Tweet
I usually like to have a little recap and a few predictions ahead of the quarter-finals, but with all of this tournament's shortcomings it's a little tricky to do. First of all, there isn't enough time, and we also haven't seen some of the players at all, so we have as much idea about how they are playing as we had before the tournament started. And we will only see one match anyway.
But maybe just a quick look anyway...
Ryan Day v. Liang Wenbo: The first quarter had already lost some of its top players in the qualifiers back in the UK, so there was always a chance of a couple of surprising quarter-finalists. These two are both very good potters and breakbuilders when they are playing well, so it could be an entertaining and high-quality match. But if they are not quite at the top of their game, the match could go a little scrappy, and in that case neither would be in their comfort zone. Their biggest match to date was in the 2009 UK Championship, during Liang's purple patch of form, and Liang won with a comfortable 9-3 scoreline. He also won when they met in the Welsh Open two seasons ago, playing some really good snooker. This is the best result of the season for both players, win or lose, but I think Day is perhaps just a little stronger at this point in time, so I will go for Day to win 5-3.
Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Shaun Murphy: I'm not sure which match will be televised tonight, but I suspect this is it. Obviously here the question is whether Murphy can get over his mental block when facing O'Sullivan, I think his form is not really in question. The last time they played O'Sullivan won 13-3, with a session to spare, even though Murphy had a lot of chances to make the match closer. Murphy was in denial after the match, saying all the usual nonsense about not having any chance and facing a genius and stuff like that, and he said during the Masters that every match was tough, because everyone was facing players of a similar level in the Masters, except for O'Sullivan. As if he was already preparing his loser's speech in case he had to play O'Sullivan in the final... But hopefully O'Sullivan's major defeats to Selby and Robertson have now given him a little more belief in himself, especially since he beat those two players just recently in the Masters. Today he fought back brilliantly to win against Allen, and he showed a lot of bottle and potted some incredible balls towards the end. Moving on from Murphy's mental issues, O'Sullivan will be difficult to beat here in any case, judging from the way he won his first two matches. He was quite clinical against Davis, and judging by the stats even better against Perry. I think that defeat to Robertson in the Masters has done him good for the rest of the season, because he now knows he has to raise his game a little to continue winning titles, and it looks like he has done that here. It's only a best-of-9, so Murphy has a much better chance of beating him than normally, but I will still go for a comfortable 5-2 in O'Sullivan's favour.
Neil Robertson v. Stephen Maguire: This would have been my personal choice to watch tonight, but I suspect it's a distant third for most other people. It's been a great rivalry over the years, and they always seem to have good matches. Sometimes it can be a little one-sided, but mostly because one of them plays out of their skin. It's interesting, Maguire won 8 of their first 9 major meetings, but Robertson did well to turn it around a little in the last five or six years. Maguire won their last big one though, 6-2 in last year's Masters. Robertson still hasn't lost a frame this week, finding some good scoring form against Xiao yesterday, while Maguire has had more trouble, but obviously we haven't actually seen him play. They both have a point to prove here, Robertson trying to put that Masters defeat behind him, Maguire hoping to win a major title again after a two-year drought. I suspect it could go all the way, but I will play it safe and go for 5-4 in Robertson's favour.
Mark Selby v. Judd Trump: Very interesting pairing. That 2011 China Open final which Trump won could have been the start of a great rivalry, but somehow they managed to avoid each other for years outside of short matches, even though they each held the number one spot in the rankings in recent years. They finally met in the Champion of Champions this season, Trump playing superbly to win 6-1. Trump's week has been similar to Robertson's, two very comfortable wins, but I think it's fair to say that he hasn't really been tested yet, and he should have a little more trouble tonight. Selby had a little scare against McGill in the 1st round, but then beat the in-form Ebdon comfortably, although without seeing the match it's hard to know what was happening there. I think Trump is playing the better snooker at this point in time, but Selby's fighting qualities are unrivalled, so I will go for Trump to win 5-4.
Remember when I said this this tournament won't be as predictable as my preview suggested? :smile: We certainly got most of the favourites coming through, which promises a great finale. It's just a shame it happened in the one tournament where coverage is so limited...
Anyway, it's started now, so let's wrap it up. :smile:
But maybe just a quick look anyway...
Ryan Day v. Liang Wenbo: The first quarter had already lost some of its top players in the qualifiers back in the UK, so there was always a chance of a couple of surprising quarter-finalists. These two are both very good potters and breakbuilders when they are playing well, so it could be an entertaining and high-quality match. But if they are not quite at the top of their game, the match could go a little scrappy, and in that case neither would be in their comfort zone. Their biggest match to date was in the 2009 UK Championship, during Liang's purple patch of form, and Liang won with a comfortable 9-3 scoreline. He also won when they met in the Welsh Open two seasons ago, playing some really good snooker. This is the best result of the season for both players, win or lose, but I think Day is perhaps just a little stronger at this point in time, so I will go for Day to win 5-3.
Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Shaun Murphy: I'm not sure which match will be televised tonight, but I suspect this is it. Obviously here the question is whether Murphy can get over his mental block when facing O'Sullivan, I think his form is not really in question. The last time they played O'Sullivan won 13-3, with a session to spare, even though Murphy had a lot of chances to make the match closer. Murphy was in denial after the match, saying all the usual nonsense about not having any chance and facing a genius and stuff like that, and he said during the Masters that every match was tough, because everyone was facing players of a similar level in the Masters, except for O'Sullivan. As if he was already preparing his loser's speech in case he had to play O'Sullivan in the final... But hopefully O'Sullivan's major defeats to Selby and Robertson have now given him a little more belief in himself, especially since he beat those two players just recently in the Masters. Today he fought back brilliantly to win against Allen, and he showed a lot of bottle and potted some incredible balls towards the end. Moving on from Murphy's mental issues, O'Sullivan will be difficult to beat here in any case, judging from the way he won his first two matches. He was quite clinical against Davis, and judging by the stats even better against Perry. I think that defeat to Robertson in the Masters has done him good for the rest of the season, because he now knows he has to raise his game a little to continue winning titles, and it looks like he has done that here. It's only a best-of-9, so Murphy has a much better chance of beating him than normally, but I will still go for a comfortable 5-2 in O'Sullivan's favour.
Neil Robertson v. Stephen Maguire: This would have been my personal choice to watch tonight, but I suspect it's a distant third for most other people. It's been a great rivalry over the years, and they always seem to have good matches. Sometimes it can be a little one-sided, but mostly because one of them plays out of their skin. It's interesting, Maguire won 8 of their first 9 major meetings, but Robertson did well to turn it around a little in the last five or six years. Maguire won their last big one though, 6-2 in last year's Masters. Robertson still hasn't lost a frame this week, finding some good scoring form against Xiao yesterday, while Maguire has had more trouble, but obviously we haven't actually seen him play. They both have a point to prove here, Robertson trying to put that Masters defeat behind him, Maguire hoping to win a major title again after a two-year drought. I suspect it could go all the way, but I will play it safe and go for 5-4 in Robertson's favour.
Mark Selby v. Judd Trump: Very interesting pairing. That 2011 China Open final which Trump won could have been the start of a great rivalry, but somehow they managed to avoid each other for years outside of short matches, even though they each held the number one spot in the rankings in recent years. They finally met in the Champion of Champions this season, Trump playing superbly to win 6-1. Trump's week has been similar to Robertson's, two very comfortable wins, but I think it's fair to say that he hasn't really been tested yet, and he should have a little more trouble tonight. Selby had a little scare against McGill in the 1st round, but then beat the in-form Ebdon comfortably, although without seeing the match it's hard to know what was happening there. I think Trump is playing the better snooker at this point in time, but Selby's fighting qualities are unrivalled, so I will go for Trump to win 5-4.
Remember when I said this this tournament won't be as predictable as my preview suggested? :smile: We certainly got most of the favourites coming through, which promises a great finale. It's just a shame it happened in the one tournament where coverage is so limited...
Anyway, it's started now, so let's wrap it up. :smile:
Comment