Match previews / Paul Krishnamurty / 20 April 2009 /

Paul Krishnamuty previews this battle of the Crucible veterans but can only see one winner...

Tuesday morning sees the first session of a clash between two Crucible veterans, with 2002 champion Peter Ebdon taking on 1995 runner-up Nigel Bond. The head to head record between these two is tied at 4-4, but all Bond's victories came last century and there's little question which player has retained their form better with age. While Ebdon has become a tournament specialist, reaching the quarter finals on a mightily impressive eleven occasions (including three finals), Nigel has won just two matches out of eleven here since 1996.

A couple of months ago, the betting for this would have had to be close, because Ebdon's form was absolutely dire. However, he returned to somewhere near his very best to win the latest ranking event in China just a few weeks ago, an event in which Bond lost his first-round match 5-0.

The pair's last Crucible encounter was at this same stage two years ago, with Ebdon running out a 10-7 winner. For my money, that's about the best Bond can expect to achieve this time. He's quite admirably retained his top-32 spot for several years against the odds, but that owes much to his ability to wear down less experienced opponents with his smarter tactical play. If there's one player in this championship against whom such an advantage would be negated, it's Ebdon. I recommend taking the [1.85] about Ebdon giving away 2.5 frames on the handicap.

SELECTION

PETER EBDON (-2.5 FRAMES) @ 1.85 (VS NIGEL BOND)

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