Who will win The Crucible first?

Yan - he is the upcoming, raging tiger who fears nobody.He lacks mental scars, and has yet to see the horizon of what is possible for him in the game. He is at the vanguard of the second wave of Chinese stars who will finally wrest the world title from the grasp of the fading islanders.

Ding has in the past blazed a trail, and secured a beach head for these young turks but his time has passed and he must now accept the role of respected pioneer.He will not win the world title.

I have believed for a while now that the first World Champion from China will be somebody other than Ding.

Bingtao must be the favourite but there are others that could also do it.

Yuelong is in the mix, maybe Sijun and Haotian could be top players as well. Xintong may start winning consistently. Next season yet another talented teenager will be turning professional - Fan Zhengyi.

Ding's chances are running out, if he doesn't do it in the next two or three years he won't do it at all. Yes he is playing better in Sheffield but cannot get past Selby currently.

Yan Bingtao. He will be the next Hendry and dominate for years, I write it here first.

Until the 2017 World Championship I thought Ding would never win it. Now I'm convinced he'll win it in the next five years. Probably needs somebody else to see to Selbo though for it to happen.

Pink Ball wrote:Until the 2017 World Championship I thought Ding would never win it. Now I'm convinced he'll win it in the next five years. Probably needs somebody else to see to Selbo though for it to happen.

He could do it himself, he's more than capable. Let's not pretend Selby is invincible because he's not.

Cloud Strife wrote:

Pink Ball wrote:Until the 2017 World Championship I thought Ding would never win it. Now I'm convinced he'll win it in the next five years. Probably needs somebody else to see to Selbo though for it to happen.

He could do it himself, he's more than capable. Let's not pretend Selby is invincible because he's not.

That would be good. Cuz Roland or the likes of Roland fully believe that Selby is invincible and untouchable. Its really time to put an end to this myth.

Cloud Strife wrote:

Pink Ball wrote:Until the 2017 World Championship I thought Ding would never win it. Now I'm convinced he'll win it in the next five years. Probably needs somebody else to see to Selbo though for it to happen.

He could do it himself, he's more than capable. Let's not pretend Selby is invincible because he's not.

He's the best player in the world outside of Selbo, and I don't think the difference in their level is massive. But he might have a mental block, and nobody does mental blocks quite like Ding.

Mind you, I don't think he did much wrong at all in the semi-final this year. It was a bucking stunning match between the two best players of this era.

Selbo raises his game for Ding as well because he knows Ding is the biggest danger to him now. Clearly has massive respect for Ding.

TheRocket wrote:

Cloud Strife wrote:

Pink Ball wrote:Until the 2017 World Championship I thought Ding would never win it. Now I'm convinced he'll win it in the next five years. Probably needs somebody else to see to Selbo though for it to happen.

He could do it himself, he's more than capable. Let's not pretend Selby is invincible because he's not.

That would be good. Cuz Roland or the likes of Roland fully believe that Selby is invincible and untouchable. Its really time to put an end to this myth.

We are not far from the point where people will feel brace enough to say Selbo's the best of all time.

Well, there was a guy here (dont remember his username) who wrote that Selby is better than peak Hendry and would have even crushed the 1993 version of Hendry.

TheRocket wrote:Well, there was a guy here (dont remember his username) who wrote that Selby is better than peak Hendry and would have even crushed the 1993 version of Hendry.

I think I know the guy.

Pink Ball wrote:

TheRocket wrote:Well, there was a guy here (dont remember his username) who wrote that Selby is better than peak Hendry and would have even crushed the 1993 version of Hendry.

I think I know the guy.

It wasn't Coland though :)

The_Abbott wrote:Yan Bingtao. He will be the next Hendry and dominate for years, I write it here first.

Don't know if you were serious but this is not impossible

Wheres Jonathan Bagley in this poll?

Badsnookerplayer wrote:

The_Abbott wrote:Yan Bingtao. He will be the next Hendry and dominate for years, I write it here first.

Don't know if you were serious but this is not impossible

Not sure about this, tbh. People may be going a touch overboard with this kid.

Don't get me wrong, he's a fine talent, but I can think of at least half a dozen players who were better than Yan at the same age.

Cloud Strife wrote:

Badsnookerplayer wrote:

The_Abbott wrote:Yan Bingtao. He will be the next Hendry and dominate for years, I write it here first.

Don't know if you were serious but this is not impossible

Not sure about this, tbh. People may be going a touch overboard with this kid.

Don't get me wrong, he's a fine talent, but I can think of at least half a dozen players who were better than Yan at the same age.

I'm not one for going overboard, but I can only think of a handful that were better than him at this age. Sullivan, Higgins, Hendry, Ding, and that's the lot I'd say. Mind you, plenty time for things to go wrong.

He could have a dip in form like Liang Wenbo and Xao Guadong but they both recovered from it and Yan has emerged at a far faster rate than either of those two. A good example might be Michael Van Gerwen who looked unstoppable at 17, was washed up at 21 but was World Champion by 25. If he avoided a big dip then he has a good chance of being the youngest World Champion considering he has four more years where he's younger than Hendry in 1990.

Who will get further this year - Yan or Ding?
(providing Yan qualifies)

Selby is definitely vulnerable.
I would like to see him win in China so that he arrives in Sheffield with high confidence.