Quarter Finals - day 5... R. O'Sullivan v J Trump What a shame that this contest is only over the best of 11 frames. The 2 biggest box office shots go head to head here in the Masters. If one turns up it will be a great match. If both do, well... Hard to say who i put as favourite but i just give it to experience over youth. Ronnie loves playing this sort of open attacking game and it will be interesting to see if Trump will play the same way. The last meeting between these two was over in europe in a PTC final in which Trump came out on top in the decider, and it was one of the best finals seen in recent years. Judd's safety was the biggest problem in the first round , coupled with the fact he broke down a few times when nearing the winning line in some of the frames. It was a comfrotable win, but he had to work hard. Ronnie's game was typical of the way he is plaing in general. Brilliant, bored, bad, brilliant. He again let Ding back into a match that he should have won sooner but his class came through in the end. Who will win...? The bookies give it to The Rocket, 8/11. With Trump 11/10. A close match it could be, but its just as easy to see one outplay the other and win by a big margin... O'Sullivan to win 6-4... J Higgins v G Dott Dott played well in the end to cut out the mistakes and beat a poor Carter, plus he played last night. Maybe that will play against him but if truth be told Higgins is a step up from Graeme. Higgins cruised past Matthew Stevens and looked like he had another gear if he needed. Both can play a great game of safety and both are prepared to grind out a frame if need be. Its going to be settled by the breaks and clearances and i can see only one winner from this. Higgins to win... 6-3
Ronnie just doesnt have the game these days, to compete with Trump when he's in that mood. Trump is going to be tough to beat if he continues playing like that, I think this tournament is there for the taking for him now. The only guy I see as a credible threat is John Higgins
Is it just me or is Judd Trump the jammiest snooker player ever. Every game I see him play he get's a few fluke pot's and he even fluke's safety shot's. Very good player but he get's a lot of luck.
Day 5 results... Trump 6-2 O'Sullivan... The King is dead...!!! Long live the King...!!! The result today was as big a result that we have seen for a while. This to me now signifies the transition to a new, fresh faced, open attacking snooker that will become the norm. Trump just dosnt think he can pot anything at times he dos, and with alarming accuracy and flair. Ronnie didnt know what had hit him in the opening seesion and the 4-0 scoreline to Judd didnt flatter him. Ronnie looked short of ideas and soon looked like the old man sat at the table while watching the youthful talent take over. Ronnie didnt show much fight for the challenge put infront of him, and yes he did take a brilliant 141 break to cut the lead a bit, but it was the other areas of his game that suggest he really isnt up to the PTC snooker tour and championship tournaments that he has won in the past. Under the supervision of Ray Readon, Ronnie would actually enjoy the battle of playing top quality saftey shots. Wait for his chance. Be patient. He won a World Championship off the back of it. But the Ronnie we see now has not got that in his locker. The Rocket is now down to trying to outgun a potting machine where no ball is safe, and he cant. The match was of a high quality but it came mainly from Trump and the ease in which he has despatched O'Sullivan suggests that he will take some beating... Higgins 6-3 Dott... Dott was always up against it here, and it showed. No sooner had he pinched a frame off Higgins that he shouldnt have done, he let him back in straight away in the next to level up. It was going to be one of those nights for Graeme. He did have some misfortune himself, and yes John also had a few positional shots that he got lucky with, but Dott never looked like troubling the scorer. The turning point for Graeme's night came in the 3rd frame when Jan Verhaas interupted Dotts break to alter what he thought was a mistake with the scoring. It took over 3 mins to sort out, and in the end Jan was wrong. Dott waited, came back to the table and missed the next red. His concentration broke he soon became a broken man where everything in the world seemed to contrive and trip him up. To be fair to John he played well and never let Graeme into the match. Even when he did the Dott couldnt make any impression. The stats suggested that this was a close game. Dotts potting was at 90%, his saftey at 81%. His long potting was also good at 79% these figures will win you matches. But the one stat that sealed Dott's fate was his high break. You will not beat a player of Higgins class with 47 being your highest break in the match... Higgins moves on, and with ease. He completes each round and match like the top pro that he is, and again will take all the beating... Robertson v Williams... This will be a classic and i make no bones about it. The two styles are similar, the break building is done in one visit and they both fight for the scrappy frames like thier lives depend on it. This may come down to the frame winning clearances when your opponenant has broken down, and they dont come much better than Williams. A hard one to call as they both could reel off 3-4 frames and run out a comfy winner. But i think that this will go to a close finish... Williams to win 6-4... Selby v Murphy... This one is a match where your will watch the long fluent action of Murphy against the almost robotic Selby. The two styles differ greatly, but there is one thing they both do, and thats break build. Both have been high up the yearly ranks of hitting the 100's and it will be down to the scrappy fames to decide this one. Selby is currently ranked the number 1 in the world from the current standings and i just think he has the edge. Murphy has on occasions tried to take on too many tough pots in order to carry the break forward or get out of trouble. But i just see Selby edging this. Again a tight game... Selby wins 6-5...
The great golfer that is Gary Player once said that 'The more i practice the luckier i get' I would assume that Trump practices a lot at the moment...
Day 6 results... Robertson 6-4 Williams... This match all hinged on the 1st and 3rd frames. Both players knew that it was going to be tough so the tighter the frame the more pressure it carried, and Williams was the one to break first. Both had thier chances in the opening session and it really could have been any score to either player but Robertson took a good 3-1 lead into the second session. Though Williams could have felt hard done to, as he could quiet easily have had the same score line. But it was those two frames that Neil took, both on the black, that put Mark on the back foot. It is one of Marks strenghts to win the tight scrappy fames but it was his mistakes for both of them and Neil didnt miss the opportunity to take them either. Mark was out of sorts after the break and although he fought well, and played some good snooker considering the scoreline, it was all to much for him. Robertson never really looked like letting him back in and eventually cruised to a 6-4 victory with a 57 break to seal the match... Murphy 6-2 Selby... This was not the night for Selby fans. It what promised to be a tight affair was in fact a steam roller of performance from Shaun Murphy. He never let Selby settle and it was a win that would have given Murphy great satisfaction from it. Mark never got going and the fact that his usual break building seemed to allude him made it all the more frustrating for the Jester from Leicster. After winning the first frame you wouldnt have imagined that his next frame win would be an attempt to make the first 147 at this years tournament in the 7th frame. So dominant was Murphy that a one frame defecit became a 5-1 winning scoreline. Shaun to also had a 147 attempt but he broke down on 72, that didnt bother him as he could see the winning line by now. As if to gee himself up Mark really looked like the maximum would lift his morale and peformance to get back inot the match, but he 15th red alluded him and the match. Not the tight match up i was expecting but a one way onslaught of free flowing potting and confident break building from Murphy. He was just to good for Mark, and it showed.
