Five players on cue at The Crucible

SNOOKER’S elite players head to Sheffield for the start of the World Championship on Saturday.
Mark SelbyMark Selby
Mark Selby

Here, we take a look at the credentials of five of the biggest stars on show:

Ronnie O’Sullivan

The favourite, both in the minds of the bookmakers and the Crucible crowds. O’Sullivan suffered a surprise defeat to Mark Selby in last year’s final and then crashed his car on the way home, compounding the misery. Will he be scarred by his first Crucible final defeat, which denied him a sixth title? He seems above that, given working with sports psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters has toughened his resolve, and the 39-year-old won both the Champion of Champions and UK Championship before Christmas to show that on his day he is a class apart from the rest.

Mark Selby

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Selby will attempt to be the man to break the Crucible Curse, which is said to afflict defending champions and refers to the fact no first-time winner has returned the next year to again lift the title. The ‘Jester from Leicester’ - a rather misleading nickname - is a modern-day grinder, a fearsome competitor who might not exhibit the artistry of others but possesses a will to win that is unsurpassed on the tour. He became a father for the first time last November when wife Vikki gave birth to Sofia, coinciding with a dip in results. Recent titles at the German Masters and China Open suggest he is running into prime form.

Judd Trump

Trump was a surprise finalist in 2011, playing his crowd-pleasing brand of ‘naughty’ snooker. Now 25, his time may have arrived to become champion for the first time. A scintillating victory in the final of the World Grand Prix last month, when he reeled off six straight frames to defeat O’Sullivan, could stand him in good stead should they clash in Sheffield. Trump and O’Sullivan are tantalisingly on a semi-final collision course.

Shaun Murphy

The 2005 world champion will attempt, a decade on, to add a second Crucible title. Bringing a more attacking approach to the table this season, Murphy carried off the Masters title in January to complete the career triple crown and was runner-up to Selby in Germany. He has relocated from Sale to Nottingham with fiancee Elaine and one of snooker’s brightest minds is in a positive place as Murphy plots another Sheffield coup.

Ali Carter

Within weeks of last year’s World Championship, where he lost to eventual champion Selby in the second round, Carter was diagnosed with lung cancer. The Essex man, who has suffered with Crohn’s disease for more than a decade and also got over testicular cancer in 2013, has since undergone intensive chemotherapy and been given the all-clear. The 35-year-old has found it a struggle since returning to snooker in November, but Carter’s presence in Sheffield is in itself a cause for cheer. He has twice been to the final too, and should never be underestimated at the Crucible.

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