Tweet
In my opinion, this tournament had three players to be called playing consistently good snooker: Stephen Maguire, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Matthew Stevens.
Not to my great surprise, they're all in the semi finals and with a good chance to become the world champion, a chance that, in my opinion, belongs to every player reaching the business end of the world championship.
Ali Carter, on the other hand, has been the fighter of the tournament and had some heroic moments especially when knocking out Judd Trump and held his nerve against debutant Jamie Jones although he had some problems in closing out the match.
For this match, this first session could be key. Although it wasn't a really late night finish this Carter v Jones match, Maguire has now had more than a full day's rest under his belt, which certainly helps in this grueling tournament. Carter will be pleased to stay close to him early on and if we can keep Maguire under check, he may actually have a shot at taking him down in the final session.
That said, on his form, Maguire is the heavy favorite to win this match. This may be his best chance so far to win the World title, because knowing him, he's definitely not going to be scared of O'Sullivan's or Stevens' scoring potential in a possible final scenario, as he himself is one of the heaviest scorers of today's snooker. He missed a few balls against Hendry, but eventually settled down quickly and pulled away with the win. If Carter gives him any sort of chance to get into his rhythm, he may be done for. Maguire is one of those players you just cannot keep away from the table when they get hot or say, you'll have some sort of an uphill task to do so.
I expect Maguire to prevail 17-11, 17-12 or somewhere around those scorelines, but I'll definitely pleased if the match goes down to the wire.
Discuss..
Not to my great surprise, they're all in the semi finals and with a good chance to become the world champion, a chance that, in my opinion, belongs to every player reaching the business end of the world championship.
Ali Carter, on the other hand, has been the fighter of the tournament and had some heroic moments especially when knocking out Judd Trump and held his nerve against debutant Jamie Jones although he had some problems in closing out the match.
For this match, this first session could be key. Although it wasn't a really late night finish this Carter v Jones match, Maguire has now had more than a full day's rest under his belt, which certainly helps in this grueling tournament. Carter will be pleased to stay close to him early on and if we can keep Maguire under check, he may actually have a shot at taking him down in the final session.
That said, on his form, Maguire is the heavy favorite to win this match. This may be his best chance so far to win the World title, because knowing him, he's definitely not going to be scared of O'Sullivan's or Stevens' scoring potential in a possible final scenario, as he himself is one of the heaviest scorers of today's snooker. He missed a few balls against Hendry, but eventually settled down quickly and pulled away with the win. If Carter gives him any sort of chance to get into his rhythm, he may be done for. Maguire is one of those players you just cannot keep away from the table when they get hot or say, you'll have some sort of an uphill task to do so.
I expect Maguire to prevail 17-11, 17-12 or somewhere around those scorelines, but I'll definitely pleased if the match goes down to the wire.
Discuss..
It's good that he is up for it, it's just a question whether this type of "hyped" approach will work for or against him.
Comment