Betfair Masters Quarter Final Discussion !

here are the players press conferences

Judd Trump: https://soundcloud.com/moniquelimbos/masters13trumpqf
Graeme Dott: https://soundcloud.com/moniquelimbos/masters13dottqf

I knew Graeme had discovered part of the reason for the loss of form lately but I had my doubts that he had enough time to rectify it. Luckily Trump played a part by not showing up in any real sense and GRaeme, while hewas a little better he still has work to do. At least he knows the problem now.
Well done.

Sickpotter wrote:Congrats Dott, well deserved win.

Judd.....may have the talent but lacking in the aura of invincibility that surrounds the best in the game.

I have to say his play is very typical of leftys. When they're on song they're great but when they're off, man are they off. Great to have natural talent but when you have an off day it's hard to win without rock solid technique and self-belief.

I find Judd is very much a confidence player. I know you can say that about a lot of players, but Judd seems to do well in a tournament / win a tournament, and suddenly he does almost have that aura of invincibility. I think the fact that he won the China Open out of nowhere helped him get to The Crucible Final. As did the fact that the BBC commentators were all pushing each other out of the way to kiss his bottom. That momentum carried him through the UK Championship wins.

Somehow now he's lost in this year's UK Championships, and the commentators are referring to him as a player that needs to regain and solidify his position as the best player in the world he seems to be struggling. In The Masters he looked to have completely changed his style, which has hindered him.

I wonder if those dopey shoes he was wearing the other day was an attempt to get people noticing him again and talking about him again. He really needs to be able to get confidence in his game from himself, because if he needs to be constantly told how good he is all the time to produce form then it isn't going to last.

Of course, we're perhaps over reacting to two bad tournaments results. He has only put in a bad performance in two tournaments this year, and is still World Number 2. But when you're constantly being told that a guy is the next big thing or the next Ronnie O'Sullivan or the pre-tournament favourite every tournament, then people will be hyper-critical.

GET IN THERE DOTT.

WELL CHUFFED FOR HIS DAD JOHN

Witz78 wrote:GET IN THERE DOTT.

WELL CHUFFED FOR HIS DAD JOHN

Judd hatah!

SnookerFan wrote:

Sickpotter wrote:Congrats Dott, well deserved win.

Judd.....may have the talent but lacking in the aura of invincibility that surrounds the best in the game.

I have to say his play is very typical of leftys. When they're on song they're great but when they're off, man are they off. Great to have natural talent but when you have an off day it's hard to win without rock solid technique and self-belief.

I find Judd is very much a confidence player. I know you can say that about a lot of players, but Judd seems to do well in a tournament / win a tournament, and suddenly he does almost have that aura of invincibility. I think the fact that he won the China Open out of nowhere helped him get to The Crucible Final. As did the fact that the BBC commentators were all pushing each other out of the way to kiss his bottom. That momentum carried him through the UK Championship wins.

Somehow now he's lost in this year's UK Championships, and the commentators are referring to him as a player that needs to regain and solidify his position as the best player in the world he seems to be struggling. In The Masters he looked to have completely changed his style, which has hindered him.

I wonder if those dopey shoes he was wearing the other day was an attempt to get people noticing him again and talking about him again. He really needs to be able to get confidence in his game from himself, because if he needs to be constantly told how good he is all the time to produce form then it isn't going to last.

Of course, we're perhaps over reacting to two bad tournaments results. He has only put in a bad performance in two tournaments this year, and is still World Number 2. But when you're constantly being told that a guy is the next big thing or the next Ronnie O'Sullivan or the pre-tournament favourite every tournament, then people will be hyper-critical.

Trump's problem is that he believes his own hype. All that twitter "international playboi"and "naughty snooker" nonsense that he and BBC commentators bought into, then declaring himself as the next Ronnie, those flash cars and fancy shoes.
Fact remains, he's only won 3 tournaments. And in the UK off the back of his China International title, everyone assumed h'd only have to turn up to York to win his second UK. Then he snake hissed around against Mark Joyce first round, lost a match he should have won, and hasnt been the same since.

I think what it is, is that he's not got that B-Game, that say a John Higgins has. How many tournaments has John won whilst looking pretty mediocre? To be top of the pile you need to develop that. Judd hasn't yet. When he won the China Open he looked good in every match, and looked like he was going to win the tournament in every match. When Dott was 5-1 up, the commentators were saying that his highest break was about 50. Judd needs to find the right balance between sticking to his own "naughty" style as much as possible, but at the same time having a Plan B if he needs it.

It's a hard thing to do, and this isn't a rant at Judd, or me saying I think Judd is rubbish. He's not. He's World Number 2. It's just an observation that he seems to need to be playing well to win, as ridiculous as it sounds to point out.

Judds never the new Ronnie in a million years

im a fan of him but i think thats pretty clear

even my mates who hate Ronnie and like Judd say hes not in Ronnies league at all

though most of my mtaes who did like JUdd have gone right off him since he started getting a bit too cocky and up himself

SnookerFan wrote:I think what it is, is that he's not got that B-Game, that say a John Higgins has. How many tournaments has John won whilst looking pretty mediocre? To be top of the pile you need to develop that. Judd hasn't yet. When he won the China Open he looked good in every match, and looked like he was going to win the tournament in every match. When Dott was 5-1 up, the commentators were saying that his highest break was about 50. Judd needs to find the right balance between sticking to his own "naughty" style as much as possible, but at the same time having a Plan B if he needs it.

It's a hard thing to do, and this isn't a rant at Judd, or me saying I think Judd is rubbish. He's not. He's World Number 2. It's just an observation that he seems to need to be playing well to win, as ridiculous as it sounds to point out.

do us all a favour love and go down your local discotheque tonight and live a litte for once in your life

Witz78 wrote:Judds never the new Ronnie in a million years

im a fan of him but i think thats pretty clear

even my mates who hate Ronnie and like Judd say hes not in Ronnies league at all

though most of my mtaes who did like JUdd have gone right off him since he started getting a bit too cocky and up himself

I don't mind Judd liking cars, shoes or whatever he wants to like. If he wants to spend his money doing that, fine. It's his money. The problem is when it distracts from his snooker. He should be entering tournaments to win them, not to be showing off his new purchases.

Hopefully he'll look at the Mark Joyce match and learn that he can't take liberties, no matter who the opponent is. Hopefully he'll look at this tournament and realise nobody gives a buck about what shoes he's wearing and that he has to concentrate on the match being played, not how trendy he looks.

These losses are where lessons are learned though, not from tournament wins.

SnookerFan wrote:

Witz78 wrote:Judds never the new Ronnie in a million years

im a fan of him but i think thats pretty clear

even my mates who hate Ronnie and like Judd say hes not in Ronnies league at all

though most of my mtaes who did like JUdd have gone right off him since he started getting a bit too cocky and up himself

I don't mind Judd liking cars, shoes or whatever he wants to like. If he wants to spend his money doing that, fine. It's his money. The problem is when it distracts from his snooker. He should be entering tournaments to win them, not to be showing off his new purchases.

Hopefully he'll look at the Mark Joyce match and learn that he can't take liberties, no matter who the opponent is. Hopefully he'll look at this tournament and realise nobody gives a little kitten about what shoes he's wearing and that he has to concentrate on the match being played, not how trendy he looks.

These losses are where lessons are learned though, not from tournament wins.

It's like Hendry said in the commentary box, Trump paid Dott too much respect, trying to go toe to toe in the safety department (where there was only ever gonna be one winner), whilst forgetting his own natural game, which would have probably beaten Dott (whose highest break in th first 6 frames was 54).
Snookerfan is right, Trump needs to find a balance between playing to the crowd and grinding out wins. We'll see what he's learnt, if anything, at the Crucible

Witz78 wrote:Judds never the new Ronnie in a million years

im a fan of him but i think thats pretty clear

even my mates who hate Ronnie and like Judd say hes not in Ronnies league at all

though most of my mtaes who did like JUdd have gone right off him since he started getting a bit too cocky and up himself

I agree, we're unlikely to see another Ronnie, the similarities between the two are more playing style than anything else.

At the outset of his career, ROS followed a very similar progression.

Came on like God's gift to the game and had some early success. Shortly after his initial success he had a few years where he lost the plot and indulged in the usual adolescent activities (partying, women, etc.). Bound to happen when you spent the years one normal engages in those activities practising snooker.

IMO Judd's doing the same thing now. He's come into a ton of money over the last couple of seasons and enjoying it has taken a toll on his game.

Plenty of time for him to turn it around but he'd best make sure he doesn't accumulate too many battle scars in the meantime.

SnookerFan wrote:TWITTER ATTACK!

For those of you worried about the snow in Croydon, and whether I will make the match tomorrow or not;

Your Croydon‏@yourcroydon
Our gritting crew will be running a continuous service for as long as they're needed over the weekend: http://ow.ly/gVu6e


Let's here it for the Croydon gritters.

If I had a ticket for tomorrow I'd make sure that I'd be there

Part timer

simplysnooker wrote:
If I had a ticket for tomorrow I'd make sure that I'd be there

Part timer

If you had a ticket.....

Sounds like it's not me who is the part-timer.

From the sounds of it, Trump played dire and Dott played well enough to make it as emphatic as it deserved.

The thing with Trump is that he hasn't really played very well since he won the UK Championships. Since last years Masters when he reached the semi-finals, he's not actually set the world alight though he has been to and reached the number one ranking he has in essence underachieved. Even how contradictory that sounds.

Trump's problem is his attitude, and in particular towards those players who in his mind he thinks are those who he should be able to beat however badly he or however well the other players play. We've seen in droves over the past twelve months, with the way he reacted to Carter beating him at the Crucible with the jibe that "players enjoy him losing" - add on to that the way that he was less than generous in his praise for Mark Joyce's comeback to beat him in York.

When Trump won the UK Championships, I said that one of the reasons why he has done so well is that he had not really had any battlescars - he'd won his first ranker, reached the World Championship final, Won that brilliant final against Ronnie in Antwerp and then capped it off with the UK win in York. I said that when they came it would be interesting to see how he responded.

They arrived in Sheffield and enhanced themselves when he let slip the 7-2 lead over Higgins in the Shanghai Masters Final. Though he won the International, they've not really gone away with the results here and in York. And the way he's responded, he can see some of the clouds gathering in the Trump sky

Luca is more in the Ronnie vein in my opinion. Judd is a fantastic talent and a great potter but Luca has that bit of magic about him that you're born with.

excellent analysis patrick

PLtheRef wrote:From the sounds of it, Trump played dire and Dott played well enough to make it as emphatic as it deserved.

The thing with Trump is that he hasn't really played very well since he won the UK Championships. Since last years Masters when he reached the semi-finals, he's not actually set the world alight though he has been to and reached the number one ranking he has in essence underachieved. Even how contradictory that sounds.

Trump's problem is his attitude, and in particular towards those players who in his mind he thinks are those who he should be able to beat however badly he or however well the other players play. We've seen in droves over the past twelve months, with the way he reacted to Carter beating him at the Crucible with the jibe that "players enjoy him losing" - add on to that the way that he was less than generous in his praise for Mark Joyce's comeback to beat him in York.

When Trump won the UK Championships, I said that one of the reasons why he has done so well is that he had not really had any battlescars - he'd won his first ranker, reached the World Championship final, Won that brilliant final against Ronnie in Antwerp and then capped it off with the UK win in York. I said that when they came it would be interesting to see how he responded.

They arrived in Sheffield and enhanced themselves when he let slip the 7-2 lead over Higgins in the Shanghai Masters Final. Though he won the International, they've not really gone away with the results here and in York. And the way he's responded, he can see some of the clouds gathering in the Trump sky

Definately agree, and with Snookerfan when he says that Judd needs to find a B game like Higgins or Selby have. though, despite all of this, he's still young and I'm sure will lift many more titles in his career. Didnt watch todays match (just arived home, but will watch it later on when Selby and Williams finish) but by the looks of it today the veteran in Dott and his tactical play outplayed Trump cause he tried to go towe to toe with his safety game, and we all know who's gonna win that battle, instead of just playing his natural game. Judd still tends to struggle when players bog him down, so has to learn to cope with that.

Great win for Dott and very happy that he has finally found some form he himself said hadnt found since reaching the final of Worlds 2010.

And I agree wth GJ, maybe we'll witness another Major final between Dott and Robbo, although i would very much prefer Robbo and Selby cause they haven't met much in toruneys and still haven't in a final, let alone a Major one.

Though i can see why he wants dott to reach the final...

Sonny wrote:Luca is more in the Ronnie vein in my opinion. Judd is a fantastic talent and a great potter but Luca has that bit of magic about him that you're born with.

I both agree and disagree with this.
I agree insofar that Luca is special, as is Ronnie. They are one-offs. Judd is very, very good but not "special"
However Luca and Ronnie are very different persons and I think it will show as Luca develops. Luca to me is more in the Hendry line somehow.

If you give 2 people the same talent, their unique personalities will give them different ways of using that talent.

Monique wrote:

Sonny wrote:Luca is more in the Ronnie vein in my opinion. Judd is a fantastic talent and a great potter but Luca has that bit of magic about him that you're born with.

I both agree and disagree with this.
I agree insofar that Luca is special, as is Ronnie. They are one-offs. Judd is very, very good but not "special"
However Luca and Ronnie are very different persons and I think it will show as Luca develops. Luca to me is more in the Hendry line somehow.

Yeah i agree, Ronnie in his young days just didnt care about safety, whereas Hendry also didnt care much but played safe when he needeed to and had a better temperament than Ronnie, though we all know Hendry never had to play much safety cause he potted them from anywhere on the table.

But yeah Luca is more on the hendry vein on that aspect, and I like his aporach and temperament to the game, just has to improve his safety department (he's very very young of course) and, especially, improve on something that he always seems too casual: when escaping snookers. If you have already noticed, Luca when escaping from snookers never gets down on the shot, plays them as if he was playing pool or something and doesnt think about angles too much, just gets down and shoots, and that has cost him some frames. He will definately have to improve on that, but as a massive fan of his since he was 14 when he played at the Grand Final fo world series of snooker in my country I love watching this absolute talented kid play and hope he fulfillls the massive expectation I have on him.

Wild WC wrote:Friday 18th of January

1pm

Graeme Dott 6-1 Judd Trump

7pm

Mark Selby v Mark Williams

Braw stuff fae Graeme there,thumping Trump 6 -1!.




Even though i,m not a Ronnie fan,compareing Judd or suggesting That he,ll become the new Ronnie makes me LOL,if that isn,t cobblers,then i dunno what is!.




Sure,he,s still young and has plenty time to become better and more consistent,but to be even in the same league as Ronnie,he,s got an Everest to climb!.




Yes,i have been pleased and have ranted and raved when Ronnie lost matches in the past,but that was mainly due to certain goofball fans of his and to the fans of his that were tryin to belittle Hendry,but deep down i,ve always had high respect for Ronnie!.




There is only one Ronnie O`Sullivan,just like there,s only one Stephen Hendry,we,ll probably never see the likes of these two players again,at least in the next 10 years we won,t!.

hendry_fan wrote:

Wild WC wrote:Friday 18th of January

1pm

Graeme Dott 6-1 Judd Trump

7pm

Mark Selby v Mark Williams

Braw stuff fae Graeme there,thumping Trump 6 -1!.




Even though i,m not a Ronnie fan,compareing Judd or suggesting That he,ll become the new Ronnie makes me LOL,if that isn,t cobblers,then i dunno what is!.




Sure,he,s still young and has plenty time to become better and more consistent,but to be even in the same league as Ronnie,he,s got an Everest to climb!.




Yes,i have been pleased and have ranted and raved when Ronnie lost matches in the past,but that was mainly due to certain goofball fans of his and to the fans of his that were tryin to belittle Hendry,but deep down i,ve always had high respect for Ronnie!.




There is only one Ronnie O`Sullivan,just like there,s only one Stephen Hendry,we,ll probably never see the likes of these two players again,at least in the next 10 years we won,t!.

Absolutely, very often people just hate Ronnie not because of him personally, but mainly due to some stupid Ronnie fanboys who are rude to others when Ronnie doesnt win a match or something. Ronnie will always be my favourite player, but as you know I'm one of few ronnie fans who arent like those stupid obcessive ones and recognize when something isnt right with him and admit it, fortunately here on SnookerIsland almost all Ronnie fans respect other players and other fans or other players than Ronnie. And for me hendry will always be the greatest ever player to play snooker, mainly because of his vast amount of titles and absolte dedication to the game to win one tourney and then get immediatly prepared and bang up for the next one and often win it, thats one of the things I admire most in hendry.

A shame indeed that we probably wont get to see hendry and ronnie playing competitive snooker anymore.

Have to be honest im suppporting williams tonight

GJ wrote:Have to be honest im suppporting williams tonight

afraid of Selby.....

Andre147 wrote:

GJ wrote:Have to be honest im suppporting williams tonight

afraid of Selby.....

Yup. He even admitted it. Unfortunately Robbo himself doesn't share that same fear.

GJ wrote:Have to be honest im suppporting williams tonight

you wanting Robbo to have an easy route to glory again haha

Andre147 wrote:

GJ wrote:Have to be honest im suppporting williams tonight

afraid of Selby.....

the uk match is a worry although it may be better for robbo to get a chance to get revenge

Witz78 wrote:

GJ wrote:Have to be honest im suppporting williams tonight

you wanting Robbo to have an easy route to glory again haha

yeh last year was easy

allen
wiliams
trump
murphy

cake walk