The Masters 2016 10-17 January

[PatBlock]

Head to Head is 10-0 to the Ronster (cue tracker) though they've had some close matches down the years. Current odds are Ronnie (1/4), the Hawk 3/1. I think Ronnie will come in further and the Hawk will drift out a bit. The Hawk is in great form, the Ronster suffering from a back injury and poor form for him. What a time to break the duck.

No Baz, 9 - 1

http://cuetracker.net/Head-to-Head/B...nnie-OSullivan

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[vmax4steve]

Yeah, longer backswing.

Nope, he moves his right shoulder more on power shots than he does on slow shots, a longer backswing on slow shots would probably induce deceleration and make it worse.

He could sort out his technique, which is relatively awful. It really shows where he is with natural ability....most of us could barely pot a ball if we did what he did. Yet on top of that ability to pot the way that comes natural he has to practice to get to the required level....but those flaws in technique can be exposed under pressure....like with golfers who re-model their swing to be able to compete under pressure down the back straight in majors....and Trump has essentially admitted that he knows that he buckles under pressure....and part of that is technique, and lack of confidence in it, under the gun.

I don't agree, Trumps right shoulder movement is natural, no coach has put this into his game, a coach might have spotted it and told him how to go about overcoming it if he couldn't stop the movement of his right shoulder, but there is no way that the right shoulder movement has been taught by a coach to overcome the offset address, it's the other way around if anything.
His more upright stance when bridging over a ball cost him as well, doesn't drop his right shoulder so much in that position, missed a crucial one against Hawkins. Think he needs to play more stun run throughs and drag shots rather than slow top roll throughs.

As for O'Sullivan, I took great care to watch his eyes yesterday, he missed when he looked at the cue ball on the strike, didn't when he focussed on the object ball, you hit what you're looking at, back injury or not. He might feel his stance is in the wrong place, but it clearly isn't, otherwise he wouldn't pot a thing.

[barrywhite]

No Baz, 9 - 1

http://cuetracker.net/Head-to-Head/B...nnie-OSullivan

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Which match did Baz win bud?

[PatBlock]

Which match did Baz win bud?

2002 Scottish Open, Last 32, 5 - 3 to your namesake.

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[barrywhite]

2002 Scottish Open, Last 32, 5 - 3 to your namesake.

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My bad! Cheers for that. Would be easier if Cue Tracker simply listed the H to H as a stat without the need for counting after whisky the night before. lol
Ok folks, so the Hawk has been waiting 14 years to turn over the Rocket, can he DO IT?!

[shmeeko69]

That's what's great about the BBC sport website, their attention to detail. Ronnie's highest ever ranking - no.2!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/35334751

[barrywhite]

That's what's great about the BBC sport website, there attention to detail. Ronnie's highest ever ranking - no.2!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/35334751

The Beeb let Dennis Taylor on the computer again.

[shmeeko69]

The Beeb let Dennis Taylor on the computer again.

Dennis the menace at it again

[itsnoteasy]

10-6 Hawkins, Ronnie has a meltdown during the post match interview, starts by saying Barry's a great player then slowly starts undressing ,ending up running around the table shouting " box the chimp, box the chimp" , it's just a hunch but you never know, or he may just threaten to quit again ,one or the other.

[SnookerFan]

The Beeb let Dennis Taylor on the computer again.

They're level of analysis is crap also.

Hawkins finally comes good. What? He's a Crucible finalist, and a ranking ever winner. I appreciate that the BBC don't know that Hawkins has won a trophy, because it wasn't on their channel. But they must remember his Crucible final appearance surely.

[DeanH]

My bad! Cheers for that. Would be easier if Cue Tracker simply listed the H to H as a stat without the need for counting after whisky the night before. lol
Ok folks, so the Hawk has been waiting 14 years to turn over the Rocket, can he DO IT?!

Is this what you mean? [circled]

[PatBlock]

Ok folks, so the Hawk has been waiting 14 years to turn over the Rocket, can he DO IT?!

Yes he can, but he'll have to take advantage of every chance Ronnie gives him. As we all know, ROS is probably the best front runner out there, so pressure from mistakes made is essential. I'm really just hoping for a close match, but a Bazza win would be a nice bonus.

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[Odrl]

There is an interesting pattern in major finals this season, apart from the Champion of Champions perhaps. One player is always a clear favourite and a lot more experienced on the big stage than the other. I suppose that doesn't make ideal viewing, but the underdog does prevail occasionally, as Kyren Wilson proved in the Shanghai Masters final...

The head-to-head goes against Barry Hawkins, to put it mildly, but most of those matches were played before Hawkins rose to the top of the game by winning the 2012 Australian Open. It's interesting though, their older matches all went very close, while the more recent ones have been more one-sided, including O'Sullivan winning with a session to spare in the 2014 World Championship, their most recent match on the big stage. They also played the World final in 2013, which was a superb match, and probably one of the best performances by a losing finalist in recent years. If Hawkins plays like that today, he will have every chance. He scored very strongly yesterday and found his rhythm very early in the match, then raised his game again after Trump had taken the lead. The match against Allen was less convincing, but he did play very well at the start as he took a 4-1 lead. His form is not really in question, and his game doesn't have a major weakness, so I suppose his only problem is the pressure of the occasion itself and the fact that his opponent is O'Sullivan.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is appearing in his 11th Masters final, which is of course a record, but his success rate is surprisingly average, five wins out of ten, even though he would have been the favourite every time apart from 1996. There have been a couple of exceptions, but the general rule is that O'Sullivan either wins comfortably, or the match goes close and the opponent prevails more often than not. It's tough to say how this one will go. O'Sullivan has been solid at times this week, particularly against Selby, but against Bingham he got away with a fairly mediocre performance and he was visibly unhappy with himself, and of course Williams had a scoring chance to take him out in the opening round. But the thing with O'Sullivan, and I suppose this applies to John Higgins as well, they inevitably raise their game in major finals, and between them they have only lost two or three when they were clear favourites in all the time I've been watching snooker. Therefore I think experience and class will prevail again, and I will go for O'Sullivan to win 10-6, although Hawkins winning wouldn't be a major shock.

In any case, I'm hoping for a 10-9 at midnight, as usual. :smile:

[Giggity1984]

Anyone else notice that Dennis Taylor can't pronounce Barry HAWKINS. he says Barry HORKENS. it's so infuriating. Lol.

[daffie]

Hendry on Davis' question about Ronnie once again talking himself down in the after match interview...'none of the players pay any attention to what he says anymore'



Well the first session about to start...game on!

:snooker: