THERE will be plenty of nerves at The Crucible on Wednesday as the quarter-finals reach their conclusion and that is a good reason to back a turnaround in the Ricky Walden v Michael White match.
Compared to past renewals, there has been a dearth of close finishes and even fewer memorable comebacks at this year's Betfair World Championship.
So far we've only had one deciding frame and only one player has won after starting the final session behind. Even in that case the deficit was merely one frame.
However, with nerves aplenty expected as the semi-final line-up is completed we should at last be about to see some real drama.
That is highly unlikely to be the case in the O'Sullivan-Bingham match after the Rocket won their first session 7-1 but both the Trump-Murphy and Hawkins-Junhui matches are beautifully poised at 8-8 and 9-7 respectively.
The other match also has potential, despite Ricky Walden sweeping to an early 6-2 lead against Michael White.
The difference in this match is both players are in unknown territory. Never mind the pressure associated with reaching The Crucible semis, just the extra rankings points will represent a significant step forward in either man's career.
Maybe that was on Walden's mind when he nearly surrendered a 9-3 lead in the last round, before eventually winning 13-11. Maybe it was pressure that caused White to play his worst session of the tournament yesterday.
Irrespective of that, White remains a player with immense potential and will have been bitterly disappointed to have played so poorly.
These marathon best-of-25 frame matches offer the perfect opportunity to right such a wrong and I expect him to come out all guns blazing in the morning. A good trading plan is to back White now at 6.0 then place an order to lay him at 3.0 should he shorten to that mark in-running. The staking plan detailed below amounts effectively to an even money bet, risking four units to return eight.
Recommended Bets (Back to Lay)
Back Michael White @ 6.0
Place order to lay Michael White @ 3.0
Milesey (Betfair)
In December 2020 we sadly 
Milesey do you think O’Sullivan can cover the handicap -8.5 at 5/6?
No..
I think Bingham will win a few today
Ronnie will cover that handicap no problem as all he needs to do is win 5-3 or better
Ronnie will cover that handicap no problem as all he needs to do is win 5-3 or better
Hoping he can win the next frame then and cover the -8.5
Ronnie O’Sullivan is odds-on at 1.98 to win the Betfair World Snooker Championship after taking a commanding 12-4 lead into tonight’s final session of his quarter-final match with Stuart Bingham.
But The Rocket was only denied an ‘evening off’ when Bingham won three consecutvie frames from 12-1 down to ensure that he didn’t lose with a session to spare.
And with O’Sullivan having chances in all three of the frames that Bingham won this morning it meant In-Play punters were left with burnt fingers in the Correct Score market.
The 13-1 score was matched at a low of 1.21, the 13-2 score at 1.11, and the 13-3 score at Betfair‘s minimum odds of 1.01 as O’Sullivan missed a match-winning black.
But with O’Sullivan virtually certain to wrap-up victory tonight Betfair layers are taking no chances in the Winner market with the Englishman clear favourite ahead of Judd Trump (5.0) and Barry Hawkins (7.4).
O’Sullivan has returned to defend his title after taking a year out from the game, at which time he was matched at a high of 50.0 to win his fifth world crown. And when it was announced that he would be back at the Crucible Theatre this year he was generally available to back at around the 8.0 mark.
But despite some fears of a lack of match practice, O’Sullivan has looked at his scintillating best at times during the last 10 days, none more so than in his current match with Bingham where his long potting has been particularly impressive.
O’Sullivan is available to back at 1.57 to win the match 13-4 this evening, with 13-5 at 3.5 and 13-6 at 7.0.
O’Sullivan will play the winner of Trump and Shaun Murphy in the semi-final, those two being locked together at 8-8 before this afternoon’s final session.
To win the Betfair World Championship
Ronnie O’Sullivan – 1.98
Judd Trump – 5.0
Barry Hawkins – 7.4
Rickie Walden – 11.5
Shaun Murphy – 15.0
Milesey
Murphy couldn’t take advantage of many errors from Trump. Too bad for him.
Hope Ronnie soundly beats the kid.