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Ssb - day seven
JUDD TRUMP V NEIL ROBERTSON
A repeat on their enthralling UK Championship semi-final, which Trump edged 9-7. He remarked afterwards that Robertson had been slow but it is naive to expect everyone to play the same game as him.
Actually, this is the worst mistake you can make playing Trump.
In the form he is in and with the confidence his success has brought it is going to be very hard to out-pot Trump, as Ronnie O'Sullivan discovered.
Robertson should instead play to his own strengths. He is a fine tactician but also a heavy scorer, a little like John Higgins.
Frustrate Trump if you can because, if you can't, he will take you apart.
That said, the fact Robertson has had to play in a new tip overnight doesn't add weight to the Australian's cause.
Prediction: Trump to win 6-4
JOHN HIGGINS V SHAUN MURPHY
Higgins has got it together for the first time in a big event this season. As professional snooker continues to evolve there are question marks over the three great players of the last 15 years, all 36, but Higgins remains a formidable match player.
Murphy has not been flawless in reaching his first masters semi-final but has at times been superb.
Martin Gould failed to press home his early advantage against him in the first round and Mark Selby made two key errors last night: a bungled safety on the black in frame two and a missed yellow in the sixth.
Murphy is exuding an air of great confidence. He is hitting the ball sweetly and scoring well when in.
The last player to complete the triple crown of world, UK and Masters titles was O'Sullivan by winning at the Crucible in 2001. Murphy has already won two and is closing in on a third.
Prediction: Murphy to win 6-3
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A repeat on their enthralling UK Championship semi-final, which Trump edged 9-7. He remarked afterwards that Robertson had been slow but it is naive to expect everyone to play the same game as him.
Actually, this is the worst mistake you can make playing Trump.
In the form he is in and with the confidence his success has brought it is going to be very hard to out-pot Trump, as Ronnie O'Sullivan discovered.
Robertson should instead play to his own strengths. He is a fine tactician but also a heavy scorer, a little like John Higgins.
Frustrate Trump if you can because, if you can't, he will take you apart.
That said, the fact Robertson has had to play in a new tip overnight doesn't add weight to the Australian's cause.
Prediction: Trump to win 6-4
JOHN HIGGINS V SHAUN MURPHY
Higgins has got it together for the first time in a big event this season. As professional snooker continues to evolve there are question marks over the three great players of the last 15 years, all 36, but Higgins remains a formidable match player.
Murphy has not been flawless in reaching his first masters semi-final but has at times been superb.
Martin Gould failed to press home his early advantage against him in the first round and Mark Selby made two key errors last night: a bungled safety on the black in frame two and a missed yellow in the sixth.
Murphy is exuding an air of great confidence. He is hitting the ball sweetly and scoring well when in.
The last player to complete the triple crown of world, UK and Masters titles was O'Sullivan by winning at the Crucible in 2001. Murphy has already won two and is closing in on a third.
Prediction: Murphy to win 6-3
More...