Dennis Taylor names his two favourites to win World Snooker Championship

Dennis Taylor fancies the chances of two Crucible contenders (Picture: Getty Images)

Former world champion Dennis Taylor sees two standout contenders at the Crucible this year and he is not expecting a new winner in Sheffield.

The biggest event on the snooker calendar gets underway on Saturday morning, with Zhao Xintong beginning the defence of the title he won 12 months ago.

The Cyclone stormed to his first world title, beating Mark Williams in the final and has enjoyed a brilliant season since conquering the Crucible.

His first campaign as world champ actually started pretty slowly, but burst into life in February and he has added three ranking titles to his collection since then.

Winning the World Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championshi...