World Snooker Championship 2025: Last 16 analysis and betting tips
The World Snooker Championship first round is almost concluded and several last 16 ties are already set in stone.
After a successful round one, our tipster Adam Drury (@Adam_Drury1) is on hand to take a look at the early match prices for round two and has dug out three wagers.
Betting selections for 2025 World Snooker Championship round two
Adam's NAP - Hossein Vafaei to beat Mark Williams – 6/4
Mark Williams edged out Wu Yize in round one, despite looking second-best of the two players throughout.
Yize scored nearly 200 points more than Williams in his 10-8 defeat, registering three 90+ breaks compared to the Welshman’s one.
Williams is booked in for eye surgery in June to fix his sight, which he says is disintegrating, but that doesn’t help him here and he looks a very vulnerable favourite.
Vafaei raised a few eyebrows by shouting in celebration during the deciding frame victory over Barry Hawkins when he still needed several more pots to get over the line, but that was just a demonstration of his inner belief.
The Iranian has the charisma to rise to the biggest occasion and, at his best, can produce snooker reminiscent of Luca Brecel when he won this title in 2023.
Beating Hawkins is a strong indication of form and this is a bullish Vafaei against, on recent evidence, a fading Williams – so the comfy odds-against price should be attacked.
Over 21.5 frames in Chris Wakelin v Mark Allen – 10/11
Chris Wakelin withstood a Neil Robertson fightback to beat the Aussie 10-8 in the first round, landing us our first round NAP with an over 16.5 frames winner.
I’m not hesitating in diving back into a similar market here, backing both players to reach at least nine frames in this first-to-13 contest.
Wakelin is a top-16 player in all but name, qualifying for The Masters in January and only dropping out of the 16 due to personal issues in the second half of the season.
Those problems are behind him now and he proved his class against Robertson, surging into a 7-2 lead before getting over the line and backing up his own conviction that he is a contender in Sheffield.
Mark Allen, meanwhile, showed exactly what I hoped to see when putting him up to win the title at 20/1.
While other seeds have struggled, the Northern Irishman cruised past Fan Zhengyi 10-5 and looked like he has plenty more to give.
It would be a major surprise if Allen doesn’t win us enough frames so this is really a gamble on Wakelin getting to nine, which he is playing well enough to do.
Over 21.5 frames in John Higgins v Xiao Guodong – 4/5
Similar logic applies to what looks set to be a close encounter between Higgins and Guodong.
The Scot showed his class to avoid a banana skin against Joe O’Connor in round one, easing clear from 7-7 to win 10-7, but was not hugely impressive throughout the match and had only managed one break of 50+ prior to that run.
He has enough form and pedigree for us to be confident he will reach nine frames, but he is unlikely to surge clear.
We highlighted pre-tournament how winning the Tour Championship at the beginning of April means he is unlikely to peak here, while personal issues off the table have, by his own admission, left him drained.
That opens the door for Guodong to take this one close, after he struck seven 50+ breaks to beat Matthew Selt 10-4.
That performance included a couple of centuries – and the 36-year-old has the solid technique and calm temperament of a player who is unlikely to perform particularly poorly.
A 7/10 performance should be enough to get us over the line.
Adam Drury's best last 16 Crucible bets
2pts - Hossein Vafaei to beat Mark Williams - 6/4 (BetVictor)
1pt - Over 21.5 frames in Chris Wakelin v Mark Allen – 10/11
1pt - Over 21.5 frames in John Higgins v Xiao Guodong – 4/5