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Dafabet Masters Pre Tournament Discussion !!!!

Postby Wildey

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Sunday 10th~Sunday 17th of January at Alexandra Palace, London

The Masters was first staged in January 1975 only one of the players playing this year was born Joe Perry was 5 Months Old. Years before he was a Brat never mind a Gentleman :redneck: .

John Spencer was the first winner all those years ago winning £2,000. The winner this year will pick up a cheque for £200,000.

The Defending Champion is Shaun Murphy having beaten Neil Robertson 10-2 in last year's Final.

Who will take the spoils this year?

DRAW

Round 1
Shaun Murphy v Mark Allen
Barry Hawkins v Joe Perry
Judd Trump v Stephen Maguire
Neil Robertson v Marco Fu
----------------------------------------------
Mark Selby v Ricky Walden
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Mark J Williams
John Higgins v Liang Wenbo
Stuart Bingham v Ding Junhui

ORDER OF PLAY

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Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Holden Chinaski

I'm hoping for a performance by Ronnie similar to his 2014 Masters performance. I still think his 2005 Masters final against Higgins was Ronnie at his very best. Don't think he will reach that standard ever again, but you never know. I hope he's been putting the practice hours in.

The Masters is my second favourite tournament.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Muppet147

Holden Chinaski wrote:I'm hoping for a performance by Ronnie similar to his 2014 Masters performance. I still think his 2005 Masters final against Higgins was Ronnie at his very best. Don't think he will reach that standard ever again, but you never know. I hope he's been putting the practice hours in.

The Masters is my second favourite tournament.


Unfortunately, I don't think Ronnie will be at his best. But this is a great warm up for the bigger tournament to come.

And I think he might win that one!

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Andre147

Holden Chinaski wrote:I'm hoping for a performance by Ronnie similar to his 2014 Masters performance. I still think his 2005 Masters final against Higgins was Ronnie at his very best. Don't think he will reach that standard ever again, but you never know. I hope he's been putting the practice hours in.

The Masters is my second favourite tournament.


You shouldn't expect a peak Ronnie like in 2014 when he's pratically hasn't played competitively for 6 or 7 months, just two qualifying matches.

I do expect him to beat MJW, but beyond that and with Ronnie being rusty my hopes won't be too high, especially given his potencial opponent Selby at Quarters.

That being said, if there's one player out there who can suddenly win a tournament like this after almost not playing since Worlds, that player is Ronnie O'Sullivan, he's proved it in the past.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby PLtheRef

Andre147 wrote:
Holden Chinaski wrote:I'm hoping for a performance by Ronnie similar to his 2014 Masters performance. I still think his 2005 Masters final against Higgins was Ronnie at his very best. Don't think he will reach that standard ever again, but you never know. I hope he's been putting the practice hours in.

The Masters is my second favourite tournament.


You shouldn't expect a peak Ronnie like in 2014 when he's pratically hasn't played competitively for 6 or 7 months, just two qualifying matches.

I do expect him to beat MJW, but beyond that and with Ronnie being rusty my hopes won't be too high, especially given his potencial opponent Selby at Quarters.

That being said, if there's one player out there who can suddenly win a tournament like this after almost not playing since Worlds, that player is Ronnie O'Sullivan, he's proved it in the past.


I think we said this about Ronnie ahead of the 2013 World Championship - that he'd not have much trouble in the first round - but against stronger players he'd struggle. - Some of us even said that he shouldn't even compete at the Crucible, - as it wasn't fair on Ronnie to get beat in the first round - and we all know what happened there.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Holden Chinaski

PLtheRef wrote:
Andre147 wrote:
Holden Chinaski wrote:I'm hoping for a performance by Ronnie similar to his 2014 Masters performance. I still think his 2005 Masters final against Higgins was Ronnie at his very best. Don't think he will reach that standard ever again, but you never know. I hope he's been putting the practice hours in.

The Masters is my second favourite tournament.


You shouldn't expect a peak Ronnie like in 2014 when he's pratically hasn't played competitively for 6 or 7 months, just two qualifying matches.

I do expect him to beat MJW, but beyond that and with Ronnie being rusty my hopes won't be too high, especially given his potencial opponent Selby at Quarters.

That being said, if there's one player out there who can suddenly win a tournament like this after almost not playing since Worlds, that player is Ronnie O'Sullivan, he's proved it in the past.


I think we said this about Ronnie ahead of the 2013 World Championship - that he'd not have much trouble in the first round - but against stronger players he'd struggle. - Some of us even said that he shouldn't even compete at the Crucible, - as it wasn't fair on Ronnie to get beat in the first round - and we all know what happened there.

I believe Wild said something like "If Ronnie gets to the final I will run around naked in the street with a daffodil up my ass" before the 2013 World Championship. :chuckle:

Never underestimate Ronnie. He might play crap, or he might be unbeatable. You never know.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Andre147

Holden Chinaski wrote:I believe Wild said something like "If Ronnie gets to the final I will run around naked in the street with a daffodil up my ass" before the 2013 World Championship. :chuckle:

Never underestimate Ronnie. He might play crap, or he might be unbeatable. You never know.


yeah, just saying to not get your hopes too high for that. Whilst I do believe he'll get past MJW, beyond that is just a Wild guess.

What I would absolutely love would be a Semi-Final meeting at a Major event like this between Higgins and Ronnie. I would love to see one final big match between them at a Major, one of the greatest rivarlies in Snooker deserves at least one big final match.

But yeah like I say I'm just hoping that Ronnie plays well and stays motivated, win or lose that's what I like to see from him.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Prop

Andre147 wrote:
Holden Chinaski wrote:I believe Wild said something like "If Ronnie gets to the final I will run around naked in the street with a daffodil up my ass" before the 2013 World Championship. :chuckle:

Never underestimate Ronnie. He might play crap, or he might be unbeatable. You never know.


yeah, just saying to not get your hopes too high for that. Whilst I do believe he'll get past MJW, beyond that is just a Wild guess.

What I would absolutely love would be a Semi-Final meeting at a Major event like this between Higgins and Ronnie. I would love to see one final big match between them at a Major, one of the greatest rivarlies in Snooker deserves at least one big final match.

But yeah like I say I'm just hoping that Ronnie plays well and stays motivated, win or lose that's what I like to see from him.


That would be great to see - and it's not completely unrealistic - Higgins played some quality stuff at the International, so I'm sure he's not a million miles from finding that form again. And Ronnie, well if it's his day, as we've seen time and time again, he can be mesmerising.

It would be quite nostalgic in the very least!

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Andy Spark

SnookerFan wrote:buck me. There's a fit blonde sort playing in the woman's dart.

Anastasia throws her darts straight through my lovelorn heart.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby SnookerFan

So, my mind is turning to next week now and The Masters. :-D Got a few tickets, thinking of buying more when up there.

Also, what do you reckon the BBC's excellent features will be this time? I'm guessing a week-long discussion on Ronnie's OBE, some analysis of what shoe's Judd and his dad are both wearing and further opinion from Shaun Murphy on what causes a kick. <ok>

I have a new Jimmy White T-Shirt to wear this week by the way. <laugh>

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Andre147

Hope you have great fun in there mate!

I can keep you updated on Beeb's "interesting" features. The OBE Ronnie one is a dead certain.

Love this tournament, this one, German Masters and Worlds are my favourites for the season.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby SnookerFan

Here follows the BBC television coverage of the event.

Sunday, 10 January

BBC Two, 13:00-17:00 (14:00-17:00, BBC Two Wales)

BBC Red Button, 17:00-18:00, uninterrupted online from 12:50-18:00

BBC Red Button & Online, 19:00-23:00

Highlights on BBC Two at 23:00 (23:45 in Wales; 23:25 in NI) and Snooker Extra at 01:05 on Monday (02:10 in Scotland)


Monday, 11 January

BBC Two, 13:00-18:00

BBC Red Button & Online, 19:00-23:00

Highlights on BBC Two at 23:15 (23:45 in Scotland) and Snooker Extra at 00:30 on Tuesday
Tuesday, 12 January

Tuesday 12 January


BBC Two, 13:00-18:00 (viewers in Wales will experience a break from 13:45-14:35 but can continue watching on BBC Red Button)

BBC Red Button & Online, 19:00-23:00

Highlights on BBC Two at 00:05 on Wednesday (00:35 in Scotland and NI), and Snooker Extra at 01:35 (00:40 in Scotland)

Wednesday, 13 January

BBC Two, 13:00-18:00 (viewers in Scotland will experience a break from 14:30-15:30 but can continue watching on BBC Red Button)

BBC Red Button & Online, 19:00-23:00

Highlights on BBC Two at 23:15 (23:45 in Scotland) and Snooker Extra at 00:15 on Thursday (00:45 in Wales and NI; 01:40 in Scotland)

Thursday, 14 January


BBC Two, 13:00-18:00


BBC Two, 19:00-20:00

BBC Red Button & Online, 19:55-23:00 (Uninterrupted online from 19:00-23:00)


Friday, 15 January

BBC Two, 13:00-18:00

BBC Two, 19:00-20:00

BBC Red Button & Online, 19:55-23:00 (Uninterrupted online from 19:00-23:00)

Highlights on BBC Two at 23:05 and Snooker Extra at 01:45 (Saturday morning)

Saturday, 15 January


BBC One, 13:00-16:30 & BBC Two, 16:30-17:30 (Uninterrupted online from 13:00-17:30)


BBC Two, 19:00-22:30

Snooker Extra, 00:05-02:05 on Sunday

Sunday, 16 January


BBC Two, 12:50-17:15 & 19:00-23:00

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby SnookerFan

Andre147 wrote:Hope you have great fun in there mate!

I can keep you updated on Beeb's "interesting" features. The OBE Ronnie one is a dead certain.

Love this tournament, this one, German Masters and Worlds are my favourites for the season.


I'll try. I wonder if anything I said on Twitter will get mentioned in the programme again. rofl

I'll get to see some of it on telly. So will probably see some of the BBC's guff.

Couldn't be fussed with being at the Ally Pally all week. It's an overrated arena, in my opinion.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Andre147

SnookerFan wrote:
Andre147 wrote:Hope you have great fun in there mate!

I can keep you updated on Beeb's "interesting" features. The OBE Ronnie one is a dead certain.

Love this tournament, this one, German Masters and Worlds are my favourites for the season.


I'll try. I wonder if anything I said on Twitter will get mentioned in the programme again. rofl

I'll get to see some of it on telly. So will probably see some of the BBC's guff.

Couldn't be fussed with being at the Ally Pally all week. It's an overrated arena, in my opinion.


But much better than Wembley arena no? Players and fans used to complain it was too big and had no great atmosphere.

I'll go to Ally Pally myself one day and see how good or how bad it is.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby SnookerFan

Andre147 wrote:
But much better than Wembley arena no? Players and fans used to complain it was too big and had no great atmosphere.

I'll go to Ally Pally myself one day and see how good or how bad it is.


It was the chicken and the egg, really. The atmosphere was crap because nobody turned up, but people didn't bother turning up because the atmosphere was crap. Part of me always wanted to like Wembley Arena. It was a convenient walk from the tube station, and you could pop out for a McDonalds fairly conveniently between matches. But it had to be moved for a fresh start.

The staff at Wembley didn't help themselves though. I don't think they really knew how to run a snooker event. Example; I once turned up to the Wildcard round at 11am, but the person I went with had to drop their kid off at school first. So we arrived late for the first frame. So we stood about, waiting for the frame to be over. We had tickets that told us we had to specifically go through one entrance. Fine. Except the frame finished, and the member of staff manning the door wouldn't let anybody through. They didn't understand the rules to snooker, and had been told to only let people through the door when their manager gave them permission. (Their manager was supposed to radio message them at covenient times, and forgot to inform this person that frame 1 was over.) The fact that 50 people turned up at the same time asking to be let in, didn't give this person enough reason to maybe check with her manager whether we could be let in. So we missed frame 2 as well.

That wasn't the only thing like this that happened. Not what you need when you are struggling to get fans to come to an event that doesn't sell well.

Alexandra Palace is an improvement on that. But I just never quite found it to be as kicking, or as lively as it's reputation suggests. I know it is when the darts are on. And maybe I expected to much, but I somehow never felt it to be as exciting or wonderful as anybody says it was. It's improved over time. It now opens a bar area that has BBC 1 on, so you can wonder in for food and drinks and watch the game without being inside the arena, if you wish. But I always just found it to be lacking somehow.

I go more because it's commutable to me, than anything.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby SnookerFan

Maybe part of my problem is that I now attend too much snooker.

I remember when I first went to Telford. The only other tournament I'd travelled to was Sheffield. (The Masters is a commute.) Now, I had a great time in Telford. Especially the third time I went. I was in a hotel next door, I could pop back in a few seconds. I remember England were away in the Ashes, and though I don't really like cricket, it was nice to get back at 10pm and there be live sport on. <laugh> My snooker autograph book isn't as full as it is now, so I used to hang out, waiting for snooker players to turn up, with other such sad cases and have a chat. It was still somewhat a novelty to see players walk past me. It's not any more. The hotel I was in had Stephen Maguire, Rory McLeod, Shaun Murphy staying there. I even had a nice conversation over a pint in the bar with Rob Walker. We discussed Neil Robertson's temprement. And he asked that the hotel bar turn University Challenge off, and put Monday Night football on. rofl

The fact that there was absolutely nothing in Telford to do didn't seem to matter. Though, if I went there now, I'd probably realise it was indeed a rubbish arena. As I've been to so many now, I have more basis for comparison.

In Coventry, instead of enjoying the fact I was near a snooker venue, I was having a pint and noticing how lacking in any of atmsophere it was considering how everybody there was there to see snooker.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Dan-cat

SnookerFan wrote:Maybe part of my problem is that I now attend too much snooker.


Your name is Snookerfan, and you live up to your name :)

I've been to watch snooker at Ally Pally, The Crucible and the Newport Centre.

The Crucible is streets ahead of the other two because the auditorium is tiny, so it doesn't have to be divided up like the other venues, but I loved them all. I just love live snooker, it's magical.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Dan-cat

sundaygirl wrote:As of now I have the whole tourne booked off work *crosses fingers* hurrah!


I admire your commitment to our beloved sport! I shall be sneakily watching it in the afternoons with earphones, and have cleared my evenings for full absorption :)

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Prop

Andre147 wrote:Hope you have great fun in there mate!

I can keep you updated on Beeb's "interesting" features. The OBE Ronnie one is a dead certain.

Love this tournament, this one, German Masters and Worlds are my favourites for the season.


I can just hear Hazel now...

"Blah blah Ronnie O'Sullivan.." massive dramatic pause.. "Ohh Beee Eeeee!!!" etc.

I'm with you on the German Masters - great venue the Tempodrom. It's miles better than the UK.

Snookerfan - what's your twitter name..?

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Prop

SnookerFan wrote:Apparently the BBC have added Ebdon to their expert punditry team. (Says Ken Do on Twitter.)

:huh:


Sonebody must've told them they need 'characters' in the studio after ES nicked a load of ratings with Ronnie, Jimmy, the other Ronnie... and his dog.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Prop

Oh yeah, week off work here too. As I've had for all the big three for the last god knows how many (too many) years. Geek alert..

Bring it on.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Wildey

SnookerFan wrote:Apparently the BBC have added Ebdon to their expert punditry team. (Says Ken Do on Twitter.)

:huh:

theres only 1 table and 2 sessions every day and yet they have 8 commentators and 2 presenters <doh>

thats why theres talk of axing sport on BBC they spend too much on wages.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby Cloud Strife

Wildey wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:Apparently the BBC have added Ebdon to their expert punditry team. (Says Ken Do on Twitter.)

:huh:

theres only 1 table and 2 sessions every day and yet they have 8 commentators and 2 presenters <doh>

thats why theres talk of axing sport on BBC they spend too much on wages.


The possibility that the BBC may be expanding their team should be seen as a good sign for the future. It means they are still fully committed to covering snooker events.

On the other hand, not really sure what Ebdon can possibly bring to the table that will make a positive difference to the coverage. It's something that can be said about most of them as well, to be fair.

Re: Dafabet Masters Pre Taurnament Discussion !!!!

Postby vodkadiet

Cloud Strife wrote:
Wildey wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:Apparently the BBC have added Ebdon to their expert punditry team. (Says Ken Do on Twitter.)

:huh:

theres only 1 table and 2 sessions every day and yet they have 8 commentators and 2 presenters <doh>

thats why theres talk of axing sport on BBC they spend too much on wages.


The possibility that the BBC may be expanding their team should be seen as a good sign for the future. It means they are still fully committed to covering snooker events.

On the other hand, not really sure what Ebdon can possibly bring to the table that will make a positive difference to the coverage. It's something that can be said about most of them as well, to be fair.


He will send everyone to sleep by continuing to bang on about Veganism. It will just make snooker fans turn off and most of them will head out to buy a KFC bargain bucket or a Big Mac and fries. And Ebdon will get a blasting by health chiefs saying he is unintentionally contributing to Britain's obesity problem. Best to stick with Dennis Taylor talking about how he 'took a fiver off Willie on the golf course' this morning....


   

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