Snooker World Championships 2026 Winner Best Shots Recreated

Who's going to win the world championships? I've taken the 10 players with the best odds of lifting the title at the crucible and found their best shots from last year's tournament, so we can see who's most likely to win and at the same time recreate all of these shots as accurately as possible before playing them in the fewest possible attempts. We'll be ending this video with the player most likely to win the world title, so of course we're beginning it with the player on this list who's least likely to, according to OddsChecker at 9 o'clock on the 15th of April, and that's Mark Williams who has a 40-1 chance. The shot we're looking at is from last year's semi-final, where Mark pops this excellent long red down the side cushion before defeating Judd Trump. He'd then go on to lose in the final to Zhaoxing Tong. This season Mark won the Xi'an Grand Prix, becoming the oldest player in history to win a professional tournament, but he hasn't done a lot since then and that was back in October, so that's possibly why he's down at 40-1. I've got this shot though and I've just slightly under hit it but it's pretty good. On to 9th place now and at 28-1 that's John Higgins who's playing one of today's danger shots, and that's because John's trying to get a snooker here, in which he's playing the cue ball off the blue, off the bolt cushion, top cushion, and tight in behind the black. This is a really tough shot to get anywhere near close and I think it's going to take me a few goes, which is why it's today's danger shot, because it might need speeding up here, because I'm not going to get it anytime soon, or you wouldn't think so. However, I got a lot closer than I expected to on my first attempt, so maybe I don't have to speed it up so much after all, and my third attempt's looking pretty good as well, although I probably slightly under hit this one. Yep, haven't quite got the snooker there, which is slightly frustrating. John's had a relatively strong season, in which he's made it through a long way in a number of the tournaments he's entered. He's even made it to multiple finals, however, so far in the 2025-26 season, he's yet to win one. But could that all change at the World Championships? And have I finally hit a shot hard enough to get in behind the black? This is closer, and I finally got the snooker, so I'm taking this, even though it's not perfect, I'll always be here all day. At 22-1, it's Neil Robertson, who's cueing in this beautiful long red. Unfortunately, this isn't at the World Championships from last year, because he didn't do so well there, so he didn't play a lot of good shots, so I've had to go for this one, from this year's Champion of Champions. But it's still a really good shot, and requires incredibly good cueing, to get the cue ball back into bulk, which is where I'm trying to get it. This season, Neil's already won a big money tournament, in the form of the Saudi Arabia Masters, where he narrowly defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan by 10 frames to 9. I've got this shot at last, and I've made it back to bulk, so I'm happy with it. Also at 22-1, so technically tied for 7th place with Neil Robertson, it's Sean Murphy, who's playing this shot at the British Open. He powers in this yellow around the table, actually against Neil Robertson, to get on the green, and eventually go on to make the clearance. This is a really good shot from under the cushion, that's going to be interesting to see, if I'm able to cue it well enough, to get the cue ball in position. I'm happy with that putt, it's just not quite going far enough, possibly in better position, because I'm not so close to the side cushion, but I want to putt it, get around the back of the brown, and go a bit further. Sean Murphy's another player, who had a strong start to the season, and even won the British Open, but has been struggling a bit recently. That could go either way, but what won't go either way, is my perfect position on the green here, really happy with this. Wu Yize is 18-1, and playing a shot that actually takes place, in last year's World Championships. However, this one doesn't take place at the Crucible, because he's still playing in the qualifiers here, trying to make it there, but this shot more or less guarantees his place, as he putts the green, and controls the cue ball off three cushions, perfectly for positioning on the brown. He's nine frames all here with Matthew Stevens, and this more or less guarantees him the place, as he's able to clear up from here, and take his spot. The putt here is a little bit more difficult, than I was expecting, and I nearly got everything right on my second attempt, I just hit the shot slightly too hard, so I just need to get the putt, and the speed correct here, and I should be in position on the brown. Wu's massively stepped things up this year, making it into the top 16, and winning his first ever title, at the International Championships, and he's definitely going to be one to watch, for the Crucible this year, as he could go close. This is going close to the brown, unfortunately I've slightly under hit that one, so again I just need to get the speed right, and that's the main thing I'm having trouble with at the moment. I'm leaving myself pots on the brown, that I could easily get, and get in position on the blue, but I want to get this more or less perfect, in this same way that Wu did last year. I just can't seem to control everything at one time, but this is looking a lot better, however it's just run on slightly, and got me out of position. I can't believe this keeps going wrong, in fact I've run out of things to say about Wu, did I mention that he's 18-1 on, to win the world title? Yep okay, so hopefully this time I've got it right, it actually looks really good here, fractionally too hard again, but I definitely should be able to pop this one, and get in position on the blue. Yep can't complain about that, took longer than expected this one. Kyron Wilson is 14-1, and after winning the 2024 World Championships, he's trying to defeat the Curse of the Crucible in 2025. Obviously this didn't happen, but he's making it back to 9 frames all here, against Li Peifeng, with this excellent cannon. He pots the blue, gets the cannon on the red near the side cushion, pushing it onto the corner pocket. He does make it to 9 frames all, but loses the deciding frame, putting him out. Annoyingly the bump of the middle pocket, keeps getting in my way. I was expecting this before I played the shot, but maybe not twice in a row. I've got the cannon there, but it's not quite good enough, to push the red on perfectly, so I want to try again and get it better. Kyron Wilson has won both the Masters, and the Shanghai Masters this season, but since his win in the Masters, hasn't had the best time of things, so he'll need to step things up at the Crucible, if he wants to win it for a second time. I've got the cannon, not perfectly, but I'm happy to have knocked it over the corner pocket. At 9-1 it's Mark Selby, who's playing another one of today's, Danger Shots. And the reason for this, is another perfectly controlled snooker, as he plays the cube all around three cushions perfectly, tight in behind the black. I'm going to be doing well, to get anywhere near this anytime soon, so I'm definitely going to have to speed this one up. I'm just wondering how many attempts, a difficult shot like this is going to take me. Although my second attempt looks relatively close, but when things finally come to a stop, you can see I've hit it way too hard. All I can really remember about Mark's season, is him struggling with things. However, he did manage to win both the Championship League, and more importantly the UK Championships, in the final against Judd Trump. So don't be surprised if Mark does well, or even goes all the way here. I'm really struggling to get anywhere near this at the moment, as it's such a tough snooker, and I can't believe you could actually pull out a shot like this in a match, because I'm finding it just so easy, to pull the balls down the table too far. Most of these shots I'm hitting the pink a little bit too thin, and going around the back of the black, but this looks a lot better. I've got the pink on the bulk line, the white in behind the black, not tight, but I'm definitely taking that. At 8-1 it's Ronnie O'Sullivan, who's potting this excellent long red down the cushion, in last year's World Championships. A frame he'd go on to win from a long way behind. This is quite a clever shot, because he can't really leave any red, other than the one he's playing, and he also gets in good position, if he just stuns it in. Well, I've got it already, so I've only just about got time to say, Ronnie's been improving as the season's gone on, so can he make it a record-beating championship? Before the next player's shot, we've just got to find Oliver, who's in Saint-Etienne, France, which is exactly there. Judd Trump is 11-2, and as I couldn't find a shot of his, from last year's World Championships, I actually wanted to play. I decided to play a classic Judd Trump shot, from the Tour Championships, where he pots the black, and plays the cue ball all the way around the angles, for position on the yellow. I've had so much practice of this over the years, I should be able to get it right, but who knows how long it's actually going to take me, because I have to play it more or less full power, to get it anywhere near the yellow, and as you'll be aware, if you watch this channel regularly, that makes things very difficult. After a few shots, I realised this is a little bit harder than I first thought, because I can't do what Judd did, and put my hand flat on the table, and I have to put it on the side cushion, otherwise I can't pull my cue back far enough, to allow me to hit this one hard, and that's causing things to be a little bit more difficult, in terms of potting the black, and getting the cue ball in between the brown and green, but on the positive side, at least I'm hitting it hard enough. Judd hasn't necessarily had the best of seasons, but since winning the German Masters, he has been a lot more consistent, and I finally got this right. I couldn't really hit this any harder than that, but I'm definitely taking it, because I'm on the yellow. And the favourite for this year's World Championships, at nine to four, is of course Zhaoxing Tong, last year's winner, and we're looking at a shot, from last year's World Championships, where he just drops the red, into the middle pocket, absolutely dead weight. It looks impossible that it'd go in from this angle, and I don't know how much my table is likely to roll off, and how tricky that might make this shot. I'm hoping not too much, so let's give it a go and find out. Not only has Zhao won more tournaments this season, than any other player, he's also won tournaments recently, so he's definitely in form, the only question being, can he beat the Curse of the Crucible? I'm sure that'll get talked about quite a bit, but right now, can I finally work out which way my table rolls? Yep, finally got it. Last week, at the best shot of the Tour Championships, you chose the winning shot, to be shot L from Zhaoxing Tong. This excellent shot, where he plays the cue ball, all the way around the table, gets it tight in behind the green, and after several goes of attempting this myself, I realized this was incredibly tough, so congratulations to him, and this week, for some reason, I'm giving you the chance to vote, on the best shots from this video, despite it being mostly about, the person most likely to win the World Championships, but that doesn't matter, you can vote for free, on the best shot from this video, using the link in the description, and I'll announce the winner next time, when we'll be looking at actual shots, from the World Championships, and if you can't wait until then, have a look at these two videos, about the World Championships from previous years, and remember, don't just watch play, and make the commitment to becoming a better player, by subscribing to the channel, and visit the website. See you later.