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So, what do we make of the semi-final lineup?
Another clash between Trump and Robertson in the top half, their third one in recent times. Robertson battled very hard in the 1st round of the WC last season, and stuck with Trump until the end, even though Trump always looked the more convincing of the two. The UK semi last month was a similar story, Robertson just lacking that bit of edge to prevail at the business end of the match. He did win their PTC final quite convincingly however, but that was only a short match.
Their form this week? Well, Robertson was very good against Allen, less so against Williams. You can't question his mental attitude, he was very concentrated and determined, willing to battle for every frame, but it didn't seem like he had much firepower against Williams. He will need to find some fluency today, as he usually does at the business end of tournaments. He also seems like the kind of character who would hate losing to the same opponent over and over again. If you examine his rivalry with Maguire, he had a very poor record in their first couple of matches, but succeeded in turning it around a bit. I think he will try extra hard against Trump here.
Trump's form? Quite good, it has to be said. The decline of his form after the UK win didn't really happen, at least not yet. He may not be at his brilliant shot-making best, but he has developed into a consistent scorer, regularly making 70s and 80s, not playing many poor shots in the process. There are also no questions over his mental strength, as he showed against Allen in the UK, he will take advantage of reasonable chances to get over the winning line. He had a good record against O'Sullivan and ended up beating him, so why not Robertson as well? There are only about five players who have, in my opinion, matched Trump's top game over the last season or so, so if he plays well here, it will be very tough to stop him. But then again, Robertson is one of those players...
Thinking completely objectively about this, Trump has to be the favourite, but I have a gut feeling Robertson will be up for the challenge today. Could he win 6-5?
Anyway, the match is about to start, so let's leave Higgins-Murphy for later.
Another clash between Trump and Robertson in the top half, their third one in recent times. Robertson battled very hard in the 1st round of the WC last season, and stuck with Trump until the end, even though Trump always looked the more convincing of the two. The UK semi last month was a similar story, Robertson just lacking that bit of edge to prevail at the business end of the match. He did win their PTC final quite convincingly however, but that was only a short match.
Their form this week? Well, Robertson was very good against Allen, less so against Williams. You can't question his mental attitude, he was very concentrated and determined, willing to battle for every frame, but it didn't seem like he had much firepower against Williams. He will need to find some fluency today, as he usually does at the business end of tournaments. He also seems like the kind of character who would hate losing to the same opponent over and over again. If you examine his rivalry with Maguire, he had a very poor record in their first couple of matches, but succeeded in turning it around a bit. I think he will try extra hard against Trump here.
Trump's form? Quite good, it has to be said. The decline of his form after the UK win didn't really happen, at least not yet. He may not be at his brilliant shot-making best, but he has developed into a consistent scorer, regularly making 70s and 80s, not playing many poor shots in the process. There are also no questions over his mental strength, as he showed against Allen in the UK, he will take advantage of reasonable chances to get over the winning line. He had a good record against O'Sullivan and ended up beating him, so why not Robertson as well? There are only about five players who have, in my opinion, matched Trump's top game over the last season or so, so if he plays well here, it will be very tough to stop him. But then again, Robertson is one of those players...
Thinking completely objectively about this, Trump has to be the favourite, but I have a gut feeling Robertson will be up for the challenge today. Could he win 6-5?
Anyway, the match is about to start, so let's leave Higgins-Murphy for later.
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