World Snooker Championship Betting / Paul Krishnamurty / 21 April 2009 /

John Higgins begins his Crucible challenge on Wednesday and Paul Krishnamurty sees no reason why he will not sweep past Michael Holt.

John Higgins begins his bid for a third world title on Wednesday, and its very hard to see anything other than a comfortable passage into the second round for the 'Wizard of Wishaw'. As he already holds a 4-0 head to head record, I'd imagine he was delighted to see Michael Holt's name come out of the first round draw next to his own.

Higgins' season has been typically strong, with victory in the Grand Prix and a close defeat in the latest ranking event, the China Open. In China, he accounted for Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals, and it was no surprise to see the Rocket nominate Higgins as his biggest threat over the next fortnight. He looks vastly superior in every department to Holt - a limited top-32 player with a dubious attitude. In three visits to the Crucible, Holt has only ever won one match, and that was against an ailing Paul Hunter. When the pair met in the first round here two years ago, Higgins trounced Holt 10-4.

A similar outcome looks on the cards, and at [1.28], Higgins looks a viable option for the big-hitters. For those less interested in laying out huge amounts at odds-on, [2.0] about Higgins giving away 3.5 frames on the handicap looks perfectly reasonable.

Selection: John Higgins (-3.5 FRAMES) @ [2.0] (Vs Michael Holt).

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