Rocket to bow out on a high?

Ronnie O’Sullivan is the 2/9 favourite with bet365 to win the World Snooker Championship but he has revealed that this year could be his last in the sport.

The Rocket has looked in superb form throughout his Crucible run and demonstrated his unparalelled ability with a cue in a 17-10 destruction of two-time runner-up Matthew Stevens in the semi-finals.

Three-time champion O’Sullivan has appeared to have rediscovered his love of the sport, and that has shown on the baize, but now he is considering calling time on his career.

The Crucible has already witnessed the end of one snooker legend’s career when Stephen Hendry retired following his defeat to Stephen Maguire, and now O’Sullivan could be about to follow suit – and he wants to end in style with a fourth world title.

Standing in his way is the man who he beat 18-8 in the 2008 final to land his third world crown, with not many giving Ali Carter a chance of exacting revenge (Carter +5.5 4/5, O’Sullivan -5.5 10/11 handicap Betting with bet365).

O’Sullivan is relaxed going into the final and would love to bow out on a high, and he insists he has made the right call – although retirement is not guaranteed.

“I don’t intend to stay in the game long, even though I feel in a lot better place,” O’Sullivan said.

“I’ve made that decision and this might – I’m not saying it is – be my last time in this tournament.

“There’s no better way for me than to have a good run at Sheffield and get to the final and if I win it, great, absolute bonus.

“I’ve had a fantastic time and it’s got to come to an end sooner or later. I don’t want to drag it out too long. I always said I’d like to go out on a high and getting to this final has been great. I’d love to go on and win it now.”

O’Sullivan enjoying his Crucible run

Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed he is enjoying his run at the World Snooker Championship, for which he is now the 8/13 outright favourite with bet365, but insists he will not be too downbeat if it comes to an early end.

Although he fell 5-3 behind to Neil Robertson in his quarter-final, ‘The Rocket’ looked in great touch on Wednesday to win 10 of the next 15 frames, which included six on the bounce, to book his place in the semi-finals.

O’Sullivan has not made it to the final since he last won it in 2008 and has found it hard to motivate himself, seemingly falling in and out of love with the game.

However, he has found the balance needed to get his focus right and it appears to be paying off as he looks to become the oldest champion since Ray Reardon in 1978 and win his fourth world crown.

“It’s nice to enjoy the game and play it with a bit of openness, that’s my natural game. So as long as I’m cueing well I can be quite aggressive with the balls and that’s the key, because that’s my game,” O’Sullivan said.

“It would be great to win another one but there’s a long way to go and everyone left in it is capable of winning this event. Neil was the man to beat and then I saw [Stephen] Maguire beat Stephen Hendry, so it’s down to a roll of the dice.

“I just need to make the most of these occasions now. I’m just pleased I’ve had a little run and if I get through another match, great. If I don’t, no big deal.

“I’ve enjoyed it, but there’s more to life than snooker and if it falls apart, it falls apart, what can I do about that?”

Standing in his way in the semi-finals is two-time runner-up Matthew Stevens (Stevens 7/2, O’Sullivan 1/5 Match Betting – bet365), who eased past compatriot Ryan Day with the minimum of fuss, 13-5, while Stephen Maguire takes on Ali Carter in the other last-four clash.

Hendry confident of Worlds success

Former world champion Stephen Hendry (8/1 World Championship Outright with bet365) believes he still has the game to win the world title, after beating defending champion John Higgins 13-4 to reach the semi-final at the Crucible.

Over the last year or so, the Scot has started to show glimpses of the form that took him to seven world titles in 1990s and after beating his compatriot Higgins, is now amongst the favourites to once again win the sport’s biggest tournament.

The 43-year-old will face Stephen Maguire in the last eight in Sheffield after he beat Joe Perry 13-7 earlier this week, in what is sure to be a classic match-up (Maguire 8/15, Hendry 6/4 – Match Betting).

Hendry is understandably full of confidence ahead of Tuesday’s clash and believes he still has the ability to claim a record eighth world championship.

“Of course I can [win it],” Hendry, 43, told BBC Sport. “But there are a few other players who will have something to say about that.

“I’m hitting the ball as well as I have for a long time and there’s no place where I feel more comfortable than the Crucible.”

Dale guarded against Trump chances

Dominic Dale may well have been sent packing by Judd Trump in the first round of the World Snooker Championship but he has suggested the ‘Juddernaut’ should not be the favourite at 7/2 in the outright betting with bet365.

The world number two had to abandon his ‘naughty’ brand of snooker to book his place in the next round after almost pulling out of the tournament due to food poisoning.

Last year’s runner-up had been suffering right up to his first match, which started on Tuesday, but managed to grind out a 10-7 win over the world number 27.

Dale is in doubt that Trump has the potential to be huge in the sport but has intimated that there are perhaps more likely candidates to triumph this time around.

“Most of the other players look at Judd as a guy who’s a devastating potter and break-builder,” said Dale, who led 7-6 before Trump won four straight frames.

“But I always think you need more to your game than Judd has at the minute.”

Three-time world king Ronnie O’Sullivan is the second favourite at 9/2 in the outright betting with bet365, with 2010 winner Neil Robertson priced at 9/2 and defending champion John Higgins available at 7/1.

Bingham primed for Hendry showdown

World number 16 Stuart Bingham is in confident mood ahead of his first-round meeting with seven-time champion Stephen Hendry at the World Snooker Championship (First-round matches – Stuart Bingham 10/11, Stephen Hendry 10/11 with bet365).

Bingham could be forgiven for ruing the luck of the draw after being handed the snooker legend, who was forced to qualify for the tournament at the Crucible after slipping out of the top 16.

However, the 35-year-old, who won his first ranking event at the 2011 Australian Goldfields Open, insists he is all set for his match-up with Hendry.

“I feel quite good about it, you know what you are going to get with Stephen,” he told BBC Essex.

“He’s the best player that’s ever picked up a cue. It’s easy to get up for that.”

Bingham managed to reach the second round of the World Snooker Championship last year, after seeing off Peter Ebdon in the first round, but he was knocked out by Ding Junhui in a close contest.

Bingham’s first-round match with Hendry begins on Saturday, the opening day of the tournament, at 14.30, and the final session will take place on Sunday evening (World Snooker Championship Outright – Stuart Bingham 80/1, Judd Trump 5/1f).

O’Sullivan eyes fourth world title

The draw for the first round of the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship has been made and there are plenty of intriguing first-round ties, with Ronnie O’Sullivan taking on 1997 champion Peter Ebdon among the tasty opening Crucible clashes.

Unpredictable O’Sullivan (1/4 to win) can be both brilliant and frustrating in equal measure but he is expected to get the upper hand of Ebdon (7/2) as ‘The Rocket’ attempts to stake a claim for a fourth world title and is on offer with bet365 at 13/2 to go on and win the Sheffield showpiece outright.

Following Monday’s draw, other stand-out games in the first round see seven-time champion Stephen Hendry who had to qualify this year, take on Stuart Bingham (both 5/6 to win), while defending champion John Higgins (1/5) is expected to have too much for Liang Wenbo (10/3).

Neil Robertson is among many observers’ fancies to win the Crucible event outright (8/1) and he should not have too many problems making it into the second round despite being drawn against another former winner, Ken Doherty.

Mark Allen (1/9) is the overwhelming favourite to beat relative unknown Cao Yupeng (5/1) and Stephen Maguire (2/9) is equally tipped to progress past Luca Brecel (3/1).

Judd Trump is the outright favourite with bet365 at 5/1 and is the shortest price at 1/12 to win his first-round encounter against Dominic Dale, who is on offer at 6/1 to cause a real upset.

Matthew Stevens (4/5) takes on Marco Fu (10/11) in one of the more evenly balanced opening games while Ali Carter (1/2) is expected to edge out Mark Davis (6/4) in their clash.

The action in Sheffield begins next week on April 21 and finishes on the Bank Holiday weekend on May 6.

Selby targets world title

Mark Selby is targeting another tournament win this season after rediscovering his form during his run to the final of the Welsh Open and could be ready to peak in time for the World Snooker Championship in April.

Seby, the world number one, was beaten 9-6 by China’s Ding Junhui (10/1 in outright betting with bet365) after a high-quality battle at the Newport Centre on Sunday.

However, after a patchy period of form following his Shanghai Masters title earlier this season, the ‘Jester from Leicester’ now has new-found belief that this could be the year he goes one better than his losing finalist performance at The Crucible in 2007 (8/1 Selby outright with bet365).

Selby was one ball away from going out in the first round at Newport, when opponent Sam Baird missed the blue off its spot at 3-3 in the best-of-seven encounter, but slotted home the highest break of the tournament with a sparkling run of 145 in the final.

“I’m taking the positives out of the week because I’ve turned my form around and, with more hard work, hopefully I can win another title this season.

“I missed too many balls. I probably let him off the hook in the first session,” said Selby, who beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-2 in the semi-finals (13/2 O’Sullivan in World Championship Outright).

With the China Open, World Open, Player’s Tour Championship Final and World Championship remaining, Selby has a few opportunities to add to his two ranking event wins in his career.

The 28-year-old has been drawn to face the winner of Nigel Bond and Lu Ning in the first round of the World Open in China next week.

Trump full of confidence

Judd Trump believes he has the form to win the World Championship at the Crucible after a convincing 13-6 victory over Martin Gould (Trump 8/1 to win the title with bet365).

The Bristolian came into the tournament on the back of victory in the China Open earlier this month, knocked out defending champion Neil Robertson in the first round and once again impressed against Gould.

The last month has seen Trump shoot to the top of the game and he readily admits its been a whirlwind.

“The last month has exceeded my wildest expectations,” he told reporters. “I have to bring myself back to reality sometimes.

“I’ve only won two games, so it’s nothing that special.”

Trump now goes on to face 2006 World Champion Graeme Dott ,who beat Ali Carter 13-11 in the second round.

After their match, Martin Gould was gracious in defeat and tipped the 21-year-old to be a star of the game.

“If he scores like he has been and keeps potting the long ones like he does, then who knows, his name could be on the title,” said the world number 22.

“We’ve all known Judd for many a year, and we all know what he can do.”

Dale dreams of Crucible upset

Dominic Dale (4/1 with Stan James in Snooker Matches Coupon) says he is playing well enough in practice to cause a first round upset at The Crucible and hopes to take advantage of opponent Ronnie O’Sullivan‘s lack of confidence.

Dale, 39, won the third professional tournament of his career when he won Event 6 of the Players Tour Championship earlier this season, beating Martin Gould 4-3 in the final.

This win, along with other consistent performances, has seen him climb back into the world’s top 32 and he is understandbly bullish about his chances at the home of snooker next week.

“I have been flying in practice,” Dale told worldsnooker.com. “If I play this well at Sheffield then I can beat anyone.”

Drawn to play O’Sullivan in the first round on Monday and Tuesday next week, Dale will try to capitalise on the opportunity of facing the three-time former world champion (1/6 O’Sullivan with Stan James on Match Coupon) when ‘The Rocket’ is clearly not at his brilliant best.

“I’m sure Ronnie would admit that I’m playing him at a good time. He’s not played anything like the standard he’s capable of in recent tournaments, and he has missed quite a few events this season so he is not as sharp as other players. He must be lacking confidence because of his recent form.

“Having said that, if anything can bring the best out of him, then it’s the World Championship and the atmosphere it generates.”

Dale was similarly inspired in 2000 when he defeated then British Open champion Peter Ebdon 10-6 in the first round and trouncing David Gray 13-1 before going down 13-9 to Joe Swail in the quarter-finals.

Ace Trump’s apprenticeship over

Judd Trump (6/4 to win on Stan James Snooker matches Coupon) stunned favourite Mark Selby to claim his first ranking tournament in Beijing yesterday, then turned his attention to struggling world champion Neil Robertson – his first round opponent in Sheffield.

The 21-year-old Bristolian overcame a few nerves to defeat Selby 10-8 in the China Open final – a win which has also heralded his breakthrough into the world’s top 16.

But the Crucible qualifier is now eyeing an extended run in Sheffield, which starts with a mouthwatering clash against reigning champion Robertson (1/2 in World Championships 1st Round Coupon with Stan James) a week on Saturday.

“I’m going into the World Championships with a lot of confidence which I didn’t have before,” said Trump.

“There will be a lot of expectation on me to play well against Neil Robertson and if I don’t do that then people will start thinking that this was just a lucky week.

“It will be tough against Neil and he is the favourite but he will not be fancying it as much as he did before the tournament.”