The Masters 2014

[Holden Chinaski]

It was a one time incident and I'm sure he regrets doing it. If indeed that's what actually happened.

But I don't think I'm going to convince you otherwise. I think we're going to have to agree to disagree.

Personally. I like both players with a slight nod to Murphy. But there is not much in it.

Murphy said he just asked the referee where Maguire was as he did not know he was getting his chalk. It was the tournament director who then docked Maguire a frame, not Murphy. But Maguire thought it was Murphy. The two have made up now. Just a misunderstanding.

[spike]

Come on guys, let's not clutter this thread with something that happened years back.

[Odrl]

Ok, the final is still a day away, so let's talk about the two semi-finals first... :smile:

Mark Selby against Shaun Murphy is not exactly the pairing I expected in the top half, but not a huge surprise either. Two days ago when Selby was playing Higgins, I was trying to remember all of his defeats at the Masters. I knew he reached the final four times out of six, and lost to Mark King in the 1st round once, but I couldn't remember who the other player was that beat him. I then looked it up and saw it was Murphy, in the quarter-finals in 2012. I almost certainly watched that match, but I honestly don't remember much of it, so it must have been pretty unremarkable. They've had a couple of struggles in the past, their UK final just over a year ago wasn't exactly brilliant stuff, and their last major ranking match, the semi-final of the China Open last season, was low quality as well. It's also often happened that the underdog at the time ended up winning.

Hard to say who the underdog is this time... Selby has enjoyed more success in recent years, and he has been ranked higher than Murphy for some time now. He also has a great record in this tournament, while Murphy has only competed at the business end in the last two years. On the other hand, Murphy has probably played the better snooker this week. He went behind against Ding, and was very lucky that Ding was completely out of sorts in the second half of the match, but as always Murphy waited for his chances and came good in the end. He was in even more trouble against Fu, 4-1 down, but then produced probably his best snooker of the season so far, a prolonged run of his scoring to first level the match, and then take the last two frames as well. I've criticized his record against the top players before the tournament, but with these two wins it looks a lot better. Can he win another one?

Selby's progress has been reminiscent of last year, not much fluency, but you can't fault his tenacity and fighting spirit. He played a good decider against Davis, even though the momentum was very much with his opponent, and he somehow survived the last three frames against Higgins, as if he was destined to win. That long blue in the decider took some balls, as did the excellent snooker he played behind the green. On current form it's probably unlikely that he will outscore or "outpot" Murphy, but he certainly has the tactical game to compensate for that. Of the 17 one-session matches he has played in the Masters, 10 have gone to a decider, and he's won all of them. He is more of a late night specialist, so it will be interesting to see if he can do it in the afternoon as well. :wink: Selby to win 6-5.


We have Ronnie O'Sullivan against Stephen Maguire in the evening, the match I'm looking forward to even more, because these two have played the best snooker so far this week. There is a lot of history between these two players, some cracking matches and some pretty bad ones... Their German Masters final in 2012 was among the former, starting with four centuries between them in the first session. Maguire played about as well as it's possible to take the early lead, but O'Sullivan came back very strongly in the second half of the match to take the title. Maguire then got his revenge in the China Open, although in a shorter and somewhat less important match. If we go further back in history, O'Sullivan of course produced that superb display of scoring in their UK final, winning 10-2, while Maguire's best wins against O'Sullivan were probably back in 2004, when he beat him in the British Open and the UK Championship, at a time when O'Sullivan was unrivalled as the best player in the world. They also played a ridiculous high-quality match in Shanghai in 2008, and a ridiculously low-quality match in this tournament in 2007. They have met three times in the Masters altogether, so this is their fourth meeting.

There is no doubt that O'Sullivan is playing his best snooker of the season this week. He took very little time to dispose of Milkins, then produced one of the best thrashings of recent times against Walden, reminiscent of what Ali Carter did to Peter Ebdon in this tournament in 2009. Here he is facing an opponent who himself enjoys an open high-scoring game, so O'Sullivan should be in his comfort zone throughout. In that type of game he is still the best in the world, and that German Masters final showed why. Whatever Maguire threw at him, O'Sullivan still had the confidence to respond and do the same himself, when he got the chance. It was the same in the World final against Hawkins. Of course the question is, can he play as well today?

As good as O'Sullivan is, there are still some players who can match his scoring on their best day, and Maguire is one of them. For him, this week has been a great triumph over his usual problems with discipline and composure. I was worried for him when Perry was coming back at him in the 1st round, but Maguire was able to handle the pressure in the end. He was also able to overcome his very poor recent record against Robertson. He won that scrappy first frame, then played a couple of good frames to put Robertson under pressure. The finish was a bit fragmented, but by no means poor, as Maguire played some good pots and some great safety shots at the right time. O'Sullivan has to start favourite, but with last night's form Maguire can certainly make a match of it, if not win. In any case, I don't think we'll get a midnight finish, even if the match is close. :wink: O'Sullivan to win 6-4.

I can't wait for it to start already. :smile:

[daffie]

Great write-up as usual Odrl...my compliments!
(unbelievable how you remember all those specifics from years ago )

Really looking forward to today's matches...should be good. I find that the Semis most often are among the best and most enjoyable matches within a tournament. I think mostly because it's the very last hurdle for a player to get into the Final and they tend to give it all.

So without further adieu...Let's get the boys on The Baize!!! :snooker:

[bagpiper13579]

I think Ronnie can handle Maguire, but it will probably be the semi-final between selby and murphy that is more fun to watch. both players have a lot of flair.

[streamer45]

C'mon Mark

[Odrl]

Thanks daffie. :smile:

Yeah, the semi-finals quite often turn out to be classics. Selby against Dott was great last year, so hoping for more of the same... :smile:

[cyberheater]

Obviously I want Shaun to win but really. I just hope it's a cracking match.

[daffie]

Shaun 's Superman walk-on music is just brilliant...very funny Lots in the audience were flying alongside as well...

[jrc750]

Loving Murphy's Superman music

[cyberheater]

Quality stuff from Selby. That's how it should be at this level. Killing off frames in one visit.

[daffie]

Quality indeed! But...really hoping Shaun can tag along soon. Don't want Selby running away with it!

[streamer45]

This is class!

[Odrl]

Excellent start, we haven't seen much of that from Selby this week. Looks like things are coming together for him just at the right time, at the weekend. :smile:

[cyberheater]

Shaun just needs a easy in to get his cue arm going. I don't think Mark is going to oblige.