Shanghai Masters 2013 - Discussion

[streamer45]

Great comeback from 4-2 down, Selby wins 5-4 and faces Hawkins tomorrow!

[streamer45]

What a snooker and what a response, terrific end!

[Odrl]

What a snooker and what a response, terrific end!

Yeah, that was another great decider. Quite a good day for snooker today. :smile:

[Odrl]

Should be an interesting quarter-finals day...

Mark Davis v. Xiao Guodong: My choice for the morning match. Davis is appearing a lot in these quarter-finals and semi-finals in the last season and a half, and he usually beats some top players along the way, but this is a rare case where he finds himself a big favourite at this stage of the tournament. Not just in this match, but in the whole top half as well, now that the draw has completely opened up. Can he cope with that and do the business? He certainly struggled with his top16 status in the second half of last season, but he is once again playing some of his best snooker at the start of this season, and he seems very comfortable at venues. His game doesn't really have any weaknesses, so Xiao will just have to match him in the safety and take his chances when they come. I'm always interested to see how the Chinese players perform in these tournaments, kind of hoping some of them can have a good run, and there are certainly a lot of opportunities these days, with five major tournaments in China and a number of Chinese players taking it in turns to qualify for venues and look for their chance. Xiao has already shown some quality in Wuxi, before losing heavily to John Higgins, and he has been good here as well, dominating his first two matches and coming from behind in the third one to beat Peter Lines. He could be one of those players who find some inspiration in their home tournaments (which is not all that common actually), so I expect a good fight, but I think Davis could prove too strong in the end, maybe a 5-3.

Michael Holt v. Kyren Wilson: I didn't expect to see these two fighting for a semi-final place, but here we are... What a debut for Wilson at a major venue, beating two top16 players, including the most recent winner of a major event. After the Wuxi Classic I was thinking that unexpected runs to the quarter-finals like this one don't really mean what they used to, because the flat system is bound to see some parts of the draw open up, and reaching a quarter-final by avoiding the top players can't possibly give the lower-ranked players the same kind of satisfaction as they used to get under the tiered system, where you expect opponents to get tougher and tougher with each round. Well, it's the old system here, so every credit to Wilson, as well as Holt who was an underdog himself. Holt has never won a quarter-final match in his career, but he has played quite a few, so he has the edge in experience. On the other hand, his previous defeats could work against him and give him some unnecessary doubt, while Wilson has a clean slate, so to speak. Should be a good match, Holt to win 5-3.

Mark Selby v. Barry Hawkins: Ah yes, another round of the Hawkins-Selby rivalry, which Hawkins is clearly winning at the moment, having knocked Selby out of the World Championship for two years in a row. Hawkins is one of those players who seem to get involved in a lot of close matches, whether he is the favourite or the underdog, and we know Selby enjoys a decider or two, so I expect this one to go close. Hawkins has the psychological edge, he has the confidence and the form, and his game is better than ever, without a major weakness at the moment. We know he can match Selby tactically, he can compete in the scrappy frames, and in his 2012/2013 form he is well capable of outscoring him on his day as well. He has also had a fairly comfortable progress so far, only dropping two frames in the first two rounds, although unfortunately not televised, so we don't really know how well he is playing. Selby came from behind to beat Robert Milkins on the final black, and he could have had a closer match against Lin Shuai as well, had Lin done better with a couple of key chances. So not particularly impressive so far, but it doesn't seem to matter with him, he basically won the UK and the Masters last season without ever reaching top form. He could raise his game here, or he could just hang in there and try to get over the line whichever way he can. It's always tough to bet against Selby, but I would still give a slight edge to Hawkins here, 5-4.

Neil Robertson v. Ding Junhui: These two complete the "big three" from the bottom half of the World Championship draw, and it's nice to see they all made it this time, after disappointing so badly in April. Tough one to call... Robertson is looking to win his third major Chinese event in a row, so he has clearly got used to them now. Very tough to beat these days, even when he is not in top form. He is almost like a slightly better version of Shaun Murphy, so he should be an even higher obstacle for Ding. He has also had a couple of good wins against him, although he did lose their last big encounter. His consistency in recent times has been excellent, so while he is not bound to have a good match, he most likely won't have a bad one either. Ding is definitely the more unpredictable of the two. He always seems to play an underwhelming tournament when I think he is starting to look good, and when I kind of forget about him he plays his best and wins a tournament. Well, he hasn't won one in China for eight years, so he must be motivated to do well here, but at the same time he is under pressure to finally give the Chinese fans a good result. I think this match will probably come down to how well Ding plays. It was a good match against Murphy, both players punishing a couple of the other's mistakes, and Ding played well in the tactical stuff under pressure in the decider. If he can do that again, and maybe get to 70 rather than 40 more consistently in his chances, I think he could win this one. A 5-4 wouldn't surprise me.

Should be a good day. :smile:

[Odrl]

A bit of a gift for Mark Davis... He looked good before the interval, winning two frames in one visit to lead 3-1, but it's been a struggle in the last two frames. Xiao had two great chances to make it 3-3 but wasted both of them. Tough to see him coming back now.

[Odrl]

Anyone else watching this morning? :smile:

Good response from Xiao after that frame, but another nervy shot at the wrong time, just as he was looking good for 4-4. Another chance now though...

[DeanH]

Been catching up on the record of Holt/Wilson, the 6th frame with the black surrounded by reds in the corner
Wilson has been playing well, but Holt seems to have found a groove and is playing the best I have every seen him play.
Would like to see him get to the final (his first I believe in a major).
Wilson has done himself credit in this event and can only go away proud of his achievement. Look forward to seeing more of him in the future.

[mythman69]

Anyone else watching this morning? :smile:

Good response from Xiao after that frame, but another nervy shot at the wrong time, just as he was looking good for 4-4. Another chance now though...

Yep, I am watching - Davis could be in BIG trouble

[mythman69]

Davis was a bit unlucky to sink 2 reds when he needed some points and then stuffed the black - geez.

[Odrl]

Hoho, that was another nervy decider in the end. :smile:

Davis kind of fell apart after the interval. If Xiao didn't waste some easy chance he could have won all five frames, and won them convincingly. Still, credit to him for battling so well and getting over the line in the end.

What a story it will be for one of these two semi-finalists tomorrow. :smile:

[streamer45]

Great clearence by Selby, 1-1.

[dieselman147]

oh well, ding all the way now!?

[Odrl]

Lovely comeback from Hawkins. It would be amazing if he could knock out Selby and Ding again, like he did in the WC, but Ding is playing very well. That was a good performance from him to limit a very composed and solid Robertson to only two frames.

I'm looking forward to the weekend now. Ding against Xiao in the final? :smile:

[Odrl]

Ok, just a few more thoughts ahead of the semi-finals...

What a story it will be for either Michael Holt or Xiao Guodong tomorrow. Holt had been waiting for this for a long time, finally getting past the QF of a major event on his sixth attempt. It's unusual for a player who has been ranked in the top32 and the top48 for many years to make his debut in a major semi-final at the age of 35, but it just shows you that it's never too late to have "your week", as long as you keep trying. He's had some luck with the draw perhaps, meeting an out-of-sorts Trump early on, followed by two players he always had a good chance of beating, but it also has to be said that he's played some of his best snooker this week. He has scored well when he's needed to, his safety is always very reliable, and his temperament has held up very well so far. He doesn't look like he is under much pressure at all. I'm sure he would be a very popular finalist... Unfortunately for him, his opponent is also likely to get a lot of sympathy. Xiao has been in trouble twice in this tournament, trailing Peter Lines and Mark Davis in the previous two rounds, but he has shown great battling qualities to get over the line. He may be the less experienced player here, but this is new territory for both players, so it will be interesting to see how they react. I think we could see quite a close and nervy match. It's a best-of-11, so plenty of time for Xiao to potentially get over another slow start. He seems like he only feels the benefits of playing at home, without all the pressure that Ding is constantly under, and that could just be the key to winning in the end. Both players have come through deciders in this tournament, and this could be another one, with Xiao perhaps having a slight edge.

All that being said, the match most people will be thinking about is Ding Junhui against Barry Hawkins. I guess the tournament winner is more likely to come from this pair, and I'm sure they will be thinking the same somewhere in the back of their mind. It's a repeat of the World Championship quarter-final, where Hawkins won convincingly, so Ding could be looking for some revenge here. At the same time Hawkins has a good record against him, so he knows he can beat him. Who's game has been better this week? Tough to say... Ding has been very strong tactically in all of his matches, and he's shown a lot of that signature breakbuilding with great finesse and composure. He also had to play three of the toughest opponents he was likely to draw in the first three rounds and he never looked suspect. To limit Neil Robertson to only two frames in a major match takes some doing these days... I think Hawkins is the biggest mystery of these four players, simply because only one of his matches was televised, so I don't really have a feel for how well he is playing. His comeback against Selby was superb, particularly that 140 total clearance. He will definitely need to score well tomorrow, and he can't leave Ding in the balls with easy chances. Hawkins has the complete game at the moment, but so has Ding, and while I expect this to go close, I think Ding could be a frame or two stronger in the end.

Should be another good day. :smile:

[Odrl]

3-1 lead for Xiao at the interval. Both players had chances in all frames, but Xiao always looked the stronger player. Good position, but obviously he needs to keep it up after the interval. :smile: