Brazil Masters 2011 - the quarter-finals

Ebdon ends Selby's run

It's been a very interesting day in Brazil as the quarter-finals started with a 4-3 final result, result that sent Peter Ebdon into the semis after defeating the world number one, Mark Selby, continued with a 4-2 that Graeme Dott performed over local start Igor Figueiredo, then it came Shaun Murphy's 4-1 dominancy over Ricky Walden, only to finish in great style with a perfect 4-0 scored by Stephen Hendry in front of Ali Carter.

The crowd seemed to be pretty excited to see the current world number one, Mark Selby and the legendary Peter Ebdon at work, but unfortunately the first part of the match wasn't played at such a great standard. However, Ebbo used breaks of 41, 30 and 35 to go 3-1 up against the Leicester man.

Time to head back home for Selby

The clock was ticking for Selby who knew he needed to keep on potting if he wants to change the fate of this match and since he is well known for his remarkable comebacks, he decided to throw another one in. So with a top break of 63, the Jester forced the decider.

The last frame started just awesome for Selby as he potted the most amazing red ever down to the middle pocket, but unfortunately he lost position 32 points later. A few minutes after a break of 70 points was guaranteeing Peter Ebdon a place in the semis. He beat world's number one by 4-3. What a victory for Ebbo!

Dotty books a place for the semis

Moving on to the Brazilian-Scottish mix that had the names of Igor Figueiredo and Graeme Dott on the scoreboard. What a thrill to see these two play.
The first to break the ice was Dotty, but Igor was soon to draw level with a break of 45 and he even took the lead at 2-1, a moment that made the audience go mad with excitement. Only normal, I think!

Still, experience said its word and by hitting in runs of 47, 42, 79 and a great clearance of 77, Graeme Dott ended Figueiredo's run with a final result of 4-2. It is a shame that Igor is not playing on the Main Tour due to finance problems, for although he lost to the grand Dotty, he is surely one hell of a player.

Local star, Igor Figueiredo

Two good friends were meeting just before midnight for a special snooker meeting that would send one of them through the semi-finals. Their names? Shaun Murphy and Ricky Walden.

Although Murphy wasn't performing at his best he did manage to hammer Walden  4-1 by taking the first, third, forth and fifth frame with breaks of 32, 35, 67, 58 and 47. Walden seemed to struggle a bit with keeping a fluent game, this costing him the victory.

Shanu Murphy defeats Ricky Walden

Saving the best for last we have Stephen Hendry v. Ali Carter match. And in all due honesty, who would have thought that the Scotsman will whitewash the Captain Carter?
It's been a match that many have described as a flash-back to Hendry's hey-day. Maybe the victory wasn’t as perfect as he would have got it back then, but he surely proved he still got it.

The Brazil Masters officials have described his performance as "impeccable". Now, that's should mean something, right? Of course it does! We are talking about a seven-time world champion for crying out loud. :-)) And to get an idea about how the match was, I’m just going to tell you that as Hendry was 2-0 up, Carter was yet to pot a ball. Pretty awesome, huh?!

Last name through the semi-final, Stephen Hendry

And so the final day has arrived. We shall have the semis as well as the final, so please be prepared for a full day of snooker. Also, please keep in mind that all matches will be "best of 9".

*all hours are UK time

TV coverage:
18:00 - 21:00 British EuroSport

Useful links for watching snooker: 
www.liveworldsnooker.tv (subscription required) 
www.sportlemon.tv 
www.mypremium.tv