The Masters at Alexandra Palace brought together six former winners in the quarter-finals and, while Kyren Wilson and Luca Brecel are the outliers in that regard, they are the two most recent world champions.
Wilson succeeded Brecel as the King of the Crucible last season and the Kettering potter looks ideally placed to send the Belgian Bullet packing in North London on Friday evening.
Kyren Wilson -1.5 frames @ 8/11
Wilson's presence in the last eight is a testament to his willingness to hang around in a match when things aren't strictly going to plan these days. Aptly nicknamed the Warrior, the world champion had little right on stats to beat Zhang Anda 6-4 in round one.
The Chinese outscored Wilson by 712-437 on points, potted 196 balls to Wilson's 119 and had a top break of 141 compared to 69 for his opponent. His stats on safety success, pot success and long potting outshone Wilson too, but he was behind on the crucial frame count.
The one key match stat Wilson did hold sway in was unforced errors, with just three in 10 frames compared to seven from Zhang.
Wilson made the absolute most of his opportunities, pinching frames one and four on the black after looking sure to lose them.
Winning in those circumstances should give the world number two a massive lift in confidence going into this Friday night showdown, given that he has demonstrated he can win when feeding off scraps.
Brecel and Chris Wakelin played out a much scrappier affair, with multiple scoring chances for both players in many of their nine frames.
The Belgian made some incredible pots at times, including a stunning brown along the baulk cushion in the opening frame, but he wasn't fluent amongst the balls.
Since winning the world title, Brecel has struggled greatly, with his £33,000 in prize money leaving him ranked a lowly 61st on the one-year list, while Wilson trails only Judd Trump under the same criteria and would be top ten even if his Crucible win was discounted.
Wilson should punish errors from Brecel, the likes of which came quite frequently against Wakelin.
Though there have been some recent shoots of recovery for the Bullet, including beating Wilson 4-3 in Saudi Arabia before Christmas.
He appears likely to find the battle-hardened Warrior too formidable here however, with his opponent now content with a new tip fitted for the New Year.
Wilson is 4/9 favourite to progress and is worth backing to get there without the need for a deciding frame.
Match Centuries Under 1.5 @ 5/6
Brecel's highest contribution against Wakelin was 89, while Wilson twice tallied 69 in the win over Zhang in round one - his only contributions in that match over 50.
On several occasions the world champion was betrayed by some poor positional play. As is routinely the case, Wilson was aided by his majestic play with the rest in such circumstances, but he will need to sharpen up if he's going to add to his 34 century breaks this season.
While his break-building has improved significantly, Wilson lacks the reliability amongst the balls of a Trump or a Neil Robertson and that can hold him back in century-making.
Brecel's struggles are highlighted by a paltry four ton-plus breaks this season so far. An incredible talent, concentration remains an area of concern and he's managed just 41 breaks of 50+ this season, compared to Wilson with 118 such efforts.
They met in Riyadh in December when their seven-frame clash produced nothing higher than 83.
Unless Wilson catches fire, under 1.5 centuries in this quarter-final looks the way to go.
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Luca Brecel - 7/4
Kyren Wilson - 4/9
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