Wed Apr 14 09:58AM

This week sees the highlight of every snooker player's season - the World Championship - and I cannot wait for it to begin.

Obviously over the last few years I have had some great matches and tournaments at the Crucible and hopefully this is the year I can land the big prize.

I might have lost to Ding Junhui at the China Open, but I was happy with the way I played over there. It was a great experience playing Ding in his backyard with a big crowd watching us; to be fair he played very well and deserved his win but I was not too far away.

I have been keeping busy by playing practice matches and I feel my form is good going into the event.

I even had a 147 in one practice match against my manager Mukesh. I have to say it was only going to be a matter of time before I got one against him as he always leaves the balls scattered all over the place!

I reckon I have probably had around 50-55 147s in practice at this stage. I remember getting my first one when I was 15.

It is of course easier to do it without having the pressure you feel while playing in an event, but they are still tough to produce and it is not like you are trying to get one every day.

Going back the World Championship, I face Ken Doherty in the first round which will obviously be a very tricky match.

He beat me at the Grand Prix earlier in the year and he has been there and done it at the Crucible before.

If you are playing a player who doesn't have that much experience of playing in Sheffield you can sometime benefit, as it takes some getting used to.

I won't have that advantage against Ken, but I'm glad I have such a tough first round contest - it will help focus the mind and get me into the tournament right from the get go.

I think you can make a case for a number of players to win the championship - as many as seven or eight of us. Mark Williams proved at the China Open that he is a contender again; someone like Shaun Murphy can catch form at any time; Mark Allen showed last year that he likes playing on the big stage; and then you have all the other usual big names too.

You also have to consider the venue, which is unique and creates the best atmosphere in snooker, especially when you get down to the one-table situation. Wembley is great too, but the arena is so big there that some of the atmosphere gets lost.

There is no chance of that happening at the Crucible.

World Snooker Championship 1st Round J. Higgins v B. Hawkins Starts Saturday 10am LIVE on British Eurosport