What a day we had yesterday at the quarter final stage of the European Masters in Romania. Between the favorites yesterday, only three frames were lost out of a possible 16 which indicates just how good of form these players are in.
Judd Trump whitewashed John Higgins 4-0, Mark Selby also whitewashed Alfie Burden 4-0, Ronnie O’Sullivan won 4-1 over Mark Davis and Neil Robertson won 4-2 over Anthony McGill.
This has set up the dream semi final with all players being multiple world ranking champions.
The first match of the day will be between Judd Trump and Mark Selby. Both of these players had a 4-0 victory yesterday and it will be interesting to see how this match will go today. Both these players have very contrasting styles with Trump being the flamboyant break builder who likes to please the crowd while Mark Selby is a tough match player, not afraid to grind out the frames if required. Could Selby’s style frustrate Trump and force mistakes?
Later tonight the headline act, Ronnie O’Sullivan is taking on Neil Robertson. Its been clear over the past couple of days that O’Sullivan has stepped up his performances since since the Shanghai Masters where he didn’t perform well. His long potting is far improved and the safety from O’Sullivan always opens up chances for him among the balls.
In contrast, Neil Robertson was not so convincing last night which was not helped by table conditions. Van Robertson’s average safety play hold up to O’Sullivan today or will it be too much for him?
It’s hard to call the match between Trump/Selby, but given Selby’s style of play, i predict Trump will struggle slightly with the match-play tactics from Selby and therefore the Jester might just win this one.
Either way, i’ts going to be a semi final to remember for a long time to come.