Betfred World Championship first-round predictions & odds: Rocket to open

Free snooker tips, best bets and analysis for day one of the Betfred World Championship on Saturday.

Where to watch

BBC & Eurosport | 10am, 2.30pm & 7pm Saturday

Best bets

Ronnie O'Sullivan v Mark Joyce over 13.5 frames
1pt 8-15 Coral, Ladbrokes

Yan Bingtao -1.5 frames v Martin Gould
1pt 8-11 Hills

Jamie Jones +2.5 frames v Stephen Maguire
3pts 8-11 BoyleSports

Neil Robertson v Liang Wenbo over 14.5 frames
1pt 1-2 BoyleSports

Liang Wenbo to make at least one century break
1pt 4-6 Betfred, Paddy Power

Chris Wakelin +3.5 frames v Dave Gilbert
1pt 4-7 bet365

Chris Wakelin highest break v Dave Gilbert
1pt 9-5 Betfred

Day one preview

It's day one of the Betfred World Championship and, as is tradition, the tournament is opened by the defending champion which means Ronnie O'Sullivan, who won his sixth Crucible title last August, has an early start to his campaign against main-draw debutant Mark Joyce.

Two of the three market leaders are in action on the opening day, with Neil Robertson another hot favourite to progress against former top-16 performer Liang Wenbo.

Ronnie O'Sullivan v Mark Joyce 10am

When O'Sullivan met Joyce in last month's WST Pro Series, the Rocket triumphed 2-1 but the scoreline doesn't tell the whole story as astonishingly Joyce failed to pot a single ball in the contest.

O'Sullivan was docked a frame for turning up late for the match but then required just 14 minutes to defeat Joyce 192-0 on points.

In their first meeting, in the Grand Prix in 2007, O'Sullivan outscored Joyce 297-80 on points in a 4-0 drubbing too. However, Joyce fans can point to the Walsall cueman's performance in their second rumble when the 37-year-old made breaks of 137, 79 and 66 in pipping O'Sullivan 5-4 in the 2017 China Open.

This is Joyce's Crucible debut and considering he's no spring chicken, the 2019 Riga Masters finalist may be worth an interest to put up a fight.

Over 13.5 frames to be contested is a 8-15 shot and that could afford an opportunity those wanting a bet on the Rocket's opener.

Yan Bingtao v Martin Gould 10am

Martin Gould did well to fight back from deficits against in-form opponents Duane Jones and Bai Langning to add to his excellent World Championship qualifying record, but while the Pinner potter is a class act, he may meet his match against Masters champion Yan Bingtao.

Yan leads 3-1 in previous meetings and while Gould edged their latest clash 5-4 in the European Masters in Milton Keynes last year, there was clear daylight in the Chinese number two's three victories.

Gould will battle for all he's worth and was a deserving 10-3 victor over Stephen Maguire in the first round at the Crucible last year.

However, Yan has an impressive tempo in his matches and Gould could struggle to combat his opponent's consistency, which points to a punt on the tenth seed successfully giving up 1.5 frames on the handicap.

Stephen Maguire v Jamie Jones 2.30pm

Jamie Jones defeated Stephen Maguire 5-0, outscoring the Scot 389-82 on points, in their only previous meeting in the Australian Open in 2014 and the Welsh Warrior has a big chance to increase his personal series lead over the Glaswegian.

Maguire has had a decent season which has seen him rise to eighth in the rankings, but he has done that without reaching a final of note.

Jones, who made the quarter-finals on his Crucible debut in 2012, has returned from a 12-month suspension in impressive fashion, qualifying with little fuss and thereby securing his Tour card.

The Neath ace is a tempting price to beat Maguire but, given that his Scottish foe has been in decent nick, backing the outsider with a handicap start of 2.5 frames looks an even better option.

Neil Robertson v Liang Wenbo 2.30pm

Neil Robertson and Liang Wenbo have met ten times in the past with their most famous meeting coming in the final of the UK Championship in 2015 when the Australian won 10-5.

That was also the scoreline when they met at the Crucible last year, so the oddsmakers have a pretty good line to go on with this pair.

Robertson continues to excel and has defeated Judd Trump in the UK Championship final in December and Ronnie O'Sullivan in March's Tour Championship title decider this season. His credentials for adding to his solitary world title in 2010 are unquestionable.

But while Liang clearly has to perform exceptionally well to even keep tabs on the Melbourne ace, the Chinese cueman looks in decent nick, posting breaks of 130 and 106 in the course of ousting Lu Ning 10-7 in the qualifiers.

Over 14.5 frames looks the way to go for punters and an interest on Liang compiling at least one century can also be had.

Dave Gilbert v Chris Wakelin 7pm

Self-belief has been an issue for Chris Wakelin, who opens his second Crucible adventure against Dave Gilbert, but the Warwickshire potter got his act together admirably in qualifying.

Wakelin has always had plenty of potential and considering he takes good form to Sheffield, where he made a break of 141 in a 10-9 loss to Judd Trump three years ago, there is hope that he could do some damage against Gilbert.

Gilbert, seeded 15^th this year, can trouble the best when on song. But those occasions tend to be few and far between and he may have to dig deep to progress.

He beat Wakelin 4-0 in their only previous meeting, but that was in Rotterdam in 2013. The 29-year-old from Rugby can keep tabs on Gilbert this time around and, after making at least one century in his three qualifying wins, is overpriced to compile the highest break in his opener.

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