Yesterday was the first day of the quarter finals at the 2024 Masters.

First up were Ronnie and Barry Hawkins. Both of them apeared to struggle and how Ronnie eventually managed to win by 6-3, I don’t know! It was a very poor standard for most of the match. More about that match here.

Now I have been at Ally Pally a few times and it’s a peculiar venue. The arena is built in the middle of a vast hall, with a very high ceiling. It’s an old building, with a lot of glasses. The hall is like a greenhouse. It isn’t easy to heat it and the atmosphere is often rather damp, and chilly, especially at the start of play. Later, with a lot of people at the venue, it is still damp – particularly if it rains outside and people come in with wet coats – but it becomes hotter.

Ronnie, who wasn’t feeling too well as he’s fighting a cold, wasn’t happy with the venue as reported by Shane McDermott for “Metro”

“Everywhere’s just dirty, it’s cold, I’m freezing. I have to sit here in my coat. Everywhere you go, you’re going through car parks, it’s bins. I don’t know if you’ve seen over there [media catering area] there’s leftover food and stuff and it makes me feel ill to be honest with you.

“I’m a bit of a clean freak. Coming here gives me the heebie jeebies and I can’t wait to get out of here to be honest. I’m sorry, that’s just how I feel.”

The World Snooker Tour said: “We work alongside Alexandra Palace to provide the best possible conditions for players on and off the table. All other players have spoken with unanimous positivity about the venue. Fans love coming here.

“This is underlined by record ticket sales and the fact that all standard admission seats sold out ahead of this year’s tournament.”

While an Alexandra Palace spokesperson added: “We love hosting the Masters and welcoming all the players and fans to the Palace. We work tirelessly to provide an arena and atmosphere that this great event deserves.

“We’ve been proud of the overwhelming positive feedback the venue has received in recent years, and it’s obviously disappointing that Ronnie feels differently. We hope we can change his mind and that he enjoys the rest of his tournament here.”

Having been there myself, I as mentioned above, and having spent hours in the media room, it is true that it can be uncomfortably cold at times and it’s definitely damp. There are a lot of insects inside the building, and often birds too. They leave droppings of course. So I can see Ronnie’s point. That said, it is also true that the personnel at the venue do their best to keep it clean. It isn’t easy with hundreds of people coming and going everywhere. And if there are leftovers in the media room… it’s often because of of the “media people” aren’t as tidy as you’d wish for. Waiters are coming and tidying all the time, during normal working hours at least.

Ronnie will play Shaun Murphy on Saturday, as Shaun beat Jack Lisowski by 6-3 yesterday evening (WST report)

Shaun Murphy produced a stunning performance to beat Jack Lisowski 6-3 and booked a mouth-watering semi-final meeting with Ronnie O’Sullivan in the MrQ Masters in London.

Murphy and O’Sullivan will cross cues on Saturday afternoon at Alexandra Palace for the first time ever in the Masters. Indeed, it is five years since the pair last faced each other in any event on the World Snooker Tour.

Despite that, they have enjoyed a storied rivalry throughout their career. In 2017 they met in two major finals, with O’Sullivan becoming UK Champion and Murphy earning the Champion of Champions crown. Overall, the Rocket leads the head-to-head 13-3.

The Magician is gunning for a first Triple Crown title since he claimed his maiden Masters victory here at Alexandra Palace back in 2015. On that occasion he thrashed Neil Robertson 10-2 in the final to secure the title.

Defeat leaves Lisowski still seeking his first title on the professional circuit. The supremely talented Gloucester cueman has made six ranking finals but is yet to convert one to silverware. Last year at the Masters he scored wins over John Higgins and Hossein Vafaei to make the semis, but was whitewashed 6-0 against Mark Williams.

This evening’s tie looked to be another one-sided occasion when Murphy came flying out of the traps. A break of 75 gave him the opener and although Lisowski levelled with 74 in the second, he was soon placed on the back foot. Runs of 131, 76 and 123 helped him to four on the bounce and a 5-1 lead.

At that point Lisowski did summon a fightback charge and claimed the next two frames to remain in contention at 5-3.

The ninth came right down the final ball and eventually Murphy was left a treacherous shot with the black close to the top left cushion and the white in baulk. He deposited it and saluted the capacity crowd after sealing his place in the last four.

“I was nervous if I’m honest. I got to 5-1 and I didn’t want to blow the lead. I wanted to run across the line. I played so well to get to 5-1, good scoring and good shot making. I wanted to win with style and that didn’t happen. The more the match went on I started to get a little bit edgy. It is a while since I’ve been in this position in a key Triple Crown event. I was nervous and in the end, it was a wonder shot on the black that got me into the next round.”

Shaun Murphy

Number Seven Seed

Murphy added: “If you get intimidated by playing in a stage like that then unfortunately you are in the wrong business and you should seek other employment. That is what you search for as a snooker player. That is what we dream of.

“I’ve been coming here 20 years and Ronnie a lot longer. Our paths have never crossed. We’ve played pretty much everywhere else, including the Crucible and the UK Championship. We’ve played a lot of finals over the years. We have both had the wins over each other stretching over a long time. We like to entertain, I’m sure we will put a great show on and I hope I am the last man standing.”

I have abandoned any hope in Jack Lisowski. I like the guy, I really do, and I had high expectations when he started on the main Tour, but no more… and I wasn’t please to see Peter Ebdon in the crowd again. I’m totally unconvinced that he’s the type of person Jack needs in his corner.