The 2024 Cazoo World Championship at the Crucible has provided several upsets in its first week with many of snooker's top stars jettisoned in the first round – defending champion Luca Brecel, Mark Selby, Gary Wilson and Ding Junhui have all departed.
In fact, just eight of the top 16 seeds have made it through to the second round. However, there are a number of contenders still in the mix including perennial winner Ronnie O'Sullivan, the talented Judd Trump, former victor Shaun Murphy and industrious Mark Allen.
Trump and O'Sullivan appear on course for a semi-final clash in the bottom half of the draw – the pair have shared 10 titles on the tour this season, with 'Rocket Ronnie' boasting the first two tournaments of the Triple Crown – the UK Championship and The Masters.
'The Ace in the Pack' Trump breezed past Hossein Vafaei in the opening round and is in prime position to defeat Tom Ford in his last 16 encounter following a 6-2 opening session.
O'Sullivan, meanwhile, routed Jackson Page 10-1 in his opener and awaits the beginning of his second round tie with Ryan Day on Sunday.
Trump will take on either Jak Jones or young Chinese talent Si Jiahui in the quarter-finals if he finishes the job against Ford, while O'Sullivan will face an all-English tie with either Jack Lisowski or Stuart Bingham.
Ronnie is 6/4 to complete the Triple Crown, with Trump second favourite at 11/4 - the expectation is that it will be one of those two players to contest the final from the bottom half of the draw on May 5 and 6. The winner of Lisowski (20/1) and Jiahui (22/1) is considered the nearest contender.
The top half, meanwhile, boasts many options including Allen (15/2), Murphy (12/1) and Kyren Wilson (12/1).
Allen, a two-time semi-finalist at the World Championship, bested Robbie Williams 10-6 in his opening round tie and awaits John Higgins in the last 16. He'd face either Joe O'Connor - who beat Selby in round one – or Wilson in the quarter-finals. Wilson demolished Dominic Dale 10-1 in his first round meeting.
In the top quarter, the draw has opened up for Murphy who won 10-5 against Lyu Haotian. He begins his second-round tie with Stephen Maguire on Friday and is a 1/2 favourite to reach the last eight.
The 31st seed David Gilbert is dominating his last 16 tie against Robert Milkins and will likely be either Murphy or Maguire's opponent in the next round.
