Walden beat Selby, one of his closest friends in the sport, on the way to winning his maiden ranking title at the Shanghai Masters in October. Given the way my preparations have gone, I’m confident I can do that and show that I have what it takes to become a world champion.” “The Crucible is the place where you’ve got to step up to the plate, like Shaun did a few years ago. He’s a former world champion and without doubt one of the best players in the world, so it’s been a big help. “He’s based up north now so it’s given me the chance to go over this week and practise. We played together as juniors so I’ve known him for a long time. I’ve been practising with Shaun Murphy over in Sale in Manchester. “My preparations could not have gone any better. “Everything is in place and I just can’t wait to get there now and play my first match at the Crucible,” said world number 35 Walden, who sealed his maiden trip to the BBC-televised event by defeating world number 31 Anthony Hamilton. Walden will be the underdog for the first-round clash with the world number four and 2007 runner-up.īut he is confident practice sessions with world number three Shaun Murphy, the qualifier who stunned snooker by winning the 2005 championship, will help him cause an upset. The Chester-born 26-year- old makes his World Championship debut on Sunday against Mark Selby at the legendary Sheffield venue. The moment Ricky Walden has been waiting all his life for arrives this weekend when he walks out at the Crucible for the first time. Ricky speaks to Chester Chronicle about his preparations and expectations ahead of the World Snooker Championship.

Ricky Walden ready for debut at World Championships at the Crucible

Hummingbird exceed power suite 2008