Snooker Championship Predictions Who Will Win the World Title?

With the 2017 World Snooker Championship just around the corner, it’s time to take a

look at all of the favourites and highlight who we think will lift the Crucible trophy in April.

With 20 qualifying spots available, there are plenty of big names who won’t be in

Sheffield this year. However, that doesn’t mean that we won’t see any of the biggest

stars compete for the world title this time around; with so few places available, many top

snooker players have been left with no option but to qualify once again. This article

takes a closer look at each player who has already qualified for the tournament – and

also who we predict will win it all.

Mark Williams: Crucial Qualifying Victory

When Mark Williams steps onto the Crucible stage in April, it will be 12 years to the day

since he last won the world title. But the last decade has been a time of glorious

snooker for the Welshman, with 10 ranking tournaments to his name – including a

memorable comeback victory in the 2016 Northern Irish Open. Although Williams isn’t a

player who usually features in the latter stages of tournaments, his results have proven

that he is still a snooker force to be reckoned with. There are few players who have

more experience than the Welshman at the Crucible, and with so many of the game’s

top stars currently struggling with form, Williams may well be the favourite to lift the

trophy. Mark Williams showed his class once again when he won through qualifying,

defeating the likes of Judd Trump, Barry Hawkins and Ronnie O’Sullivan along the way.

With his Crucial win under his belt, Williams can start to focus on the main event – and

he is expected to do so while playing in one of his best ever Crucible performances.

The In-Form Players

Judd Trump – Despite being one of the favourites to win the World Championship last

year, it was a hugely disappointing campaign for Judd Trump. The ferociously talented

player was expected to go far in the tournament, but ended up crashing out in the first

round – and didn’t even make it to the final stages of the English Open. But with the

new season well underway, Trump seems to have found his form once again. In fact, he

has only lost one match all year, and currently sits at the very top of the World Rankings

– the first time he has ever held the #1 spot. With the target on his back set to be

greater than ever before, Trump needs to perform at his best to retain his top spot – and

he only has himself to blame if he doesn’t reach the final of the World Championships.

Judd Trump is a player who has often struggled at the Crucible, but he certainly has the

game to win the world title. With each passing round, Trump gets more and more used

to the pressure of being #1 in the world; he’s likely to be the only player in the

tournament who has that level of pressure on him. If Trump can keep his cool, he will be

looking to win his first world title – and be the first man to win both the World

Championship and the World Grand Prix.

Shaun Murphy: The Dark Horse?

Shaun Murphy has long been one of the best players in the world, but having never won

a ranking tournament (apart from the non-ranking Champion of Champions), he has

been labelled as a ‘choker’ in the past. But Murphy certainly doesn’t seem to be choking

at the moment, having won the Wuxi Classic and the Hong Kong Open in consecutive

weeks – with his win in Hong Kong being his first ranking trophy since 2006. Although

Murphy is a long way off regaining his #1 spot in the world, his recent form will give him

great confidence for the World Championship – especially after his last Crucible

appearance ended with a 10-4 victory over Ding Junhui. It remains to be seen whether

Murphy can keep up his form at the Crucible, but if he does, he could well be the one

lifting the trophy come the end of the tournament.

John Higgins: Still Going Strong at 39

John Higgins has been around the Crucible almost as long as snooker has been around

as a sporting event. Having first played at the Crucible in 1992, the Scottish player is

still one of the best in the game – and has won the World Championship three times in

his career. Even though he is now 39 years old, Higgins is still going strong at the top of

the game – and he is the only player in the world who has managed to remain as a top

10 player since the year 2000. If Higgins can overcome his Crucible demons and win

the title once again, he will become the oldest player ever to win the world title – and will

put himself in the history books once again.

Ding Junhui: Will the Real Ding Please Stand Up?

Ding Junhui’s rise to become one of the best players in the world was almost

instantaneous after he first appeared on the snooker tournament scene in 2005 – but it

came to an abrupt halt in the 2016/2017 season. Although Ding was still a top 10 player

in the world, his form seemed to be in freefall, with the Chinese man falling outside of

the top 16 for the first time in eight years. That was until the season-ending World

Championship came around, with Ding playing some of the best snooker of his entire

career – including a 10-9 victory over John Higgins in the final qualifying round. If Ding

can continue his run of form at the World Championships, he will be looking to win his

first ranking title since the 2014 Welsh Open – and he could well be the one to end

Higgins’ reign as the world champion.

Neil Robertson: Consistency is Key for ‘The Rocket’

As one of only two players in the world who has won over £10 million in prize money,

Neil Robertson is one of the most successful snooker players of all time. But the

Australian has always lacked the consistency to win the world title – struggling to find

his best form at the ‘biggest’ tournaments. However, Robertson has been in the form of

his life over the last few months – reaching the final of the English Open, World Open,

and Scottish Open – and only narrowly missing out on a fourth final of the season at the

Northern Ireland Open. With so many top players struggling, Robertson is in the perfect

position to step up and win his first world title – and with his previous Crucible

experience, he will know how to handle the pressure better than most.

Concluding Words

The Crucible is one of the most exciting sporting events of the year, with some of the

best snooker players competing in the hope of winning the prestigious World

Championship. If you’re a fan of the sport, you’ll be hoping your favourite player is

successful, but if not, there are plenty of other great matches to enjoy – and the

tournament is always a very exciting one to watch. If you want to get involved in the

snooker action, make sure you check out our World Championship predictions above –

and remember to keep an eye on the matches in Sheffield as the tournament draws

closer.