Ronnie O'Sullivan v Matthew Stevens - Semi Final

[montoya10]

Well, two players that have consistenly scored well in this tournament.
But their path to the semi-final was far from showing any kind of similarity. Anyone that Ronnie O'Sullivan got past had at least one World title to his name. This tells you about the standard, although none of the matches lived up to the hype for me, as O'Sullivan looked in control for most of the time in any of them.
He has had some scoring bursts, against Williams, in the first half of the second session, and against Robertson, in the first half of the third session, where he seemed to be playing with a killer instinct. With that magical touch turned on and off beyond his self control, he kept his composure for the rest of the matches.
Stevens, though, came through a lower profile quarter of the draw. I watched quite a bit of him and there is no way one can completely rule him out because he is hitting the ball possibly as well as he ever did. And he got the job done for most of the time in a couple of scoring visits, if not a single one.

Of course, O'Sullivan holds a pretty good record against Stevens, likewise many other players on the tour, let them be attacking players. It has been some time since Stevens got the better of him, but apart from the PTC matches, none real big match springs to my mind immediately. Back a couple of seasons ago, they met in UK, and O'Sullivan won convincingly, 9-3. I remember quite well that, in that match, Stevens played out of his character after he got off to a good start and tried to keep it tight and it eventually backfired. At some point, they were tied 3-3, before this tactical approach changed the course of the match.
Stevens is someone as similar as any other player can get to O'Sullivan. He scores well, uses his both hands in a solid way, wants the balls open and is a very, very dangerous player if he is knocking the long ones in, something he has successfully did so far in the tournament.

Pretty good match and lots of firepower should be awaiting us. I expect this match to be a close one, possibly going somewhere around 17-14 or so in favor of O'Sullivan. However, I do believe Stevens will give his everything to change his underachiever fate, so, don't be shocked if he knocks O'Sullivan out...

[CueInAction]

Stevens crucible records speaks for itself, 2 finals and 4 semi finals is no mean feat & has been said before, he may be the best player - other than Jimmy White - to not win the world championship. Stevens will need to be hitting his peak to get through as Ronnie has been showing his best form for the best part of 3 years, he seems hungry for the title & his temperament is without a doubt the best it has ever been. For Stevens I see this match being hugely dependant on the first session. If Ronnie takes 6+ frames first session, I can't see any other result.

Expect it to be about 17-12 O Sullivan

[carlos1981]

Ronnie will dominate from start to finish, 17-7 with a 147 to boot!

Slightly off topic and sorry if its been asked elsewhere but whats the new tip Ronnies' been using?

[dpcw_wsm]

Its my own silly fault for forgetting to put this afternoons and this evenings session on record while at work but I cannot believe the P!$$ POOR highlights the bbc have just shown. the final 2 frames basically. what a joke! does anyone know any websites showing a re run of the second and third session or more extended highlights as there is no snooker extra on the beeb tonight either!

[dpcw_wsm]

Ronnie will dominate from start to finish, 17-7 with a 147 to boot!

Slightly off topic and sorry if its been asked elsewhere but whats the new tip Ronnies' been using?

Rons old skool. I would bet my mortgage on it its just a plain old elk but with a box of 100 elks you get 30% total duff 65% ok and about 5% really good so i imagine he's just got lucky with this tip!

[checkSide]

Its my own silly fault for forgetting to put this afternoons and this evenings session on record while at work but I cannot believe the P!$$ POOR highlights the bbc have just shown. the final 2 frames basically. what a joke! does anyone know any websites showing a re run of the second and third session or more extended highlights as there is no snooker extra on the beeb tonight either!

Check out the BBC iPlayer mate.

You'll get the whole afternoon session and the 1st hour of the evening session.

Cheers.

[stephenm2682]

i think snooker highlights is available on the red button too.

[paul180]

i hope stevens stuffs him!!

[checkSide]

This will be a nice match.

I see the match progressing blow for blow early on. Stevens has been playing well.

Slowly but surely the heat will rise until O'Sullivan inevitably hits his golden patch.
At this point Stevens will crumble as Ebdon, Williams and Robertson have.

It's tough at the top.

17-13 O'Sullivan.

[Piscator]

I suspect it to be a land slide victory for Ronnie in semi and final. The Rocket and Thunder match was the supposedly final.

The only way is to annoy Ronnie is by playing slow, like what Selby did.

[Ronnie's tip]

No one is giving Stevens a chance here - that's a dangerous attitude as ROS/Robertson was billed as being an early final. It's possible that Ronnie just doesn't turn up tommorow.

What time does the match start? I haven't seen much of Stevens this week - how has he played?

[Csmith]

Matthew Stevens is a great player and it's awesome seeing him back in the top 16 and in a world semi final. It'd be great to see him win it. But I do think that Ronnie will win this one. Aside from his experience in the World Championship, he's had a much tougher road to the final beating three former world champions and not just winning but annihilating them (with the exception of Robertson, but he was never really involved in the final two sessions).

I'd be happy seeing either of these guys win the title.

[gazza147]

I would Love to see Matthew win this and Win World Title as he has really under achieved what he is capable of, But if Ronnie gets flying Start then Matthew will have uphil Battle.

Stevens to Win 17-14

[dpcw_wsm]

U never know what ronnie will turn out to a session let alone a 3 day match but for me if he carries on as he has he'll win the title easaly. he looks real cool, calm and collective. he's changed his game alot which people are not giving him much credit for.

He's not moving anywhere near as much on the shot, staying down well after the cue balls been played. His long pots, although not the highest sucess of the tournement have been up there with the best, something we all know ron has struggled with for many years, and his saftey has been unreal. The amount of real difficault snookers he's laid behind bulk colors from the other end of the table this tourney! He's also willing to try win a frame when a few snookers are required something he's never bothered with and of course, when he is in the balls, he's still so deadly, there cleared up in 4 or 5 minutes. Cant see Stevens coping and hoping he doesn't really, Stevens has a few more years in him but like Hendry I think Ron will be giving up shortly, the are a lot older now and dont want the huge playing schedule with all these PCT events. And lets face it, although ron has won 23 ranking events, thats still a massive underachievement, if he wasn't a bit mental, know one would have touched him the past 15 years!

[doorag]

U never know what ronnie will turn out to a session let alone a 3 day match but for me if he carries on as he has he'll win the title easaly. he looks real cool, calm and collective. he's changed his game alot which people are not giving him much credit for.

He's not moving anywhere near as much on the shot, staying down well after the cue balls been played. His long pots, although not the highest sucess of the tournement have been up there with the best, something we all know ron has struggled with for many years, and his saftey has been unreal. The amount of real difficault snookers he's laid behind bulk colors from the other end of the table this tourney! He's also willing to try win a frame when a few snookers are required something he's never bothered with and of course, when he is in the balls, he's still so deadly, there cleared up in 4 or 5 minutes. Cant see Stevens coping and hoping he doesn't really, Stevens has a few more years in him but like Hendry I think Ron will be giving up shortly, the are a lot older now and dont want the huge playing schedule with all these PCT events. And lets face it, although ron has won 23 ranking events, thats still a massive underachievement, if he wasn't a bit mental, know one would have touched him the past 15 years!

Good post this.