China Open - semi-finals and final discussion

[Odrl]

Surely we are going to have some more discussion? Especially as this has been such a great tournament.

The first SF on now, Trump leading Murphy 2-1.

[Odrl]

3-1 now.

It will be interesting to see how this match develops. I remember Murphy playing Trump in the 2007 World Championship, when Trump was just 17. Trump led halfway through the match and looked very impressive, but Murphy showed his experience by forcing a couple of safety exchanges which turned the momentum back in his favour.

This has not been an option today, because it's Trump that is dominating the match tactically. Murphy also can't seem to get in with his trademark long pots, Trump is outplaying him in that department as well. So, once again Murphy finds himself behind, as he did against Perry and Li, trailing 1-3 at the interval. He raised his game on both of those occasions, can he do it again?

From Trumps point of view, it's been a great performance this week. But having said that, this is the first really "big" opponent. The likes of Fu and Ebdon are great players, but they have bad days sometimes, whereas Murphy usually produces some good snooker at this stage of tournaments. Even if he can't find his best, he hangs in there and tries to get the best out of any situation. If Trump misses one or two of these frame balls again after the interval, the score could quickly turn around.

It will be interesting to see.

[ore]

Finally a quite insightful note from eurosport.ru commentary, average age of players in SF is 25 years, none over 30 yr old. Is finally the older generation being taken over?

[missneworleans]

Finally a quite insightful note from eurosport.ru commentary, average age of players in SF is 25 years, none over 30 yr old. Is finally the older generation being taken over?

Well this is just one tournament lets see what happens next

[Odrl]

Murphy hasn't turned it around this time, he still can't get going. Trump hasn't given him an easy chance in the balls. He leads 5-1.

[Hal]

Very likely, first ranking event final for Judd, Shaun is not playing any near his best. Anyway, I expect Shaun to win frame or two before Judd adds 6th to his name :-)

[Odrl]

Trump wins 6-1. His win is not really a huge shock, but the one-sided scoreline certainly is. I really expected more from Murphy. Although to be fair, he struggled on a number of occasions in this tournament, even before this match.

On the other hand, Trump has only lost 7 frames so far, which is less than 2 per match. But he will need to raise his game for the final, because I can't see him winning against either Selby or Ding if he keeps missing on 40 or 50. His tactical play was pretty good though.

[ore]

Another comment from mr Sinitsin, allegedly Murphy studied loads of Higgins matches for tactical side. Oh well it helped against Higgins himself, but the study appears to have been quite limited, if he coundn't extend it to the other matches as well... He won against Perry and Li Han afterall helped a lot by his non-breaking-down breaks once he was in. Here breaks stumbled, but this was helped a lot by Judd being the 1st guy in with some 40+ 50+ and pushing the colors out, leaving uncomfortable positions for clearing till the end - he did Murphy in some kind of half-Ebdon way!

Yeah I too expected more from Murphy today.

[Odrl]

I was just about to post something about the second match, before the forum went down, so here we go again...

I can think of a few meetings between the two in recent times. There was the QF of the German Masters, where Selby was very convincing in winning 5-1. He played some superb tactical stuff in that match and Ding just struggled to keep up. Selby also beat him 6-1 at the Masters last year, another one-sided match, but Ding was already past his form peak after winning the UK Championship the month before. And they also met in the China Open last year, where it was Ding who won 5-3, in a high-quality match. I think today might be similar.

Selby has played well throughout the week, winning his last two matches 5-1. The match against Carter was particularly impressive, he had three centuries, so his scoring is at its best at the moment. When he does score well, he is very tough to play against, as he doesn't have any real weakness. I think he has the edge on Ding tactically, so he might try to get in without taking any major risks. He also hold his nerve when matches go close, and he is the kind of character who will enjoy today's atmosphere, even if the crowd will strongly support his opponent.

Ding is maybe looking slightly less impressive of the two. He was almost knocked out by Maflin, but managed to come through. That kind of thing can relieve the pressure somewhat, as we saw with Robertson at the WC, when he survived his match against Gould. Ding seems to have woken up now, his performance against Lee was very solid. He scores enough as it is, but I think there is still room for improvement, and we might see it today. He also seems ready for a battle. It wasn't just his comeback against Maflin, but also the snooker he got against Lee to go 4-1 up. It reminded me of that frame against Fu in the Masters final which somewhat broke Fu's resolve. It's a nice weapon to have at your disposal, if you can win a few frames when needing snookers. Selby can also do this, so it will be important for both players not to break down before the frame is really won.

I wouldn't mind a decider here.

And on another note, this could be an important match in the context of the season. Looking at the WC draw, both players got a fairly good draw, not just in the 1st round, but also the 2nd. Ding could play Peter Ebdon, an opponent he always seems to beat comfortably, while Selby could play Hendry, and that could be a similar story. So there is a good chance they will meet in the QF. From what we have seen in recent years with the last two tournaments of the season, it could very well be the player who loses today that gets through their part of the draw at the WC.


Anyway, it's 3-1 to Selby now, and he seems to be playing really well again. This match kind of feels like the final.

And how about the escape by Ding in the 2nd frame? One of the best shots of the season, surely.

[Odrl]

A great frame of snooker. First a brilliant safety battle, with some of the best shots of the week, and then an excellent break from Ding, even though the table was very difficult.

[Odrl]

Just to continue my monologue... What a tremendous frame of snooker! What was it that I said about Ding's ability to get snookers? It could have turned the match around. But as it is, Selby only needs one more for victory.

[jrc750]

Yes it was a good frame that, Selby surely will take this now no problem

[Odrl]

So, Selby wins 6-3 in the end.

It was a really good performance from him, it has to be said. He applied the pressure with some heavy scoring in the middle part of the match, and won the intense tactical battle of the last couple of frames. I would say the last two matches were some of his best snooker, and I don't see any reason why he shouldn't produce it again in the final.

On a negative note, peaking this early is probably not great for his WC chances. But then again, he should be winning his second ranking title tomorrow. I will be very surprised if he doesn't.

[João]

Every time Selby goes far in a tournament everyone (except Odrl) loses interest in the tournament. I wonder why.

[jrc750]

... he should be winning his second ranking title tomorrow. I will be very surprised if he doesn't.

Same here, but i hope Trump carries on his form to make it a close final