The Masters Jan 11 - 18, 2015

[Alba_]

All this talk of Osullivan will only be the best player when he wins more world titles is just ridiculous. He has won 5 against a field of players that are far better, far more talented and professional than players ever were. Hendry won 4 titles against a player who got hammered prior and in between the world final stages. Osullivan still outlays most, and Hendry has openly said no one plays the game like Osullivan does. I'm no out and out Osullivan fan, I think he is incredible at the game, I'm a snooker fan and I've never seen a better player.

Hendry has won more at the age of 27 than Ronnie has his full career. Yeah snooker has got to a better standard but there was good players back then too. I just don't buy into the hype. Because the BBC keeps telling us how great Ronnie is and he is the best player ever it does not make it true. The more they tell me the less i think of him. The one they keep peddling that grinds my gears is "he has dominated the game" What a load of old crap that is. Up until his last world championship he had won exactly the same as Higgins on major tournaments and worlds but it's all Ronnie Ronnie Ronnie dominating when it's a lie and Ronnie had never beat Higgins in a ranking tournament for years but it's all Ronnie Ronnie. It's a joke and people just repeat what the telly tells them. He is a great player but I don't buy into all the crap.

[P.Smith]

The pro-Ronnie bias on the BBC can be a bit much sometimes. During his semi-final yesterday Neil had absolutely dominated him the 1st 3 frames, Ronnie comes up with 1 frame winning break to go 3-1 and the commentators just wouldn't stop fawning over Ronnie! He got outplayed throughout that whole match.

[jono*]

That's the bbcs doing, of no fault of Ronnie's. Don't understand people laying into him after one bad performance when he's won the UK and champion of champions in quick succession.

[Wild]

That's the bbcs doing, of no fault of Ronnie's. Don't understand people laying into him after one bad performance when he's won the UK and champion of champions in quick succession.

I hope he forget this painful defeat and reach his top game soon. No one can win everything.

[two-cues]

Don't understand people laying into him after one bad performance when he's won the UK and champion of champions in quick succession.

Agreed. He hasn't suddenly lost it and will of course bounce back.

As far as the BBC is concerned he's the player that gives them the most bang for their buck, he's easily the games biggest draw because he's probably the best player in the game at the moment - Robertson (imo) was always the only player that might get that sort of result against him, when NR is hot it looks like he isn't going to miss and that proved to be the case - add in a well below par RoS and the result was a formality, who would have thought RoS would miss a black off the spot to seal a frame? certainly not me and I bet NR didn't expect him to miss it either.

Would love to see Murphy win it but can't see past Robertson now.

[lironlad]

Indeed. At his best , by far is the best...
Just look at the players list that Ronnie beat at WC 2012..
first round - Ebdon - 1 WC, 1 UK (3 WC finals)
second round - Mark Williams (2 times WC , 3 WC finals) 2UK 2 MASTERS
quarters - Neil Robertson (1 WC) 1 UK 1 MASTERS
semis - Matthew (WC twice finalist) 1 UK 1 MASTERS
final - Carter - 2 WC finals
Stephen had an open ticket to the final every time and even the great Steve Davis admits the luck of competition they had...( he and Stephen)...

[Wild]

Anyway, two WSC titles and one final in three years is an extraordinary result in this strong rivalry snooker era.

[Odrl]

I thought we had outgrown this Hendry vs O'Sullivan debate years ago on this forum. We have a great Masters final in prospect today, why are you wasting time in trying to discredit Hendry's achievements?

[trains]

I thought we had outgrown this Hendry vs O'Sullivan debate years ago on this forum. We have a great Masters final in prospect today, why are you wasting time in trying to discredit Hendry's achievements?

I don't think anyone's trying to discredit Hendry's achievements its just that they find most players a bit dull to watch or talk about,tbh at the best of times I'm the same too.
I mean,nothing personal at all,but I wouldn't give up 4 or 5 hours of my time to watch Joe Perry or Barry Hawkins,even if I got tickets for free.

[hesnookerforum]

Who misses the semi finals of the Masters?

Mark Allen vs Shaun Murphy
http://snookervideotube.com/2015/01/...-7-semi-final/

Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Neil Robertson
http://snookervideotube.com/2015/01/...-7-semi-final/

[Catch 22]

Does anyone other than JV ever use the phrase "Slow up"? As in "This cueball needs to slow up..." Surely it's "speed up" and "slow down", isn't it? I mean, does he also say "Come on, speed down!..." when he wants someone to errr, speed up?

Anyway, crackin' start to this one. All the way, surely!
-

My mate was saying this last night ... He's mentioned it on numerous occasions . It really is his pet hate .

My commentary pet hate is "he took his eye off the pot " when replay shows the player staring deep into the soul of the OB on strike .
Can a player not just simply miss a pot.

[two-cues]

Bit like tree surgeons who cut a tree down then chop it up.....

Anybody else missing Michaela?

[hesnookerforum]

What is Robertson's nick name?

[Odrl]

Right, a few thoughts ahead of the final today...

Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy have been the two best players this week, by a large margin, so it's great that the draw has allowed them to meet in the final. Unfortunately this pairing has not always been a guarantee for a great match. The last time they played over two sessions was in the semi-finals of the 2012 International Championship, and that turned into a really scrappy match with neither player playing anywhere near their best, Robertson winning 9-5 in the end. Robertson also won their Masters final that year, 10-6, which must have been a real disappointment for Murphy, because he had looked like the stronger player throughout the week, but in the final he played his worst snooker, while Robertson probably played his best. Murphy's last big win over Robertson was in the quarter-finals of the 2010 UK Championship, 9-7, and that was a good one, because Robertson was the reigning World champion and world number one at that point, and was beginning to look almost unbeatable on the big stage. All in all it's 3-1 to Robertson in two-session matches, the other one being his 9-8 win in the 2005 UK Championship, but I suppose that was too long ago to have any relevance today. Murphy did win the only time they've met over a longer distance though, 17-14 in the semi-finals of the 2009 World Championship. Murphy led 14-7 at one point, before Robertson came back to 14-14. I remember Robertson had a chance in the next frame as well, but the split didn't go his way, and Murphy never missed for the rest of the match. :smile:

In the more recent times they've only met in shorter matches, and Robertson has won all of them. He won 6-2 in the semi-finals of the Masters in 2013, 5-4 in the quarter-finals of the German Masters a few weeks later, and also 5-4 in the quarter-finals of the Wuxi Classic at the start of this season. That was a poor loss for Murphy, because he had a 60-point lead in the decider with the balls at his mercy, but missed an absolute sitter. A few minutes later Robertson won on the black, and two days later he was lifting the trophy. Will that come into play when the pressure is really on tonight? It might, although Murphy generally looks much stronger than he did six months ago...

Both players produced great performances yesterday. Any win over O'Sullivan is a good one, but to beat him 6-1 on the big stage, after he had won the last two major events, just shows what a great champion Robertson is himself, not getting intimidated in the least by his opponent's reputation. O'Sullivan was poor and Robertson took full advantage. In the previous round Carter wasn't poor at all, and in fact only missed a couple of balls, but the scoreline was still the same, because Robertson played close to perfect snooker. He is not just scoring heavily when he gets easy chances, he is making breaks from difficult positions as well. He has won his share of titles in recent years, but on many occasions he wasn't playing as well is he is now, and that's got to be a great sign for him. And we know what a great record he has in major finals...

In my opinion Murphy's performance yesterday was even better than Robertson's. He went for so many tricky pots, from distance or from mid range, and he hardly missed any, especially in the last five frames. He went 2-0 down against both Allen and Maguire, but it didn't seem to affect his confidence in the least. He waited for his chances and made good breaks at the right time. He may not be the greatest tactician in the game, but when he is potting like this he doesn't really need to be, he is very difficult to keep away from the table. He has always been a prolific winner of the minor events, the PTCs as well as various invitational tournaments, but this is the best he has played in a major event for a long time, perhaps years.

We have seen tournaments in the past where players played really strongly to reach the final, but then failed to live up to the expectations and gave us a bit of an anti-climax. I hope this doesn't happen today. I expect both players to go for their shots and score heavily, and every missed chance to be heavily punished. I think Robertson scores a little better than Murphy, but Murphy's long-potting success is a little higher this week, so there shouldn't be much in it. It could come down to who handles the pressure better in the end, and here I would have to give a slight edge to Robertson. I have criticized Murphy in the past for his statements ahead of playing O'Sullivan, where he looked like he had admitted defeat before the match even started, and this time he has done something similar, saying Robertson was a "massive favourite" today. The only difference is, I don't think he believes that for a second. He knows he is playing well enough to at least compete, if not win, so I hope he isn't satisfied with just reaching the final. On the other hand, we know Robertson in only here to win, and second place means very little to him. He has the edge in their previous meetings, and he has won a lot more of these tournaments than Murphy has in recent years.

The Masters final used to be known for its close 10-9 or 10-8 finishes, but we haven't had one like that for a few years now, so I think it's about time. I will go for Robertson to win, but I would take 10-9 either way, preferably at midnight.

[mythman69]

What is Robertson's nick name?

Thunder from Down Under

The Melbourne Machine

Beaker