Shaun Murphy feels Ding Junhui's Masters triumph does not necessarily put the Chinese cueman among the favourites for this year's World Championship.
Ding secured his maiden Masters title at Wembley on Sunday with a 10-4 victory over Hong Kong's Marco Fu.
The 23-year-old has been tipped to follow that up with glory at the Crucible, but Murphy, who was crowned world champion in 2005, is not so sure.
'The Masters and the World Championships have very little in common,' Murphy told Press Association Sport.
'The match length is different - the Worlds are a marathon right from the get-go.
'Ding doesn't have a great record in matches over a long period of time and I'm not sure why that is - in short matches he is formidable, and I think he has proven that.
'I'm not sure that the link is there that just because he has won the Masters, he will be a favourite for the Worlds. Everybody has been saying he could win the World Championships and it's going to be up to him to go and do that.'
While Ding has so far failed to make it beyond the second round at the World Championship, Murphy has enjoyed several good runs in the tournament after winning it as a qualifier - and is feeling confident about his chances this time out.
'It's one of my favourite venues, it's obviously my favourite tournament and I've had success there in the past,' Murphy added.
'In the last few years I have had two finals, reached the semis - it is a venue I like playing in. I'm looking at this year and I am not going there to make the numbers up, I'm going there to win the tournament.'
