World Champ. 2009 -1st round discussion!

[RocketRoy1983]

Unlucky Higginson but the favourite goes through. Hopefully he'll be better against Marco in a re-run of the 2008 UK final.

[matoski]

If Fu plays half as good as against Swail, then Shaun does not stand a chance.

[RocketRoy1983]

If Fu plays half as good as against Swail, then Shaun does not stand a chance.

With larrahs over enthusiastic Robertson talk and that comment is there something in the water over in macedonia??

If he plays like he did today then Marco SHOULD punish him but lets just take a step back and remember that its all about on the day and Shaun will up his game when needed.

[JiangYu]

I, of course, am hoping that Marco will win. I feel that he needs closure for the UK Final, Haha. However, although the comments on this forum favour Marco from his good performance against Swail and not Murphy because his scrappy game with Higginson, you can't deny that Shaun is the better player all around being a World Champion and #3 in the world. Marco is going to have to play much better than he did against Swail and I'm sure he knows it.
I'm quite glad that Shaun has won his match though. I feel as if a tougher opponent brings Marco's best game on the table. Rather like O'Sullivan, Marco has a habit of dropping his game with lower ranked players, especially outside the Top 16. I want Marco to get to at least the Semis and it'll be a dream for him to get to the Final like he so almost did in 2006.

I'm probably the only one who would favour Shaun at the moment. I don't think Marco's record is good against him. Hopefully, Marco can prove me wrong!

[RocketRoy1983]

A great post jiangju. I favour Shaun too but as you say Marcos record against the better players is very concrete (8-8 with Ronnie I believe) so it will certainly be a close game.

[gettingbetter]

I think he is ahead of Ronnie by 1 or 2 now after the win in Wales.

[RocketRoy1983]

Robertson goes 8-2 ahead but is in desperate need of an early night as he looks so tired and his eyes baggy!

[Forman]

great saftey off the yellow down to where the reds are from robbo, hes just teasing Davis now

[RocketRoy1983]

Im not enjoying seeing a legend of the game trailing by such a margin so im watching my Facebook buddy Holty take the 2nd against My £££ tip for the tournament John Higgins.

[hegeland]

Well it's obvious Neil is playing some shots he wouldn't normally do unless he'd be sure of winning. I don't blame him - he's not played well at all (85% pot success) and is still increasing his big lead - Davis just isn't putting up any resistance.

[Ekphantos]

Too bad, I didn't expect Davis to win, but at least a somewhat better performance would have been nice

[snookerfan92]

neil has had alot of unneeded luck. Looks like he is going to win from here.
Shame, I would've liked to have seen Davis playing well.

[Monique]

The most surprising stat for me is Robbo with only 45% long pot success. That's usually a very strong point in his game. He's en route to make it 9-2 without playing well at all. I suppose it's difficult to be fully focused with such a lead...

sad, sad, sad for Davis. I almost wish he hadn't qualified and would be spared the embarassment.

[RocketRoy1983]

What a pink from robertson to go 9-2 ahead!!

[attilahun]

A nice century from Neil to lead 9-2. I feel sorry for Steve, its always sad to see a legend like him doing so badly, especially in Crucible were he is so loved....