Masters Snooker – O’Sullivan into the last eight

January 13th, 2010 / Lee A Jackson

The line up for the Quarter Finals of the Masters Snooker is almost complete, with defending Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan finishing off the challenge of Neil Robertson in the second round, beating the Australian six frames to four. O’Sullivan was his own worst enemy again, as he fell behind 3-0 to Robertson, but got his act together to six of the next seven frames. On that performance, the Rocket will need to improve his form if he is going to defend his Masters title successfully. Although he is one of the greatest snooker players in the history of the game, he can’t rely on having to come backs from large deficits all of the time to win the tournament. There is simply too much class remaining for him to do that.

The biggest critic of his own game, O’Sullivan now moves on to face Peter Ebdon in the last eight. He will need to pick up on the success rate of his long shots. Still, he is the last eight and while he is there, he will of course be a major threat. Ebdon looked dominant in his second round match against Marco Fu, and he will always meekly back himself to cause an upset. Mark Williams (who has been suffering with neck pains after being involved in car crash) also muscled his way through to the last eight with a 6-3 victory over Allister Carter, and joins Shaun Murphy and Stephen Maguire there. Mark Selby, a great bet for the title, or at least the semi, got his campgain under way with a thumping victory over the fancied Ding Junhui to reach the Quarter Finals.

All that is waiting to be decided are the two remaining second round matches below, listed with matched prices:
John Higgins – 4/9 at Coral
v
Mark Allen – 2/1 at Sporting Bet

Ryan Day- 8/11 at Totesport
v
Joe Perry – 5/4 at Victor Chandler

The Draw Lines up like this: