The Masters - Day 4

13:30:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Robbo in action
The last day before the quarter-finals round and the Masters has had some more surprises to pull out of its bag; and although Robertson v. Hendry’s match result wasn’t a big shock, the fact that Shaun Murphy was defeated by Jamie Cope ... well, it kind of came as a "wow!". Especially if you are to think that Cope is at his Masters debut and he had just squeeze in into the top 16. Still, he is a very gifted player so let’s also keep that in mind :-)
So, interesting to see that only one of the top seeds players is still in the race for that "crystal" trophy. This is going to be such a bizarre tournament, but hey! It’s finally nice to see what the second gang of players can achieve. Maybe we’ll have the shock of our lives to see some really top class snooker performed! ;-)


The match between Neil Robertson and Stephen Hendry...what can one say about this one?! Well, first we have had Neil, who’s such an "animal" when it comes to ranking points and ranking tournaments (even if yesterday wasn’t at his best, let’s admit it!) and second we have had Stephen a true legend, a man who has won everything there was to be won and he’s still in the run for more. The ref in charge was the Welsh Eirian Williams.

Hendry`s not very happy with the match
It all started nice and easy, Hendry taking the first frame, then Neil came for the second one, the Scot hit a 64 to take the lead at 2-1 but the Aussie fought back during the forth frame and leveled up with an 85 break.
And so the mid-session interval kicked off and the public was delighted by the situation at hand - two great players were competing and what do you know?! They were sharing frames! Maybe this would be a tight battle after all?! Well, not quite...


After the break, Robbo rushed in with a break of 86 to take the lead and he continued to conquer one frame at a time as Hendry seemed devastated by his was of playing and was mostly kept in his seat. During the 6th frame Hendry was building himself a nice break but he missed the black and only obtained a 35 one. He was so disappointed by that...you had to see his face...it was heartbreaking. Such a shame :-(
"The Thunder from Down Under" brought the score to 5-2 by firing in breaks of 37 and 81, while Hendry gave us all hope for the best as he took over the 8th frame with a break of 49.At 5-3, the Scot seemed to be a bit more confident in his way of playing the game, but he missed a brown in the next frame, brown that also meant total defeat. Robbo hit in runs of 48 and 34 and ended the match with a 6-3 lead.


Jamie`s looking towards the quarter-finals
Second match of the day was the one where "The Magician" Shaun Murphy and "The Shotgun" Jamie Cope. And since everything had to be done in order, Michaela Tabb was the boss of the arena ;-)
Now for those of you who know me, you remember that I always make fun of Peter Ebdon`s slow style of playing snooker, although I adore him as a player. Well...let’s say I won’t be making fun of him anymore, not after last night match I won’t :-)) Man, it was pure madness! Both Shaun and Jamie were playing awfully bad! It was such a slow and painful match all the way through the end. Horrible! Shaun was missing pots by a mile, Jamie was struggling to make a proper break...such a uninspiring match, to be honest!


Cope took over the first two frames with breaks of 77 and 43 while Shaun wasn’t in the mood for "dancing snooker" yet. However he succeeded in winning the next frame with a "top break" of 37, but Cope wanted to maintain his lead by two points, so he took the next one to enter the mid-session interval with a 3-1 scoreline.
As always after the break it is only normal to find the strengths to carry on and make your comeback, if the situation requires I t.. and for Murphy the situation was requiring that more then ever! So he “destroyed" his previous "record" of building a break by hitting a 47 (+ a 37 one) to reduce the gap between him and Cope at just one point.


Not a very good day for the Smurf
The 6th frame started really good for the Smurf but he missed an incredible easy red to the left middle pocket, obtaining only a 22 break and letting Jamie in. Still, he was very fortunate, because soon after potting his way through the balls Jamie missed a red to the right middle pocket, Shaun winning his way back into the frame. But this wasn’t his luckiest day ever as he missed frame ball...what a shame! He was so close! With a break of 41 and just the red to be potted! So Cope came for a 39 to claim his frame.
Breaks of 20, 26 and 40 put "The Shotgun" in the lead with a 5-3 score, while breaks of 45 and 12 closed the deal at 6-3. "The Magician" was out of this competition.
The truth is that none of the players were at their best, but Shaun’s way of playing the game was almost disastrous. It was very strange to see him perform like that and I can’t imagine what he must be feeling like. Not very good, I guess.


So here we are! Today the quarter-finals will kick off and it will be interesting to see the playing standard ;-)


13:30 (UK time) - Ding Junhui v. Graeme Dott
19:00 (UK time) - Mark King v. Jamie Cope


TV coverage
13:30-17:15 Masters Snooker (BBC 2)
13:30-16:30 Masters Snooker (British EuroSport 2)
19:00-20:00 Masters Snooker (BBC 2)
19:00-22:00 Masters Snooker (British EuroSport 2)
23:20-00:10 Masters Snooker: Highlights (BBC 2)
00:10-02:10 Masters Snooker: Extra (BBC 2)


Online snooker
www.fromsport.com


Enjoy snooker, my dears! :-)

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