Match by Match

[PaddyLowson]

Here are my predictions and what I expect to happen as the 2011 Ladbrokes Mobile Masters gets underway

FIRST ROUND

MARK SELBY (1) v MARK KINGSelby opens the defence of his title with a match against the World No. 16 who in recent years, the Masters hasn't been a happy hunting ground where last year's preliminary round win over Jimmy White was his first win at the Masters since 1999 where he reached the quarter-finals in his best ever run. Compare that to Selby who making his 4th appearance at the Masters again finds himself top seed and a potential winner for the third time in 4 years. Selby hasnt had an overly spectacular season, first match exit in the World Open, Semi in the Shanghai and Last 16 in the UK isnt really setting the world alight that we expect from him. King has also been short of form more recently, and the defeat in the UK 9-8 to Day will affect him a bit. - Mark Selby has the edge here because of the winning mentality set up after a 5-1 win in the Shanghai Masters QF - King's best run.

Ahead of this Match with Selby top seed and defending champion should be the likely winner but we are in the Masters after all. 6-2 to Selby


SHAUN MURPHY (8) v JAMIE COPE
Shaun is on a recent spell of good form, final of the Premier League though slaughtered by Ronnie in the final. - And close to reaching the final of the UK suggests that this season is beginning to look up for Shaun despite a slide in the rankings to 8th seeding for this tournament. - For Jamie a season which started to well is just beginning to dip a little, with a first round loss in the UK being a disappointment, especially as he can be extemely dangerous if he gets going in a tournament, any of his ranking runs tell you that for certain.

There's no doubting if Jamie can play his best game then we may be saying bye bye to Shaun at this stage but I reckon Murphy will have enough in this encounter to win by 6-4


MARK WILLIAMS (5) v DING JUNHUI

Mark's problem for me here is how does he react from losing the UK final from 7-2 in front and 9-5 in front. No doubt John Higgins played some great snooker to win that encounter but a player like Williams should be able to close out a match when they have a lead such as Mark did. - The positives to be drawn from that can be that the good form that he showed at the World Open has continued and that he's the number 5 seed and world number 3 for the Masters can show that his form has improved greatly from previous years where he slipped out of the limelight somewhat.

Ding will be on a mission to do well after an early exit from the UK Champs - but by his own admission he's not a fan of the Wembley crowd so you have to wonder how he will play. He got a fair old bruising 6-1 last year against Selby and that will have hurt but he's moving the right way in the rankings, and this is the tightest match to call based on the rankings - but I think that Mark should have enough given recent showings. 6-3 to Williams


JOHN HIGGINS (4) v GREAME DOTT

Can we have a repeat of a month ago? - This for me is the match of the first round, - both players played brilliantly at the UK and its hardly surprising given his recent return to form, moving back up in the rankings after a run to the World final, and solid showings in the other tournaments. - The interesting thing for me is that whether Graeme can use the form he showed against John in Telford and use it to his advantage?

My head says nope and I say 6-4 to the UK Champion


ALI CARTER (3) v PETER EBDON

Ali's vulnerable at the moment, he's found the high seedings quite difficult by his own admission back in the UK after a great start to the season when he was able to beat Jamie Burnett in the final. Last 32 exits in both BBC tournaments so far isnt the ideal season that he would have hoped for - with the Number 3 seed beginning to drop down the rankings and is currently 7th.

Peter on the other hand, isnt in that bad nick, he lost the first round match 9-7 to Higginson in the UK, but a last 16 exit as a qualifier in Shanghai and a Semi-Final of the World Open, immediately got him straight back into the top 16 after dropping out of it recently.

In a contest where two players are struggling it wouldnt surprise me to see Ebdon shock Carter by 6-4


STEPHEN MAGUIRE (6) v MARCO FU

Stephen's slipping a little in the rankings, whether thats due to a lack of confidence after losing in the World's so comprehensively, but he's had a solid season with two major quarter-finals to date. Fu's form hasnt been the best either, with first round exits in Shanghai and the World Open, and a second round hammering ended his UK championships. - A gold at the Asian Games may be the highlight of the season

In a game between 2 players who's form isn't brilliant, I'd say 6-4 to Maguire


RONNIE O'SULLIVAN (7) v MARK ALLEN

The interesting thing for me here is how will Ronnie respond. A poor performance on the whole in the first round of the UK championship bowing out to Stuart Bingham who made it look rather easy to send him out up against someone who always seems to do well against him, and has the formbook on his side with a run to the last four in Telford. Mark Allen will be asking himself, why shouldnt he be able to go on and win this game.

Ronnie will have the crowd on his side, but he's going to have to use them if he wins this game, when short of form.

My tip is a shock here with Allen sneaking a 6-5 win.


NEIL ROBERTSON (2) v STEPHEN HENDRY

As much as it pains me to say it, I feel that this is in all honesty a pretty likely win for Robertson. World Champion and having enjoyed a fantastic 2010 compared to Stephen who's in a terrible state in terms of game, and mind with the admission of the yips issue he has had recently, it shows you that he is going through the mill somewhat in terms of confidence. - That doesnt bode well when you have the world champion up in the first round of the Masters.

There's no doubting that there will be a battling and wholehearted display from the 6 times Masters champion, it would seem that with his own belief shorn of confidence that if he got into a lead, whether he'd crumble himself ahead of the finishing line.

6-3 to Robertson

Producing a quarter-final line up of

Selby v Murphy
Williams v Higgins
Ebdon v Maguire
Allen v Robertson


Thoughts?

[Giggity1984]

I agree with almost everything you've said here. Apart from Higgins-Dott being the match of the round, I'd ive that to Williams-Ding.

[Odrl]

Thoughts?

Good opening post, and yes, I do have some thoughts myself...

First I have to say that I am happy we've arrived to this part of the season. The tournaments now follow each other in reasonably quick succession, and there are no more major droughts ahead of us. The Masters in particular is one of my favourite tournaments of the season. The matches are slightly longer, which just add that extra bit of "grandness" and gives the viewer the feeling there is more at stake than usual. Also, there are no outsiders in this tournament, especially this year, as the rankings are more current and there are no silly wildcards. And with the one table setup, we get to see every match.

Now, let's have a look at the draw:

Quarter 1:

Mark Selby v. Mark King
Shaun Murphy v. Jamie Cope

Mark Selby is obviously the big favourite in the top quarter of the draw. He has never lost a best-of-11 at the Masters, even though his favourite result seems to be 6-5. I think he is a very good pressure player as it is, but especially in the Wembley atmosphere, where a lot of the players struggle. I think this is where his ability to see the lighter side of things and get the crowd on his side is especially useful. I definitely wouldn't be surprised to see him in the final again.

There are a couple of obstacles to overcome first though. Mark King may seem like a very reasonable first round draw, and perhaps he is, but he did get a very memorable victory against Selby at the WC two seasons ago. The circumstances very quite similar, many considered Selby as one of the pre-tournament favourites and didn't give King much chance.

Then there is Shaun Murphy, another potential semi-finalist from this part of the draw. On the back of a semi-final appearance at the UK Championship, a player that is not easily overwhelmed by the occasion, and quite immune to any controversial tactics Selby might adopt against him, I think he could feature heavily in this tournament. But I agree with PaddyLowson here, he could quite easily go out early. In the five years or so that Murphy has been at the top of the game, the Masters is just about the only tournament he hasn't done anything of note in. And Cope is certainly a dangerous 1st round opponent. He had a good run in Shanghai, but also an early exit at the UK, so it's tough to say what we can expect of him. He's had his run of heavy defeats in the big tournaments, so it's up to Murphy to take command of this match. As interesting as it might be though, I still think Selby will get through here.

Quarter 2:

Mark Williams v. Ding Junhui
John Higgins v. Graeme Dott

The second quarter is the strongest in my opinion. I would disagree with most people about how this quarter is likely to play out. As I've said a couple of times in recent weeks, it's very unlikely for players to follow a good run in the UK Championship with a good run at the Masters. In the time since the two tournaments are next to each other in the calendar, which is the last five years, only two out of ten UK finalists managed to get past the 1st round at the Masters, and one of those was when the two were drawn against each other. Is this a coincidence? It may be, but I think it just shows how hard it is for players to hold their top form for two months in a row, especially with the new year celebrations in between. I also think the players with a good UK run are more likely to take it easy for a while, and are less determined to really get their games in shape for the Masters. And there are no matches against outsiders at the Masters, so no time to play yourself into a tournament.

On top of that, Williams and Higgins certainly don't have it easy here. Williams and Ding seem to be meeting each other a lot these days, with Williams enjoying a bit more success, but not enough to hold a real psychological edge over Ding. What does have psychological significance, however, is the Wembley atmosphere. There is little doubt that the hostile treatment he received in the 2007 final contributed to his apparent disinterest in the game for some time after that. But we've seen a smile on his face quite often in recent times, and his results have certainly returned as well. He hasn't been close to winning a tournament this season, even though he has been impressive in a couple of single matches. But we are still waiting for that top form over a whole tournament. Could it come here?

On the other hand, Williams has been playing well for a long time now, with no real setbacks in the last year or so. It's a similar situation to where Higgins was twelve months ago. I can't really think of anything else to say about John Higgins... It's remarkable the way he came back after his suspension, immediately regaining his status as the world's best player. He is back to being one of the immediate favourites for any tournament he enters. But once again, the prospect of winning back-to-back tournaments seems unlikely, and his record at the Masters isn't all that great. In fact, he lost in the 1st round three times in the last four years.

It's not Graeme Dott's favourite tournament either. Still, he is back to where he was a couple of years ago, when it was hardly surprising to see him at the business end of tournaments. His match against Higgins at the UK was great stuff. He could easily have won it, so he knows he can knock Higgins out here. Anything could happen in these two matches, so I wouldn't like to speculate past the 1st round. But if I had to make a choice, I have a feeling it might be Ding who goes through.

Quarter 3:

Allister Carter v. Peter Ebdon
Stephen Maguire v. Marco Fu

It seems you always get a quarter without any immediate contenders, which would be this one. Still, it's a very interesting one, and certainly unpredictable. Having said that, I do think that Carter is a big favourite against Ebdon. Ebdon always seems to play more bad tournaments than good ones in a season, and the Masters is usually a bad one for him. On top of that, he definitely doesn't like playing Carter. They met in this tournament two years ago, when Carter produced one of the most convincing thrashings I've ever seen, whitewashing Ebdon 6-0. He also beat him in the 2008 WC, in a match where Ebdon went into his super determined mode, but still couldn't get to Carter. Carter had a rare 1st round exit in the UK, but also proved himself once again as one of the top players by winning the Shanghai Masters. I would be surprised if he had a significant run of poor results.

Then there is Stephen Maguire, another serious contender to get through this part of the draw. He found himself in a very tough quarter in the UK, beating Selby before narrowly losing to Higgins, and proving he still has the game to compete with the very top players. Still, it's been a while since he last played a big final, so he still needs to up his game a bit. He's played some good matches here in recent years, so I think he is quite suited to the best-of-11 format. Marco Fu certainly has the game to get through as well. I always mention how he is a great break-builder, capable of matching anyone on his day. He also handles pressure pretty well, and is basically the complete player. But when talking about him, one must often use the phrase "on his day", as more often than not, it's not his day. And it hasn't been for a long time. I wouldn't rule him out though.

There are some interesting possibilities for the 2nd round here, and none of them are pairings that seem to happen at every other tournament, so I'm very interested to see how it plays out. My feeling is it's between Carter and Maguire.

Quarter 4:

Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Mark Allen
Neil Robertson v. Stephen Hendry

And finally, a very interesting fourth quarter. Let's start with O'Sullivan, a player I consider as one of the two favourites of this event. Yes, he is not near the very top of the rankings anymore, but there is a reason he remains the bookies' favourite for every event, especially this one. He reached the final six times in the last seven years. His only "failure" was in 2008, when he lost a tricky opening match against Stephen Maguire, after winning the UK the previous month. He definitely gets himself up for this event, and there is usually no nonsense from him. The 1st round is where he is most vulnerable though, and he has a tricky opponent in Mark Allen here. Allen is another player who seems to enjoy this kind of atmosphere. The two times he played Mark Selby here made for good entertainment, as the matches were played in a good spirit. O'Sullivan doesn't scare him either, the 2009 WC win was a big scalp, and proof that he doesn't succumb to the occasion. However, O'Sullivan played terrifically well against him in the Welsh Open last season, and he also played very well in the 1st round against Robertson last year, when it was also expected that he would have it tough.

Speaking of Robertson, he is the higher seed this time. He has looked very strong in recent times, climbing to the top of the rankings and winning some tournament in great style. However, just as I was starting to think how difficult he was to beat in the big occasions, he did lose that match against Murphy. Still, Robertson has always been a player who follows great performances with mediocre ones, so I've learned not to think about his form too much. He hasn't had much success in the Masters so far, but here I do think it's largely a coincidence. It's a perfect format for him, it's just a question of whether he is up for it this time. There is potentially another clash with O'Sullivan in the 2nd round, a rivalry that went in O'Sullivan's favour last year, but on the whole, a rivalry that Robertson is probably winning so far.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves, I don't think Robertson's match against Hendry is a formality, certainly not to the extent most people expect it to be. Hendry was quite dreadful at the UK, but that's certainly nothing new. He always seems to get better results after the new year these days, though admittedly, it seems unlikely he would raise his game to a respectable level in such a short time. Still, in Robertson's early years Hendry used to have quite a good record against him, so even though Robertson is obviously favourite, I could see it going fairly close. But even if Hendry does beat Robertson, it remains a longshot for him, with O'Sullivan probably to follow in the next round.

Possible SF lineup:

Mark Selby v. Ding Junhui
Stephen Maguire v. Ronnie O'Sullivan

Whatever happens, this tournament promises to be very entertaining. I only wish for no controversy about the table this time, and for Eurosport not to ruin the week by not showing the final again.

And I also wish everyone an exciting snooker week.

[gazza147]

No Right up Now will do it Later..............


FIRST ROUND

MARK SELBY (1) v MARK KING > SELBY WINS 6-2

SHAUN MURPHY (8) v JAMIE COPE > MURPHY WINS 6-3

MARK WILLIAMS (5) v DING JUNHUI > WILLIAMS WINS 6-3

JOHN HIGGINS (4) v GREAME DOTT > HIGGINS WINS 6-3

ALI CARTER (3) v PETER EBDON > CARTER WINS 6-3

RONNIE O'SULLIVAN (7) v MARK ALLEN > RONNIE WINS 6-2

NEIL ROBERTSON (2) v STEPHEN HENDRY > HENDRY WINS 6-4

A bit of a Joke isn't it........ Ronnie (7) ??



Gaz.

[João]

Williams will be a man on a mission.

Also, c'mon King and Allen! Without Selby and O'Sullivan this could be a GREAT tournament.

[zombieman]

Now that Hearn is running both the PDC and World Snooker, he should take a hint from himself. In the PDC big events, the big audience draw players always get the evening slot NO MATTER WHAT.

Look at the Masters schedule to see how laughable it is.

[mick 142]

Hi can any one tell me who got the wild card this year .

[nevets]

There was no wild card.