Remarkable Judd amongst Masters semi-finalists

A sensational performance from Judd Trump saw him get into the Masters semi-finals for only the second time after a deciding frame victory over current UK and Champion of Champions Neil Robertson. The standard was simply insane throughout the match as neither player looked like missing when amongst the balls. Four centuries were recorded from Trump, while Robertson had two of his own and could have had a third in frame ten to force a decider. The total clearance that Judd made in the decider deserves to go down as one of the best ever made. The pot to get in, and several others that followed, including a blue that wobbled on a few occasions before dropping, were beyond belief.

Next for Judd is a match with another left-hander in Barry Hawkins. Hawkins had a much more simple evening against Mark Allen. Despite a century in frame one, Allen failed to catch fire thereafter and Hawkins wasn't put under much pressure with his mistakes not being punished. In the end Hawkins was easily over the line in only his first Masters quarter-final, a 6-2 winner.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is also into the Masters semi-finals, after getting one back in his classic rivalry with Mark Selby. Ronnie's long potting was as good as it has been in a long time, as Selby struggled to impose himself on the match early on, despite a fabulous clearance in the second frame. Selby found himself 5-2 down before he started really playing and having chances amongst the balls. In frame eight he made a fabulous break to pull a frame back, and he started off in frame nine with a run of 70. It wasn't enough as he lost position, but then Ronnie potted another superb long ball, clearing the pink in the process. The clearance from there was one of the best you'll see and he clinched the match 6-3.

World champion Stuart Bingham was the final man into the last four as he defeated John Higgins. Stuart still wasn't quite to the same standard that saw him win the World title last May, but there are certainly signs of progress in this match as he capitalised on the errors of Higgins. John was certainly nowhere near the standard he set against Liang Wenbo, and despite being 2-2 at the mid-session he lost all of the next three before making a century to stay in it. A wonderful trick shot gave Bingham the chance to make a contribution that gave him the driving seat in the ninth, before sealing a comfortable in that frame.

Quarter-Final Results:

Barry Hawkins 6-2 Mark Allen
Judd Trump 6-5 Neil Robertson
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 Mark Selby
Stuart Bingham 6-3 John Higgins

Semi-Finals Preview: (Picks in Bold)

Judd Trump Vs Barry Hawkins - The first semi-final sees a repeat of the first round from 2013 when Judd came from 5-3 down to beat Barry 6-5. This week Barry has played very well and has dropped the least frames out of the four semi-finalists, and of course this is the first time he has been past the first round. He has struck the ball nicely, though has been helped a little by his opponents, particularly in the quarters against Mark Allen. A lot is being made about how Judd Trump really needs to keep pushing on and winning these big titles now, and his performance against Neil Robertson I believe is a product of him working a lot harder over Christmas, which is another thing he is pointing to. It's almost as if he knows he is ready to kick now, having stopped partying as much (having been out partying once since his Birthday in August, as opposed to every other weekend that he admitted to in his post-match interview). He's working harder, and has looked a much better all-round player in the last year. The key to this match is going to be bottle under pressure. Hawkins has not been pressured yet in this event, while Trump has already come through two stern tests and with neither player having ever been to a Masters final there will certainly be some nerves flying around tomorrow afternoon.

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Stuart Bingham - Meanwhile, on Saturday evening we will have the continuation of a great head to head in recent years between Stuart Bingham and Ronnie O'Sullivan. Stuart of course overcame the Rocket in the quarter-finals of this years World Championship, after giving him a run for his money in the 2014 UK semi-finals, losing out in a decider, after beating him in the 2013 UK quarters. This is their first meeting at the Masters, and the first Masters in which Stuart has made it past the first round. As I mentioned earlier, this has not quite been the same Stuart Bingham that won the World Championships but the signs are there that his form is returning. I said whilst tipping him to win the bottom quarter in my tournament preview that the Christmas break may help Stuart to settle, reflect and move on now with the rest of the season. In the second half of the match with Higgins he took his chances well and wasn't far away from a maximum against Ding in round one, where Ding was probably grinding the world champion down as much as anything else. Ronnie O'Sullivan was in a similar situation in round one, finding himself 4-2 down and without a 50 break, before finding some impeccable scoring to claw out a 6-5 victory over Mark Williams. Against another Mark in the quarter-finals, his long potting was superb and at times there was little Selby could do to push the Rocket, although he did have chances. That will be the key in this match, if Bingham gets his chances he will have to put them away like he did against O'Sullivan in the World Championship. Getting his first Masters win and being the underdog really for the first time since the Crucible last May helped him in my opinion against Higgins to relax a little more, and there won't be many amongst the masses that will give him much chance Ronnie despite his clear credentials. If Bingham gets off to a good start and doesn't let Ronnie move away into the distance then he has a great chance.



That's what we have left now after some really magnificent quarter-final performances and it is a very tough call to pick an overall winner from here, even if there are only four guys left. Both semi-finals are still over the best-of-11 frames, with the afternoon match being Trump Vs Hawkins, while the legion of Ronnie O'Sullivan fans should tune it in the evening session at 7pm for his semi-final.

If the semi's get anywhere close to the quarters there will be a couple of cracking games and it will set up an even better final on Sunday. Of course I will be back to look over the results tomorrow and preview that final before they get going.

Higgins sets down Masters marker

John Higgins laid down a marker in the first round of the Masters as he searches for his first Masters title for 10 years and his third in all. He won a classic contest with Chinese debutant Liang Wenbo who scored very well himself to stick with the Scot, but there was nothing he could do about John's three century breaks that could have been even greater in number in a 6-4 win.

The defending champion was sent packing way back on the opening afternoon in a dramatic match with Mark Allen. Shaun Murphy did well to level at 2-2 at the mid-session interval but after losing the fifth frame, he gave away the sixth on the "three miss rule" whereby after failing to hit a red that he could see all of on three occasions the frame was awarded to his opponent. Allen went 5-2 but Murphy had a century on the way back to 4-5 and had his chances to force a decider, but it was Mark who got over the line.

The big headline for many was Ronnie O'Sullivan's 6-5 win over Mark Williams. Ronnie of course was playing on television for the first time since April after missing the UK Championships and Champion of Champions where he was defending champion. He also lost four frames in the middle of this match with the Welshman after leading 2-0 early on in fortunate circumstances after a huge fluke in frame two. From 4-2 he actually went on to pull ahead at 5-4, and despite forcing a decider, a very risky plant didn't go Mark's way in the decider and Ronnie made him pay to win it.

World Champion Stuart Bingham kept up his good record against Ding Junhui on the way to his first Masters win in a scrappy 6-4 victory. The loss for Ding continues his run of woeful form and a run at the Masters that means he has lost in the first round on five consecutive occasions now since capturing the title in 2011.

Judd Trump was able to overturn a couple of demons in his 6-4 first round win against Stephen Maguire. Stephen was of course the man that beat Judd in the first round a year ago, while Judd was also able to send his demons from the UK packing in sorts. In the Last 32 there against Liang Wenbo he lost 6-4 from 4-1 ahead, and the signs were that it could happen again after Maguire levelled at 4-4 from 4-1 down. On this occasion Judd played two very good frames to finish off though at 6-4.

Barry Hawkins was able to recover from losing three frames on the spin to Joe Perry from 2-0 ahead by finishing with four in a row from 3-2 down to end up winning that match 6-3 on Monday evening.

The biggest win of the first round saw Ricky Walden suffer his second Masters whitewash in three years, losing 6-0 to Mark Selby. Mark took control after a sensational clearance to steal the opener was followed by breaks of 118, 66 and 81 to lead 4-0 at the interval and barely missing a ball at this stage. Despite a few misses in the fifth he still won it and the victory was completed with an 83 break in the sixth.

Neil Robertson was the final man through against what looked to be an unwell Marco who certainly wasn't at the races and also suffered a whitewash defeat.

First Round Results:

Mark Allen 6-4 Shaun Murphy
Barry Hawkins 6-3 Joe Perry
Judd Trump 6-4 Stephen Maguire
Neil Robertson 6-0 Marco Fu
Mark Selby 6-0 Ricky Walden
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-5 Mark Williams
John Higgins 6-4 Liang Wenbo
Stuart Bingham 6-4 Ding Junhui

Quarter-Final Preview: (Picks in Bold)

Mark Allen Vs Barry Hawkins - This is going to be a very tight match in my view and one I wouldn't be surprised to go to a deciding frame one bit. Mark Allen was particularly impressive against Shaun Murphy with his break building form, and looked to be showing the form again that got him to the Champion of Champions final. These two actually met in the first round of that event, with Allen winning 4-2, avenging three losses in a row he had suffered to Hawkins previously including his 13-11 World Championship exit last season. Barry Hawkins looked to be in decent touch too against Joe Perry, but of course his record at the Masters isn't great with that being his first ever win in round one. This could well be Allen's week to finally win his first major and I certainly don't think he is far away from making that a reality, which is why I would go for him to edge this one with Barry.

Neil Robertson Vs Judd Trump - I always relish these battles between the two best left-handers in the game and this one will be no different. Neil Robertson battered a Marco Fu who had come down with a virus and would have pulled out had it not been a major. Nothing was really learned about the Australian who did still miss a few and wasn't really challenged at all, but he was still in good touch. Judd on the other hand was seriously pushed by Stephen Maguire after watching his 4-1 lead disappear. I was impressed by how he stuck in and battled out the 6-4 victory this time though, and also to hear that he didn't have a day off from practice over Christmas in preparation for the Masters, and I expected him to have worked hard as this is one event where he has targeted a strong showing. There are not many men who can beat Neil Robertson when he is in good form but Judd is certainly one of those, and he has a strong record against Neil and has learned from the 2014 World Championship quarter-final exit against him. For these reasons, I am going to go for the slight underdog in Trump to win.

Mark Selby Vs Ronnie O'Sullivan - The rivalry continues. A lot is made of it anytime that Ronnie O'Sullivan plays Mark Selby, and at this present moment in time Selby is probably the player that the Rocket has the most respect for. Selby has beaten Ronnie O'Sullivan in a World Championship final, something no-one else has. In the first round Selby looked sharp and there was evidence that he had put plenty of work in over Christmas as he battered Ricky Walden. Ronnie O'Sullivan is not happy with his form, saying he is struggling to find his balance at the table after a back injury he suffered in November, and for the first half of the match he was really struggling against Mark Williams who could so easily have won. It feels a little like Williams missed the boat, something that Mark certainly will not do because O'Sullivan always brings out the best in him, as does the Masters as a whole. That could prove a very dangerous combination for Ronnie's army of supporters.

Stuart Bingham Vs John Higgins - If John Higgins plays anything like what he did in the opening round today against Liang Wenbo then he could give Stuart Bingham a little bit of a hiding to be honest. Stuart's match with Ding Junhui was by no means pretty with both players struggling, and even though he can take some confidence after getting over the line in the end, particularly with the pressures of being World Champion weighing heavily upon him. In fact, as the underdog in this match he may be able to relax and play in a similar fashion to John's round one performance. Three centuries was John's tally for the match with Wenbo and he was disappointed not to have eventually made more. He looks in a mood to do some damage in the draw this week, and as we saw in the UK Championships it will take something very special to stop him once again.


Four great matches coming our way in the quarter-finals then at the Alexandra Palace, plenty of pedigree left in the tournament and with the way the majority of the guys are playing there could be some real classics in store and plenty of tension. The next offering from me will be ahead of the semi-finals which come up on Saturday.

Top Trump wins Group 2

Judd Trump won the second group of Championship League last night as he overcame Mark Williams 3-1 in the final. Judd only just managed to get into the semi-finals after winning two of his final three group games on Thursday evening to finish the round robin stages in fourth place. In the semi-finals he played Mark Selby who had yet to lose a game after finishing the group stages with six wins out of six. However, Trump got his revenge for Selby's comeback from 0-2 in the round robin stages with a 3-0 putting him into the final. Mark Williams 3-0 win over third place Joe Perry gave him the final match up with Trump.

After beating Williams from 0-2 behind earlier in the day to keep his hopes of making the knock out stages alive, he carried on that momentum with a 3-1 win in the final.

Ricky Walden was the 'lucky loser' in the sense that despite not making the semi-finals, by finishing fifth in the group he will move on to Group 3 with Mark Williams, Mark Selby and Joe Perry.

As for Robert Milkins and Barry Hawkins they were both eliminated, after Milkins could not follow his runners-up finish in group one with only one win from six group matches leaving him bottom of the group. Barry Hawkins couldn't take advantage of his fortunate fifth place finish in group one and over the course of the week was only able to win four matches out of 12, with two wins in each group.

The Championship League will now be back with Group 3 starting on Monday 18th January with Michael White, Marco Fu and Stephen Maguire being the newcomers that are joined by Williams, Walden, Selby and Perry who are all aiming to try and join Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump who have qualified for the Winners Group so far.


Now though it's time for the Masters, the preview for which I published earlier on today here:

http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/the-big-masters-preview.html

THE BIG MASTERS PREVIEW

If you're worried about the 'Post-Christmas blues' then fear not, it's time for the second Triple Crown event of the season and the very first of the New Year, The Masters. The Masters is right up there for me as my second favourite tournament behind the World Championships. As far as my favourite Masters go, the recent 2013 edition was a fantastic week full of classic matches that I was able to watch practically all of as I was snowed in for a week!!! Any excuse to watch some extra snooker...

Shaun Murphy of course is the defending champion at the Alexandra Palace after his excellent victory that saw him complete the Triple Crown. The Ally Pally has just seen the successful defence of the World Darts Championship by Gary Anderson, so who knows what could be in store over the next 8 days of snooker.

The Alexandra Palace has been a great venue for snooker since 2012, and has witnessed four finals, two of which have been contested between Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson, while Mark Selby has appeared in the other two at the Ally Pally.

Ronnie O'Sullivan will make his full TV comeback after missing his UK Championships and Champion of Champions title defences at the back end of 2015. What we did see from Ronnie most recently was a victory in Group one of the Championship League winning eight games out of eight and passing 800 career century breaks in the process, and it will be interesting to see if he can take the same good form to the big stage.

Neil Robertson is another of the main contenders given his domination at the UK Championships in York, and the Champion of Champions in Coventry, along with the fact that he has reached three of the last four Masters finals.

That's just a little about some of the contenders though as it's time to go through the draw as I try and predict who I think will really be in the mix at the latter stages in London.

Quarter 1

First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Shaun Murphy Vs Mark Allen
Barry Hawkins Vs Joe Perry

Barry Hawkins has never yet won a match at the Masters, not without chances too also. In 2013 he lost from 3-5 ahead against Judd Trump, while in 2014 it got worse as he lost from 2-5 ahead to Ricky Walden. His form has hardly been sparkling this season so far after a Last 64 exit in the UK Championships and early exits in the Chinese ranking events. When it comes to his chances of winning the Masters I would say it would be a huge surprise to be honest. Hawkins has solidly under performed since the 2014 UK Championships in all truth despite a miraculous performance at the World Championships last season and a win in Riga at the start of this one.

In the first round this week Barry takes on Joe Perry. Joe was able to get his first win in the Masters last season against Ding Junhui and he's in for a tight match this year when he takes on Hawkins. Joe is a quality player and despite some troubles around the time of the UK Championships he has had a good performance or two since winning his first ranking event last season. Though it might not mean very much, when the pair met at the Championship League this week Hawkins won 3-2 from 2-0 down. I expect it to be that close again, but with Hawkins struggling throughout the Championship League and his form overall being poor I fancy Perry to steal that one.

Mark Allen has had yet another unlucky draw at the Masters. After losing to Neil Robertson three years in a row, and on two of those three occasions Neil made the final. He missed out on a final with Neil Robertson at last years Masters after losing to his first round opponent of this year, Shaun Murphy, in the semi-finals. Mark has shown decent form this season so far with a win on the European Tour which led to a run to the final of the Champion of Champions final. However, he disappointed with a Last 32 exit to Martin Gould in the UK Championships in the next event, so that is another thing he will be looking to put right at the Palace. If he can beat Shaun I would certainly fancy him to make it into a third career Masters semi-final, and maybe even to a first ever Masters final. It all depends on how much hard work has really gone in over Christmas, because that is where a lot of players do let themselves down.

Shaun Murphy has been working very hard ahead of his Masters defence and he will be aiming once again to go all the way and have the best possible go at defending his title, his final leg of the Triple Crown he had waited so long for. He loves the venue at the Alexandra Palace which is evident from his previous results there. A final in 2012 was followed up by two semi-finals in 2013 and 2014 before winning the title comprehensively a year ago. Other than a few decent runs on the European Tour, there hasn't been a great deal for Murphy to shout about since his World final loss back in May, but in a way that mirrors how his form had been before he lifted the crystal last season. Since then he has moved out to the peace of the countryside, where he now has a table in his house to practice on as much as he likes and that should pay off for him in the future. It is all set to be a tough match up with his good friend Mark Allen, but he has a very strong record over the Northern Irishman in recent times, and if he can win that match then I feel like he would go from strength to strength thereafter, as the ultimate mirroring of 2015 could be made possible.

Quarter Winner: Shaun Murphy

Quarter 2

First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Judd Trump Vs Stephen Maguire
Neil Robertson Vs Marco Fu

Stephen Maguire is someone who has been in and out of form for a while and as the sixteenth seed he is lucky to even be here. In fact the week after the seedings were cut off and the draw completed, Michael White got to the Gibraltar Open final and knocked Stephen Maguire down to number 17 in the world rankings. His form has been average for quite a while in all truth and he will certainly have to improve if he is to carry on qualifying for events like the Masters. His first round match with Judd Trump is a repeat of the first round last year in which Maguire actually came out on the winning side and while he has half a chance if he plays well, with the quarter that he has landed in I can't see him making it through to the latter stages. 

Marco Fu may only be a couple of places ahead of Stephen Maguire in the seedings but his form is going back in the opposite direction again now. This season has seen Marco catch a European Tour title and make the quarter-finals of both the UK and International Championships. Throughout this period I have been impressed with the continual scoring power that Marco has shown. Fu was a finalist in the last Masters prior to the switch to the Alexandra Palace and has made the quarter-finals in both of the last two years. This year he faces a very tough first round tie with Neil Robertson.

Neil Robertson became the UK champion for the second time in December and has reached three of the four Masters finals held at the Alexandra Palace, and last lost in the first round of the Masters in 2010, prior to winning the World Championships just a few months after. After becoming the Champion of Champions in November as well as UK Champion in the following event, the evidence is all there that Neil is now one of the best when it comes to peaking for the big events because as far as every other event is concerned he has struggled this season. On the European Tour he has only turned up to one event and has been totally non-existent on that front, while just a couple of weeks after winning the UK title he lost to amateur Ashley Hugill 5-1 in German Masters qualifying. It would not surprise me if Marco came out on top of Neil, because what people always forget about the Hong Kong cueist is his scoring power that has always been a good feature of his game and means he won't fear Neil's. With Neil's Masters record though you would equally lack surprise if he went on to win the whole thing or at least make a fourth final in five years.

Judd Trump is my man to really watch out for in this years Masters. For whatever reason Judd has not had the best record in the event, with one semi-final and two first round exits in four visits to the tournament as a full seed (after playing in the old wildcard round in 2009). His main goal (other than winning the World Championships) is a good run at the Masters sighting his poor record as the reason for this. This season for Judd has been a strange one as he has lost some really weird matches. Other than a Shanghai final the season has been a struggle overall with mixed results on the European Tour as well as a Last 32 exit in the UK Championships from 4-1 up and a 6-0 qualifying defeat to Michael Wild in the Last 128 of the International Championships. This season has started better for him with a Championship League group victory at the first time of asking this week, seeing that as valuable match practice for the Masters itself. The first step for Judd will be to earn his revenge on Stephen Maguire for inflicting last years first round exit, but if he can find his inspiring best game then he is certainly one of the main contenders for the title this week.

Quarter Winner: Judd Trump

Quarter 3

First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Mark Selby Vs Ricky Walden
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Mark Williams

Ricky Walden has had a poor season so far and by his own admission has plenty of improving to do. While his record in the Masters isn't as bad as some of the other guys in the event, he has never been through to the latter stages and with Mark Selby in round one and his nemesis Ronnie O'Sullivan a possibility if he did get through then I have to make any chance of this changing a high improbability this year.

Mark Williams is back in the Masters this year for the first time since 2013. His opponent in round one is a certain Mr O'Sullivan whom his record against in recent times is hardly anything to write home about. Mark's form this season also falls into somewhat the same category after early exits in the UK Championship and International Championships. He has played ok on the European Tour but mainly against lower ranked players which is why he hasn't quite gotten over the line and won a title. Given the form that Ronnie O'Sullivan exhibited at the Championship League, Williams will certainly be up against it and you have to fancy the Rockets chances a lot more than the Welsh Potting Machine.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is on his full TV comeback here at the Masters since his World Championship quarter-final exit at the end of last season. The first thing not to do with Ronnie is think that he packed his cue away and had all of this time off. Firstly, he had been playing in some of the Pro-Am events (and winning a good amount of these) down at the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester. He has also been touring the country playing in a host of clubs as part of the snooker legends exhibitions. His actual comeback to the tour came just prior to Christmas in the German Masters qualifiers. On this occasion he won his first qualifying match against Hamza Akbar comfortably before losing to a strong Last 64 opponent in Stuart Carrington who had to play very well there for his 5-3 victory. It was by no means handed to him. Then this week, for some Masters match practice you would imagine, he turned up at Crondon Park in Essex for the Championship League where he won every single won of his six round robin games to top the group and make the semi-finals. He then secured the group one win with 3-0 victories in both the semi's and final. When it comes to playing at the top level at the Masters it has only been two years since he won the title only dropping a handful of frames. Mark Williams has got a big game on his hands in round one, but round two could very much be a different story with a possible match-up with one of his greatest rivals.

Mark Selby is no stranger to going all the way at the Masters. In eight appearances at the Masters he has won it three times in 2008, 2010 and 2013, with two other final appearances in 2009 and 2014. Even last year when he lost 6-5 in the opening round, it was to the eventual winner Shaun Murphy, whom he was also beaten by in the 2012 quarter-finals. Mark will be pleased with his match practice in the Championship League second group this week as he won all of his six group matches to top the group, before losing in the semi-finals to eventual group winner Judd Trump. While there has been no title for Selby so far in the 2015/2016 season, he did reach the last four in the UK and International Championships before losing to the eventual winner of both. He is no stranger to performing on the big stage and the one table set-up of the Masters has always been one of Selby's favourites to perform on. I would certainly fancy him to beat Ricky Walden in round one, and if you think he could be the greatest challenger to the Rocket with their possible quarter-final meeting then the 9/1 you can get with Coral on him to win the title is a massive price, and he is still available at 8/1 in other places too.

Quarter Winner: Mark Selby

Quarter 4

First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)

John Higgins Vs Liang Wenbo
Stuart Bingham Vs Ding Junhui

Liang Wenbo is on debut at the Masters after making the final of the UK Championships in December, which elevated him to number 15 in the world. He has also made the semi-finals of the Gibraltar Open the week after, but after an extended break it will be interesting to see if he can carry that form on to the Ally Pally and end his Higgins hoodoo. He has never beaten John in any of their previous meetings, including their most recent one at this seasons Shanghai Masters where John was a convincing winner. However, if can re-create that snooker from December and beat Higgins he could easily become a dark horse for this event too. With some of the twitching he did under pressure at the UK then he will have to keep his nerves under control on his first Masters outing if he is to beat Higgins and overall I have too favour John to win that one.

John Higgins is a player of major quality as we all know and has of course won the Masters title twice in his career coming into this years edition. However, in 21 overall appearances at the Masters featuring in every single one since 1995, he has lost in the first round on 11 occasions which equates to half. To put it into perspective, he has been to one less final of the Masters than Mark Selby with Selby having 13 less appearances, and his greatest rival Ronnie O'Sullivan has won more Masters titles than John has reached Masters finals. In fact, it has been 10 years since John's last Masters final which was when he won the title in 2006. He has regained some form this season with a big ranking victory at the International Championships and a deciding frame loss to eventual UK champion Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals. The year ended poorly as he failed to secure German Masters qualification and this one started in a weird fashion too at the Championship League. Turning up for group one he was only able to win two of his six round robin games and was eliminated from the overall competition after finishing sixth in the group. From what I saw of Higgins he looked like he couldn't really be bothered and was far too relaxed. Even if it is only match practice for the Masters he should still take it seriously and you would certainly be looking for stronger signs than the ones he gave out. If he is on his game he could easily beat Wenbo in round one who is on Masters debut, and a player he has never lost to in his career and the semi-finals at least is a major possibility but he will have to play very well to win the whole thing.

Ding Junhui comes to the Masters in an interesting position. On the slide in the rankings after a very poor year and a half in the game it is hard to see when the Chinaman's form is going to return. A first round exit in the UK Championships continued a very poor trend of results in the UK since he won his Masters title in 2011 and reached the World semi-finals in the same year. In fact since winning the Masters at the Wembley Arena in 2011 he has failed to win a match at the Masters in the four that have been held at the Alexandra Palace. That has not been without chances either. In 2013 he was 5-3 ahead of Neil Robertson before losing the last three frames and from 4-2 ahead to Shaun Murphy in the 2014 Masters he lost the last four to lose 6-4. Last year he was the third seed for the event but never looked like a factor in a 6-3 loss to Joe Perry. The only hope of victory he has is that he is playing a man in Stuart Bingham who has never won a match at the Masters in all of his appearances, but there is certainly nothing in Ding's form that would suggest a run in this tournament is possible.

Stuart Bingham may not have won a match in the Masters, having appeared consistently since 2012, but he has never turned up to any of those events with the confidence of being world champion. The Christmas break came at exactly the right time for Stuart in my opinion. After struggling for form in the main ranking events a little bit after winning the World title in May, he has now had some more reflection time. He still made the Shanghai Masters semi-finals in September, and despite a Last 32 exit at York he finished the year by making the semi-finals of the Gibraltar Open and getting two very nice wins to secure German Masters qualification. That will help him feel better about his game, and he has now had some key time ahead of the competition to practice and come into the Masters fresh and raring to go. On top of this his recent record against Ding Junhui in their major meetings is a very favourable one for Stuart. He may see this as a chance to prove a point after a half-season hangover from winning the World Championships and with his draw the way it is he could easily make it into the semi-finals if other players don't find their form and he plays near his best.

Quarter Winner: Stuart Bingham

Tournament Runner-Up: Mark Selby

Tournament Winner: Judd Trump


That's my verdict, and I hope that my reasoning helps you to come up with your own. How close will we all be, well we will have to wait until next Sunday to find that one out. I'm sure that we will have a fantastic event to watch throughout the eight days of action from the Alexandra Palace on BBC in the UK or on Eurosport. All of the usual suspects will be there for the BBC, along with a new punditry face as Peter Ebdon steps in for the Sunday and Monday of the event, and knowing how strong an opinion that Peter has about things along with an incredible snooker brain he will be a fantastic addition to the team.

I hope you have all enjoyed my preview and will come back for more of my analysis throughout the event.

Fantasy Snooker Update: Double Points Masters

After the Christmas break it's time for the resumption of the Fantasy Snooker League and what an event we have to resume on, The Masters. This is the second DOUBLE POINTS event of the season after the UK Championships so it will be of key importance to pick the right players.

First off, here is the table as things stand after the Gibraltar Open, with all leftover money included:

1^st: Gorkem Kurt: 475 -0.3 million McGill (5) and Higgins (7)

2^nd: Igor: 470 +3.4 million Trump (7)

3^rd: Chris Watts: 420 -0.5 million Higgins (7) and K.Wilson (19)

4^th: SnookerFollower: 415 +1.9 million Selt (5) and Pengfei (14)

5^th: Michael Coudray: 397 +5.1 million Selby (23)

6^th: Gary: 364 +2.7 million Wakelin (7) and K.Wilson (19)

7^th: Kjetil: 362 +3.9 million Dale (28) and Selt (5)

8^th: Anthony Ward: 327 +0.6 million Gilbert (0) and Higgins (7)

9^th: TungstenDarts: 320 +10.1 million Higgins (7)

10^th: LTD: 291 +2.8 million Perry (0)

11^th: Guillermo: 288 -1.1 million Higgins (7) and Pengfei (14)

12^th: Josh Cooper: 275 +4.1 million

13^th: Phil Mudd: 269 +0.3 million Higgins (7) and Perry (0)

14^th: Spanish Snooker Blog: 260 +4.1 million

15^th: Kai: 254 +3.1 million M. White (49) and J. White (0)

16^th: John McBride: 246 +12.8 million Higgins (7)

17^th: Andrew Brooker: 227 +18.9 million Selt (5)

18^th: Ezgi Ulutas: 213 +1.8 million M.Williams (0) and K.Wilson (19)

19^th: Kellie Barker: 201 +0.6 million Ding (0) and O. Lines (17)

Know where you are? Know how much money you have on top of the usual 8 million? Then it's time to look at who the players are with prices to pick from:

Shaun Murphy – 6 million

Stuart Bingham – 5.8 million

Mark Selby – 5.6 million

Neil Robertson – 5.5 million

Ronnie O'Sullivan – 5.4 million

Judd Trump  – 5.3 million

John Higgins – 5.2 million

Barry Hawkins – 5 million

Ding Junhui – 4.9 million

Joe Perry – 4.8 million

Mark Allen – 4.6 million

Ricky Walden – 4.5 million

Mark Williams – 4.3 million

Marco Fu  – 4.2 million

Liang Wenbo – 4.1 million

Stephen Maguire – 4 million

Those are the players, don't forget it's DOUBLE POINTS. Have your picks in before the first match on Sunday and we'll all be happy. Good Luck.

Championship League - Group 2 - Day 1

The first day of Group 2 in the Championship League was dominated by halfway leader Mark Selby. Selby won all three of his games on day one, and after being 2-0 down to Judd Trump he only lost one further frame all day in victories against Ricky Walden and Joe Perry.

Perry interestingly lost his Masters warm-up against Barry Hawkins 3-2 from 2-0 ahead, but managed to win matches against Judd Trump and Ricky Walden to presently sit in second position. Just behind him is Mark Williams who has won two of three matches so far, while Ricky Walden has managed two wins from four games.

Judd Trump and Robert Milkins both need to improve on day two too avoid relegation, as they have only won a single game from three at the halfway stage. Barry Hawkins in a perilous situation having won one of his opening four games (contrary to the as it stands table in my pad picture below states).

Trumps remaining games are against Mark Williams, Ricky Walden and Robert Milkins and he could easily win two of those if he shows a little improvement, in order to make the semi-finals.

As well as playing Trump, Robert Milkins faces Joe Perry and group leader Mark Selby so he certainly has some tough matches there and could easily be relegated.

Barry Hawkins only has games against Mark Selby and Ricky Walden to go having already lost to the two guys around him that have only won a game each. He is certainly odds on to be relegated at this stage.

Walden would be disappointed not to get one win from his two remaining matches against the halfway strugglers in order to have a chance of the semi-finals and guarantee a place in group three.

Mark Selby as well as playing Robert Milkins and Barry Hawkins will face Mark Williams and you would say he should win at least one of those matches to guarantee a strong finish in the group and a favourable draw in the semi-finals (if there is such a thing).

Mark Williams, on top of facing Selby and Trump faces Joe Perry as he looks for another win or two to make the semi-finals again, while Perry will certainly need to win one of those games mentioned earlier against Williams or Robert Milkins to move into the knock-out stages.

At the moment though the stand out player is certainly Mark Selby but that doesn't mean he will come out on top, so come back tomorrow to find out who ends up winning group 2 of the Championship League.

O'Sullivan wins Championship League group one

Ronnie O'Sullivan stormed to victory in Group one of the Championship League, with an unbeaten record in his eight games played throughout both the round robin and knockout stages. He looked to be on top form today particularly with plenty of centuries, passing the 800 mark in his career as a whole.

Robert Milkins was the runner-up in the group, losing to Ronnie 3-0 in the final, after finishing third in the round robin stages and beating Mark Williams in the semi-finals. Fourth placed Ricky Walden was also whitewashed by Ronnie in the semi-finals.

Barry Hawkins went from second place overnight to a fifth placed group finish overall after losing his final two group games today, meaning that he will move on to group two with Mark Williams, Ricky Walden and Robert Milkins.

A single win was never going to be enough for Ryan Day to avoid relegation as he finished dead last in the group, while John Higgins was also eliminated after finishing sixth in the group on frames won, after only two match wins and 9 frames won in six matches.

With Ronnie moving on to the Winners Group which is still a couple of months away, while Day and Higgins have been eliminated it means that three more players step in. Those players are world number 1 Mark Selby and former Championship League winners in Judd Trump and Joe Perry.

Overall that means that Robert Milkins will be the only one of the seven competitors not playing in next weeks Masters so he will have this event as his lone focus, which may be the reason he did so well in the opening group over the last couple of days.

Mark Selby will meet Ricky Walden on at least one occasion ahead of their meeting in the Masters next week. Walden showed some good form today making the two of the highest breaks of the group, runs of 138 and 133 both featuring against Barry Hawkins. Joe Perry will also meet his Masters opponent Barry Hawkins at least once, and it will be interesting to see how Barry in particular performs there given his poor Masters record and lucky 5th place survival in group one.

Mark Williams and Judd Trump will be looking to find some form also, with Williams seeing what his Masters opponent had to offer by winning group one, while Judd will want to send out a message in response to Ronnie's brilliant play over the last couple of days. His name is certainly one of the top on the list of Masters contenders so he'll want to cement his name in peoples thoughts by playing well over the next couple of days.


That is what we have to look forward to over the next couple of days, and despite a very busy day for myself personally I will be back for the usual round-up at some point after the first days play has been completed.