Adam Williams presents his prediction for the World Snooker Championship match.
Barry Hawkins and Hossein Vafaei will play their opening match on the first day of the World Championship, in the evening session.
Barry Hawkins
The 45-year-old “Hawk” currently holds 11th place in the world rankings, having previously reached a career-high of fourth a decade ago. This marks Hawkins’ 19th appearance at the World Championship. During that time, Barry has progressed to four semi-finals, including the 2013 final, where he lost to Ronnie O’Sullivan 18-12. Hawkins has reached the final of every Triple Crown event, but has been unsuccessful in each. This season, Barry has reached two finals, but suffered narrow defeats in both, losing 10-8 to Judd Trump in the UK Championship final and 10-9 to Kyren Wilson in the German Masters final. If Barry makes two centuries at this World Championship, he could reach his 500th century in his career.
Hossein Vafaei
The 30-year-old “Prince of Persia” currently occupies 24th position in the rankings. During the 2022/2023 season, he managed to break into the top 16 and qualify for the Masters. Hossein has failed to reach the latter stages of tournaments this season, but last season he progressed to the semi-finals of the UK Championship. Vafaei made his Crucible debut in 2022 and is set to compete at the “Theatre of Dreams” for the fourth time. To secure his place, Hossein overcame Duane Jones 10-7 and Wang Yuchen 10-4 in qualifying matches. Vafaei became the first snooker player from Iran to win a ranking tournament, triumphing at the Shoot-Out in 2022, much to the delight of his fans.
Barry Hawkins vs Hossein Vafaei Prediction
Both players favour a similar style of play – thoughtfully and unhurriedly, calculating every step. This encounter promises to be a tense and intriguing game, featuring numerous close frames. Hawkins possesses greater experience in such matches, which could help him in managing his resources over the entire duration of the game. We anticipate a potential deciding frame, but we will offer a bet on the total frames over 16.5.
