The Masters Jan 11 - 18, 2015

[PatBlock]

I had a feeling he tried this when he continued playing for all those snookers

Worked a treat didn't it.

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[cebs]

Plan B is a reference to Paul Hunters classic 'plan b' comment, I think it is anyway.

Shaun did seem to turn a bit less attacking before as Hendry kept mentioning, he needs to keep attacking imo or Robbo will start to attack at some point.

Got to enjoy a two session match, quite a rarity these days.

[CeeJay147]

Anyone know Robertson's tip size? Showed a close up earlier when he was cueing and looked quite small, around 9mil or so.

[PatBlock]

Plan B is a reference to Paul Hunters classic 'plan b' comment, I think it is anyway

Ah yes of course. Ta.

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[j6uk]

not sure but many a nice player ride a nine

Anyone know Robertson's tip size? Showed a close up earlier when he was cueing and looked quite small, around 9mil or so.

[cebs]

So any thoughts on Robbo fight back?

10-9 or 10-8 if he manages it, I can't see Shaun only winning 1 frame to loose 10-7.

14-1 and 17-2 odds for that score on betfair, worth a couple of quid on each?

Really enjoyed Shaun's play in the first few frames today and last night, and he lives local to me so I do hope he wins tonight as he hasn't won a big one for a while now.

I meet both players at the masters last year and I will say both seem very nice.
Neil was on his way to the players area and stopped for photos for a lot of people and had lots of little chats.
Shaun stays behind at every match and signed/did photos for anyone who wanted and is very nice to talk to as well.
Full credit to any player who does that after a match, really liked the way Allen did it last night also as most do seem to vanish out the arena straight away. You then cannot wait in there in case they come back out as security usher you out into the main area outside.

I have to say every player that came/went out of the VIP area was happy to say hello and sign if you were ready and waiting. Only some the ex players were the ones trying to dodge past people as quick as possible.

[robertmac]

Murphy always has a sincere and friendly wave to
the crowd, signs autographs, dresses professionally,
donates both money and time to charities and is
involved with bringing snooker to the schools. To
me he is indeed a fine example of sportsmanship
for the game and a great ambassador.
He could however chose his words more wisely when
discussing his upcoming matches and be more
positive towards himself.

[Where's Willie?]

Well, Robertson is still in the match I suppose, after taking the last frame. Am I right in saying this is the worst session he has ever played in a major final, in terms of the scoreline?

In Murphy's last final, the 2014 World Open, he led 7-2 as well, but Selby came back to 7-5 in the evening, so he is by no means safe, especially against a champion like Robertson. :wink:

The first session against Ding at last year's China Open was worse, either 7-1 or 7-2 I think.
Starting finals badly is actually becoming a habit for Robertson lately. He was 5-1 down to Selby twice (Masters and UK final), 5-1 down to Higgins in 2013 Wuxi and both of his Australian Open finals (against Trump and Fu) were pretty much lost in the 1st session. He also started badly against Joe Perry in Wuxi this season but Perry wasn't able to take advantage.
On each of those occasions he has played much better in the evening and come back to win a couple of times but it's strange that he keeps getting in these situations in finals, especially as he's usually such a quick starter and great front-runner.

[andy carson]

The first session against Ding at last year's China Open was worse, either 7-1 or 7-2 I think.
Starting finals badly is actually becoming a habit for Robertson lately. He was 5-1 down to Selby twice (Masters and UK final), 5-1 down to Higgins in 2013 Wuxi and both of his Australian Open finals (against Trump and Fu) were pretty much lost in the 1st session. He also started badly against Joe Perry in Wuxi this season but Perry wasn't able to take advantage.
On each of those occasions he has played much better in the evening and come back to win a couple of times but it's strange that he keeps getting in these situations in finals, especially as he's usually such a quick starter and great front-runner.

for me it seems robertson cant hack it as well when he comes up against the good safety players, hes fine when he plays those who rather go for a pot than play safe, miss and leave him in, but he seems to get bored quickly in a safety exchange

[Odrl]

The first session against Ding at last year's China Open was worse, either 7-1 or 7-2 I think.

Good memory. :smile: You're right, it was 7-2. Although that was the tournament where Robertson was really ill and it was a minor miracle he made it to the final. I don't think he expected to be competitive against an in-form Ding, and unfortunately he wasn't.

I think today's session was probably more about complacency than anything else. He probably thought O'Sullivan was the biggest test he would face this week and never really got himself up for this final. Hopefully he has had time to think about things now and he plays to his potential tonight. I still think it will be a close match. :smile:

[robertmac]

Yes he faced O'Sullivan which on paper seemed to
be the biggest challenge of the tournament and
he could be mentally unprepared after that match.
Hopefully he can start the 1st frame with a win
and get on track and win this.

[cebs]

Nice intro.

[cyberheater]

LOL. Robbo, the worlds number one is the underdog. Yeah right.

[daffie]

Positively love Shaun's walk-on music...great choice!

[Where's Willie?]

No handshake? Or did I imagine that?