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Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Bourne

In your opinion, who is the leading contender to win the Masters next month at Wembley ? 4 players could lay serious claims for favouritism:

John Higgins - After 6 months in the wilderness, bounced back in sensational fashion in winning the UK Championship in an epic final against Mark Williams in December, as well as winning a PTC a few weeks beforehand. Masters not his strong point, with 6 R1 exits in the last 11 years but has won it twice.

Neil Robertson - World Champion, already a ranking winner this season as well as reaching the number-one spot in the world. Only managed two R1 wins in his Masters career, this will be his fifth appearance.

Ronnie O'Sullivan - May be outside the top-8 for the first time in ages, but loves this event especially being from London himself. 4 titles and 5 other finals in his career, already won two non-ranking events this season in the Premier League and Power Snooker so may view this event as another release from the pressures of the ranking events.

Mark Selby - Won in 2008, finalist in 2009 and won again in 2010, clearly able to bring his best for this tournament even though his form in the rest of the season may be patchy at best.

Who do you see as the most likely to take home the title ?

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby JohnFromLondonTown

Toughie that. :chin:

I think I'm working over in London that week, weather permitting, so I'll be popping down having a closer look if so.

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Casey

Ronnie will be favourite for the Masters, I think it’s the only major he will ever win again.
He has avoided Higgins and Selby in his half so I fully expect him to make the final. Will he win it? Not sure as he has lost more finals than he has won.

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby SnookerFan

case_master wrote:Ronnie will be favourite for the Masters, I think it’s the only major he will ever win again.
He has avoided Higgins and Selby in his half so I fully expect him to make the final. Will he win it? Not sure as he has lost more finals than he has won.


So, he has avoided Selby? Then it'll be another Ronnie vs Selby final, I predict.

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby JohnFromLondonTown

case_master wrote:Ronnie will be favourite for the Masters, I think it’s the only major he will ever win again.
He has avoided Higgins and Selby in his half so I fully expect him to make the final. Will he win it? Not sure as he has lost more finals than he has won.

He might have something else on that week. :john:

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Witz78

Higgins hasnt a hope.

Unlike the clowns in the Telford audience, the Wembley mob wont hold back and will let their feelings be known.

I predict booooing on his arrival into the arena and frequent shout outs.

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Bourne

Witz78 wrote:Higgins hasnt a hope.

Unlike the clowns in the Telford audience, the Wembley mob wont hold back and will let their feelings be known.

I predict booooing on his arrival into the arena and frequent shout outs.

Nah most of them are like you and too scared to go along with their word here and do it for real when they're there :)

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Wildey

Witz78 wrote:Higgins hasnt a hope.

Unlike the clowns in the Telford audience, the Wembley mob wont hold back and will let their feelings be known.

I predict booooing on his arrival into the arena and frequent shout outs.

then he will win it and put up a :bird: :bird: to all the thickos who think that will bother him <ok>

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Witz78

Bourne wrote:
Witz78 wrote:Higgins hasnt a hope.

Unlike the clowns in the Telford audience, the Wembley mob wont hold back and will let their feelings be known.

I predict booooing on his arrival into the arena and frequent shout outs.

Nah most of them are like you and too scared to go along with their word here and do it for real when they're there :)


bookmark this and wait till April then <ok>

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Casey

I predict all the boo boys will be routed out by frame 2. If anything it will only spur Higgins on more to do what he did last night and shove it up his haters.
Saying this I agree that he won’t win the Masters, however he is the favourite for every other event imo.

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Witz78

case_master wrote:I predict all the boo boys will be routed out by frame 2. If anything it will only spur Higgins on more to do what he did last night and shove it up his haters.
Saying this I agree that he won’t win the Masters, however he is the favourite for every other event imo.


pay our money, entitled to our opinion.

Will Higgins have the balls to play in the Sky Shootout? :sad:

The boozed up crowd at Blackpool will make the Power Snooker crowd look like a church coffee morning :clap:

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Snooker Overdrive

case_master wrote:Ronnie will be favourite for the Masters, I think it’s the only major he will ever win again.
He has avoided Higgins and Selby in his half so I fully expect him to make the final. Will he win it? Not sure as he has lost more finals than he has won.


I often heard that Ronnie was finished and would never win anything ever again. After the WC 2007 for example. After his win in the Premier League he was one of the big favourites for the UK now I'll never win another major except maybe the Masters. He had a bad day nothing more. His happens to Ronnie in the UK almost every second year. I guess whenever Ronnie loses a match nowadays playing bad shots cause of frustration he's finished with his whole career.

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Casey

Snooker Overdrive wrote:
case_master wrote:Ronnie will be favourite for the Masters, I think it’s the only major he will ever win again.
He has avoided Higgins and Selby in his half so I fully expect him to make the final. Will he win it? Not sure as he has lost more finals than he has won.


I often heard that Ronnie was finished and would never win anything ever again. After the WC 2007 for example. After his win in the Premier League he was one of the big favourites for the UK now I'll never win another major except maybe the Masters. He had a bad day nothing more. His happens to Ronnie in the UK almost every second year. I guess whenever Ronnie loses a match nowadays playing bad shots cause of frustration he's finished with his whole career.


Well I never built him up after his UK win, in fact the opposite, I pointed out it was irrelevant in terms of world snooker events and I was right.
Ronnie hasn’t won a major in two years, I think given his age that’s a long enough period to ask questions about his future potential in events.
Also his lose to Bingham was a bit more than a bad day a the office...it was pure contempt to the event.

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Snooker Overdrive

case_master wrote:
Snooker Overdrive wrote:
case_master wrote:Ronnie will be favourite for the Masters, I think it’s the only major he will ever win again.
He has avoided Higgins and Selby in his half so I fully expect him to make the final. Will he win it? Not sure as he has lost more finals than he has won.


I often heard that Ronnie was finished and would never win anything ever again. After the WC 2007 for example. After his win in the Premier League he was one of the big favourites for the UK now I'll never win another major except maybe the Masters. He had a bad day nothing more. His happens to Ronnie in the UK almost every second year. I guess whenever Ronnie loses a match nowadays playing bad shots cause of frustration he's finished with his whole career.


Well I never built him up after his UK win, in fact the opposite, I pointed out it was irrelevant in terms of world snooker events and I was right.
Ronnie hasn’t won a major in two years, I think given his age that’s a long enough period to ask questions about his future potential in events.
Also his lose to Bingham was a bit more than a bad day a the office...it was pure contempt to the event.


As long as Higgins and Williams are still kicking Ronnie will also remain the ability to play snooker to the highest standard. His mindset has come and gone during the last decade and there's no reason why it shouldn't come back again. Last year he was stopped in the majors by three incrediable performances by Selby and Higgins and could have easily won all three of these matches. Ronnie lost the plot in the UK more than once before so thats nothing new (just think back to 2006).

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Casey

Very true, Ronnie had a similar period a few years back. However, he is not as young as before and other players like Robbo and Selby are confident playing him with proper belief. This wasn’t the case years ago.
If he loses his fear factor it becomes more difficult for him to win watches on his B game. Of course he could turn it around, I am not saying he defiantly won’t, but I don’t think he will.
His fans can take solace in the Masters, but outside that I think he will offer little up.

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby SnookerFan

Witz78 wrote:Higgins hasnt a hope.

Unlike the clowns in the Telford audience, the Wembley mob wont hold back and will let their feelings be known.

I predict booooing on his arrival into the arena and frequent shout outs.


He's not got no chance, but he has a tough draw. He'll get past Dott, I reckon. But then he plays the winner of Mark Williams, or Ding. Which will be tough. (I predict it'll be Williams.) Then, in the semis, it's possible he'll be playing a very hungry Selby. My predictions are that if Higgins are to win, he'll have to beat Dott, Williams, Selby, Ronnie. It'll be very, very tough. So, if he doesn't win, it'll be because he had a hard draw, not because people boo him. Higgins doesn't really care about that. In 2006, he played and beat Jimmy White and Ronnie O'Sullivan. And they boo you at Wembley simply because you aren't Ronnie or Jimmy. He even said afterwards that he likes that kind of atmosphere. If anything will beat him, it's the tough draw at a tournament that's not his favourite.

He's not favourite, I think Ronnie or Selby or favourite, but I certainly don't discount Higgins. If his opponents discount him, he'll certainly win. He has a new found hunger, and a desire to prove himself. And having people booing like morons isn't going to make him want to lose is it?

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Monique

JR did it! wrote:Well I never built him up after his UK win, in fact the opposite, I pointed out it was irrelevant in terms of world snooker events and I was right.
Ronnie hasn’t won a major in two years, I think given his age that’s a long enough period to ask questions about his future potential in events.
Also his lose to Bingham was a bit more than a bad day a the office...it was pure contempt to the event.


I don't know what triggered Ronnie's mood swing (*) in the UK but it certainly wasn't contempt to the event. The UK is a tournament he values, the very first big one he won, and I know (I mean I KNOW) he had been practising hard and working seriouly with his coach ahead of it.
He hasn't won a MAJOR since may 2008, true, but, looking at the last season and a half, he has won the Shanhai Masters in September 2009 (that's not 2 years ago), and the PL end November 2010; He has also be in the final of the Masters 2010, of the World Open 2010 and one PTC. And you can add a few semis (UK 2009, Welsh 2009). If you also look at how many great matches he has been involved in ... win or lose them ... well that's not bad for someone who is "finished".

As for Bingham, he deserves credit for the way he played in that match (and the next one also BTW). He was very, very good. He always was a dangerous player on his day (ask Hendry ;) )

(*) I say mood swing because for the 3 first mini sessions he was playing properly and looked perfectly OK. He then came back from the MSI with a strained and angry look, started playing reckless and showing signs of anxiety and frustration.
I'm not making it up. See for instance what Paul Collier says here: http://welcometooncue.blogspot.com/2010 ... ember.html?

Now as for who is favourite for the Masters, I don't know. Selby certainly wants it, Higgins is hungry for everything and Ronnie has played in 6 finals in the 7 last editions winning 3 of them.

and on a slightly "side" topic here is what Dave Hendon just put on Twitter
Masters sponsor to be announced tomorrow. Good one too.

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Monique

SnookerFan wrote:Masters sponsor to be announced tomorrow. Good one too.

Which online betting company is it going to be? <laugh>


That's anyone's guess. Care to bet?

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby SnookerFan

Monique wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:Masters sponsor to be announced tomorrow. Good one too.

Which online betting company is it going to be? <laugh>


That's anyone's guess. Care to bet?


Stuart Bingham told me to bet on 365bet.com. <ok>

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby KrazeeEyezKilla

Selby & O'Sullivan would be the two favourites but some people are going a bit far with comments about it being Ronnie's tournament and it being the only one he'll win. It's like they're ready for a major gloating session if he losses and if he wins the tournamnent it can be just dismissed. He has a great record at Wembley but theres a massive difference between this and the likes of the one match at a time PL and exhibition Power Snooker.

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Roland

I don't know what triggered Ronnie's mood swing (*) in the UK but it certainly wasn't contempt to the event. The UK is a tournament he values, the very first big one he won, and I know (I mean I KNOW) he had been practising hard and working seriouly with his coach ahead of it.


That may be true but when you look back to his walk out at 4-1 down to Hendry and the way he threw the match against Bingham and also Joe Perry a couple of years back I wonder how much he really values it. I mean he's never done it in the Premier League...

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby SnookerFan

Sonny wrote:
I don't know what triggered Ronnie's mood swing (*) in the UK but it certainly wasn't contempt to the event. The UK is a tournament he values, the very first big one he won, and I know (I mean I KNOW) he had been practising hard and working seriouly with his coach ahead of it.


That may be true but when you look back to his walk out at 4-1 down to Hendry and the way he threw the match against Bingham and also Joe Perry a couple of years back I wonder how much he really values it. I mean he's never done it in the Premier League...


Or at The Masters. You know, you may have a point.

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Monique

SnookerFan wrote:
Sonny wrote:
I don't know what triggered Ronnie's mood swing (*) in the UK but it certainly wasn't contempt to the event. The UK is a tournament he values, the very first big one he won, and I know (I mean I KNOW) he had been practising hard and working seriouly with his coach ahead of it.


That may be true but when you look back to his walk out at 4-1 down to Hendry and the way he threw the match against Bingham and also Joe Perry a couple of years back I wonder how much he really values it. I mean he's never done it in the Premier League...


Or at The Masters. You know, you may have a point.


Last year at the Masters that green was not the right shot to take isn't it? I f you compare how hard he fought in 2009 and how he let it slip in 2010, then you have your answer. He's done it in every major tournament, to an extent, occasionally.
As for the PL, well no he hasn't actually done it, but he thought about it precisely in 2006, both in the semi and in the final (he thought about walking out and he won both BTW) as he explained in an interview in "Question of sport" some 2 years later. And it's those depressive feelings that made him want to withdraw from the UK that year (2006) as he wasn't feeling fit to cope with the pressure. He was persuaded no to by WSA for commercial reasons and when he "cracked" he was punished all the same.

Re: Who is favourite for the Masters 2011 ?

Postby Roland

What do you mean about the green? I thought you agreed with me that he gave it plenty of thought, felt that he'd get it so took it on. He showed bottle to take it on in my opinion. But looking on yes, it was one that if missed would get everyone saying it was the wrong shot.