World Snooker Championship outright predictions and betting tips: Selby set for fifth Crucible triumph

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Best bets for the World Snooker Championship

Mark Selby to win title
2pts 11-2 general

World Snooker Championship outright predictions

Ronnie O'Sullivan, who equalled Stephen Hendry's modern record of World Championship triumphs last season, bids for an eighth Crucible crown this year but it's anyone's guess about the wellbeing of the top seed who hasn't contested a final since winning the Champion of Champions tournament in November.

Maybe that's the way O'Sullivan, 47, wants it. After all, it's totally understandable that the experienced players, such as those from the legendary Class of 92, of which O'Sullivan remains a major player, don't go to Sheffield all guns blazing.

The older guard get that, but so far nobody else has found the answer to successful longevity in the majors as well as O'Sullivan, whose daily fitness regimen has enabled him to carry on achieving in by far the game's most important tournament.

He's still the one to beat – he has proved that on numerous occasions – but punters can argue all day about whether or not O'Sullivan is value to triumph this year and never get close to finding the answer because it's almost impossible to know until he turns up.

Time may be running out, possibly faster than some think, for his chance to win an eighth crown and O'Sullivan will be fully aware of the importance of nailing that record sooner than later.

He enjoyed his trip to the 6 Red World Championship in early March and was thrilled to play the legendary James Wattana in his Thai homeland.

But he has achieved little of note on the baize in recent months, and one other player offers greater interest in the outright market this year.

Best bet

Mark Selby 11-2

He's already a four-time champion but Mark Selby remains perfectly capable of collecting more world titles.

He is still in his thirties, and Selby's trajectory going into this year's flagship tournament is slightly preferred to the Class of 92 – O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams – and his other chief rivals in recent seasons, Judd Trump and Neil Robertson.

Of those five players, O'Sullivan and Trump would be the chief threats to Selby, although mention must be made of Williams, who has been getting better with age and arguably produced the best snooker at last year's tournament with 16 century breaks in the first four rounds.

The Welsh Potting Machine has been handed a decent early draw and punters may wish to keep Williams on their side.

Of the others towards the top of the outright market, Players and Tour Championship victor Shaun Murphy has been the man to beat lately, Mark Allen has enjoyed a better campaign than anyone else and Kyren Wilson reminded us of his many talents with a raft of century breaks in Hull.

But Selby, who has endured mental health issues in recent years, looks the one to beat in the coming 17 days now that he looks to be focusing better on the job in hand again.

This season he has won the English Open and WST Classic and it feels like there's plenty more to come from the Jester from Leicester, who has grown into one of the finest players the game has seen.

As a guide to how good Selby is, punters should hark back three years to the Crucible semi-final between himself and O'Sullivan, a match that holds claims to being the finest in the game's history.

Selby led 16-14 and was in total control until O'Sullivan then produced some miraculous snooker to triumph 17-16 and go on to win the title. Now even the Rocket, as mercurially talented as he is, may never again hit the high standards he achieved that night. And while that defeat may well have taken its toll on Selby - he didn't take losing that match well at all - there are definite signs that the Leicester machine is back running again and running well.

Selby has been handed a decent early draw, and while the bigger early prices about him landing a fifth world crown have disappeared in recent weeks, he still looks value at his current quotes.

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