2011 World Championship snooker latest betting

The draw for the 2011 World Championship at The Crucible in Sheffield has just been made and reigning champion Neil Robertson has been drawn against Judd Trump, a young talent who could frighten the Australian when the tournament begins on 16th April.

Robertson is among the favourites to retain his crown, with Skybet offering odds of 9/1 about the talented potter, although there are five other players that are trading at single figure odds at the time of writing.

John Higgins returns to the Crucible for the first time since the match-fixing allegations broke in the News of the World last year, although the Scot has always maintained his innocence and the Wizard of Wishaw has three titles under his belt. The fact that two of these were fairly recent (2007 and 2009) suggests that he is worthy favourite at 11/2 with Coral.

However, Ronnie O’Sullivan has also won three world titles and will obviously be a threat despite failing to win on the past two occasions. The Rocket is still capable of moments of brilliance, with the bookies offering 13/2 (Betfred) that he claims a fourth crown, although Dominic Dale should give him a stiff first round challenge.

Perhaps this is the year that Ding Junhui reaches his first World Championship final and the Chinaman certainly has the game to get his name on the famous trophy. He will be up against Jamie Burnett in the first round and would then have a favourable second round game against Peter Ebdon or Stuart Bingham. Ding is 9/1 with Coral.

Mark Selby is another talented potter who has failed to taste victory at the Crucible, with his final appearance in 2007 the only time he has reached the last two. The Jester from Leicester is 7/1 with Ladbrokes, although there could be more merit in backing Mark Williams, a player that knows that it takes to win this tournament.

The Welshman is enjoying something of a renaissance at the snooker table and would love to complete a hat-trick after winning in 2000 and 2003. He’s available at 9/1 with Paddy Power and the 35-year-old seems to be enjoying his snooker more now than ever before, partly because his children are now a little older.

When it comes to backing lively outsiders, Mark Allen fits the bill at odds of 20/1 (bet365) with the northern Irishman having reached the semi-final in 2009 and then the quarter finals in 2010. It is clear that he is open to improvement, although it also appears that he is featuring in the wrong half of the draw.

Ali Carter is in the top half of the draw and ‘The Captain’ should be able to ease past Dave Harold and potentially meet Neil Robertson in the third round. He is 22/1 with bet365 to win the tournament after losing to O’Sullivan in the 2008 final.