World Snooker Championship day two predictions and snooker betting tips: Allen hard to trust

Where to watch the World Snooker Championship

Live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC iPlayer & TNT Sports, from 10am Sunday

Best bets for day two of the World Snooker Championship

Fan Zhengyi +3.5 frames vs Mark Allen
1pt Evs Betfair

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World Snooker Championship predictions

Mark Allen is arguably the best player of his generation not to have won the World Snooker Championship and his recent form and record at the Crucible does not inspire confidence that he will break his duck this year.

The Pistol has never even reached the final and comes into this year’s event having been knocked out in the first round of the last three tournaments he has played this term.

The 39-year-old starts his campaign against the player who he beat 10-5 in the opening round two years ago, Fan Zhengyi.

Allen was in red-hot form coming into that tournament however, having won the UK Championship, the Northern Ireland Open and the World Grand Prix in the build-up.

His form this time around is nowhere near that level and he has dropped from first in the world rankings to eighth in less than a year.

Zhengyi picked up comfortable victories over Robbie Williams and Michael Holt in qualifying and the 24-year-old could make Allen work harder than he did two years ago.

With the Northern Irishman struggling, it may pay to side with his young opponent with a 3.5-frame start on the handicap.

In the earlier game, last year’s runner-up Jak Jones takes on the dangerous Zhao Xintong. The Chinese star returned from a ban recently but he showed very few signs of rust in qualifying and it is notable that bookmakers are taking no chances as the former UK Championship winner was seventh in the ante-post outright market 

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