888.com WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP
Dates: Sat 19 April to Mon 5 May Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBCi and the BBC Sport website; listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Thirty-two players will line up at The Crucible starting on Saturday aiming to become snooker's world champion.

Six-time winner and BBC pundit Steve Davis was given the task to pick his deadly half-dozen who he believes have the best chance of picking up the sport's most prestigious title.

Here are his selections (in alphabetical order):

John Higgins (Sco)

Provisional world ranking: 5
Crucible best: Winner 1998, 2007
Odds: 10-1

John has not fired on all the cylinders he hoped to after winning last year's World Championship.

It has probably been a source of frustration for him. At the start of the season I said to watch out for him in the ranking events.

He will be hoping The Crucible's longer matches will give him time to move through the gears.

He has a tough draw and opens against Matthew Stevens, but John is a great player and I expect him to do well.

Ding Junhui (Chn)

Provisional world ranking: 8
Crucible best: First round, 2007
Odds: 12-1

Ding, to some degree, is the X-factor in the whole equation.

He's a king in the making and is nailed on to win The Crucible title one day, in many people's eyes. When you see him play at his best it's hard to disagree.

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But how long will it take him to mature into the all-round player you need to be to win the world title?

Last year, Ding showed some petulance against Ronnie O'Sullivan and he got annihilated - that followed his emotional loss to "The Rocket" in the Masters final.

The 21-year-old carries the weight of Chinese expectation on his shoulders and he's in a tough part of the draw - there's no hiding place.

Stephen Maguire (Sco)

Provisional world ranking: 3
Crucible best: Semi-finals, 2007
Odds: 7-1

All of a sudden Stephen's put himself very much in the frame after a decent season.

He got to the final of the UK Championship and also won the Northern Ireland Trophy and China Open titles.

It looks like he's the "On-Fire Maguire" of a few years back and it's good to see that.

Stephen's got plenty of bite and aggression and he looks like he can go all the way this year.

Shaun Murphy (Eng)

Provisional world ranking: 1
Crucible best: Winner 2005
Odds: 8-1

Shaun's coming of age as a player, proving that he isn't a one-hit wonder after winning the title in 2005.

When he came on the scene he was fierce and attacking in his play, but after he won The Crucible crown I think he was picked off too easily in subsequent events.

He's a far more rounded player now and is there or thereabouts in the latter stages of most of the events he plays in - which is why he's currently world number one.

Shaun's definitely got a great chance to win his second crown.

Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng)

Provisional world ranking: 2
Crucible best: Winner 2001, 2004
Odds: 3-1

It's easy to say Ronnie should have won more world titles by now.

However, he's the type of animal that probably wasn't going to be as relentless in that pursuit as a Stephen Hendry or even myself. Ronnie is more up and down mentally, that's his style.

Having said all of that, he's won plenty of titles in among a more crowded standard of good players.

His greatness deserves more world championships and if he hits his best he'll be hard to stop this year.

Mark Selby (Eng)

Provisional world ranking: 4
Crucible best: Runner-up 2007
Odds: 5-1

Mark went all the way to the final last year - he was a revelation and surprised many.

People didn't know what to expect from him this season but I reckon many have been astonished with what he has produced - wins at the Masters and Welsh Open.

Mark has a fantastic all-round game and can play any type of snooker.

He revels in the occasion and doesn't get too upset when things go wrong - a good asset to have in the intense atmosphere of The Crucible.

Betting odds supplied by Paddy Power

(Steve Davis was talking to BBC Sport's Saj Chowdhury)