Australian Open 2015 June 29 - July 5

[robertmac]

White vs Jones
Higgins vs Perry
Trump vs Maguire
Gould vs Selt

White vs Higgins would be a good match
as would Trump vs Gould.

[Odrl]

A good day of snooker today, I particularly enjoyed the Carter-White match. That long red along the side cushion that White potted in the first frame was tremendous, and he made an 88 off it, full of great shots. Carter did well to compete after that, but he missed a couple of crucial balls towards the end, and he didn't get much luck either. It's funny, White reminded me of Stephen Maguire a little today, showing frustration all the time by swinging his cue around, even when he was in control of the match. Didn't make any difference in the end though.

Nice win for Jamie Jones against Selby as well, that was a brilliant clearance to go 3-0 up, developing two reds off cushions and potting the final black into the middle, kind of like the one Selby got for the 100th maximum last season. :smile:

White vs Jones
Higgins vs Perry
Trump vs Maguire
Gould vs Selt

Who are you going for? :smile:

White vs Jones could be interesting. Supposedly they are good friends and often practice and travel together, but they have met very little in professional snooker. They've both played well this week, so it's difficult to call really, could go 5-4 either way.

Higgins has had it pretty easy in his first two matches, so it's tough to say how he will do against a strong player like Perry, but he did beat him the last time they played, so I would make him a slight favourite. But then again, Perry is the higher seed here, and certainly a more consistent and reliable player these days.

Trump vs Maguire is the match of the round for me. Trump has been pretty impressive so far, but he hasn't really been tested, and this time he faces an opponent he traditionally struggles against. Maguire beat him in two of their three major matches last season, including the most recent one at the Masters. We haven't seen him play this week though, and the statistics suggest he isn't playing quite as well as Trump.

Gould vs Selt should be another close one, but it's worth nothing that Gould has a flawless record against Selt, never losing to him in any kind of format, so I will go for Gould to prevail.

Should be a good day in any case. :smile:

[robertmac]

I see White winning as he has won 2 tournaments
and has been playing well. He does need to work
on his emotions tho as does Maguire and Selt.
Higgins should get by Perry in a close match I think.
Gould played well and smooth and I see him winning.
Trump has been scoring well and playing a good safety
game too so I see him winning a fairly close match.
It should be some good snooker tho as you say.

I do admit that some of my earlier picks didnt do so well.

[sharkster63]

I searched the thread to say to you "good call"
Never thought Fergal would trouble Bingham really but he's done the business.
( When I read your post first I was going to say "no chance" lol )

He could have done much better against Higgins luck had faded a bit, he just could not do anything wrong, all worked out for him, Fergal kept his head up kept trying and accepted that the snooker gods were on Higgins side. he did all he could and outplayed higgins on many occasions during the safety play with nil reward, Cheers

[sharkster63]

He is a talent, he is also fearless... we will see him around allot this year.

[sharkster63]

He is a talent, he is also fearless... we will see him around allot this year.

Selt that is, sorry

[motorhead]

ì
Nice win for Jamie Jones against Selby as well, that was a brilliant clearance to go 3-0 up, developing two reds off cushions and potting the final black into the middle, kind of like the one Selby got for the 100th maximum last season. :smile:

True

As for the matches I've been impressed by Higgins, hoping for a Trump-Higgins, still a lot of obstacles though. As you said Trump often struggles with Maguire.

[motorhead]

Higgins leads 3-1 at the interval, ridiculous plant in the 4th frame by John.

[robertmac]

Jones vs Higgins should be a good match but
Higgins is a tough opponent.
Looking forward to see if Trump can win his
match against Maguire. I would like to see
Gould also win.

[mikeyd100]

He could have done much better against Higgins luck had faded a bit, he just could not do anything wrong, all worked out for him, Fergal kept his head up kept trying and accepted that the snooker gods were on Higgins side. he did all he could and outplayed higgins on many occasions during the safety play with nil reward, Cheers

Yeah, he give it a shot, excuse the pun. I'll give him his dues, he really tries his best, he has been a pro since 1991, looks like he works hard and applies himself.

[motorhead]

Trump was awful.... Maguire played a couple of crucial snookers, the first one in particular in the first frame iirc. The other one in the last frame but Trump was given plenty of chances to get back on track there. Just couldn't even pot easy balls at the end.

[Odrl]

Yeah, once again it showed that those impressive performances when you have no opponent are not worth much. That clearance from Maguire in the first frame really put Trump under pressure early on, and he ended up losing a bunch of close frames, three of them on the black. Still an enjoyable match though.

As was Higgins-Perry, some quality stuff right until the scrappy last frame. It was looking like Perry would come through, coming back from 3-1 down to almost make it 4-3 in his favour, but Higgins played a great tactical exchange to win that frame and put himself ahead again.

Jones-White was close, as expected. There was no way to see the match, but I think one of the commentators mentioned that Jones made a 60-something clearance to win the decider on the black.

Good win for Gould as well, to keep his 100% record over Selt. It's funny, Maguire mentioned that he had been watching Gould at times and thought he's been the best player this week, but he wasn't sure whether this was Gould's first ranking semi-final. It was Maguire whom Gould beat in the Wuxi Classic last season to reach his first semi. :wink:

[robertmac]

It goes to show how difficult a game snooker can be.
One day you can play well and suddenly the wheels
fall off.
Gould has been playing a steady game and it would
be nice to see him win this tournament.

[j6uk]

anyone know what time the first semifinal starts gmt?

[robertmac]

Matches are 13:00 and 19:00 Bendigo Time and it
is 14 hours ahead of my time so that would make
it 9 hours ahead of UK I believe.

First match is 11PM here so in 6 1/2 hours.