. Selby’s matchplay in his QF against Neil Robertson was top class, his ringcraft alone was enough to nullify the dangerous Aussie. O’Sullivan was on the ropes at 7-2 down against Mark Williams in his QF. However. A brilliant second session from Ronnie saw them tied at 8-8. From then on in, it appeared that Williams’ chance had gone. Indeed it had, as O’Sullivan went on to record a 13-10 victory. The last time these two met here in the 2014 final, saw Selby come back from 8-3 and 10-5 down to win 18-14. I can’t see anything other than a classic, the clash of styles makes it even more intriguing. Even without a crowd there is sure to be guaranteed tension and excitement.
My prediction is a Wilson v Selby final, but anything can happen in the melting pot.
Enjoy the snooker…..
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