Ronnie O'Sullivan v Stuart Bingham
The question coming into this championship was,how Ronnie would compete after a year out of competition and I think the evidence of what we have seen so far suggets,that far from the lack of match fitness telling over the tournament,the opposite might be the case as he appears to be getting stronger with every session,In his match with Carter he was put under severe pressure a times but was by the end playing his best snooker so far,albeit that his long ball percentage could still be improved upon.
Bingham on the other hand has had another good season and played well to shake off Mark Davis in round two.He has at times looked very capable of scoring heavily when in the balls but has also had moments in matches where his snooker brain seems to have gone walkabout,This is something he can't afford to do against Ronnie and I expect O'Sullivan might just move up another gear here to and win 13-6
Shaun Murphy v Judd Trump
This one really looks to be the tie of the round as these two have both been in fine form here so far. Trump came into this tournament with many question to answer after what had been a poor second half of the season but has looked back to near his best in his wins here over Dale and Fu.
Murphy on the other hand has had a decent season that has seen him at the business end of most tournaments but has failed to lift a trophy.Murphy talked recently about his frustration his failure to convert these chances into trophies and I think he will be frustrated here again as I expect Trump to go through may 13-9.
Michael White v Ricky Walden
This is perhaps the hardest match to call as neither of these men have any form at this stage of a World Championship.White here has lived up to his growing reputation in the game by firstly showing his bottle to see off Mark Williams in round one and then showing his powers of concentration to ignore all the goings on in his encounter with Poojaeng to record an easy win,
Its hard to believe Walden had never won a match at the Crucible befoee his 10-1 walloping of Holt in round one and he answered those who question his temperament by holding off the comeback of Milkins in round two,
This one could really be close but I think the experience of Walden might just be enough to see him through to the semi final by a scoreline of 13-11
Ding Junhui v Barry Hawkins
I think its fair to say that this is a quarter final few have predicted when the draw came out.but its what we have in a quarter that has been filled with shocks.Hawkins reached his first Crucible Quarter final courtesy of a fine win the first round over rising star Jack Lisowski and a tough battling win over a below par Mark Selby in the second.
Ding has shown battling qualities of his own holding off the McManus comeback in round one and coming back himself from 6-2 down against King in round two.Many have questioned over the years if Ding has what it takes to compete at the Crucible ,but I feel his run to the semi final two years ago and indeed his fightback against King here,showed he does have the stomach for the fight.I think he'll move one step closer to his dream here with a comfortable 13-7 win
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