Adam Williams presents his prediction for the World Snooker Championship match.
Michael Holt and Fan Zhengyi are set to play for a place at the Crucible. While Fan played at the World Championship in 2023, Holt hasn’t played at the Crucible since 2016.
Michael Holt
After a two-year absence, Michael Holt failed to regain his tour card through various tournaments. However, a strong showing last season, including multiple Q-Tour victories, secured his return. Holt's best achievement of the season was his performance at the UK Championship. Michael passed four rounds of qualifying, and then in York he defeated Gary Wilson, Jak Jones, but lost to Kyren Wilson in the quarter-finals. In qualifying for the World Championship, Holt won two victories over difficult opponents - Oliver Lines and Stuart Bingham.
Fan Zhengyi
Fan Zhengyi made his professional debut in 2018, though early seasons failed to live up to the potential of his “Fan-tastic” moniker. The 2022 European Masters victory, where he stunned Ronnie O’Sullivan (10-9) in a thrilling final, remains the defining moment of Zhengyi’s career. That season also saw him compile his first maximum break, against Liam Pullen in an English Open qualifier. In the first match of the World Championship qualifier, Fan beat Robbie Williams (10-6) with breaks of 133, 123, 104, 95, 94 and 88. This is an excellent result, because Fan made six centuries in two Triple Crown tournaments.
Michael Holt vs Fan Zhengyi Prediction
It is funny that Michael Holt debuted on the tour before Fan Zhengyi was born. Holt has more experience in long format matches, but he hasn’t qualified for the Crucible since 2016; this will put additional pressure on Holt, which may lead to mistakes on his part. Fan has only played at the Crucible once in 2023 and lost in the first round to Mark Allen (10-5). We expect a tight match in which Holt will try to cling to every frame. We think we’ll see a tight match and will offer a bet on the total frames over 16.5.
