Two days down, four matches down, what have we learned so far from the Masters this week? In a nutshell, the favourites are looking good, while feedback on the venue appears to be positive – aside from the carpet. Click below for more…
On table the action began yesterday with the eagerly anticipated clash between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui which after a mid-match scare saw four-time champion O’Sullivan come through 6-4.
In general I thought that while he did not look to be quite at the very top of his game, there were two big positives for his fans to take from his performance. The first was his long-potting, which as he has demonstrated in the Premier League this season looks to be as good as it has been since the turn of the century when for me he was at his peak as an attacking snooker player. In recent seasons he has struggled in that department but recently he has started to knock them in again which is important for him.
The second obvious positive to me was his demeanour post-match which was like night and day compared to at the UK Championship last month where even in his press conference after defeating Steve Davis he looked to be struggling. Ronnie looks to be in a good place at the moment and whether or not he goes on to win the tournament or not, that can only be a good thing to see.
As for Ding, he has spoken out this morning about the scheduling of the tournament:
“They don’t care, but I care. I miss my family so much and want to go home.”
“No Chinese players want to play near the spring festival. It will affect players’ mood and form definitely.
“It’s the same, just like on Christmas Day no Brisith snooker players compete too.”
Elsewhere, Mark Williams progressed yesterday, though like Ronnie he was to see his early advantage eroded by opponent Stephen Maguire before he came through a 6-4 winner.
The early exchanges were fairly one-sided, Mark with a pot success of 93% compared to his opponent who struggled down at 79%, but as the match progressed each frame seemed to become more of a scrap than the last and it was Mark who was able to come through the winner. He will have to play better to win the tournament, but as long as he is in the draw he remains one of the favourites.
Also through is Shaun Murphy who having looked out of sorts early on this evening, soon picked up his game and finished with an excellent break of 139 to serve notice of his intention to add this title to his World and UK Championship titles and complete the set of major events. Can he do it? Shaun has not got a particularly strong record at the Masters but without doubt he is good enough and will try until the very end.
The first man through today was Judd Trump against Stuart Bingham in a match that unfortunately I missed while at work, but judging by the scores on paper at least looks to have been an entertaining contest. With Ronnie O’Sullivan waiting in the next round it will be interesting to see if he can record a third win against him in a significant match this season, or whether the Essex Exocet will turn the tables in front of his home crowd.
Speaking of the crowd, the ticket sales look to have been excellent so far this week at what judging by the TV shots at least looks to be an excellent venue. I was never able to make it to the set-up at the Wembley Arena but I never sensed that it was the most popular venue among the fans and players and already it looks to have been another good decision from the powers that be to relocate the tournament. I have heard a few people talk about the spectator facilities and understand that access is not particularly easy though, so it would be good to have a bit of feedback from those who have been at the event during the past couple of days.
As a side-note there has been a bit of criticism concerning the colour of the carpet. Personally I really like the arena, but maybe that is just me!
Onwards anyway and tomorrow sees John Higgins take on Matthew Stevens in the afternoon, before Neil Robertson meets Mark Allen in what could be a thrilling evening contest…