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O'Sullivan again the man to beat

Author: Brandon Barker
Date: 16/04/2009

The 2009 World Snooker Championships get underway at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, with Ronnie O'Sullivan the firm betting favourite to secure a fourth title.

The Rocket thrashed Ali Carter 18-8 in last year's final and is in a confident mood again this time around, as he stands at number one in the provisional rankings.

He recently said: "I always believe that when my form's on, it just takes the opponent and the occasion to make me find that next gear.

"The two best players in the world and the two that are able to respond and raise the gear when needed are me and John Higgins.

"All the others are good, solid players, but they aren't used to raising that gear, or they can't."

O'Sullivan has tasted victory at both the Northern Ireland Trophy and The Masters this season and is clearly the man to beat.

The only other man who O'Sullivan rates, Higgins, has slipped to fifth in the world rankings, but he recently reached the final of the China Open, before being edged out 10-8 by Peter Ebdon.

The 2005 champion, Shaun Murphy, must be seen as a major challenger to the likes of O'Sullivan, having taken the UK Championship title earlier this season, while his five defeats at the Crucible have all come at the hands of the man who has gone on to lose in that year's final.

Leicester-based Mark Selby, runner-up in 2007, will also fancy his chances of securing a first title, while Ding Junhui will hope to take the crown back to China for the first time, with the tournament possibly heading to Beijing in 2010.

Stephen Maguire, Ebdon and Aussie left-hander Neil Robertson look like the other major contenders for the crown, but the draw could prove to be decisive.

O'Sullivan opens up against Stuart Bingham, while Higgins takes on another Englishman, Michael Holt.

However, Ebdon faces a much stiffer test as he takes on former runner-up Nigel Bond, while another eye-catching first round tie sees seven-time champion Stephen Hendry face Mark Williams.

Talented Welsh left-hander Williams has slipped out of the top 16 in the rankings in recent times, but the 2000 and 2003 champion still has the potential to complete a hat-trick if he can regain his focus.

Ding is another man to be handed a tough first encounter, as he faces compatriot Liang Wenbo, one of the game's rising stars.

If the major figures survive the first hurdle, their class usually shines through, but the first round almost always throws up a major shock and makes predictions notoriously difficult.

However, any sensible punter would not look much further than O'Sullivan, especially given his supreme self-confidence in recent interviews.

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