It's time for finals weekend at the Ally Pally in this years Masters and as always it's a fantastic line-up we have for the semi-finals as the standard continues to get better in this tournament, and I expect the two games to be just as exciting as some of the ones that have gone before. Ronnie O'Sullivan and Neil Robertson were the first two players through to the last 4 on Thursday, as Ronnie broke Stephen Hendry's centuries record on the way to thrashing a poor Marco Fu, while Neil Robertson played some sublime snooker that Ali Carter could really do nothing about as the Australian laid down a marker for the other players. On Friday things were much closer when Mark Allen took on Joe Perry in a match that was very poor for the first seven frames, and after a good break from Perry to make it 4-4 Allen eventually stepped up and played better in the final two frames to secure victory, in a match where he was just pleased to still be in the tournament. He'll now take on Shaun Murphy who played some magnificent snooker in a brilliant match with Stephen Maguire who played very well himself, but in the end it was Murphy who made less little errors in amongst the balls as he made two centuries in getting through a tight one there.
Quarter-Final Results:
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-1 Marco Fu
Neil Robertson 6-1 Ali Carter
Mark Allen 6-4 Joe Perry
Shaun Murphy 6-4 Stephen Maguire
As I say it's now a superb line-up with 4 players who've played some great snooker at some stage of their Masters campaign so far, and it's very tough to go ahead and pick an overall winner of the tournament from here, never mind a winner of the two semi-finals. The crowds in London have been fantastic this week so far, and they will be treated to some more brilliance looking at the matches we have to come and it's very much going to be a case of sitting back and enjoying the action. Here's what I think we can expect in the semi's:
SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Neil Robertson - Ronnie O'Sullivan looked a little shaky at times towards the end of his first round match against Ricky Walden he's still been playing pretty close to his brilliant best, though this match against Neil Robertson will be a big test. I thought that Marco might put up a fight on Thursday but instead it didn't turn out that way and he was totally rolled over by O'Sullivan, though Ronnie did say after his match against Ricky that his levels aren't as good as they were 18 months ago, and I think he's beginning to accept that he can't play flawless snooker all of the time unless he enters more tournaments. However, Ronnie is on a winning streak the stretches back through this tournament, the German Masters qualifiers, UK Championship and Champion of Champions to his last defeat on the 30th October against Mark Williams in the International Championship so he's still very much the man to beat at the moment and an incredibly tough scalp to get. Neil Robertson is one of the very few players that can beat O'Sullivan if he plays at his very best, and he did exactly that against Ali Carter with granite safety, and great break building and overall potting. However, coming out and playing like that against Ronnie is a totally different ball game and you feel that Neil probably won't come out with the same approach, though if he gets his chances I expect him to take them and it's going to be a very close game this afternoon I'm sure. Winning runs are always there to be broken, but it's going to be a tough ask for anyone to go out there and do that if they can't play confident snooker against Ronnie and play him like they would any other player which is one of the most frustrating things. Neil can obviously win this game, but he has to decide which approach is going to win him this game and go with it, playing to his strengths rather than any weakness Ronnie shows.
Prediction: 6-3 win for O'Sullivan
Mark Allen Vs Shaun Murphy - These two players are great friends away from the table, but friendship will go out of the window for the pair as they step out into the arena for this semi-final. The first thing to point out here is that neither player has won a Masters title and between them they've only been to one final which was Murphy's 2012 final where he was dominated by Neil Robertson. That means, if this goes close as I expect it to, the pressure and nerves are going to be enormous and tough for either player to deal with. Both players have had to see off close games in this tournament with Allen having to take his chances when they presented themselves against John Higgins and battle hard to see off Joe Perry, showing that the two components he needs to win the tight matches are there. Shaun meanwhile is the only player in the event who has had to come through a deciding frame, so it's always nice to have that under your belt and he showed plenty of bottle in that match with Selby having watched his substantial lead evaporate. Against Stephen Maguire though his long potting was pretty solid again, his safety wasn't too bad and he showed that he was able to win the tight frames, as he did against Selby, as well as making the big breaks with a couple of centuries in a brilliant display against Maguire who was playing just as well. The match could easily come down to which one of the players misses less crucial balls or makes less positional mistakes, or simply one player pushing the boat out too often as I think we're looking at what is going to be another very open game in this semi-final, just as it was when the pair last met in the World Open semi's in March with Murphy winning 6-4 and going on to take the title. Again it's such a tough match to call, and could well go to a decider, and I expect both to produce, because if one player doesn't it will be a romp.
Prediction: A 6-4 victory for Shaun Murphy
As I say it's two brilliant matches we have in store now between four great players, any of whom could step up and take the title on Sunday night. I'll hopefully be back at the same time tomorrow to talk you through my expectations from the final two and to try and predict a winner for the final.
Saturday, 17 January 2015
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
The Masters: Quarter-Final Preview
We're at the halfway stage of this years Masters and so far we've been treated to some fabulous snooker by the best players in the world. That will only get better and hopefully there will be plenty more close matches as we roll into the last 8 and the business end of this tournament as the winner will be decided within the next four days.
As I mentioned in Tuesdays piece at the halfway point of the Last 16, Shaun Murphy, Marco Fu, Stephen Maguire and Neil Robertson were the first four players into the quarter-finals, and they have been joined by Ronnie O'Sullivan, who equalled Stephen Hendry's all-time centuries record on the way to a 6-4 win over Ricky Walden, Ali Carter, who thrashed Barry Hawkins 6-1 as he continues his comeback to the circuit in what is a superb victory for Ali, Mark Allen who was the victor over a John Higgins who made 3 centuries one of which was nearly a maximum break in frame nine and Joe Perry who overcame a very much off colour Ding Junhui to secure his first Masters victory.
Last 16 Results:
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-4 Ricky Walden
Marco Fu 6-3 Stuart Bingham (included a 147 for Fu)
Ali Carter 6-1 Barry Hawkins
Neil Robertson 6-4 Robert Milkins
Joe Perry 6-3 Ding Junhui
Mark Allen 6-4 John Higgins
Stephen Maguire 6-4 Judd Trump
Shaun Murphy 6-5 Mark Selby
Some of the favourites for the event may have exited early on here, but the line-up is still fantastic as you'd expect from a tournament featuring the 16 best players in the world. As you can see from those results also, most of the matches ran close finishing up either 6-4 or 6-5 and I certainly expect more of the same from the four matches that are coming our way over the next two days at the Alexandra Palace.
QUARTER-FINAL PREVIEW:
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Marco Fu - Ronnie O'Sullivan may have levelled Stephen Hendry's century record with two centuries in his match against Ricky Walden, but for large parts of the match he looked far from his best, and even he recognised after the match that his playing levels had dipped in the last 18 months (which is tough to tell when he's still breezing to big titles and making world finals) but had Ricky been playing better himself he could so easily have found a way past O'Sullivan. In fact Ronnie somewhat uncharacteristically (at least of the new Ronnie O'Sullivan since his work with Dr Steve Peters) started to show signs that he was struggling at times mentally, becoming frustrated when he continually failed to kill off the match almost gifting Ricky chances to come back at him from behind in frames eight and nine of the match before eventually he killed off the match. The only thing that gave Ronnie such a luxury though was Ricky's own slow start and the start that both players make to this match will be the key. Marco got off to a very good start, and kept that good form going throughout the match as he knocked in some terrific breaks and played well with three centuries including a 147 break. The problems Marco will have though is that in the past he could be accused of possibly being a little bit timid against O'Sullivan as many players have been in the past, and of course his other issue has been keeping his form up from match to match because he has had so many good matches which have been followed immediately by poor ones, or the other way around. However, even when he was playing poorly before Christmas he was managing to pull off good results and now that he appears to be in some better form, if he can keep that up he'll be a handful for anyone, including Ronnie and if Ronnie's not at his best again he could well be in trouble here.
Prediction: 6-5 win for Marco Fu
Neil Robertson Vs Ali Carter - As I mentioned in my piece on Tuesday, Neil Robertson didn't start off great against Robert Milkins but I think the fact that Robert didn't capitalise on a couple of Neil's errors led to him losing focus a bit it seemed and gifting Robert more chances. However, when he was at full concentration from the very start of frames he looked as dangerous as ever and he played some great stuff in the last three frames to seal victory there. What Neil will want to do against Ali is play that way from the start and he knows he can't take any liberties with Ali after how well he played against Hawkins, and Carter is one of those players that seems to bring the best out in Neil and I expect him to play well again here. Ali received a brilliant ovation as he entered the arena last night and that may have been one of the things that inspired him to play so well last night as he looked very determined all night and scored very well, jumping on Barry Hawkins mistakes of which there were quite a few. If Carter plays like that against Robertson then he has a great chance of victory, but equally if Robertson steps up and plays the standard he did towards the end of his match with Milkins then Ali will have to play that way again to stand any chance. After long periods out of the game though, which Ali has unfortunately suffered having fought off cancer, consistency is one of the hardest things to obtain on return in the early stages. However, one of the things that stands out from all of the things Ali has said about his battles with cancer, and that is that he has nothing to fear now in life, especially on a snooker table.
Prediction: 6-4 to Neil Robertson
Joe Perry Vs Mark Allen - This should be yet another close match, and will probably become tense as the four players in the bottom half of the draw sense an opportunity as neither of them have ever won a Masters title, yet one of them will be in Sunday's final. Joe Perry's victory over Ding Junhui saw him play some good snooker in what was a very good win (and his first in seven attempts at the Masters), although he did receive a little bit of help from Ding Junhui who performed very poorly once again and really does need to step up before the seasons end. Joe did a good job of taking most of the chances that were gifted to him though, and didn't show much sign of nerves as the winning line approached. However, against Mark Allen Joe is going to have to take every chance that comes his way, if Allen plays the way he did against John Higgins. Mark had to be in ruthless form here as Higgins was playing so well that he just had to convert any small chance or risk losing the frame against a man that made 3 centuries (and could've had 4) in the four frames that he won. Allen however, seized on the occasional mistakes that Higgins made, and scored very well himself so I expect him to keep this up against Joe, because Mark has been playing very well this season and had good form at the beginning of the season despite disappointing in the UK Championships. It is time though that Mark Allen started to convert the chances he's got here in big tournaments into a big more, as I believe that a big BBC tournament win can't be very far away for him and the way that the draw has opened up in his half, could make this year his.
Prediction: 6-4 to Mark Allen
Stephen Maguire Vs Shaun Murphy - This match jumps out more than the other two as a match that could become very close towards the back end, but especially so between two players neither of whom have ever won a masters title, while both will be desperate to do so and as the bottom half really is anyone's in my view the match could certainly become cagey in the latter stages, and it could all come down to nerve. Both players had to show plenty of nerve in the last 16, so they'll certainly be ready when the time comes to show it again on Friday night mind you. Firstly, Shaun Murphy looked good at times and had certainly improved in one area which was winning frames that he couldn't kill off in one visit, which was a massive thing that let him down a lot against Marco in the UK's and Shaun has been working very hard ahead of this tournament and in between matches (having played on Sunday and had the luxury of four full days off) to make sure that he's in the best shape possible to have a run at winning the event that he so desperately wants to add to his CV and that could well spur him on in this match as it did against Selby on Sunday. Stephen Maguire however, is in fantastic form and he had to be to beat Judd Trump from 2-0 down and the particular turning point came as Trump should've gone 3-0 ahead but was suddenly level at 2-2 little over 15 minutes afterwards. From there Maguire fed off of that weakness and was gifted a couple of chances towards the end of the match as Judd started to play quite poorly but the work that Maguire had to do he did to perfection and I expect him to continue in that way again here. It's hard to pick out a clear thing that makes one of these players the favourite against the other to be honest, and the only thing that sticks out at me is how Stephen hasn't quite been consistent and has said he's found it hard to work on the practice table at times between tournaments while Shaun is always working very hard, and Murphy also has the head to head edge on recent encounters and especially the ones that have gone close as well, but this could honestly go either way depending how both players play on their day.
Prediction: 6-4 to Shaun Murphy
I don't think things are any clearer as they were at the start of the tournament as to who will win the event, as anyone left in is capable of taking the title on Sunday night. Of the players I expected to do well, my tournament semi-finalist tips aren't doing so well with only Mark Allen remaining as my tournament winner and runner-up tips fell at the first hurdle which you have to say is poor by my standards and hopefully my tipping luck shall change for the rest of the tournament. That's all from me for now, and I'll be back early on Saturday with a look ahead to the semi-final matches.
As I mentioned in Tuesdays piece at the halfway point of the Last 16, Shaun Murphy, Marco Fu, Stephen Maguire and Neil Robertson were the first four players into the quarter-finals, and they have been joined by Ronnie O'Sullivan, who equalled Stephen Hendry's all-time centuries record on the way to a 6-4 win over Ricky Walden, Ali Carter, who thrashed Barry Hawkins 6-1 as he continues his comeback to the circuit in what is a superb victory for Ali, Mark Allen who was the victor over a John Higgins who made 3 centuries one of which was nearly a maximum break in frame nine and Joe Perry who overcame a very much off colour Ding Junhui to secure his first Masters victory.
Last 16 Results:
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-4 Ricky Walden
Marco Fu 6-3 Stuart Bingham (included a 147 for Fu)
Ali Carter 6-1 Barry Hawkins
Neil Robertson 6-4 Robert Milkins
Joe Perry 6-3 Ding Junhui
Mark Allen 6-4 John Higgins
Stephen Maguire 6-4 Judd Trump
Shaun Murphy 6-5 Mark Selby
Some of the favourites for the event may have exited early on here, but the line-up is still fantastic as you'd expect from a tournament featuring the 16 best players in the world. As you can see from those results also, most of the matches ran close finishing up either 6-4 or 6-5 and I certainly expect more of the same from the four matches that are coming our way over the next two days at the Alexandra Palace.
QUARTER-FINAL PREVIEW:
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Marco Fu - Ronnie O'Sullivan may have levelled Stephen Hendry's century record with two centuries in his match against Ricky Walden, but for large parts of the match he looked far from his best, and even he recognised after the match that his playing levels had dipped in the last 18 months (which is tough to tell when he's still breezing to big titles and making world finals) but had Ricky been playing better himself he could so easily have found a way past O'Sullivan. In fact Ronnie somewhat uncharacteristically (at least of the new Ronnie O'Sullivan since his work with Dr Steve Peters) started to show signs that he was struggling at times mentally, becoming frustrated when he continually failed to kill off the match almost gifting Ricky chances to come back at him from behind in frames eight and nine of the match before eventually he killed off the match. The only thing that gave Ronnie such a luxury though was Ricky's own slow start and the start that both players make to this match will be the key. Marco got off to a very good start, and kept that good form going throughout the match as he knocked in some terrific breaks and played well with three centuries including a 147 break. The problems Marco will have though is that in the past he could be accused of possibly being a little bit timid against O'Sullivan as many players have been in the past, and of course his other issue has been keeping his form up from match to match because he has had so many good matches which have been followed immediately by poor ones, or the other way around. However, even when he was playing poorly before Christmas he was managing to pull off good results and now that he appears to be in some better form, if he can keep that up he'll be a handful for anyone, including Ronnie and if Ronnie's not at his best again he could well be in trouble here.
Prediction: 6-5 win for Marco Fu
Neil Robertson Vs Ali Carter - As I mentioned in my piece on Tuesday, Neil Robertson didn't start off great against Robert Milkins but I think the fact that Robert didn't capitalise on a couple of Neil's errors led to him losing focus a bit it seemed and gifting Robert more chances. However, when he was at full concentration from the very start of frames he looked as dangerous as ever and he played some great stuff in the last three frames to seal victory there. What Neil will want to do against Ali is play that way from the start and he knows he can't take any liberties with Ali after how well he played against Hawkins, and Carter is one of those players that seems to bring the best out in Neil and I expect him to play well again here. Ali received a brilliant ovation as he entered the arena last night and that may have been one of the things that inspired him to play so well last night as he looked very determined all night and scored very well, jumping on Barry Hawkins mistakes of which there were quite a few. If Carter plays like that against Robertson then he has a great chance of victory, but equally if Robertson steps up and plays the standard he did towards the end of his match with Milkins then Ali will have to play that way again to stand any chance. After long periods out of the game though, which Ali has unfortunately suffered having fought off cancer, consistency is one of the hardest things to obtain on return in the early stages. However, one of the things that stands out from all of the things Ali has said about his battles with cancer, and that is that he has nothing to fear now in life, especially on a snooker table.
Prediction: 6-4 to Neil Robertson
Joe Perry Vs Mark Allen - This should be yet another close match, and will probably become tense as the four players in the bottom half of the draw sense an opportunity as neither of them have ever won a Masters title, yet one of them will be in Sunday's final. Joe Perry's victory over Ding Junhui saw him play some good snooker in what was a very good win (and his first in seven attempts at the Masters), although he did receive a little bit of help from Ding Junhui who performed very poorly once again and really does need to step up before the seasons end. Joe did a good job of taking most of the chances that were gifted to him though, and didn't show much sign of nerves as the winning line approached. However, against Mark Allen Joe is going to have to take every chance that comes his way, if Allen plays the way he did against John Higgins. Mark had to be in ruthless form here as Higgins was playing so well that he just had to convert any small chance or risk losing the frame against a man that made 3 centuries (and could've had 4) in the four frames that he won. Allen however, seized on the occasional mistakes that Higgins made, and scored very well himself so I expect him to keep this up against Joe, because Mark has been playing very well this season and had good form at the beginning of the season despite disappointing in the UK Championships. It is time though that Mark Allen started to convert the chances he's got here in big tournaments into a big more, as I believe that a big BBC tournament win can't be very far away for him and the way that the draw has opened up in his half, could make this year his.
Prediction: 6-4 to Mark Allen
Stephen Maguire Vs Shaun Murphy - This match jumps out more than the other two as a match that could become very close towards the back end, but especially so between two players neither of whom have ever won a masters title, while both will be desperate to do so and as the bottom half really is anyone's in my view the match could certainly become cagey in the latter stages, and it could all come down to nerve. Both players had to show plenty of nerve in the last 16, so they'll certainly be ready when the time comes to show it again on Friday night mind you. Firstly, Shaun Murphy looked good at times and had certainly improved in one area which was winning frames that he couldn't kill off in one visit, which was a massive thing that let him down a lot against Marco in the UK's and Shaun has been working very hard ahead of this tournament and in between matches (having played on Sunday and had the luxury of four full days off) to make sure that he's in the best shape possible to have a run at winning the event that he so desperately wants to add to his CV and that could well spur him on in this match as it did against Selby on Sunday. Stephen Maguire however, is in fantastic form and he had to be to beat Judd Trump from 2-0 down and the particular turning point came as Trump should've gone 3-0 ahead but was suddenly level at 2-2 little over 15 minutes afterwards. From there Maguire fed off of that weakness and was gifted a couple of chances towards the end of the match as Judd started to play quite poorly but the work that Maguire had to do he did to perfection and I expect him to continue in that way again here. It's hard to pick out a clear thing that makes one of these players the favourite against the other to be honest, and the only thing that sticks out at me is how Stephen hasn't quite been consistent and has said he's found it hard to work on the practice table at times between tournaments while Shaun is always working very hard, and Murphy also has the head to head edge on recent encounters and especially the ones that have gone close as well, but this could honestly go either way depending how both players play on their day.
Prediction: 6-4 to Shaun Murphy
I don't think things are any clearer as they were at the start of the tournament as to who will win the event, as anyone left in is capable of taking the title on Sunday night. Of the players I expected to do well, my tournament semi-finalist tips aren't doing so well with only Mark Allen remaining as my tournament winner and runner-up tips fell at the first hurdle which you have to say is poor by my standards and hopefully my tipping luck shall change for the rest of the tournament. That's all from me for now, and I'll be back early on Saturday with a look ahead to the semi-final matches.
Tuesday, 13 January 2015
The Masters: Round 1: Selby and Trump beaten at the halfway mark.
We're halfway through the opening round games at The Masters at the Alexandria Palace and after four games we've already seen a 147 (as predicted in my preview), a deciding frame on the opening afternoon and plenty of twists and turns.
It all started on Sunday afternoon when World Champion Mark Selby took on Shaun Murphy who is targeting the Masters for the final piece of his triple crown puzzle. It started well for Mark as he went 1-0 ahead with a century break, but from there he went off of the boil and things started to go badly wrong. After a couple of scrappy frames went Murphy's way, breaks 92, 55 and 56 followed as Shaun went one frame away from victory at 5-1. It was never going to be easy though as you never get something for nothing against Mark Selby and Shaun knew that as Selby started to come back at him. Mark won the next four frames in a row with the help of contributions of 120, 92 and 55 to force a deciding frame. The decider went scrappy and both players had chances, but a break of 40 from Shaun really broke the back of the frame and eventually he was able to seal victory and get into the quarter-finals with a 6-5 victory.
Sunday evening soon rolled around as Marco Fu took on Stuart Bingham. A break of 57 got Marco going in the opener and Stuart won a scrappy second to make it 1-1. Marco then got into his stride and showed his very best form as breaks of 70 and 103 came either side of a magical Marco Fu maximum 147 break where he never looked out of position and there wasn't a great deal Bingham could do as he found himself 4-1 behind. Breaks of 50, 54 and 56 helped Stuart on his way to clawing a couple of frames back before Fu's third century of the match put him a frame away at 5-3 and he had no trouble getting over the line beating Bingham 6-3 and he'll now play the winner of Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ricky Walden.
Monday was kicked off with Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire and Judd appeared to be in control in the early stages as a 68 clearance in the first was followed by a 41 and 39 in the second as he forged 2-0 ahead and a run of 54 looked like giving him a 3-0 lead before Maguire got a snooker on the blue and eventually cleared to pull a frame back and a run of 96 followed to square the match at 2-2 at the interval. A scrappy fifth went Maguire's way before he made a nice 82 as four frames on the trot made it 4-2. Trump hit back though and runs of 109 and 71 squared the match one more at 4-4. A key ninth frame went the way of Maguire and a reckless shot from Trump early in frame ten gifted Maguire the chance he needed to kill off the match and a run of 64 was enough to secure the match and a 6-4 Stephen Maguire victory setting up a quarter-final with Shaun Murphy.
On Monday evening world number 1 Neil Robertson took on Robert Milkins. Robert took the opener with a well played 94 before Robbo made a nice 60 to square the match at 1-1. The next two frames saw plenty of chances for both and somehow the two frames were shared and they went to the interval at 2-2. A one visit 77 gave Robertson squared the match again at 3-3 after Milkin's 69 in the fifth and Neil looked like taking control of the match from there. Milkins however, had other ideas as he stole the sixth on the black to lead 4-3. From there though Robertson stepped up a gear and he had 3 frames of one visit breaks to come back and win the match 6-4 thanks to breaks of 95, 117 and 76 as Robert was left pretty helpless in the end. The Australian will now take on Hawkins or Carter in the quarter-finals.
Still to come at the Masters we have Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Ricky Walden this afternoon and Barry Hawkins Vs Ali Carter this evening and then Ding Junhui plays Joe Perry and Mark Allen takes on John Higgins on Wednesday to complete the opening round, before the quarter-finals get going on Thursday afternoon.
I'll be back early on Thursday with my preview of those quarter-finals and I'm really excited for what the rest of this week will bring.
It all started on Sunday afternoon when World Champion Mark Selby took on Shaun Murphy who is targeting the Masters for the final piece of his triple crown puzzle. It started well for Mark as he went 1-0 ahead with a century break, but from there he went off of the boil and things started to go badly wrong. After a couple of scrappy frames went Murphy's way, breaks 92, 55 and 56 followed as Shaun went one frame away from victory at 5-1. It was never going to be easy though as you never get something for nothing against Mark Selby and Shaun knew that as Selby started to come back at him. Mark won the next four frames in a row with the help of contributions of 120, 92 and 55 to force a deciding frame. The decider went scrappy and both players had chances, but a break of 40 from Shaun really broke the back of the frame and eventually he was able to seal victory and get into the quarter-finals with a 6-5 victory.
Sunday evening soon rolled around as Marco Fu took on Stuart Bingham. A break of 57 got Marco going in the opener and Stuart won a scrappy second to make it 1-1. Marco then got into his stride and showed his very best form as breaks of 70 and 103 came either side of a magical Marco Fu maximum 147 break where he never looked out of position and there wasn't a great deal Bingham could do as he found himself 4-1 behind. Breaks of 50, 54 and 56 helped Stuart on his way to clawing a couple of frames back before Fu's third century of the match put him a frame away at 5-3 and he had no trouble getting over the line beating Bingham 6-3 and he'll now play the winner of Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ricky Walden.
Monday was kicked off with Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire and Judd appeared to be in control in the early stages as a 68 clearance in the first was followed by a 41 and 39 in the second as he forged 2-0 ahead and a run of 54 looked like giving him a 3-0 lead before Maguire got a snooker on the blue and eventually cleared to pull a frame back and a run of 96 followed to square the match at 2-2 at the interval. A scrappy fifth went Maguire's way before he made a nice 82 as four frames on the trot made it 4-2. Trump hit back though and runs of 109 and 71 squared the match one more at 4-4. A key ninth frame went the way of Maguire and a reckless shot from Trump early in frame ten gifted Maguire the chance he needed to kill off the match and a run of 64 was enough to secure the match and a 6-4 Stephen Maguire victory setting up a quarter-final with Shaun Murphy.
On Monday evening world number 1 Neil Robertson took on Robert Milkins. Robert took the opener with a well played 94 before Robbo made a nice 60 to square the match at 1-1. The next two frames saw plenty of chances for both and somehow the two frames were shared and they went to the interval at 2-2. A one visit 77 gave Robertson squared the match again at 3-3 after Milkin's 69 in the fifth and Neil looked like taking control of the match from there. Milkins however, had other ideas as he stole the sixth on the black to lead 4-3. From there though Robertson stepped up a gear and he had 3 frames of one visit breaks to come back and win the match 6-4 thanks to breaks of 95, 117 and 76 as Robert was left pretty helpless in the end. The Australian will now take on Hawkins or Carter in the quarter-finals.
Still to come at the Masters we have Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Ricky Walden this afternoon and Barry Hawkins Vs Ali Carter this evening and then Ding Junhui plays Joe Perry and Mark Allen takes on John Higgins on Wednesday to complete the opening round, before the quarter-finals get going on Thursday afternoon.
I'll be back early on Thursday with my preview of those quarter-finals and I'm really excited for what the rest of this week will bring.
Friday, 9 January 2015
The Big Masters Preview
This Sunday sees the beginning of the second Triple Crown event of the season as the Masters kicks off at the Alexandra Palace in London, in what is certainly a very exciting time and the point of January where I finally recognise that a new year has actually begun. With the Masters of course being a one table set up featuring the sixteen best players in the world battling it out for one of the most prestigious titles in the sport, you have to say that the BBC's coverage is miles better of this than of the UK Championships (though actually I enjoyed their coverage when they were on the BBC and not hiding behind the red button, which they will be doing for a large amount of the evening matches until the semi-final stages.
The draw for the event is certainly one that excites me as we have a repeat of some quality matches from last year including one of the semi-finals, and one of the quarter-finals, while Trump and Maguire meet in a repeat of the recent UK semi. The favourites for the event in the eyes of the bookies are obviously the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui and Mark Selby. However, does the winner lie within those five? I could certainly be persuaded otherwise.
That's enough background chat from me I think, let's get on to talking about the actual tournament:
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Ricky Walden
Stuart Bingham Vs Marco Fu
Starting in the top quarter with defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan we obviously know that it's going to be hard to back against him to go and defend his title. In the UK O'Sullivan is an inspired man and a completely different man to the one that turns out for events in China, and it's a very rare event when you actually see Ronnie lose in an event held somewhere in the United Kingdom. The snooker that he played in last years tournament was from different planet (especially in that 6-0 drubbing of his first round opponent this year Ricky Walden). If he's on that form again I think he'll breeze to the title as he did 12 months ago, though if isn't at his best at the very beginning of this tournament (which he wasn't at the UK Championships in the very early stages), he will be beaten by the quality opposition that stands before him. There's no edging through this quarter, it's going to take a player at their very best to win it.
Ricky Walden wouldn't have picked Ronnie O'Sullivan as his ideal first round opponent in this years Masters after that quarter-final last year, but it could present Ricky the ideal opportunity to pull off a result. It seems everyone's views I've read or at least heard on this match have it down that Ronnie will breeze past Walden again this year, and it seems that everybody has written him off. Here's my view: Ricky Walden is a quality player who knows what it takes to win at the very highest level as he showed most recently at the International Championships which he won in November. His deep runs in the past to both World and UK semi-finals shows he has the potential to win a big event in the UK and go on a deep run in the Masters at some stage. Having been written off left, right and centre Walden can relax with no pressure on his shoulders because for some ridiculous reason no-one seems to expect a lot from him. Can he beat O'Sullivan? Absolutely. Can he win this quarter? 100%. The one thing Ricky will need on Tuesday though is a good start. Without that I can't see him coming back from a few frames behind, so the first four frames of the match will be key and Walden has to be in the match after those opening exchanges.
Stuart Bingham is one of the only players who has challenged Ronnie O'Sullivan consistently when they've met in the last couple of years and the thought of possibly playing the defending champion is one that Stuart will relish, rather than be running away from in this section of the draw. First up though he has the very large matter of playing Marco Fu in the opening round on Sunday evening. Stuart played reasonable snooker at Crondon Park in the Championship League in the last week, and that will certainly have blown away those Christmas cobwebs for Bingham. For me, if he's on his game he'll be strong favourite against Marco because he's just that little bit stronger than the Hong Kong player. Last year at the Masters it would be a fair admission to say that Stuart wasn't really in it against Higgins in round one and he was convincingly beaten. Disappointments like that are ones that Stuart will be wanting to put right and hopefully he'll be in a better frame of mind for this tournament. I expect to see an inspired Bingham who will be motivated by another UK semi-final last month, and aspirations of repeating that here in London this coming week and righting the wrongs of the last couple of years at the Masters which have certainly not been kind to him overall.
His first round opponent is Marco Fu who always provides everyone with a tough game, whether he's playing anywhere near his best or not. Marco hasn't been at his best of late, getting to the UK quarter-finals despite playing incredibly poorly in the Last 16 against Shaun Murphy, such is the nature of Marco's game and his ability to grind results out from seemingly impossible positions and completely against the run of play. It was a mixed week for Marco last week at the Championship League where I personally think he could've done better and he wouldn't be too happy overall with his form coming into this clash with Stuart. It may only be a small marker, but both round robin matches he played against Bingham in groups one and two he lost and it certainly wouldn't be a huge coincidental if Stuart put it all together to see of Fu again at the Ally Pally.
Quarter Winner: Ronnie to beat Walden again, with Bingham beating Fu before Stuart Bingham upsets the odds to make the Masters semi-finals.
Barry Hawkins Vs Ali Carter
Neil Robertson Vs Robert Milkins
Neil Robertson is the highest ranked player in this section of the draw, and one of the hot favourites to come through it and into the Masters semi-finals. It's been a mixed season so far for the Australian with a good start in the summer seeming long gone now after poor showings at both the International and UK Championships. He seemed to be in decent early January form at the Championship League where he made the semi-finals of group one, but you have to question the reasons behind his strange withdrawal from the second group and how that changes his preparations for this tournament. What he has recognised is that he has a tough match first up against Robert Milkins who has beaten him a few times in big tournaments, and certainly won't be afraid of the prospect of playing the Aussie in round one. For me Robertson has to step his game back up after a disappointing couple of months on the table, otherwise he's very vulnerable to an exit in either of the opening two rounds.
Robert Milkins as I have mentioned there will not be afraid of the prospect having beaten Neil on a few occasions in the past, the biggest of which came in the opening round of the 2013 World Championships showing also that he can do it on the big stage in the long format. Robert was unlucky last year to come up against Ronnie O'Sullivan and get beaten 6-0, and of course he'll want to make amends for that defeat and show he can cut it with the best of the best at the Ally Pally. Having made the final of the Ruhr Open and the International Championship semi-finals in the Autumn he appears to be back to some of his best form, though he didn't show it in another disappointing Championship League campaign, though I wouldn't take that into consideration when thinking of his prospects of beating Neil. He certainly has a good chance, and he has to seize on any mistakes the Australian makes in the first four frames which could be the key to that encounter.
Barry Hawkins started his year off in style at the Championship League at Crondon Park where he did a very professional job in winning the opening group and making a maximum 147 break against Maguire on day one there. Having watched a few of Barry's matches in that event he seemed to be returning to some good form there and he has a lot of bad results that he'll be wanting to make amends for this week in the capital. First up is his 2013 match with Judd Trump where he should've made it into the quarter-finals and had shots to win the match but lost from 5-3 ahead there. It got even worse last year as he lost from 5-2 ahead against Ricky Walden, where the key moment was a complete mess that Barry made of a re-spotted black where he could've won the match in that frame had he played the exchange well. It has to be said that the ultimate bottle smashing was handed to Hawkins in the UK Championships where he was somehow beaten from 5-0 ahead in a first to 6 against Nigel Bond, which is a result that still stuns me. It was said on commentary during that game that it could "ruin Barry's season" so the thought in Hawkins mind now has to be to prove them wrong and have a deep run in the Masters for the first time.
Ali Carter of course is still on the comeback trail from Lung Cancer from which he has now been given the all clear which is brilliant news for Ali. So far he's struggled to get his foot back through the door in terms of tour snooker having fallen at the first hurdle in both the German Masters qualifiers and the UK Championships since his return, though his frozen seeding of 13 allows him to play here and there would be no better way to get well and truly back into things with a good run here. 4 wins from 6 games at the Championship League in group 2 is a good return for the Captain and hopefully that will get him back into the groove ahead of his encounter of Hawkins. Both men have a point to prove and it looks to me as though it's a match that you could flip a coin on, but in my mind enough things point to Barry to make him the favourite over Ali here. One last side point I want to bring in on the topic of Ali is that the Ali Carter documentary is being shown on Eurosport at 12.30pm UK Time on Monday before the start of the live Masters action and I'm sure that will be well worth a watch.
Quarter Winner: Robertson to overcome Milkins and Hawkins to edge out Carter before Barry Hawkins makes it into the last 4.
Ding Junhui Vs Joe Perry
Mark Allen Vs John Higgins
Ding Junhui became the first Chinese player to become World Number 1 after the UK Championships despite being knocked out in the Last 32 there and failing to qualify for either of the International Championships or Wuxi Classic earlier on in the season. Last year Ding Junhui admitted he came into the Masters unprepared following a first round exit against Shaun Murphy from 4-2 ahead, and that is something that he simply must put right if he is to beat Joe in the opening round this year. In fact, he has lost every single game he's played at the Masters since his victory in 2011 falling to Ronnie in 2012, Robertson in 2013 and Murphy last year. Is this something Ding Junhui will rectify this week? I have to say that he needs to have been working hard in order to prevent another early exit and you'd think he will have done just that. However, there is nothing in his form that would even give us a small indicator that he could possibly come close to repeating that performance of 2011.
If he's seen some of the statistics that I've just rattled off there about Ding Junhui's early Masters exits in recent years, he will take very big heart and a lot of confidence into this game. Joe's form hasn't been fantastic since reaching the Wuxi Classic final in June, but he still had a very good first half to 2014 and he'll be looking for more of the same in 2015 starting with this tournament. What goes against him? Well Ding has won every major meeting between the two players in recent years and sometimes records like that can be provide daunting prospects. However, if Perry finds the game that got him to the Wuxi final or pushed Ronnie so close at the Crucible he's got a great chance of pushing Ding the full 11 frames and snatching victory.
Mark Allen is one of my big contenders for the Masters title this year. I'm sure that Allen would've been slightly relieved to see that Neil Robertson was nowhere near him when the draw came out for the tournament as he has been the man to beat him in each of the last three years at one stage or another. Allen was in fantastic form during the first half of the season, though a Last 32 exit at the UK's brought 2014 to a more disappointing end for the Northern Irishman. If he has continued his hard work over Christmas though, he will be a huge contender for this title, and I keep saying that he is very close to a run that will see him lift a big triple crown event, so I'm almost sat here waiting for him to do so now, but will it be this week?
John Higgins is the first man that will want to have a big say about that, but can he do so? In the last two years at the Alexandra Palace he's had disappointing quarter-final exits against Murphy from 4-1 and 5-4 ahead, and against Selby from 5-3 up so he'll want to make amends for those and go on further this year. Allen though provides a very tough opponent for John to beat, and Higgins has hardly been in any kind of form for a long while now and you have to feel we are at the stage now where his days in the top 16 could well be numbered if he soon doesn't get himself together. While this week obviously has no impact on his ranking position, a couple of good victories could spark him back to life but there is simply no suggestion or not even a small hint of this happening for John I'm afraid, though of course I may be completely wrong and in some ways I hope I am.
Quarter Winner: Ding to beat Perry and Allen to beat Higgins before Mark Allen takes the quarter
Judd Trump Vs Stephen Maguire
Mark Selby Vs Shaun Murphy
World Champion Mark Selby kicks things off on Sunday afternoon with what on paper could well be the tie of the opening round fixtures against Shaun Murphy. Selby in recent years has really been the king of the Masters and whatever the venue it seems like he owns the place, with a final appearance last year and 3 Masters titles already to his name. However, since becoming crowned World Champion Mark has had a mixed time of things failing to qualify for the International Championships and suffering a Last 64 exit in the UK Championships shortly after the birth of his first child, which some people targeted as the reason behind his demise, but there is another theory which I think could have something behind it possibly. Mark said in interview some time ago that when he first became world number 1 the pressure he put on himself and the expectancy to dominate and perform on a regular basis heaped too much upon himself and resulted in his best game going missing for some time and a certain reliance on his "B game" to survive. It may be complete rubbish, but perhaps getting called out to every arena as the current world champion is heaping a similar amount of pressure and expectancy on him to perform, and the pressures of now having to perform not just for him but for his family as a new father can often prove tough to deal with at first. If he's off his game at all on Sunday, Shaun is a top quality player and will be sure to take advantage.
Shaun Murphy has in fact been ill over the new year period, first with a virus which he tells me became a bacterial chest infection and that it's the most ill he's felt in years. How much may this have affected his preparation? Well, he did have to pull out of the Championship League group one, which is unheard of for Shaun as he enters most things and plays in everything that he enters. However, I'm assured that he has been on the practice table loads and has not let the "snotty mess" get in the way of his preparations for Selby too much, though he may not be 100% in terms of health for Sunday but I'd take a punt that he'll be very close to it. Prior to Christmas, Shaun was in good form winning back to back European Tour events and a bad couple of frames in his UK Last 16 match with Marco Fu costing him what could've been a really big run in York. The Masters of course is the one event that Shaun wants in the remainder of his career the most in order to complete his triple crown. In recent years it seemed like he was edging close but was unable to get over the line, and in the period across 2012 and 2013 where Shaun lost in a lot of semi-finals and finals it would've been his losses in the Masters that hurt the most. He lost to Neil Robertson in both the 2012 final and the 2013 semi-final before being somewhat dismantled by his first round opponent Mark Selby in last years semi-finals. Out of the three it is that one against Mark that hurt the most and you could tell that immediately from his post match interview with the BBC where he even suggested doing something else as well as snooker with things going badly, in an interview that Murphy may be embarrassed to look back on now, and a series of events that Shaun will certainly be looking to avenge this week as he seeks the one title he now wants the most.
Judd Trump is the man at the moment in my view and I even selected him to be my Player of the Year such is the form he's been in of late. It all started to come together fully for Judd in the Champion of Champions where he got back to his very best scoring form and seemed to have found the perfect mix of attacking snooker and safety play. He went on to make the final of that Champion of Champions where he narrowly lost out to O'Sullivan 10-7 and it was O'Sullivan that foiled him again after a stunning UK Championships and an even better comeback from 4-9 to force the decider before losing out 10-9. Trump has also been performing well in the European Tour events and it is these events that seem to be fairing him well in maintaining his performance ready for the big events to follow. The perfect preparation for Judd seems to have come along in the shape of the Championship League where he played some more brilliant snooker over the course of the final three days having struggled on day one of the first group as he shook off the last of his Christmas cobwebs. Ronnie O'Sullivan seems like the only player that come close to Judd at his best over any kind of format around best-of-11 frames or longer and it's my opinion that if the Rocket doesn't make the final here Trump will not be stopped from completing the second part of his triple crown by winning this title.
Stephen Maguire is the first man that will look to have a go at stopping him, and the Scotsman did seem to return to form in December making the UK Championship semi-finals (where he lost to Judd) and winning the Lisbon Open European Tour event. Other than that Stephen has struggled really in the last 12 months and hasn't been anywhere near his best form, and 2015 didn't get off to an encouraging start as he was eliminated from the first group of the Championship League winning only two of the six matches he played and the least frames out of anybody in the seven man group (only 8). When you look at their overall head to head record Stephen seems to have the edge, but when you then look closer and pick out their really major clashes over the course of the last couple of years it is Trump that actually has the advantage, especially in their most recent meetings at the UK Championships and Champion of Champions just this season where Stephen had to seize upon the scraps that Judd left him, and if Judd does play as well on Monday afternoon as he did on those two occasions I can't see anyway that Stephen could win the six frames he'll require for victory.
Quarter Winner: Trump to beat Maguire and Murphy to beat Selby before Judd Trump makes it into the semi-finals
Tournament Runner-Up: Barry Hawkins
Tournament Winner: Judd Trump
Whoever the winner is this coming week at the Ally Pally, you know they'd have beaten some top quality players and will deserve the overall tournament victory and a triple crown win. In terms of other some of the other stuff to look out for, I think there are that many first round and possible second round games that will all be on a knife edge to the extent that I think we'll see a large number of deciders in the capital. The quality will be extremely high though and I'm going to throw in an early call that there will be a maximum 147 break at some stage over the 8 days, though don't ask me to call who it will be because that may be pushing it. I'll of course be back at regular intervals throughout the week with updates from the tournament and I'm really looking forward now to relaxing in front of the television and enjoying the best of the best entertain us with some great snooker.
The draw for the event is certainly one that excites me as we have a repeat of some quality matches from last year including one of the semi-finals, and one of the quarter-finals, while Trump and Maguire meet in a repeat of the recent UK semi. The favourites for the event in the eyes of the bookies are obviously the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui and Mark Selby. However, does the winner lie within those five? I could certainly be persuaded otherwise.
That's enough background chat from me I think, let's get on to talking about the actual tournament:
Quarter 1
First Round Draw:Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Ricky Walden
Stuart Bingham Vs Marco Fu
Starting in the top quarter with defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan we obviously know that it's going to be hard to back against him to go and defend his title. In the UK O'Sullivan is an inspired man and a completely different man to the one that turns out for events in China, and it's a very rare event when you actually see Ronnie lose in an event held somewhere in the United Kingdom. The snooker that he played in last years tournament was from different planet (especially in that 6-0 drubbing of his first round opponent this year Ricky Walden). If he's on that form again I think he'll breeze to the title as he did 12 months ago, though if isn't at his best at the very beginning of this tournament (which he wasn't at the UK Championships in the very early stages), he will be beaten by the quality opposition that stands before him. There's no edging through this quarter, it's going to take a player at their very best to win it.
Ricky Walden wouldn't have picked Ronnie O'Sullivan as his ideal first round opponent in this years Masters after that quarter-final last year, but it could present Ricky the ideal opportunity to pull off a result. It seems everyone's views I've read or at least heard on this match have it down that Ronnie will breeze past Walden again this year, and it seems that everybody has written him off. Here's my view: Ricky Walden is a quality player who knows what it takes to win at the very highest level as he showed most recently at the International Championships which he won in November. His deep runs in the past to both World and UK semi-finals shows he has the potential to win a big event in the UK and go on a deep run in the Masters at some stage. Having been written off left, right and centre Walden can relax with no pressure on his shoulders because for some ridiculous reason no-one seems to expect a lot from him. Can he beat O'Sullivan? Absolutely. Can he win this quarter? 100%. The one thing Ricky will need on Tuesday though is a good start. Without that I can't see him coming back from a few frames behind, so the first four frames of the match will be key and Walden has to be in the match after those opening exchanges.
Stuart Bingham is one of the only players who has challenged Ronnie O'Sullivan consistently when they've met in the last couple of years and the thought of possibly playing the defending champion is one that Stuart will relish, rather than be running away from in this section of the draw. First up though he has the very large matter of playing Marco Fu in the opening round on Sunday evening. Stuart played reasonable snooker at Crondon Park in the Championship League in the last week, and that will certainly have blown away those Christmas cobwebs for Bingham. For me, if he's on his game he'll be strong favourite against Marco because he's just that little bit stronger than the Hong Kong player. Last year at the Masters it would be a fair admission to say that Stuart wasn't really in it against Higgins in round one and he was convincingly beaten. Disappointments like that are ones that Stuart will be wanting to put right and hopefully he'll be in a better frame of mind for this tournament. I expect to see an inspired Bingham who will be motivated by another UK semi-final last month, and aspirations of repeating that here in London this coming week and righting the wrongs of the last couple of years at the Masters which have certainly not been kind to him overall.
His first round opponent is Marco Fu who always provides everyone with a tough game, whether he's playing anywhere near his best or not. Marco hasn't been at his best of late, getting to the UK quarter-finals despite playing incredibly poorly in the Last 16 against Shaun Murphy, such is the nature of Marco's game and his ability to grind results out from seemingly impossible positions and completely against the run of play. It was a mixed week for Marco last week at the Championship League where I personally think he could've done better and he wouldn't be too happy overall with his form coming into this clash with Stuart. It may only be a small marker, but both round robin matches he played against Bingham in groups one and two he lost and it certainly wouldn't be a huge coincidental if Stuart put it all together to see of Fu again at the Ally Pally.
Quarter Winner: Ronnie to beat Walden again, with Bingham beating Fu before Stuart Bingham upsets the odds to make the Masters semi-finals.
Quarter 2
First Round Draw:Barry Hawkins Vs Ali Carter
Neil Robertson Vs Robert Milkins
Neil Robertson is the highest ranked player in this section of the draw, and one of the hot favourites to come through it and into the Masters semi-finals. It's been a mixed season so far for the Australian with a good start in the summer seeming long gone now after poor showings at both the International and UK Championships. He seemed to be in decent early January form at the Championship League where he made the semi-finals of group one, but you have to question the reasons behind his strange withdrawal from the second group and how that changes his preparations for this tournament. What he has recognised is that he has a tough match first up against Robert Milkins who has beaten him a few times in big tournaments, and certainly won't be afraid of the prospect of playing the Aussie in round one. For me Robertson has to step his game back up after a disappointing couple of months on the table, otherwise he's very vulnerable to an exit in either of the opening two rounds.
Robert Milkins as I have mentioned there will not be afraid of the prospect having beaten Neil on a few occasions in the past, the biggest of which came in the opening round of the 2013 World Championships showing also that he can do it on the big stage in the long format. Robert was unlucky last year to come up against Ronnie O'Sullivan and get beaten 6-0, and of course he'll want to make amends for that defeat and show he can cut it with the best of the best at the Ally Pally. Having made the final of the Ruhr Open and the International Championship semi-finals in the Autumn he appears to be back to some of his best form, though he didn't show it in another disappointing Championship League campaign, though I wouldn't take that into consideration when thinking of his prospects of beating Neil. He certainly has a good chance, and he has to seize on any mistakes the Australian makes in the first four frames which could be the key to that encounter.
Barry Hawkins started his year off in style at the Championship League at Crondon Park where he did a very professional job in winning the opening group and making a maximum 147 break against Maguire on day one there. Having watched a few of Barry's matches in that event he seemed to be returning to some good form there and he has a lot of bad results that he'll be wanting to make amends for this week in the capital. First up is his 2013 match with Judd Trump where he should've made it into the quarter-finals and had shots to win the match but lost from 5-3 ahead there. It got even worse last year as he lost from 5-2 ahead against Ricky Walden, where the key moment was a complete mess that Barry made of a re-spotted black where he could've won the match in that frame had he played the exchange well. It has to be said that the ultimate bottle smashing was handed to Hawkins in the UK Championships where he was somehow beaten from 5-0 ahead in a first to 6 against Nigel Bond, which is a result that still stuns me. It was said on commentary during that game that it could "ruin Barry's season" so the thought in Hawkins mind now has to be to prove them wrong and have a deep run in the Masters for the first time.
Ali Carter of course is still on the comeback trail from Lung Cancer from which he has now been given the all clear which is brilliant news for Ali. So far he's struggled to get his foot back through the door in terms of tour snooker having fallen at the first hurdle in both the German Masters qualifiers and the UK Championships since his return, though his frozen seeding of 13 allows him to play here and there would be no better way to get well and truly back into things with a good run here. 4 wins from 6 games at the Championship League in group 2 is a good return for the Captain and hopefully that will get him back into the groove ahead of his encounter of Hawkins. Both men have a point to prove and it looks to me as though it's a match that you could flip a coin on, but in my mind enough things point to Barry to make him the favourite over Ali here. One last side point I want to bring in on the topic of Ali is that the Ali Carter documentary is being shown on Eurosport at 12.30pm UK Time on Monday before the start of the live Masters action and I'm sure that will be well worth a watch.
Quarter Winner: Robertson to overcome Milkins and Hawkins to edge out Carter before Barry Hawkins makes it into the last 4.
Quarter 3
First Round Draw:Ding Junhui Vs Joe Perry
Mark Allen Vs John Higgins
Ding Junhui became the first Chinese player to become World Number 1 after the UK Championships despite being knocked out in the Last 32 there and failing to qualify for either of the International Championships or Wuxi Classic earlier on in the season. Last year Ding Junhui admitted he came into the Masters unprepared following a first round exit against Shaun Murphy from 4-2 ahead, and that is something that he simply must put right if he is to beat Joe in the opening round this year. In fact, he has lost every single game he's played at the Masters since his victory in 2011 falling to Ronnie in 2012, Robertson in 2013 and Murphy last year. Is this something Ding Junhui will rectify this week? I have to say that he needs to have been working hard in order to prevent another early exit and you'd think he will have done just that. However, there is nothing in his form that would even give us a small indicator that he could possibly come close to repeating that performance of 2011.
If he's seen some of the statistics that I've just rattled off there about Ding Junhui's early Masters exits in recent years, he will take very big heart and a lot of confidence into this game. Joe's form hasn't been fantastic since reaching the Wuxi Classic final in June, but he still had a very good first half to 2014 and he'll be looking for more of the same in 2015 starting with this tournament. What goes against him? Well Ding has won every major meeting between the two players in recent years and sometimes records like that can be provide daunting prospects. However, if Perry finds the game that got him to the Wuxi final or pushed Ronnie so close at the Crucible he's got a great chance of pushing Ding the full 11 frames and snatching victory.
Mark Allen is one of my big contenders for the Masters title this year. I'm sure that Allen would've been slightly relieved to see that Neil Robertson was nowhere near him when the draw came out for the tournament as he has been the man to beat him in each of the last three years at one stage or another. Allen was in fantastic form during the first half of the season, though a Last 32 exit at the UK's brought 2014 to a more disappointing end for the Northern Irishman. If he has continued his hard work over Christmas though, he will be a huge contender for this title, and I keep saying that he is very close to a run that will see him lift a big triple crown event, so I'm almost sat here waiting for him to do so now, but will it be this week?
John Higgins is the first man that will want to have a big say about that, but can he do so? In the last two years at the Alexandra Palace he's had disappointing quarter-final exits against Murphy from 4-1 and 5-4 ahead, and against Selby from 5-3 up so he'll want to make amends for those and go on further this year. Allen though provides a very tough opponent for John to beat, and Higgins has hardly been in any kind of form for a long while now and you have to feel we are at the stage now where his days in the top 16 could well be numbered if he soon doesn't get himself together. While this week obviously has no impact on his ranking position, a couple of good victories could spark him back to life but there is simply no suggestion or not even a small hint of this happening for John I'm afraid, though of course I may be completely wrong and in some ways I hope I am.
Quarter Winner: Ding to beat Perry and Allen to beat Higgins before Mark Allen takes the quarter
Quarter 4
First Round Draw:Judd Trump Vs Stephen Maguire
Mark Selby Vs Shaun Murphy
World Champion Mark Selby kicks things off on Sunday afternoon with what on paper could well be the tie of the opening round fixtures against Shaun Murphy. Selby in recent years has really been the king of the Masters and whatever the venue it seems like he owns the place, with a final appearance last year and 3 Masters titles already to his name. However, since becoming crowned World Champion Mark has had a mixed time of things failing to qualify for the International Championships and suffering a Last 64 exit in the UK Championships shortly after the birth of his first child, which some people targeted as the reason behind his demise, but there is another theory which I think could have something behind it possibly. Mark said in interview some time ago that when he first became world number 1 the pressure he put on himself and the expectancy to dominate and perform on a regular basis heaped too much upon himself and resulted in his best game going missing for some time and a certain reliance on his "B game" to survive. It may be complete rubbish, but perhaps getting called out to every arena as the current world champion is heaping a similar amount of pressure and expectancy on him to perform, and the pressures of now having to perform not just for him but for his family as a new father can often prove tough to deal with at first. If he's off his game at all on Sunday, Shaun is a top quality player and will be sure to take advantage.
Shaun Murphy has in fact been ill over the new year period, first with a virus which he tells me became a bacterial chest infection and that it's the most ill he's felt in years. How much may this have affected his preparation? Well, he did have to pull out of the Championship League group one, which is unheard of for Shaun as he enters most things and plays in everything that he enters. However, I'm assured that he has been on the practice table loads and has not let the "snotty mess" get in the way of his preparations for Selby too much, though he may not be 100% in terms of health for Sunday but I'd take a punt that he'll be very close to it. Prior to Christmas, Shaun was in good form winning back to back European Tour events and a bad couple of frames in his UK Last 16 match with Marco Fu costing him what could've been a really big run in York. The Masters of course is the one event that Shaun wants in the remainder of his career the most in order to complete his triple crown. In recent years it seemed like he was edging close but was unable to get over the line, and in the period across 2012 and 2013 where Shaun lost in a lot of semi-finals and finals it would've been his losses in the Masters that hurt the most. He lost to Neil Robertson in both the 2012 final and the 2013 semi-final before being somewhat dismantled by his first round opponent Mark Selby in last years semi-finals. Out of the three it is that one against Mark that hurt the most and you could tell that immediately from his post match interview with the BBC where he even suggested doing something else as well as snooker with things going badly, in an interview that Murphy may be embarrassed to look back on now, and a series of events that Shaun will certainly be looking to avenge this week as he seeks the one title he now wants the most.
Judd Trump is the man at the moment in my view and I even selected him to be my Player of the Year such is the form he's been in of late. It all started to come together fully for Judd in the Champion of Champions where he got back to his very best scoring form and seemed to have found the perfect mix of attacking snooker and safety play. He went on to make the final of that Champion of Champions where he narrowly lost out to O'Sullivan 10-7 and it was O'Sullivan that foiled him again after a stunning UK Championships and an even better comeback from 4-9 to force the decider before losing out 10-9. Trump has also been performing well in the European Tour events and it is these events that seem to be fairing him well in maintaining his performance ready for the big events to follow. The perfect preparation for Judd seems to have come along in the shape of the Championship League where he played some more brilliant snooker over the course of the final three days having struggled on day one of the first group as he shook off the last of his Christmas cobwebs. Ronnie O'Sullivan seems like the only player that come close to Judd at his best over any kind of format around best-of-11 frames or longer and it's my opinion that if the Rocket doesn't make the final here Trump will not be stopped from completing the second part of his triple crown by winning this title.
Stephen Maguire is the first man that will look to have a go at stopping him, and the Scotsman did seem to return to form in December making the UK Championship semi-finals (where he lost to Judd) and winning the Lisbon Open European Tour event. Other than that Stephen has struggled really in the last 12 months and hasn't been anywhere near his best form, and 2015 didn't get off to an encouraging start as he was eliminated from the first group of the Championship League winning only two of the six matches he played and the least frames out of anybody in the seven man group (only 8). When you look at their overall head to head record Stephen seems to have the edge, but when you then look closer and pick out their really major clashes over the course of the last couple of years it is Trump that actually has the advantage, especially in their most recent meetings at the UK Championships and Champion of Champions just this season where Stephen had to seize upon the scraps that Judd left him, and if Judd does play as well on Monday afternoon as he did on those two occasions I can't see anyway that Stephen could win the six frames he'll require for victory.
Quarter Winner: Trump to beat Maguire and Murphy to beat Selby before Judd Trump makes it into the semi-finals
Tournament Runner-Up: Barry Hawkins
Tournament Winner: Judd Trump
Whoever the winner is this coming week at the Ally Pally, you know they'd have beaten some top quality players and will deserve the overall tournament victory and a triple crown win. In terms of other some of the other stuff to look out for, I think there are that many first round and possible second round games that will all be on a knife edge to the extent that I think we'll see a large number of deciders in the capital. The quality will be extremely high though and I'm going to throw in an early call that there will be a maximum 147 break at some stage over the 8 days, though don't ask me to call who it will be because that may be pushing it. I'll of course be back at regular intervals throughout the week with updates from the tournament and I'm really looking forward now to relaxing in front of the television and enjoying the best of the best entertain us with some great snooker.
Thursday, 8 January 2015
Championship League: Late entry Selt wins second group
I think you have to see the small amounts of irony in the fact that it was only on Tuesday evening before the Wednesday morning start to group two, that Matt Selt got the call to ask if he could step into the group after the late withdrawal of Neil Robertson (Despite Selt not being close to first reserve, and this time there was enough notice for certain others to make it down). Two days and eight games later however, Matt Selt took the group two crown and booked his place in the winners group with group one winner Barry Hawkins. An odd statistic to come from Selt's run is that every single one of his games win or lose, barring his 3-1 loss to Michael Holt went to deciding frames.
From the rest of the group Judd Trump was the losing finalist to end four decent days at Crondon Park for him, while Marco Fu gratefully took the second chance handed to him by sneaking into fifth place of group one and narrowly surviving elimination, to make the semi-finals before losing to Judd. Ali Carter topped the group at the end of the round robin stages and looked on course for the final when leading Matt Selt 2-0, but Matt battled back to win the final three frames and the match 3-2.
The lucky man this time was Stuart Bingham who finished in fifth place of the group, narrowly avoiding elimination by winning just a couple of extra frames in his six matches. This means that Robert Milkins and Michael Holt were the two players that just fell short on frames won in the end and propped up the table in sixth and seventh to be eliminated. Here's everything that happened yesterday at the Championship League courtesy of the famous Annison notepad:
That's the Championship League over for a week and a half with group three beginning on Monday 19th January with Trump, Fu, Carter and Bingham being joined by Walden, Ryan Day and Mark Davis. What it's time for this coming week though of course is the Masters from the Alexandra Palace in London, and as always that will be an absolute cracker of an event.
I'll be back either later on tonight or tomorrow with my preview with the Masters, and it's going to be one of my biggest and toughest previews yet with so many good title candidates, but also so many tight calls for round one games that you could quite simply flip a coin on, so it'll be important for me to find the right angle on those.
From the rest of the group Judd Trump was the losing finalist to end four decent days at Crondon Park for him, while Marco Fu gratefully took the second chance handed to him by sneaking into fifth place of group one and narrowly surviving elimination, to make the semi-finals before losing to Judd. Ali Carter topped the group at the end of the round robin stages and looked on course for the final when leading Matt Selt 2-0, but Matt battled back to win the final three frames and the match 3-2.
The lucky man this time was Stuart Bingham who finished in fifth place of the group, narrowly avoiding elimination by winning just a couple of extra frames in his six matches. This means that Robert Milkins and Michael Holt were the two players that just fell short on frames won in the end and propped up the table in sixth and seventh to be eliminated. Here's everything that happened yesterday at the Championship League courtesy of the famous Annison notepad:
That's the Championship League over for a week and a half with group three beginning on Monday 19th January with Trump, Fu, Carter and Bingham being joined by Walden, Ryan Day and Mark Davis. What it's time for this coming week though of course is the Masters from the Alexandra Palace in London, and as always that will be an absolute cracker of an event.
I'll be back either later on tonight or tomorrow with my preview with the Masters, and it's going to be one of my biggest and toughest previews yet with so many good title candidates, but also so many tight calls for round one games that you could quite simply flip a coin on, so it'll be important for me to find the right angle on those.
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Championship League Group 2 - Day 1
It was a slightly less eventful day at Crondon Park on day 1 of the second group of the Championship League after two days where there wasn't much time to catch your breath with the chopping and changing going on. With Stuart Bingham, Judd Trump, Marco Fu, Ali Carter, Robert Milkins, Michael Holt and Matt Selt in the group you know there would be some even contests and a very even group which is exactly what we have after day one.
Robert Milkins, Michael Holt, Stuart Bingham and Matt Selt all have a point from their opening round robin fixtures, with Holt playing four of his games while the others on a single point have only played 3. Ali Carter is third in the group having won a couple of his opening 3 games, while it's Judd Trump and Marco Fu that top the group having won 3 of their opening four, with Fu's only loss coming against Trump, while Judd's came against Matt Selt who is quickly becoming a sort of bogey player for Trump.
In fact, of yesterday's 12 games in the round robin stages, half of those games went down to a deciding frame in this best-of-5 frames format, which shows it truly is anyone's game on day 2 of the group. Here's exactly how we look today courtesy of the Annison notepad (and today free of mistakes):
Robert Milkins, Michael Holt, Stuart Bingham and Matt Selt all have a point from their opening round robin fixtures, with Holt playing four of his games while the others on a single point have only played 3. Ali Carter is third in the group having won a couple of his opening 3 games, while it's Judd Trump and Marco Fu that top the group having won 3 of their opening four, with Fu's only loss coming against Trump, while Judd's came against Matt Selt who is quickly becoming a sort of bogey player for Trump.
In fact, of yesterday's 12 games in the round robin stages, half of those games went down to a deciding frame in this best-of-5 frames format, which shows it truly is anyone's game on day 2 of the group. Here's exactly how we look today courtesy of the Annison notepad (and today free of mistakes):
What this all means is that anyone of Carter, Selt, Bingham, Holt and Milkins could really make the semi-finals or get eliminated by finishing in the bottom two. Trump and Fu's advantageous end of day one position probably means that they'll finish nicely in the top four and make the play-offs while i expect that Carter will win at least one of his remaining three to make the top four. I expect Stuart Bingham to survive despite the fact that he does have some tough games today to achieve that, while Matt Selt has a very good chance of survival himself as he looked in good form yesterday. Michael Holt having played a game more looks in big trouble as he can no longer afford to lose a game in reality, while Robert Milkins needs to pick up some wins, but also if he does lose too many of his remaining games he needs to pick up some vital frames, as it may come down to frames won and he's only managed a single frame out of the two matches he's lost so far which is a disappointing return.
For me Trump is probably playing some of the better snooker in this group and I think he is a cut above the rest, so if he wants it i think he can win this group quite comfortably.
I'll of course be back tomorrow with the news of who did win the group and who'll be in group 3 in a week and a half's time following the Masters at the Ally Pally, a preview of which will be done on Friday and Saturday.
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
Championship League: Hawkins beats Bingham to take Group one
Barry Hawkins has won the first group of the Championship League with some fantastic snooker on the way to beating Stuart Bingham in the group one final. Stuart finished top of the group following the round robin stages, having only lost one game to Judd Trump, who ironically was his semi-final opponent. Judd had only won a couple of games to make the semi's but was 2-0 ahead on Stuart before the local man came back to win 3-2. Meanwhile, Barry Hawkins finished third and had a semi-final with Neil Robertson where Barry played very well in winning 3-1 and then winning the final by the same score.
Stephen Maguire was eliminated finishing bottom of the group, while Mark King fell just a frame short of saving himself from elimination, though he was only in as a replacement for Shaun Murphy at the last minute from the groups start, so anything for him was a bonus. Marco Fu was the lucky/unlucky player who finished fifth in the group missing out on the semi-finals but also saving himself from elimination.
Here's exactly how day 2 of group 1 panned out:
Today then sees the beginning of group two where Stuart Bingham, Marco Fu and Judd Trump coming in from group one are joined by newcomers Ali Carter, Robert Milkins, Michael Holt and Matt Selt has also been drafted in at short notice as a replacement for Neil Robertson who oddly chose to withdraw after group one, the reason for which is unknown but we hope whatever it is the Australian is ok.
Stuart Bingham was the strongest man in group one of the league and he was also my group one tip, so I expect him to do well while Judd Trump seemed to find a little bit of form on day two so he'll make a better fist of this group. Marco played quite poorly in group one so could be in some trouble over the next two days, as Holt, Milkins, Selt and Carter are all quality players and it's hard to pick a couple of players from this group that will be eliminated. It will all come down to how well prepared all of these players entering in group two are prepared and how much work has gone in over Christmas. Robert Milkins really struggled in the Championship League last season so that's something to watch out for, while of course Selt is a very late replacement again and it is a surprise to see him drafted in at world number 37, though he is a very good, hard working player so he'll be fully prepared for the next couple of days.
Who knows what will happen over the next couple of days, because so far there's been plenty going at Crondon Park with late withdrawals and even a maximum break on Monday, but i'll of course be back tomorrow with an update at the halfway stage of the Championship League's second group.
Stephen Maguire was eliminated finishing bottom of the group, while Mark King fell just a frame short of saving himself from elimination, though he was only in as a replacement for Shaun Murphy at the last minute from the groups start, so anything for him was a bonus. Marco Fu was the lucky/unlucky player who finished fifth in the group missing out on the semi-finals but also saving himself from elimination.
Here's exactly how day 2 of group 1 panned out:
Today then sees the beginning of group two where Stuart Bingham, Marco Fu and Judd Trump coming in from group one are joined by newcomers Ali Carter, Robert Milkins, Michael Holt and Matt Selt has also been drafted in at short notice as a replacement for Neil Robertson who oddly chose to withdraw after group one, the reason for which is unknown but we hope whatever it is the Australian is ok.
Stuart Bingham was the strongest man in group one of the league and he was also my group one tip, so I expect him to do well while Judd Trump seemed to find a little bit of form on day two so he'll make a better fist of this group. Marco played quite poorly in group one so could be in some trouble over the next two days, as Holt, Milkins, Selt and Carter are all quality players and it's hard to pick a couple of players from this group that will be eliminated. It will all come down to how well prepared all of these players entering in group two are prepared and how much work has gone in over Christmas. Robert Milkins really struggled in the Championship League last season so that's something to watch out for, while of course Selt is a very late replacement again and it is a surprise to see him drafted in at world number 37, though he is a very good, hard working player so he'll be fully prepared for the next couple of days.
Who knows what will happen over the next couple of days, because so far there's been plenty going at Crondon Park with late withdrawals and even a maximum break on Monday, but i'll of course be back tomorrow with an update at the halfway stage of the Championship League's second group.
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