The Masters

(19-01-2025 15:56 )Snooks Wrote:  Stephen Hendry cursing both players in commentary - lol

He and Davis were little different. That 4th frame summed up the week. From his 4-0 lead over Gary Wilson onwards, it's been all too depressing

Shaun Murphy is the Masters champion after a 10-7 victory over Kyren Wilson.
A 6-2 first session lead ultimately proved too big a mountain to climb for the World champion who battled hard in the evening to no avail. Murphy hit four tons in the final including in the frame to seal the title.

Over the tournament there can be no doubt the player in the best form won the title.
He was just too strong in this event.

Wilson had a good week overall but his mistakes in the first session of the final proved costly. The Championship League now takes centre stage for a while before The German Masters starts on 27th January.

How much did you get back HP?

11 quid was only 6/5 so a fiver on it

maybe i should up the anti next time

hopefully ronnie gets his mojo back

cant have tubs as world champion it would be the end of snooker !!!

(20-01-2025 09:57 )HannahsPet Wrote:  11 quid was only 6/5 so a fiver on it

maybe i should up the anti next time

stick to a fiver then you won't get into trouble

(20-01-2025 10:01 )HannahsPet Wrote:  hopefully ronnie gets his mojo back

cant have tubs as world champion it would be the end of snooker !!!

Saying that you'd probably prefer Donald Trump winning the world championship than Murphy

If Ronnie wins the German Masters then I think we can safely say he's got his mojo back and where he is in the ranking will probaly give him a good/decent draw in the World Championship

Tubbs had the mojo this event, every dog has his day. He doesn't get any ranking points, but he gets another big payday so he won't be retiring anytime soon . Credit to the warrior for trying to come back at him.

Despite losing his semi-final, Judd has now won more prize money this season than Ronnie won last season, and he's the new record holder for most prize money won in a single season. That's a testament to how much money the Chinese and the Saudis have put into snooker over the past couple of seasons. Another consolation for Judd is that he enters the Championship League today, so it won't be on the back of a long, gruelling final.

Credit to Kyren for getting back to 7-8, but the numbers game often catches out the lagging player. I don't want to sound conspiracist but Tubs winning does not speak to me of an open and healthy sport.

I have a slightly different take on events of The Masters event.
Found myself wondering what made Murphy's game different in the tournament and what may be chiefly responsible.
His safety game and tactical game were certainly more consistent. Maybe not think outside the box in terms of ingenuity or complexity but consistently sensible and sound. But it was the pot consistency and positioning consistency as well. In the past he has been guilty of basic errors when in the balls. I remember a rather stupid interview performance he gave with Jill Douglas some months back where he denied concentration was even a thing and denied that poor concentration was causing error.
His focus at Ally Pally was clearly improved and he himself admitted that concentration and focus were things he had worked on with his coach in the post match interview with Hazel Irvine. Inadvertent eating of humble pie perhaps - who knows?
Which brings me on to what I think the game changer has been. Peter Ebdon.
I suspect the work done with Ebdon has intensified concentration levels dramatically.
The result: A 147 in the semi final, 4 tons in the final and a multitude of frame winning breaks over the event.

The question is for Murphy - Can he sustain it?
The answer will depend on whether he can be attentive enough and committed enough to maintain the approach he showed in London.

I have my doubts because of his ego getting in the way. Ego has scuppered him before. He needs to learn his lesson and keep it learnt.

But if he keeps replicating his Masters form more wins cannot be ruled out.

Sorry Doddle oh and Joannis oh and HP .