Well, what a fantastic week it has been at the Crucible with terrific stories emerging on a daily basis. The 'Legend' Steve Davis brings the house down by beating Mark King and then proceeds to put defending world champion John Higgins on the rack as he seeks to make even bigger headlines.
Martin Gould dumps eighth seed Marco Fu out of the competition in a final-frame decider and then produces two fabulous sessions of snooker to leave ninth seed, and Grand Prix winner, Neil Robertson on the brink of elimination by taking an 11-5 lead into their third and final installment of their match.
Sixth seed Ryan Day is sent tumbling at the first hurdle by Mark Davis, 2006 world champion Graeme Dott re-discovers his form to beat Peter Ebdon 10-5 in a re-match of their final, and blows Stephen Maguire away in the first session of their second round clash.
Tournament favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan nearly throws away a 9-2 lead against Liang Wenbo, unknown Chinese starlet Anda Zhang just falls short of producing one of the biggest shocks in recent times when failing to hammer home a 9-7 lead against Stephen Hendry, Gerard Greene fights back from 8-1 down to run 2005 hero Shaun Murphy close, and Mark Allen makes the first ever 146 break at the Crucible.
Magnificent. And there are still 10 days left! And people reckoned the sport of snooker was on its knees. No chance, it has enjoyed a burgeoning renaissance this week and if Barry Hearn gets his way, there will be more tournaments, more action, more money and more drama to come over the next few years. Could we be about to be entering the latest golden age of snooker?
Anyway, back to matters on the table, and Davis resumes his clash with Higgins on Saturday morning and can still be backed at 6-4 with bet365, Ladbrokes and Blue Square to seal a breathtaking win. He leads 9-7 and it is the first player to 13, so he only needs four more frames. The last frame he won of their second session to restore his two-frame lead could prove to be vital as it just gives him that psychological edge.
If Higgins continues to play in the hap-hash manner he has been up to now, then that 6-4 on the 'Legend' could be a cracking punt indeed, but something tells me a wounded Higgins could come out all guns blazing and get bang back into form and steal the match away from Davis' grasp. The Scot is a best price of 4-7 to book a probable second round encounter with Martin Gould, but this is too close a match to call. Chicken.
Gould was sensational on Friday against Robertson and he reminded me of the progress qualifier Shaun Murphy was making in the early rounds of the 2005 championship when he won the title. Robertson just didn't have any answers to the 'Pinner Potter' who I'm pretty sure won't be letting the Australian steal away his moment of glory.
He leads 11-5 and needs just two frames and the way he is playing there is no way Robertson's getting back into this one, although at 1-16 on the former croupier, he's unbackable, but just sit back and watch an exquisite player in action.
There's no way I saw that coming from Graeme Dott after he claimed a 7-1 overnight lead versus Stephen Maguire. The 'Pocket Dynamo' hasn't played that well since he ruled the world in 2006 and is now just a best price of 1-7 to book a quarter-final berth.
Maguire, who played well against Stephen Lee in the previous round, looked out of sorts in the first third of the match and is now 7-1 with Paddy Power to come through. That may be worth a small investment given what a quality player he is. But a six-frame deficit is a lot to make up and especially against a player playing so well.
Ronnie O'Sullivan reckons MARK WILLIAMS is the favourite to win their second round clash – is he playing mind games with the Welshman? The bookies make the 'Rocket' the market leader in this match, with extrabet's 4-9 the best price on offer, while Williams is 9-4 with bet365 and sportingbet.
Certainly on the evidence of the latter stages of O'Sullivan's match with Liang Wenbo, then there is a good argument for making Williams the favourite as he coasted past Marcus Campbell (and is bang in form after his recent China Open win). Everyone knows Ronnie is unpredictable nowadays on the table and a solid, decent match player like Williams could seriously put him under the cosh from the off and if he does, he could run away with it. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised to see Williams win this a shade cosy and the correct score of 13-7 pays 33-1, while 13-8 is 25-1.
The last second round match to get underway on Saturday is ALI CARTER'S clash with Joe Perry, and he is 2-5 to make it through to another quarter-final and judging by the form of both men, you cannot really argue against that outcome.
Carter was brilliant against the dangerous Jamie Cope in the first round, but Perry found some of his old form in defeating Michael Holt, but I can only see one winner here and that's the 'Captain'.
