2013 Masters discussion

[Odrl]

So, two interesting semi-finals today. All four players were a couple of balls away from being out earlier in the tournament, each surviving a deciding frame, Robertson in both of his matches. I think it's fair to say Robertson is the man to beat at this point, as he was involved in two high-quality matches, while the other three had a bit of help from their opponents to get through, none of them really being at their best.

There is an interesting rivalry between Robertson and Murphy. I can't remember them ever meeting in a best-of-9 match, but they've played a number of times in the longer format. I think Murphy had the edge until recently, beating Robertson in the semi-finals of the 2009 WC, as well as the quarter-finals of the UK in 2010, where Robertson was arguably the favourite. But Robertson has turned it around in their last two meetings. He won the Masters final last season, pretty convincingly, even though Murphy had perhaps produced the better snooker during the week. Robertson also prevailed in their semi-final at the International Championship, over two sessions, in a pretty scrappy match where neither played their best. These two are generally players who enjoy a bit of rivalry and get themselves up for big matches, and they don't like to lose repeatedly to the same player.

With that in mind, is it Murphy's turn to win? I think he is not playing as well as last year. He was good enough against Walden, but should have been out against Higgins, and probably would have been on most days. He made a pretty cool clearance in the decider though. Ok, the balls were there, but he kept complete control and never looked like bottling it. I think he will need more fluency in the balls than he's shown so far, as Robertson seems in the mood to knock in a century or two. An open high-scoring game would normally suit Murphy, but he is the underdog this time. He used to improve in the later rounds of tournaments, playing his best at the business end, but it's mostly been the opposite in recent times, so it's hard to predict. I just hope it's not anything like their last match where it was enough for Robertson to start playing decently to win the match comfortably.

I think Robertson is more reliable at the business end of tournaments. He will rarely put in a mediocre performance once he gets through a couple of rounds. He was lucky against Ding, more so than other players who won deciders, because Ding was one good split away from taking him out and finished on nothing. But after that, Robertson played very well and won the decider in a single visit, right from Ding's break-off. It was a similar story against Mark Allen, Robertson played an excellent shot to get himself out of trouble in the decider, then made a good break to secure the match. His breakbuilding in general has been excellent, I think he's won by far the most frames in one visit out of the four players still in the tournament. I think he will see himself as the favourite in this match, as he has never had a problem accepting that role in the past. Sometimes that's led to complacency at the wrong time, but I don't think that will happen against Murphy. He knows he has to play just as well as he has done, perhaps even better if Murphy raises his game. Personally, I think Robertson will do the business, winning 6-4 or so.

Looking forward to it. :smile:

[paddybhoy30]

I prefer a mixture of great tactical battles with a few centuries thrown in. I would imagine o'sullivan if watching this will be choking to play again at some point. I'm sure the masters was one of his favourite tournaments.

[daffie]

I can't be the only person that thinks this years masters has been the most watchable for years, i'd rather watch a decent safety exchange than a century break any day, it's like turning the clock back 10 or 15 years when almost every shot was potentially missable. Recently first mistake and your opponent clears up, certainly nothing for newcomers to the game to get excited about watching!

You're not alone. I have also enjoyed this Masters immensely specifically due to the close matches and resulting 6-5 score lines. Give me a close safety battle anytime over a century break. Even frames with many mistakes by the players are enjoyable to me, that is if the players have some intensity and try hard. It will most often result in a close fought battle. Proud to be old-school

[Odrl]

Form seems to be cyclical this season with Trump and Higgins dominating most events during the first half of the season, now it seems that Robertson, Murphy and Selby are dominating the middle part of the season. Be really interesting to see who peaks for the end of the season. I doubt any player can maintain top form throughout the season now, its impossible really so if a player can plan their form then it might be a blessing for Higgins, Trump etc to be off form now, they might just find their peak form for the crucible.
Ronnie last year had a poor season until Sheffield and absolutely destroyed everyone so you can plan your form though its a big risk if you run into an opponent in top form too.

I think that's a pattern that's been going on for quite a few years now, with a couple of exceptions like the 07/08 season, where four players seemed to be in form throughout the year, and a couple of strong seasons from Higgins and O'Sullivan.

The generation of Murphy, Maguire, Robertson, Selby and Carter have always been like this, playing well for two or three events and challenging for titles, then going out in the early rounds for the next couple of events. It sometimes happens with entire seasons as well, particularly with Maguire. And now they've been joined by the likes of Ding, Allen and Trump as well. It makes the game very open and interesting, and they all play to a very high standard when on form, but it's hard to see anyone establishing themselves as the man to beat for an extended period. Not because they are all too good, but because no one is really good enough. No one really has that routine and consistency that the likes of John Higgins have produced over the years, that solid "everyday game" that still wins matches and gets you to the business end. A top8 player at this point in time has to play the likes of Carter, Dott, Bingham etc in the last16, so I don't expect the record for consecutive quarter-finals or anything like that to be broken.

It will be interesting to see how the season unfolds. I like the period of the season that's coming now, where the ranking events follow one another without any major breaks. There is a trip to Germany and twice to China, which some players like more than others. So it could completely turn around again, with players who haven't done much so far dominating in the buildup to the Crucible.

Looking back at the start of the season, it was a bit of a mess, with a lot of players not entering the first two events, or at least skipping Australia. It's hard to find many players who showed any consistency. I guess Mark Davis is one, with a couple of semi-final appearances, Bingham with two PTCs and a ranking final, and of course Trump who came close to winning back-to-back major events, which amazingly hasn't been done for nearly a decade now. I don't think John Higgins "dominated" either. He won in Shanghai, but other than that, he has two non-appearances and a 1st round exit. And of course he followed that up with underwhelming performances at the UK and the Masters as well, so it will be interesting to see how he plays in the remainder of the season. :smile:

[culraven]

I can't be the only person that thinks this years masters has been the most watchable for years, i'd rather watch a decent safety exchange than a century break any day, it's like turning the clock back 10 or 15 years when almost every shot was potentially missable. Recently first mistake and your opponent clears up, certainly nothing for newcomers to the game to get excited about watching!

[cueman]

Form seems to be cyclical this season with Trump and Higgins dominating most events during the first half of the season, now it seems that Robertson, Murphy and Selby are dominating the middle part of the season. Be really interesting to see who peaks for the end of the season. I doubt any player can maintain top form throughout the season now, its impossible really so if a player can plan their form then it might be a blessing for Higgins, Trump etc to be off form now, they might just find their peak form for the crucible.
Ronnie last year had a poor season until Sheffield and absolutely destroyed everyone so you can plan your form though its a big risk if you run into an opponent in top form too.

[coomsey76]

I'm not surprised at dotts dismantling of Judd today, Dott is a big game player and a probably the toughest competitor in snooker. It’s looking like Judd suffers on the big stage which is a massive shame.

I wouldn't really say Dott dismantled Trump, far from it really!! Trump just didn't turn up and Dott was needing a couple of chances if not more to win the the frame...... Apart from the last one which he finished off nicely with a century!!

[mythman69]

Also, why is anyone even discussing Trump as "the main man in snooker" while Higgins and Robertson are still around?

I agree . . .

Go Neil the 'Thunder from Down Under' Robertson !!

[gavpowell]

I'm not surprised at dotts dismantling of Judd today, Dott is a big game player and a probably the toughest competitor in snooker. It’s looking like Judd suffers on the big stage which is a massive shame.

I don't know - he won the UK and he revelled in the world final. I would have accused him of complacency after his UK performance, but after scraping through the Masters first round, he was very down-to-earth in his interview "People get carried away about me - I'm still young and I'm still learning"

I rather suspected he wasn't going to do very well today, but he was back to playing the way he did a few years ago when he met Ronnie in the Worlds and made me wonder what on Earth the fuss was about.

Strange tournament, but hopeully Robbo can defend his title.

Also, why is anyone even discussing Trump as "the main man in snooker" while Higgins and Robertson are still around?

[Billy]

There is just nobody in the game capable of making this game exciting or entertaining and that for me is the worry. If I had paid to watch any of this I would seriously have to think whether I'd want to spend money that could be better spent elsewhere. That is the question that many fans are also going to be thinking after this.

The only thing this tells me is that you're not the fan of the game you think you are. What do you want, back to back maximums tournament after tournament?

[jonplayer]

I'm not surprised at dotts dismantling of Judd today, Dott is a big game player and a probably the toughest competitor in snooker. It’s looking like Judd suffers on the big stage which is a massive shame.

[Odrl]

Not a great day of snooker really, two very one-sided matches. Selby did what he needed to do really, but he's making mistakes himself, as was Dott, so it would be premature to say he needs to raise his game to reach the final. I think the top quarter was the strong one this week, both Ding and Allen played quite well in their defeats, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. :wink:

[robertmac]

Its unfortunate that several players performed poorly for
such a huge event as this.

There is such a thing as winning a match and then there is
having your opponent make it easy for you.

However there are days when I play and wonder how I could
do so poorly when other days I do ok.

The way it is going anyone can win this I believe.

[narl]

Imagine if it was Williams v Trump today?!

We'd have a never ending match where they just kept missing.

[daffie]

Can't see it somehow, but lets hope for at least a few more frames...

-

Too bad indeed. Very dissapointing match. On to tomorrow's Semi finals then... 'night all.