"If the 2014 Dafabet Masters tournament is to be remembered for one thing this year, it’s the sensational session of snooker in which Ronnie O’Sullivan reminded us all he’s still pretty darn good. The Rocket breezed past 2013 Crucible semi-finalist Ricky Walden 6-0 in under an hour - that’s less than 10 minutes a frame. Whilst the tournament as a whole may not have captured the high quality of snooker it has in the past; this years Masters did provide plenty of tension and final frame deciders to keep both fans & players alike on the edge of their seats....So what happened when the finest 16 players in the world took to the baize for the 2014 Dafabet Masters...
The tournament opened with defending champion Mark Selby taking to the stage to face Mark Davis, a man who seems to be getting finer with age. Selby started well by marching into a 4-0 lead but then started to struggle. 4-0 became 4-1, became 4-2, became 5-3 and before Selby knew it we were into a decider at 5-5, a somewhat common occurrence during this year’s championship. However, it wasn’t to be and despite Davis’s best efforts, the Jester from Leicester moved into the second round. There were also first round deciding frame wins for Ricky Walden against Barry Hawkins (Ricky gaining revenge for his semi-final defeat at the World Championship), Neil Robertson against Mark Allen and, notably, Marco Fu against Judd Trump. The season has gone poorly for Judd so far; what was originally a slow start is quickly turning into a disastrous season. He hasn’t progressed beyond the 4th round of any major event he’s entered but played well against Marco (making two centuries in his defeat) and is perhaps starting to turn a corner.
The result of the round has to go to Shaun Murphy who’s had a somewhat torturous time recently with early exits in many events so far this season. He defeated Ding Junhui 6-4 by winning the last 4 frames of the match and advanced to the quarter-finals where he would play Marco Fu. With Shaun being such a fine cueist and a superb potter, I really hope he can discover some past form and get back to the top of the game.
The match between Selby and two-time winner John Higgins could easily be summed up in one word: battle. The match was packed with high quality safety and match play between arguably the two best all round players the game has ever seen. Even though John managed to lead 5-3 and had numerous chances to clinch the match, Selby clawed his way to a decider and in the process producing three shots that even Ronnie O’Sullivan would admire.
First Round - Last 16
Quarter Finals
By F.C. Marnie
Photo: Monique Limbos