Tweet
Well, some sections of the draw were kind of set for an unlikely player to come through, so it's not all that surprising. I think most tournaments will follow this pattern, a couple of strong players caught out in the qualifiers, leaving fairly unbalanced sections for the venue stage, then further surprises, as usual. But the titles should still be shared between the usual suspects. :wink:
Anyway, quite an interesting quarter-final lineup we have here...
Robert Milkins v. Anthony Hamilton: I think Milkins has to be the favourite for this one. He has had a lot of these runs in the last two seasons or so, a couple in China, where he comes through the first couple of rounds very strongly. He hasn't really played a top player yet, so it's hard to say how far he can go, but Hamilton isn't a top player either. These two play quite different styles of snooker, at least in terms of pace, and Milkins will be looking to take his chances and avoid prolonged and fragmented frames. On paper, Hamilton had a much tougher draw up to this point, including a win over the very solid Stuart Bingham in the last32. His game against Williams wasn't a classic, but it wasn't bad either, and it showed he is playing well enough that he won't be beaten by a mediocre performance. He is a good breakbuilder when playing well, but also very methodical, and he will be looking to keep Milkins away from the table. I have a feeling he won't quite succeed though, Milkins to win 5-3. :smile:
Neil Robertson v. Cao Yupeng: This is the one I am looking forward to the most. I think Robertson has been the most impressive player of the week so far. He disposed of Gould and King very convincingly, taking control of those matches early on and never looking like losing. It's interesting, a couple of months ago he was one of the few top players never to win a major title in China, but here he is one of the last few still in the tournament and looking strong for his second Chinese title in a row. He obviously didn't get demoralized after the disappointing World Championship, but rather got himself in good form early on in the season, possibly looking to do well in Australia as well. On paper, he should be a strong favourite in this match. It's kind of hard to call, because Cao hasn't actually been on TV yet, but his list of victims is not bad, and he had five breaks over 60 against Woollaston in the previous round, so he obviously must be playing well. The business end of a major ranking event is new territory for him, but he will have the home advantage, and he is not under much pressure, as no one really expects him to beat Robertson. I think he would have had a decent chance of going through in the other quarters, but this one might be too difficult. Robertson to win 5-2. :smile:
John Higgins v. Joe Perry: I think this one is the toughest to call... It's kind of unusual to think of Higgins as second favourite in a match like this, especially when he has only lost two frames in the entire tournament so far, but Perry's form has been really impressive. Of the two, Perry is the one who has faced tougher opposition, including the local favourite Ding Junhui, but he hasn't really been in trouble at any point. We know his game doesn't really have a weakness, which makes him very dangerous when he finds a bit of breakbuilding form like the last two weeks. On top of that, his win in Yixing seems to have given him a lot of confidence, so I can only see him being beaten by a very strong performance from someone. Higgins' results definitely have been strong this week, but are they a little misleading? He was a heavy favourite in all three matches and got through them without really playing any one-visit stuff. You could say he has played as well as he's needed too, although judging by the scorelines, he could have played even worse and still got through. And I guess that's the scary thing with Higgins. When he isn't struggling with form, he has that very good "default standard" and just goes through tournaments without much trouble. But here he meets someone playing really well, which should make for a very interesting match. I wouldn't be surprised if this one went to a decider, and I would gave a slight edge to Perry. :smile:
Matthew Stevens v. David Morris: Perhaps the least interesting of the four matches, although the fact that Morris will be playing the biggest match of his life so far does add a bit of excitement. I had a feeling this last quarter could see some surprises, as Carter was the only obstacle to a real outsider coming through. Morris hasn't been on a TV table yet, so it's hard to guess how well he is playing, but his match against Carter didn't really see any high breaks. Stevens himself had a match like that against Liang Wenbo, but scored better against Lines. Morris scored better in the previous round against Greene, so I guess they both have the potential to play well, but for some reason I have the feeling it could be a big scrap. Stevens is of course a veteran of TV matches and very experienced at the business end of tournaments, which should give him an advantage over a player playing this type of match for the first time in his career. But then again, everyone reacts differently, and Morris might just play well as the underdog and not put too much pressure on himself. Stevens has to be favourite though, maybe a 5-2 victory. :smile:
Should be a good day of snooker. :wink:
Anyway, quite an interesting quarter-final lineup we have here...
Robert Milkins v. Anthony Hamilton: I think Milkins has to be the favourite for this one. He has had a lot of these runs in the last two seasons or so, a couple in China, where he comes through the first couple of rounds very strongly. He hasn't really played a top player yet, so it's hard to say how far he can go, but Hamilton isn't a top player either. These two play quite different styles of snooker, at least in terms of pace, and Milkins will be looking to take his chances and avoid prolonged and fragmented frames. On paper, Hamilton had a much tougher draw up to this point, including a win over the very solid Stuart Bingham in the last32. His game against Williams wasn't a classic, but it wasn't bad either, and it showed he is playing well enough that he won't be beaten by a mediocre performance. He is a good breakbuilder when playing well, but also very methodical, and he will be looking to keep Milkins away from the table. I have a feeling he won't quite succeed though, Milkins to win 5-3. :smile:
Neil Robertson v. Cao Yupeng: This is the one I am looking forward to the most. I think Robertson has been the most impressive player of the week so far. He disposed of Gould and King very convincingly, taking control of those matches early on and never looking like losing. It's interesting, a couple of months ago he was one of the few top players never to win a major title in China, but here he is one of the last few still in the tournament and looking strong for his second Chinese title in a row. He obviously didn't get demoralized after the disappointing World Championship, but rather got himself in good form early on in the season, possibly looking to do well in Australia as well. On paper, he should be a strong favourite in this match. It's kind of hard to call, because Cao hasn't actually been on TV yet, but his list of victims is not bad, and he had five breaks over 60 against Woollaston in the previous round, so he obviously must be playing well. The business end of a major ranking event is new territory for him, but he will have the home advantage, and he is not under much pressure, as no one really expects him to beat Robertson. I think he would have had a decent chance of going through in the other quarters, but this one might be too difficult. Robertson to win 5-2. :smile:
John Higgins v. Joe Perry: I think this one is the toughest to call... It's kind of unusual to think of Higgins as second favourite in a match like this, especially when he has only lost two frames in the entire tournament so far, but Perry's form has been really impressive. Of the two, Perry is the one who has faced tougher opposition, including the local favourite Ding Junhui, but he hasn't really been in trouble at any point. We know his game doesn't really have a weakness, which makes him very dangerous when he finds a bit of breakbuilding form like the last two weeks. On top of that, his win in Yixing seems to have given him a lot of confidence, so I can only see him being beaten by a very strong performance from someone. Higgins' results definitely have been strong this week, but are they a little misleading? He was a heavy favourite in all three matches and got through them without really playing any one-visit stuff. You could say he has played as well as he's needed too, although judging by the scorelines, he could have played even worse and still got through. And I guess that's the scary thing with Higgins. When he isn't struggling with form, he has that very good "default standard" and just goes through tournaments without much trouble. But here he meets someone playing really well, which should make for a very interesting match. I wouldn't be surprised if this one went to a decider, and I would gave a slight edge to Perry. :smile:
Matthew Stevens v. David Morris: Perhaps the least interesting of the four matches, although the fact that Morris will be playing the biggest match of his life so far does add a bit of excitement. I had a feeling this last quarter could see some surprises, as Carter was the only obstacle to a real outsider coming through. Morris hasn't been on a TV table yet, so it's hard to guess how well he is playing, but his match against Carter didn't really see any high breaks. Stevens himself had a match like that against Liang Wenbo, but scored better against Lines. Morris scored better in the previous round against Greene, so I guess they both have the potential to play well, but for some reason I have the feeling it could be a big scrap. Stevens is of course a veteran of TV matches and very experienced at the business end of tournaments, which should give him an advantage over a player playing this type of match for the first time in his career. But then again, everyone reacts differently, and Morris might just play well as the underdog and not put too much pressure on himself. Stevens has to be favourite though, maybe a 5-2 victory. :smile:
Should be a good day of snooker. :wink:
Comment