Shanghai Masters: Last 16 Preview and Pag's Punts

It's been an eventful week so far at the Shanghai Masters as we've gotten down to the Last 16 stages of the event. First up, between my main preview and the games there were two withdrawals. The first of whom was Ricky Walden after his wife gave birth to their first child on Monday, after she was actually due to give birth around the time of the Paul Hunter Classic. So we'd like to congratulate the pair, while you'd like to think Matt Selt would get the baby a nice present as he got a bye through to the Last 16. Meanwhile, there was also some sad news as World number 1 Mark Selby had to withdraw from his match against David Grace, after receiving the bad news that his father-in-law had died suddenly back home, all of our thoughts of course are with Mark and his family, at one of those times where snooker simply pales into insignificance.

On the table, plenty of other seeds fell early on in the event, the highest of which was Neil Robertson. The big Aussie went 3-0 down early on to Jamie Cope and should've gone 4-0 down with Cope missing frame ball in that fourth. Robertson won that frame and the first three post-interval, taking a 4-3 lead only to lose the final two frames as Jamie managed to find something to win 5-4. Seventh seed Barry Hawkins was rather blown aside by Martin Gould, as Martin managed a happy birthday by winning that one 5-1. Then two of my quarter winner picks were handed early baths, Joe Perry 5-2 to Kyren Wilson and Marco Fu 5-3 by Mike Dunn. I also successfully predicted the demise of three other seeds, Maguire, Michael White and Graeme Dott in pretty tight calls on paper but not in practice.

One seed that must've turned into Harry Houdini at 4-1 down after Eurosport commentator Mike Hallett gave him no chance saying that "he'd need to turn into Houdini to win this one" was Shaun Murphy. Peter Ebdon (who Shaun persuaded into joining Twitter 24 hours earlier) went into a 3-0 lead in what was a pretty comfortable opening three frames, until the end of the third when Ebdon seemed to lose his way, after Murphy was nearly successful in getting 3 snookers on the green. Ebdon then missed a shot at the final black in the fourth, though frame ball blue was next to rattle for Murphy who should've reduced his deficit to 2-3 rather than finding himself 4-1 behind. Then, in an escape that he will soon become famous for after achieving one at the Paul Hunter Classic from 3-0 down in the semi-final, rattled in breaks of  74, 42 and 67 making it 3-4. Chances then came and chances went for Ebdon in frame 8, after a missed black from it's spot was punished as Murphy wadded in with 47 to force the decider. Peter had a go at two long pots in that decider (the 9th that Murphy had been a part of in his last 7 Shanghai Masters) the second of which left the opening that the Magician needed to pull his rabbit out of the hat. 81 was enough to seal a stunning 5-4 win, leaving Ebdon gutted and Shaun rather surprised by the look on his face at the end.

Last 32 Results:

Stuart Bingham 5-2 Fang Xiongman
Mike Dunn 5-3 Marco Fu
John Higgins 5-1 Liang Wenbo
Martin Gould 5-1 Barry Hawkins
Judd Trump 5-0 Robert Milkins
Matt Selt W/O Ricky Walden
Mark Williams 5-1 Tom Ford
Jamie Cope 5-4 Neil Robertson
Ding Junhui 5-1 Alan McManus
Ryan Day 5-3 Graeme Dott
Michael Holt 5-1 Stephen Maguire
Kyren Wilson 5-2 Joe Perry
Shaun Murphy 5-4 Peter Ebdon
Mark Davis 5-1 Michael White
Mark Allen 5-3 Luca Brecel
David Grace W/O Mark Selby

An interesting line-up for the Last 16 awaits so let's take a look

Last 16 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Stuart Bingham Vs Mike Dunn - This may be a much closer game than people expect. Mike played pretty well against Marco Fu, although looking at the scores in that one, as well as Dunn played, I also think that perhaps Marco let him off a couple of times, the same may not be achieved against Bingham. However, Stuart didn't exactly look convincing against wildcard Fang Xiongman and he may have been punished himself a lot more if he was playing someone like Dunn who has a little more experience. All in all I expect the world champ to edge a tough match.

John Higgins Vs Martin Gould - Both players came through pretty easy 5-1 wins in round one, with Higgins looking inconsistent against Liang, who failed to capitalise on any of his mistakes. Martin however, played very well against Barry Hawkins, the sort of form he showed in his run to the Australian Open, before suffering from a horrid ear infection. I certainly think that if John isn't at his best and doesn't improve on round 1, he could come unstuck against Martin.

Judd Trump Vs Matt Selt - This looks like a great match to me here. Matt had a walkover in the first round so may take a couple of frames to get to grips with conditions, but as someone who is now rising very quickly in the game of snooker, he will also give Judd lots of problems. Matt has been a bit of a bogey man for Judd and he wasn't as fantastic as his 5-0 win against Milkins suggests. When things don't go Robert's way it all quickly spirals and before he knows it, the match is over. Selt isn't so easy to overcome if you get on top early doors. Selt has a lot of confidence right now and that may be one of the keys to victory tomorrow.

Mark Williams Vs Jamie Cope - Mark Williams is of course my tournament tip after his previous exploits in Shanghai, with plenty of good runs in the past. He played excellently in February and March before it seemed to catch up with him at the World's. Since his shoulder surgery he seems to be back at the top of his game. He made two centuries breezing past Tom Ford 5-1. Jamie Cope though will give him a good game after beating Neil Robertson 5-4 today. He did still show signs of being very shaky in the middle of the match, while Robertson was particularly rusty at the beginning of the match, something Mark won't be.

Ding Junhui Vs Ryan Day - This looks like being a very tasty match on paper. Both scored nice wins in the first round and played pretty well in those two games. Ryan Day did become a bit of a nemesis for Ding in 2012 beating him in both the World and UK Championships. Day also won their latest meeting in this years German Masters 5-4. One common theme with their games is that they're close. Day looked a little inconsistent against Dott at times, although that assessment is probably a harsh one given it was the first match in tough playing conditions. Overall, something in my head is telling me to tip Ding here.

Michael Holt Vs Kyren Wilson - This one is a repeat of a quarter final in Shanghai from 2013, which Michael won 5-1. Both players will feel they have a good chance of making it that far again this year. I think Holt has got something very big up his sleeve this season. His run to the semi-finals in Furth included a nice win against Judd Trump and his thrashing of Maguire was highly expected in my book and featured a century and a break in the 90's in consecutive frames. I think Michael feels like he's starting to play well again with the help of Terry Griffiths and that makes him very dangerous. Kyren is equally dangerous these days and his win against Perry shows that, but I fancy Holt to edge this one.

Shaun Murphy Vs Mark Davis - It's a short turnaround for "Houdini" after Shaun Murphy's 5-4 comeback win against Peter Ebdon finished at around 11.30pm local time and he's due back on against Mark Davis at 2.30pm local time, but that shouldn't be a problem for an experienced professional like Shaun. Murphy showed a lot of fight against Ebdon to come back from 4-1 down as that's never easy, particularly against a player like him. It seemed like it took Shaun a long while to grasp conditions after being shut out in the first two frames. Once he did get going he knocked in some nice pressure breaks in the last four frames an showed great form again. Davis also showed great form against White making that 8 wins from 8 against him, but he'll need to go well again to beat Murphy. He has a reasonable record against the Masters champion, and you can expect a very close game with someone of Mark's quality and experience in China. Although, Murphy is the man i'll be backing to cross the line here.

Mark Allen Vs David Grace - The final match of the Last 16 draw looks quite one sided on paper and that could easily be reflected in the result. Allen played well early on against Brecel but Luca did equally well to come back at him but experience was soon the telling factor. David's problem will also be that of experience, particularly when it comes to these high pressure matches in Chinese conditions, which Grace also hasn't played in this week in match play after receiving a walkover. This could easily be one of those matches where Allen isn't in the mood to hand about and wants the job done comfortably and quickly.

Pag's Punts

It's not been a successful week for Andrew Pagett at the start of my new feature with him where he picks out a few bets to have a go at, but with the Last 16 comes new horizons and Andrew has sent me something new to put up, which he described as a "bet on the outisders" after some first round performances he liked the look of and he certainly thinks this fourfold has a chance, so take a look...

 



As you can see he fancies Gouldy and Selt the same as I do, whilst also going for Dunn against the defending champion and Day against Ding which I probably contemplated most out of all 8 games.

If you get on that one, I wish you all the best of luck, and if you're simply watching tomorrow's last 16 action, I hope you enjoy it!!!