Kyren Wilson will defend the Machineseeker German Masters title in the New Year in a strong field at the iconic Tempodrom venue in Berlin.
The draw for the world ranking event has been made and the final stages will run from January 26th to February 1st in the heart of the German capital.…
The qualifying rounds run from January 5th to 8th in Sheffield. Players starting in round one could need to win three matches to make it to the Tempodrom. However, third round matches involving the top 16 seeds have been held over to the final stages. Those 16 players are Kyren Wilson, Barry Hawkins, Mark Allen, Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, Wu Yize, Chris Wakelin, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, Si Jiahui, Xiao Guodong, John Higgins, Mark Selby, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Gary Wilson and Zhao Xintong.
The match schedule for the Tempodrom will be announced after the qualifying rounds. Wilson lifted the Brandon Parker Trophy for the second time last season, beating Barry Hawkins 10-9 in a dramatic final. This time his opening match will be against Dylan Emery, Florian Nuessle or Robert Milkins.
So… Ronnie has entered the event and is in the draw. Will he actually play? I’m far from certain that we will see him in Berlin TBH. Last season he withdrew. It wasn’t the first time either that he withdrew and the last time he actually played in qualifiers he lost by 5-0 in round one. He hasn’t won a match in the event since 2017. This time though he will start in round 3, at the venue. That may well make a difference. We shall see.
He won this event once, of course. That was in 2012. That time, he actually needed to win it to avoid having to qualify for the Crucible. He duly did and he then went on to win the World Championship itself as well. Anything can happen or not happen when it’s about Ronnie.
Alfie Burden, the reigning Seniors Snooker champion had never won a ranking event on the main tour before yesterday. He wasn’t even supposed to be at the 2025 Shoot-out, he was invited at the last minute, as an amateur. The least that can be said is that he made the most of the opportunity. He just went and won the event!
Next year Alfie will be invited to the “Champion of Champions” no matter what happens at the 2026 World Seniors …
Jubilant Burden Wins First Ranking Title At Shoot Out
Alfie Burden didn’t even know he had a place in the 9Club Shoot Out on the day the tournament started, but he ended up with the trophy, beating Stuart Bingham in the final to land his first ranking title, 30 years after first turning pro.
Burden was relegated from the pro tour at the end of last season and, having finished 20th on the Q School ‘top-up’ list did not expect to be offered a place in the unique one-frame knockout tournament. He was about to jump into a swimming pool on Wednesday morning at 9.30am when he had a call from WST’s Bristol office to tell him that Alex Clenshaw had pulled out, and there was a spot in the draw for him if he could drive from London to Blackpool in time for the afternoon session.
He was at the venue within five hours and went on to win seven matches to capture the biggest title of a career which started in 1994. Burden, who turns 49 on Sunday, also won the World Seniors title earlier this year, but tonight’s triumph is by far the biggest moment of his life in snooker.
The former world number 38 had never previously been beyond the quarter-finals of a ranking event but now becomes the only amateur to win a ranking title other than Zhao Xintong who was crowned World Champion this year. The £50,000 top prize is by far the biggest of his career and could be enough to regain his place on tour next season via the one-year ranking list. The tenth different winner in ten ranking events so far this season, he is also in line for a place in next year’s Champion of Champions.
Former World Champion Bingham, seeking his first title since lifting the Masters trophy in 2020, had first chance in the final but made just 6 before missing a mid range red. Burden opened up the pack immediately and went on to make an excellent break of 56. Bingham had one more opportunity to counter but potted just one red before missing a long blue and the handshake soon followed, before Burden jumped on to the table to celebrate.
“I can’t believe I have won it,” said Burden, who was a promising footballer for Arsenal in his junior days before switching to snooker after a serious knee injury. “On Wednesday morning I went for a swim and I only had my phone with me because I have lost my locker key at the gym. I was walking out to the swimming pool and I looked at my phone and saw I had a missed call. I rang back and found out I had a place in the Shoot Out. I got changed, dashed to the snooker club to get my cue, dashed home to get my trousers and shoes, then I was on the M1.
“From the start I have played well. Everything fell into place for me. I am a ranking event winner now and that is something I am very proud of. After dropping off the tour last season I found myself in the wilderness. I have had no motivation to play on the Q Tour, I turned up for a few events in terrible shape having not practised. Then a couple of weeks ago I went to the one in Bulgaria with a new cue and got to the semi-finals. Now I am hoping this win will get me back on the tour.
“I was a pro for a long time, I first joined the tour when I was 17. I still have a lot to offer snooker, I am hungry, I love the game and I have people who believe in me. I have a great family and friends, a great mentor in Patsy Fagan. It has been a difficult career, I am not going to lie. Snooker is a very tough sport mentally. There have been a lot more downs than ups, but this is a moment I will cherish. I can’t wait to see my children tomorrow, they have always supported me – this is for them.“
Earlier in the semi-finals, Bingham edged out Iulian Boiko in an exciting finish. Ukraine’s Boiko, enjoying his best run in a ranking event, trailed 44-35 with 40 seconds to go when he missed the pink to a centre pocket, needing just three pots for victory. Burden beat Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham with a break of 73.
The loud crowd was a pain in the ears at (many) times and luck is far too much of a factor for this to deserve to be ranking.
On the other hand, it’s an opportunity to discover players that we very rarely get to see in action, notably some top amateurs.
The Tower Circus is the perfect venue for it … it’s a circus! But it’s an interesting venue from an architectural point of view and the round floor allows everyone to follow the action in the best possible way.
Jimmy and Rachel are doing a great job with the “on stage” interviews. Players feel valued. A lot of them are never really “seen” in normal events. They come, they play … they go.
All in all, there are more “positives” than “negatives” to the event. It shouldn’t be ranking given the “random” factor attached to it, but if it wasn’t ranking a lot of the players, notably the top players, wouldn’t play in it.
The way the season has gone so far, this is a legitimate question but Stephen Hendry believes he will and he explains why as reported here by Phil Haigh
Will Ronnie O’Sullivan play at the Masters? Stephen Hendry reveals all
by Phil Haigh
Ronnie O’Sullivan has been handed a very tough draw at the Masters (Picture: Getty Images)
Stephen Hendry says Ronnie O’Sullivan will be playing at the Masters next month, after the Rocket had cast doubt on his participation.
The 50-year-old has been drawn to play Neil Robertson in a blockbuster opening round at Alexandra Palace in January.
The draw came after there were mixed messages from O’Sullivan on the tournament, initially saying he was unlikely to play.
Speaking to talkSPORT in September, he said: ‘I probably won’t play the Masters this year.
‘I moved to Dubai, a lot of my work is in China and the Middle East so it made sense to be near. The jet lag was crucifying. It’s not that easy to just get on a plane and come back to the UK.
‘I think I’m just going to play the UK Championship, hopefully the Tour Championship if I’ve done enough, which I think I have because I did well in Saudi. Then the World Championship, it would be nice to win that one more time before I snap another cue.’
The Rocket played at the UK Championship last week but suffered a first round exit at the hands of Zhou Yuelong.
Asked after the defeat if he would play at Alexandra Palace, he told the BBC: ‘I’ll have a nice Christmas, enjoy that and see how I feel come January.’
Asked the same question in a press conference, he said: ‘Hopefully. I’d like to. We’ll see.’
It now seems that the Rocket will land in north London, with Hendry firm that we will see the O’Sullivan vs Robertson clash on January 14.
Asked on his Cue TipsYouTube channel if O’Sullivan will be playing at the Masters, Hendry said: ‘Well he is playing. He requested to play late, I think, so he’s playing Neil on Wednesday night.
‘So yeah, Ronnie is playing in the Masters. If he doesn’t play the tournament is lacking, isn’t it?’
In what has been a difficult campaign so far for O’Sullivan, he will face a huge test in Robertson in the opening round at Ally Pally.
The Thunder from Down Under beat the Rocket in the final of the Saudi Arabia Masters in August, which was the only event in which O’Sullivan has been beyond the quarter-finals this campaign.
O’Sullivan withdrew from the 2025 Masters after snapping his cue shortly before the event out of frustration with his game.
If he does play next month then it will be the first time playing in the tournament since he won it for an eighth time in 2024, beating Ali Carter in the final.
Stephen Hendry is closest to O’Sullivan’s record Masters tally, with six wins, while no other player has won the event more than three times.
Hopefully, Stephen will be proved right, and, hopefully, Ronnie will be able to play well.
Shaun Murphy will face Wu Yize when he begins the defence of his Johnstone’s Paint Masters title at Alexandra Palace in London in January.
…
The draw has been made, pitching the top eight seeds at random against those seeded nine to 16:
Shaun Murphy (1) v Wu Yize Mark Selby v Xiao Guodong
Neil Robertson (5) v Ronnie O’Sullivan Kyren Wilson (4) v Si Jiahui
Judd Trump (3) v Ding Junhui Mark Williams (6) v Mark Allen
John Higgins (7) v Barry Hawkins Zhao Xintong (2) v Gary Wilson
The round one schedule is as follows:
Sunday January 11th
1pm – Shaun Murphy vs Wu Yize
7pm – Mark Selby vs Xiao Guodong
Monday January 12th
1pm – Mark Williams vs Mark Allen
7pm – Zhao Xintong vs Gary Wilson
Tuesday January 13th
1pm – Kyren Wilson vs Si Jiahui
7pm – John Higgins vs Barry Hawkins
Wednesday January 14th
1pm – Judd Trump vs Ding Junhui
7pm – Neil Robertson vs Ronnie O’Sullivan
That is, of course, provided Ronnie doesn’t withdraw. It’s a big event, it’s just one table … but he’s not a big fan of Alexandra Palace as attested by his hash criticism last year:
“Everywhere is dirty. It’s cold. It’s freezing, I have to wear my coat everywhere. You go through car parks. There are bins. Honestly, it just makes me feel ill.
“I‘m a bit of a clean freak and when I come in here it gives me the heebie-jeebies. I just can’t wait to get out of here.”
I have been there for several years in a row. I wouldn’t say it’s dirty, but it is indeed very hard to heat the place properly. The glass dome roof is beautiful but it doesn’t help the situation when it’s freezing cold outside. When it’s raining or snowing outside, the fans come in with wet coats, that they usually keep on, and the humidity level rises which only makes things worse. Cold and dampness is not a great combination.
Note that I have “corrected” the text shared by WST. In the draw as they published it, there was no Mark Selby and Ronnie was playing twice. 🙄.
And, of course, wether Ronnie will show up remains to be seen… he has a very difficult first match against Neil Robertson. Should he withdraw, he would likely be replaced by Chris Wakelin, currently ranked 17th, with a decent “cushion” of points ahead of Jak Jones, 18th.
Mark Selby held off a fightback from defending champion Judd Trump to triumph in a nerve-shredding final 10-8 and win the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship for a third time.
Victory sees Selby reach the quarter-century mark in ranking silverware, with this being his 25th title.
The Jester from Leicester also captured UK crowns in 2012 and 2016, when he won respective finals against Shaun Murphy and Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Selby has ended a nine year wait to conquer York again and the signs were there in the lead up to the event. He won last month’s invitational Champion of Champions, where he defeated Trump 10-5 in the title match.
42-year-old Selby moves to ten Triple Crown titles in all, edging ahead of John Higgins (9) in the all-time list. Only Steve Davis (15), Stephen Hendry (18) and Ronnie O’Sullivan (23) have won more than Selby.
Defeat for world number one Trump means he ends 2025 without having added to his trophy collection. It is the first time the Bristolian has failed to win an event in a calendar year since 2013.
Selby claims the £250,000 winner’s cheque and as a result rises from 11th position to sixth in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings. Trump remains unmoved at the summit.
They came into tonight with Selby holding a commanding 6-2 lead. The opening frame went the way of the four-time World Champion, who crafted a run of 59 to extend his advantage to 7-2.
Trump seized the initiative in the next with a break of 63, but spurned a black off the spot. Selby couldn’t punish him and a safety battle ensued. Trump eventually trapped his opponent and won the exchange to make it 7-3.
A fragmented 11th saw both players miss balls unexpectedly, but after 38 minutes of play, it was 2019 Crucible king Trump who prevailed to go three behind at 7-4. The Juddernaut rode the wave of momentum into the interval, hammering in a century run of 105 to trail 7-5.
When play resumed, Selby produced a 91 break to move two away from the finishing line. However, the Ace in the Pack refused to fold and made a sublime 125 to pull within two at 8-6.
A nervy 15th saw Selby miss two routine blacks off the spot, allowing Trump to reduce his arrears further and crank up the heat, making it 8-7.
Despite the huge tension, Selby summoned the steel to make 77 and move to the verge of victory and lead 9-7.
The balls appeared to be at Selby’s mercy in the 17th, but a missed red to the top left allowed Trump back to the table and he clawed back to 9-8. In typical Selby fashion, he recomposed himself and made 69 to cap off a landmark win.
“I missed a dolly red when I was in win 10-7 and I was sitting in my chair thinking that if I lose 10-9 that will haunt me forever. It would have been worse than the Willie Thorne blue! To make the break in the last, it is probably one of the best breaks of my career. Under those circumstances, to hold myself together,” said an elated and relieved Selby.
“To win any tournament nowadays is so difficult. I put so much emphasis on these Triple Crown events. I always try that little bit harder and the pressure is greater. These are the events I judge my CV on. It is nice to get to double figures.
“It is incredible to go above John Higgins in Triple Crown wins. I’ve looked up to him for years. When I was a young lad, he was at the top of his game and he is still top of his game now. To know I’m in front of him by one is incredible. He is still capable of winning Triple Crown events himself and it wouldn’t surprise me if he did it this season. I get on with him really well, so I can have a bit of banter about that.”
Trump said: “I had a lot of chances this evening. It is my own fault and I missed too many easy balls. It isn’t easy to get over the line in these big events and I was in a similar situation last year. I hoped that I would find my best but it didn’t happen.
“Mark was much the better player and I was just trying to hang in. There was the odd frame when I was coming back and I was starting to pot a few. I will be trying to find that at the start of the game in the Masters. I will work hard between now and the Masters.”
Congratulations Mark Selby!
Finals can sometimes being a bit disappointing as tension mounts and both players feel the pressure, but this was a quality match where both players scored heavily: between them them compiled 17 breaks over 50.
Only two frames failed to “provide” a 50+ break. Considering the pressure they were under because this was the final of a “Triple Crown” event, the feat is truly remarkable.
Judd Trump and Mark Selby will face each other at the Barbican today and one of them will lift the trophy tonight. Here is how we got there as reported by WST.
World number one and defending champion Judd Trump prevailed 6-3 in a fiercely contested battle with Australia’s Neil Robertson to make his fifth Victorian Plumbing UK Championship final in York.
The Ace in the Pack was crowned UK Champion for a second time 12 months ago, after defeating Barry Hawkins 10-8 in the title match.
Trump won his maiden Triple Crown triumph here in York back in 2011, beating Mark Allen in the final. However, he has fallen short in the 2014 final to Ronnie O’Sullivan and the 2020 showpiece against Robertson. Both were deciding frame 10-9 losses.
Victory in tomorrow’s final would see Trump join an elite group of players who have defended the UK title. Only Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Ronnie O’Sullivan have achieved that feat.
Trump will face either Shaun Murphy or Mark Selby in tomorrow’s title match. The encounter will take place over the best of 19 frames and the winner will pocked £250,000. Englishman Trump is seeking his first crown of 2025, failure will be the first time he hasn’t registered silverware in a calendar year since 2013.
Robertson misses out on a fourth UK Championship title. However, he can look ahead to his last event of the year at the Scottish Open happy with what he’s achieved this season. The £500,000 pay cheque at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters was the biggest of his career so far.
Breaks of 65 and 82 helped Trump into a 2-1 lead early on, but Robertson headed into the interval the happiest after a stunning 114 restored parity at 2-2.
Play resumed with a marathon 47-minute fifth. After some fragmented tactical exchanges, it was Robertson who eventually stole to lead for the first time at 3-2.
It proved to also be the last time the Melbourne cueman led, with Trump bouncing back quickly from that setback after the interval. Breaks of 72, 53, 68 and 53 helped him to four on the bounce and a 6-3 triumph.
Trump said: “I still felt positive despite losing the fifth frame. A lot of the time this season I’d have put my head down a little bit. I was able to get in early next frame, rattle off a quick frame and I was back in and amongst it.
“It is great to be back in the final again. I feel like these last few weeks and months have been a lot more consistent. I’ve been in a few finals recently but it is never nice to be on the losing end. I need to use that as motivation and determination to come out on the right side.
“I feel good about my game. Everyone picked Mark Selby from the start. I feel like the pressure is on him and he has a tough game against Shaun Murphy first. It has been a brilliant semi-final lineup.”
Mark Selby defeated close friend and on table adversary Shaun Murphy 6-3 to make the final of the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship in York.
This evening marked the 35th meeting between the pair in their illustrious careers. Victory for Selby moves him 20-15 up in the head-to-head standings.
He now progresses to face world number one Judd Trump in a blockbuster best of 19 final tomorrow. The winner will pocket £250,000 and Selby will head into the meeting with high confidence after beating Trump in the recent Champion of Champions final.
Defeat for Murphy means he will have to wait for a first UK title since his maiden win in the event back in 2008. However, it is another strong week for the Magician, who won the British Open earlier in the campaign.
24-time ranking event winner Selby is through to his first UK final since 2016, when he defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-7 in an epic title match. He’s a two-time winner having also won the event back in 2012, when he defeated Murphy in the final.
The match this evening kicked off with a scintillating standard. Selby took the opener with a 74 break, but Murphy hit back immediately with 131 to restore parity.
Breaks of 73 and 104 then helped 42-year-old Selby move into a hefty 4-1 lead. Murphy claimed the next two and forced his way back into contention at 4-3. However, Selby summoned runs of 72, 55 and 127 over the next two frames to force his way over the line. He missed just 12 balls in the entire match.
Selby said: “I felt good from start to finish. I was a little bit edgy at the start but that is understandable. It was a massive game for us both to try and get into a Triple Crown final. At the interval I felt relaxed and thought I was playing decent stuff. Shaun hits the ball as well as anyone I’ve ever played. I knew I needed to play well to win the game.
“It would mean a lot to win. It has been nine years since I’ve been to the UK final. I haven’t done well in the Masters for the last few years either. It would be nice to try and tick it off and get to ten Triple Crown wins.
“I enjoy playing Judd. He is great to watch and very similar to Ronnie. He is exciting to play against and has a lot of support as well. It will be a great occasion tomorrow and I can’t wait to get started.”
Again, I haven’t much to add: those reports are comprehensive enough.
Neil will be disappointed: he lead 3-2 and scored the only century of the match, a 114. That said Judd was very reliable once in the balls. He made a break over 50 in every frame he won. Basically, nearly each time he got in he scored enough to finish the frame, which is truly remarkable.
Shaun also scored the highest break of his match against Mark Selby, a 131. He lost a couple of really close frames before the MSI which is never easy to take. That said, Mark Selby scored really well in that match, he had five breaks over 72, including two centuries. He won most frames he took in one visit, not necessarily the first visit, but one big scoring visit.
Judd Trump and Neil Robertson scored respective quarter-final triumphs to set up a blockbuster meeting in the last four of the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship in York.
World number one Trump rallied from an early deficit to defeat Chinese icon Ding Junhui 6-2 and secure his passage.
The Ace in the Pack is the defending champion this week, having picked up a second UK crown 12 months ago with a 10-8 defeat of Barry Hawkins in the title match.
However, it’s not been smooth sailing for Trump since then, as he hasn’t added to his trophy collection. If the 36-year-old doesn’t win the title on Sunday it will make 2025 his first trophyless calendar year since 2013.
It was three-time UK Champion Ding who got off to an imposing start today. He hammered home breaks of 89 and 83 to move into the ascendancy at 2-0.
That momentum was to be short lived, as 30-time ranking event winner Trump took a stranglehold on proceedings. The Englishman crafted runs of 73, 91 and 50 on his way to six consecutive frames and a 6-2 triumph.
The win sets up Trump’s meeting with Robertson, who he memorably met in a nerve shredding 2020 final, which was behind closed doors in Milton Keynes due to the pandemic. The match came down to the final pink, with Robertson inflicting a heart breaking 10-9 defeat on Trump. He avenged that loss in the opening round last year.
“It was a tough game. He started off really well. He’s got good memories from this event. He’s won it three times,” said two-time UK Champion Trump. “The game changed after I got on the board and he started missing a few.
“This is a great tournament. It is one of the best on the calendar. The crowds are fantastic and it is a really nice venue to play in. Myself and Neil have some good memories in the event and it is going to be a good game.
“That final with Neil was a long game. I was relieved it was over in the end. It was different now . We are back here in York with a full crowd and it is going to be great.”
On the other table, 2013, 2015 and 2020 UK Champion Neil Robertson saw off a spirited fightback from China’s Pang Junxu to prevail 6-4.
Robertson was in total control at 5-1 and had left Pang needing three snookers. However, he calamitously hit the black attempting an escape and left a free ball in the process. Pang cleared with 51 to steal on the black.
Further runs of 115 and 46 helped Pang to crank up the heat further and make it 5-4. However, a break of 75 saw Robertson stop the rot and get over the line at 6-4.
Robertson said: “I was brilliant up to 5-1 and it is just one of those crazy things. He did a good clearance under pressure and he made another century. I made a good match winning break at the end. He put a lot of pressure on me and I responded well.
“The world was going through a tough time in the 2020 final. We were just grateful to play. It was so intense because there wasn’t a crowd. There was an eerie silence and someone just pressing a button for the applause. When I potted the winning pink Judd just nodded a me and said well done. It was a crazy time. We are two of the cleanest potters in the world. I think that has shown in the tournament so far.”
Mark Selby overcame close friend Barry Hawkins 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship and set up a showdown with Shaun Murphy.
Victory sends the Jester from Leicester through to the UK semi-finals for the first time since he last won the title here in York back in 2016. Selby’s progression comes at the expense of last year’s runner-up Hawkins, who he shared a flat with at the event 12 months ago.
Tomorrow night’s clash with Murphy will see Selby take on a player who he has been battling against since the junior ranks. The pair have shared almost every significant stage in the sport, including the 2021 world final and the 2012 UK final, both won by Selby.
Selby made breaks of 64 and 115 in the opening four frames this evening and found himself 3-1 ahead at the mid-session interval.
Play got back underway with a marathon 48-minute fifth frame which crucially went the way of Selby on the pink, before he also claimed the sixth to go one from the finish line at 5-1.
Hawkins pulled a frame back with a superb 138, but Selby fired in 83 in the eighth to book his last four slot.
42-year-old Selby said: “I’m delighted to win but it is never nice to play Barry. He is my best mate on the tour. I spend a lot of time with him at tournaments, even this morning we had a cup of tea at the cafe with him and his wife. I have so much respect for him. He’s a great lad.
“Shaun and I more or less grew up together. I remember playing him in the junior comps and it is great we have both come through the ranks together and achieved what we have. Here we are battling it out in a Triple Crown semi-final. It is good.
“I’m going to enjoy it tomorrow. Hopefully I can play well. If I do I’ll have a chance, but these Triple Crown events only come around once a year. To still be involved in the back end of the tournament is always pleasing.
Murphy earned his progression with a 6-3 win over Zhang Anda, who yesterday conquered World Champion Zhao Xintong.
The Magician himself has also endured a semi-final hiatus in York, having not appeared in the last four since being runner-up in 2017. Wins over Lyu Haotian, John Higgins and now Zhang have seen him put that right this week.
43-year-old Murphy is gunning for a first UK Championship crown since his maiden win in 2008, when he beat Marco Fu in the final.
He made breaks of 88, 73 and 73 in this evening’s win over Zhang, but knows he will have to up his game to progress to the final.
Murphy said: “I’m delighted to win and that was about it. We both played under par. I made a number of uncharacteristic mistakes on and off the table. I dropped the rest and it nearly clattered into the balls and I miscued, I can’t remember the last time I did that. There were a number of totally basic misses, but that shows we are all human. It was a bad day at the office, but I got the win and I have a chance to put it right tomorrow.
“Mark and I have been beating each other since we were nine years of age. We have become good mates away from the table, but we have had a number of good matches. He has inflicted some pain on me and I’ve managed to get him back in a number of big games as well.”
We have two fantastic semi-finals matches to enjoy today. The line-up is of outstanding quality: all four players remaining in the draw have been World Champions. It isn’t easy to predict the outcome of such high quality matches, but if I must make a prediction, I’ll say that we will have a Judd Trump v Mark Selby final which would be fantastic, but really any other combination would yield a very high quality final as well.
The Ding v Trump match followed an only too familiar scenario. Ding started brilliantly but as soon as he lost a frame he appeared to fade away a bit. I’m not trying to diminish Judd’s merit here, it’s just that I have seen that “fading Ding” scenario so many times against a lot of different opponents. It’s a great shame because Ding is a fantastic player. I have said this before, but I’ll say it again, Ding needs to meet the Chinese “Steve Peters” if such a man exists. The kind of work Peters did with Ronnie can only work if both the therapist and the person seeking help can express themselves with precision, express their feelings with the correct nuances, and that can only be done if they both use their native language. On the other table, Pang showed great fighting spirit, it was in vain eventually but it was great to watch.
I won’t make any firm prediction about the Trump v Robertson match, but I would be surprised if Murphy beats Selby. IMO Mark’s game is more complete, more versatile than Shaun’s and Mark’s patience is infinite when needed.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 