Masters 2020

_feedback_

Happy new year snooker fans!

The masters is starting at the weekend. Ronnie is out of it, so Judd Trump is the current favourite for the tournament.

Predictions?

Seems the BBC are giving daytime coverage only, until the QF stage..


Sunday 12 January – First round

Ding Junhui v Joe Perry

1:00pm (BBC2)

1:00pm (Eurosport 2)

Mark Selby v Ali Carter

6:45pm (Eurosport 2)

Monday 13 January – First round

Neil Robertson v Stephen Maguire

1:00pm (BBC2)

1:00pm (Eurosport 2)

Mark Allen v David Gilbert

6:45pm (Eurosport 2)

Tuesday 14 January – First round

Judd Trump v Shaun Murphy

1:00pm (BBC2)

1:00pm (Eurosport 2)

John Higgins v Barry Hawkins

6:45pm (Eurosport 2)

Wednesday 15 January – First round

Kyren Wilson v Jack Lisowski

1:00pm (BBC2)

1:00pm (Eurosport 2)

Mark Williams v Stuart Bingham

6:45pm (Eurosport 2)

The Nal

Obviously very disappointing theres no Ronnie but some good first round games there.

zuutroy

The first 'World Snooker Tour' event! Looks like I'll have to buy a new cup in Sheffield this year.

https://twitter.com/WeAreWST/status/1215211694923943937

waynescales1

No evening session on the BBC? Was that always the case? Most frustrating.

It'll probably be on the red button.

Arthur Daley

Evenings must be on the red button. There are highlights about 11.15 then. It is just that they won't show a frame of two at 7 to 7.30 or 8pm daily. But it's a few years since they did that anyway.

Entire afternoon sessions will be on BBC2.

The Nal

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Entire afternoon sessions will be on BBC2.

nkl12xtw5goz70

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Evenings must be on the red button.

Yes, evening sessions are live on the red button.

Joe_ Public

Interesting match first up. Ding a former winner but very mixed record in this event. Last time Perry was here he beat ding on the way to giving ronnie a decent rattle in the final. My money on another upset here.

Been impressed with selby form of late so think he should handle carter with something to spare.

nkl12xtw5goz70

I think Ding's cue case is the biggest I've ever seen!

Joe_ Public

Pot the yellow, hendry says!!! Havin a laugh. Shouldve chinese snookered him, no pun intended.

nkl12xtw5goz70

Lovely 135 break there by Ding to take the second frame. 1-1.

Joe_ Public

Joe's long potting has been totally wojious this afternoon.

waynescales1

Ding’s safety game is a mile off.

The Nal

The Ding revolution continues.

Ronnie sitting in the studio btw wtf

Arthur Daley

Is this the first time we have seen 'Corporate hospitality' in the snooker arena? Obviously a bit of this went on in bars and restauants around the Crucible but Barry Hearn really seems to be egging the pudding and tapping into the London market here. Plus we have sofa seats in the audience available at a premium.

Fair enough for me. It pays the wages and ups the image of attending the snooker. But it does seem to be something that will work in London but it's a more difficult sell in Preston, York or Sheffield.

Joe_ Public

At nearly 300 quid a pop I'm not sure i can see the vip concept take off, not outside london anyway.

taytobreath

Ken Doherty overuses the word "indeed" way too much

Arthur Daley

Nasty snooker for Selby behind the green

waynescales1

The look of suppressed anger on Selby’s face there when the ref called that foul on the blue.

Joe_ Public

Trick missed carter. Had all the hard work done there.

Slippin Jimmy

I could never warm to Carter. I prefer Selby in this match.

taytobreath

its going all the way this match. we'll be hittin the scratcher late I think

nkl12xtw5goz70

Joe_ Public wrote: »

At nearly 300 quid a pop I'm not sure i can see the vip concept take off, not outside london anyway.

I'm not a fan of this new setup, with the playing area entirely surrounded by an illuminated advertising hoarding and the front row seats miles back from the table.

Paying 300 sterling for an evening sitting on a sofa looking at distant players over a glowing neon barrier has no appeal for me. I'd rather buy a nice new sofa for the living room and watch endless hours of snooker on TV for free.

_feedback_

Richard Embarrassed Guppy wrote: »

playing area entirely surrounded by an illuminated advertising hoarding and the front row seats miles back from the table.

Not a fan either.. There's something a bit tacky about the new branding..

Two "surprise" wins in the first two matches for Perry and Ali Carter.. Though I did win bets on both!

Would be hopeful that Allen will play well and win today. Maguire/Robertson could go either way - both players are liable to come out on top form or dire form just as easily as one another.

Slippin Jimmy

Did I hear correctly, that there is a bar as part of the new layout?

Joe_ Public

Not sure how davis and mcmanus can conduct an in depth analysis of maguire without mentioning the giant jumbo in the room - dodgy temperament. Only thing that's held him back imo.

waynescales1

The new arena and setup looks quite impressive to me. Already seen two players say that the Masters feels like a bigger tournament than the WC.

Joe_ Public

waynescales1 wrote: »

The new arena and setup looks quite impressive to me. Already seen two players say that the Masters feels like a bigger tournament than the WC.

Was ronnie one of them ;-)

I can see why players would like it. Its more player friendly than the crucible. But a bigger tournament than the worlds? They're havin a laugh with that sort of gibberish.

waynescales1

This storm is wreaking havoc with my signal!

Joe_ Public

Great frame that. Some great pots but total lack of conviction from mags on that last effort. Pity.

nkl12xtw5goz70

Maguire threw that frame away on the black, and Robertson now leads 3-0.

Joe_ Public

Fella in front row with the binoculars! Not something you see every day.

Chalk McHugh

Have been to the Masters twice in last three years and enjoyed it both times. Great venue in one of the worlds iconic cities. Not great for food, though with a hot dog van on the premises offering overpriced dogs and not much else. Heard there's a new restaraunt this year and if so that is badly needed. Will make a habit of going over every couple of years now as it's a nice holiday in an otherwise bleak month.

Chalk McHugh

On this years line up it's a shame O Sullivan isn't there. Bit surreal seeing him in the Eurosport studio yesterday when he should have been playing. Especially with his record of 7 wins in 13 or 14 finals. I've long gone second guessing Ronnie at this stage, though.

Trump is the man to beat although he has a tricky opener v Murphy. Win that and i fancy Judd to go on and do it.

I give Mark Allen a good chance, also. As we know anything can happen but Trump and Allen my two picks.

The Nal

Chalk McHugh wrote: »

On this years line up it's a shame O Sullivan isn't there. Bit surreal seeing him in the Eurosport studio yesterday when he should have been playing. Especially with his record of 7 wins in 13 or 14 finals. I've long gone second guessing Ronnie at this stage, though.

Its a real shame and cheapens the competition. He only lives 10 miles up the road. An odd one.

AllForIt

Chalk McHugh wrote: »

On this years line up it's a shame O Sullivan isn't there. Bit surreal seeing him in the Eurosport studio yesterday when he should have been playing.

He's not playing but he is commentating for Eurosport?! That is weird.

Joe_ Public

If that "what happened next" segment on question of sport is still going, they've got a real zinger for the archives.

https://twitter.com/Eurosport_UK/status/1216752215957954562?s=20

The Nal

Robbos face sums it up perfectly. Try that a million times, literally one million times, and you'll never replicate that.

Joe_ Public

You spend a lifetime watching snooker and think there's nothing new you can see and then you witness that.

Can maguire make a match of this?

The Nal

Joe_ Public wrote: »

You spend a lifetime watching snooker and think there's nothing new you can see and then you witness that.

Can maguire make a match of this?

Yep!

Joe_ Public

Good stuff. But robertson should have nailed this already, had enough chances.

Joe_ Public

What a chance for maguire.

Joe_ Public

Not sure how but maguire wins it. Incredible comeback, fair play to him. Robbo will be sick.

waynescales1

How has Robertson lost it, great effort by Maguire though. Superb green in the last frame.

Chalk McHugh

The Pistol has left his bullets back in Belfast.

waynescales1

Black off the spot missed.

Another player way below their best in this tournament.

Chalk McHugh

So much for my Masters prediction. Mark Allen looking like he's playing with a hurley he's so bad.

Arthur Daley

The Maguire shot was extraordinary, but if you hang around snooker clubs forever you'd see something similar eventually. When I saw the replay and the fuss on commentary I thought surely Steve Davis has played or seen a shot like that in the last 40 odd years. Alex and Jimmy used to be up to all sorts of craic.

He has some cue power Maguire as it didn't even look like he was going for or needed to apply exceptional power but he delivered some amount of force there to get that bounce back and resulting top spin

Chalk McHugh

To be honest i didn't think it was that extraordinary. I hung around snooker halls for donkeys years and nothing surprises me on a snooker table. Nothing. Not even that. And Ronnie was correct in saying Maguire had no need to be hitting that red with such force.

waynescales1

Maguire had given up then. He played a few reckless shots around that time in the match. The most remarkable thing is that he went on to win having thrown the towel in.

The Nal

The Gilbert era has begun.