World Snooker Championship 2022 Preview: Robertson or O’Sullivan the men to beat

The 2022 World Snooker Championship takes place at the iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield from April 16^th until May 2^nd.

The worlds best players will be looking to lift the title at the beginning of May, with plenty of late-night drama ahead of us.

Ronnie O’Sullivan will be looking for his 21^st Triple Crown title but has recently come up short in the UK Championship and Masters.

In a big upset at the UK Championship, Zhao Xintong beat Luca Brecel to win the first major of the 2021-22 season.

Xintong is currently ranked No. 7 in the world going into the championships and is a player to be considered.

Australian Neil Robertson looks the man to beat. He recently defeated Barry Hawkins for his sixth Triple Crown and second Masters title. However, his last triumph in the World Championship was back in the 2009-10 season.

Having said that, he comes into the tournament on the back of six wins from seven outings. He won three in a row in the recent Tour Championship including a 10-9 win over John Higgins in the final.

Mark Selby is the current defending World Champion after holding on to beat Shaun Murphy in last years final 18-15. The jester from Leicester always seems to save his best for under the lights on the green baize at Sheffield.

On his day, Judd Trump can outlast and out perform anybody around the table, but has recently suffered a loss to Brecel 10-6 in the Tour Championship.

Trump hasn’t won a Triple Crown in nine tournaments, going back to 2019, but is a player who when he turns up and performs, he is very difficult to beat.

Since 2019 Robertson has won two major titles and O’Sullivan one, and look the likely combination to contest the final. They have been drawn in the same half of the draw and look the pair to go the distance.

If O’Sullivan does get to meet Robertson, he will be looking to finally win a match against the Australian having lost three in a row.

Among the qualifiers who have made their way into the main draw at Sheffield are veteran campaigners Ding Junhui and Stephen Maguire who will be looking to cause an upset amongst the big boys.

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