World Champion Mark Williams has fallen at the first hurdle in the 2019 Masters after letting a 3-1 lead slip, losing five frames in a row to fall 6-3 to Neil Robertson. Mark Selby meanwhile made three century breaks as well as further breaks of 95 and 96 on the way to an emphatic 6-2 victory against Stephen Maguire in what was by far the performance of the round.
Robertson had not been without chances in the opening four frames, but without setting the world alight it was Williams who took the early advantage. The tide turned in frame five though when Williams casually missed frame ball brown to lead 4-1, instead shooting himself in the foot as Robertson produced an exceptional 59 clearance to get back into the match and fully punish the poor play from Williams.
From there, Robertson began to find his stride, making a break of 102 in the next frame to level the match, before a break of 69 in the seventh put him ahead for the first time at 4-3, with Williams only scoring two points up from 57-0 ahead in frame five to falling behind. There was another killer blow in the eighth as he missed a chance to level the match, his break of 53 not doing enough to make it 4-4 and another tight frame would go the way of Robertson who moved one frame from victory. In the clinical fashion of a former champion, Robertson closed out the match with a fine break of 88, to progress to Friday's quarter-final.
Also in fine scoring form was three-time Masters champion Mark Selby as he demolished Stephen Maguire 6-2. After a long and scrappy opening frame went to Maguire on the colours, Selby quickly found his range responding with a break of 115 to swiftly level up the scores. In the third, the world number one moved ahead with a break of 95, missing the brown for the chance of consecutive centuries. He only had to wait until the next frame though to bring up three figures again, with a superb 125 clearance putting him 3-1 ahead at the interval in emphatic style.
Another frame of over half an hour went to the Scotsman after the interval to keep him in the match, but there was simply nothing he could do about Selby's scoring. Frame six saw the highest break of the match as Selby made a 133 to restore his two frame advantage, before a run of 96 where the world number one missed the black for his fourth century of the night made it 5-2. There were no big breaks to finish up but the damage had already been done long before the eighth and final frame, and Selby laid down his marker for a fourth Masters title with a very convincing 6-2 win.
Selby will now face Judd Trump who came through the 'grudge match' against Kyren Wilson in equally as comfortable fashion. 12 months ago Trump had blown a 5-2 lead against Wilson in the semi-final at Ally Pally and further losses to Wilson since would have fired him up to finally get one over on him. On the day though it was fairly easy pickings for the left-hander who started with a break of 128 as Wilson did not even pot a ball until he was 2-0 down. In that third frame though he relinquished a 57 point advantage as Trump cleared with 58 in a crucial frame that moved him 3-0 up, before a break of 81 made it 4-0. Another big opportunity came and went for Wilson in the fifth and the bad miss that cost him that frame also cost him any chances of a comeback as he fell 5-0 adrift. The warrior battled hard to win the next two frames, particularly the seventh after Trump had chances to close out the match, but there was to be no repeat of last year and a run of 72 in the next frame was enough to close out a 6-2 win.
In very similar style, 2016 runner-up Barry Hawkins progressed to a quarter-final with Neil Robertson by beating 2015 Masters champion Shaun Murphy. Hawkins took the opening two frames after missed opportunities for Murphy, who was not at the races early on in the match at all. Then, sensing the weakness in his opponent, Hawkins stretched his lead with breaks of 86 and 124 to take a massive 4-0 lead at the mid-session lead. The fifth would also go the way of the left-hander aided by a break of 60 as a humbling night continued for Murphy.
He was able to get a frame on the board with a break of 74 in the sixth, as the Magician jokingly took a bow to the crowd after avoiding the whitewash. Frame seven followed and then the eighth came down to the colours as Hawkins was perhaps starting to sweat a little. Murphy snookered himself on the yellow though and was then put into a far worse snooker by Hawkins, who would then clear from yellow to an impressive shot on match ball blue to close out what in the end was still an easy evenings work.
Quarter-Final draw (Bottom Half)
Mark Selby Vs Judd Trump (Friday 18 January - 1pm)
Barry Hawkins Vs Neil Robertson (Friday 18 January - 7pm)
The first quarter-final in the bottom half of the draw sees Mark Selby face Judd Trump in what should be an excellent contest. Trump looked fresh and well-prepared for his match yesterday against Wilson but was still not quite at the level we know he can reach and he may well need to make that step up to beat the world number one. Selby played as well as he has all season in defeating Stephen Maguire 6-2. He made five breaks of at least 95 in a best-of-11 which will beat anyone on the planet and showed why he is a three time winner of this event. Selby will be fresh and raring to go having disappointed in the triple crown events in 2018, a first round loss at the UK Championship, followed by skipping the Scottish Open meaning that he had almost all of December off. The head-to-head between these two is even, at 5-5 in matches outside of the Championship League, though three of Selby's wins came prior to Trump's breakthrough in the 2011 China Open, where he beat Selby in the final. The last major meeting between the pair was well over two years ago though with Trump winning 6-2 in the 2016 European Masters semi-final. Overall, if Selby plays close to how he did against Stephen Maguire, he may get a closer contest out of Trump but you have to give the number one player the slight edge.
Then Neil Robertson and Barry Hawkins will complete the quarter-final action on Friday night in what is another intriguing contest. Both were emphatic winners in their first round matches but against below par opposition, making this a much tough proposition for both guys. Hawkins looked solid as ever against Murphy, even if he did stutter a little towards the winning line but if Robertson continues scoring as he has been this season then he will take some beating. When he sensed the opportunity at 3-1 down against Williams he made an excellent clearance and then hammered home the advantage he had picked up from that mentally by producing the heavy scoring that has been the trademark of his career. Outside of the Championship League, these two have met ten times in total, with Robertson winning six to give him the slight edge on the head-to-head. Hawkins however, has won three of the last four against Robertson, including a 10-6 win in the semi-finals of the 2018 China Open and a famous 13-12 victory in the 2015 World Championship quarter-finals. This is another incredibly tough match to call and it would not be any surprise if they needed a deciding frame to find the winner.
All the quarter-final matches will be played over the best-of-11 frames, ahead of two further best-of-11 semi-final matches on Saturday.
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