While the 2020 World Snooker Championship has recently been in the headlines for tensions rising on the Crucible tables and for honest outbursts off it, just four players now remain as they bid to lift the trophy on Sunday evening. While Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Selby are the obvious star names left in the field, Kyren Wilson and Anthony McGill have provided themselves with an opportunity to cement their names in the history books. With the two star names squaring off in one last-four clash, the meeting between the two underdogs will attract just as much attention with supporters and punters alike.
When it comes to final live betting preview odds, the majority of the interest is going to revolve around O'Sullivan. Regardless of whether the most natural talent in the history of the sport is talking up his chances or playing down his form, punters will inevitably look to back the 44-year-old if he is available for attractive betting odds. Ahead of his semi-final showdown with Selby, the five-time champion is priced in and around the Evens mark, something which many will feel too good to turn down. While acknowledging that O'Sullivan has not won this tournament since 2013, you have to take into account that he may never have a better opportunity to join Ray Reardon and Steve Davis on six titles, one away from record-holder Stephen Hendry.
Some will have questioned why O'Sullivan chose to publicly disregard the ability of the players coming through the system to try to break into the top 16 in the world rankings, but there is an argument that it would have been for self-motivation. Throughout his career, O'Sullivan's interest levels have fluctuated in the extreme, and the lack of crowd presence at the Crucible was supposed to be detrimental to his chances of ending a seven-year wait for success at this tournament. Instead, the veteran has shown various aspects of his qualities. Rather than simply displaying his cavalier showmanship, O'Sullivan was forced to overturn a 6-2 deficit to edge out Mark Williams by a 13-10 scoreline in the quarter-finals. If that side of his game is on point, the remaining contenders will undoubtedly become clear underdogs.
With Selby's betting odds only increasing as a result of squaring off against O'Sullivan, it leaves punters to contemplate a bet on Wilson or McGill. The former, who is the eighth seed, is the natural favourite to progress into his first-ever World Championship final, and supporters of the Northamptonshire potter may feel that he has an edge over his rivals at this stage of the competition. The 28-year-old was the direct benefactor when Anthony Hamilton opted to withdraw from the tournament, handing Wilson a free passage through to the second round. Although he would have taken time to get up to speed with the speed of the tables, the three-time ranking tournament winner can only have benefitted from a psychological aspect, being fresher during hard-battles over Martin Gould and Judd Trump.
While one less match out of a possible three does not appear much on the surface, it has the potential to prove significant when taking on McGill over three days. Despite having only won two matches at the Crucible over the previous four years, the Scot has been a revelation this time around, edging two last-frame deciders before producing a gutsy performance to outlast Kurt Maflin in the quarter-finals. However, while the world number 39 will be confident ahead of the biggest encounter of his career, the mental fatigue will be there. With that in mind, punters may be willing to have a go at the 11/4 on offer for Wilson to win the tournament, as well as the 41/50 for Wilson and O'Sullivan to reach the final.
With the semi-finals being spread across three days, it is worth keeping an eye on the amount of century breaks which are made. Despite their respective runs through to this stage of the competition, Wilson and McGill have only put together three 100+ breaks between them, in comparison to 13 which have been recorded between O'Sullivan and Selby. You can get 17/20 for both under and over 3.5 centuries involving Wilson and McGill, each of which offer a certain degree of value. However, over the course of a best-of-33 contest, we are edging towards four or more tons being made between the pair. Having yet to record a single century this tournament, the 9/5 on offer for McGill to not register a break of 100 or more feels like a great backup bet.
As far as O'Sullivan and Selby are concerned, we think that a punt on the two players to score the exact same amount of centuries at 11/2 is worth the risk. While O'Sullivan has recorded nine to Selby's four, five of O'Sullivan's efforts have been 105 or below, highlighting the small margin for error. At 4/11 and 7/2 respectively, the pair feel too short to justify a bet on one outscoring the other in this category.
