The 2015 Dafabet Masters
We are officially a few hours away from the most prestigious invitational
event of the snooker season - the Masters. The draw was established some time
ago (in December to be more precise), the tickets have been sold (actually some
extra tickets were added to the delight of hungry fans), the TV schedule is
set, so we are ready to kick off this Sunday.
I won't be doing any predictions as who's going to win or anything like
that, mainly because my fellow bloggers have covered this subject beautifully
and to be quite honest, I don't like predictions.
However, I will say this: of course everyone is seeing Ronnie O'Sullivan
with a great chance to defend his title. I mean, the man won a thrilling UK
Championship final against Judd Trump a month ago, for crying out loud!
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| The reigning champion |
To all that, we can add the fact that he's shared his intention of
overshadowing Stephen Hendry's record of 775 century breaks and set a new one
at 1.000, his improved and much-stable state of mind (bless you Dr Steve
Peters!) and of course the fact that he's enjoining snooker and plays it like
no other.
Still, let's not forget the moment of "lost in space" from the
aforementioned UK Championship final, when Ronnie was about to win the match,
but instead let Judd make that incredible comeback. After the final, the
champion himself admitted that his mind was "gone".
Those sorts of moments are the ones to be feared by the Rocket, as well as
those of twisting his ankle or other vital parts of his body that help him play
snooker, just before the tournament starts.
His first opponent is Ricky Walden, the man who got whitewashed last year
by an excruciating 6-0 scoreline and received a total of 556 unanswered points
from the Rocket.
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| Can Selby regain his form? |
Another "golden boy" of the Masters tournament is without any
doubt Mark Selby who has failed to find some form lately, but who will
definitely try to make his way back into the favourite-to-win-this-tournament
group.
That being said, his draw this year is Shaun Murphy, a close friend of
Selby so the first match won't be an easy one, by far.
“I could not really have been given a harder first round,” he said. “He is
one of the form players. We are really good friends, although that will go out
the window for the game. I would rather have played someone else in the first
round. I really wanted him to do well. "
 |
| Robbo has a tough opening match ahead of him |
Neil Robertson will meet Robert Milkins in a match that will surely catch
your eye, both of them having something at stake: on one side, Robbo would be
delighted to add a more Masters to his collection (he won it back in 2012), and
on the other side, Milking "has nothing to lose" (as Neil himself
says) and will be giving his best.
Joe Perry seems to be back from the woods (he prepared for this tournament
by practicing with Selby and Maguire) and he's confident about the new year and
the coming tournament.
"I am not sure what has changed, but I'm playing a lot better and I'm feeling more confident."
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| The glassy trophy |
However, his first opponent is Ding Junhui, so "The Gentleman" of snooker has to put in quite the fight to overcome him.
But let's cut to the chase and roll on the Masters, shall we? The cue-crossing
will start this Sunday from 1pm (UK time) with the likes of Mark Selby and
Shaun Murphy taking the stage, followed by Stuart Bingham and Marco Fu from
7pm.
Below you can check the schedule for the first stage of the tournament:
Sunday (11.01)
1pm
Mark Selby v. Shaun Murphy
7pm
Stuart Bingham v. Marco Fu
Monday(12.01)
1pm
Judd Trump v. Stephen Maguire
7pm
Neil Robertson v. Robert Milkins
Tuesday (13.01)
1pm
Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Ricky Walden
7pm
Barry Hawkins v. Ali Carter
Wednesday (14.01)
1pm
Mark Allen v. John Higgins
7pm
Ding Junhui v. Joe Perry
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