The final two Masters quarter-finals take place at Alexandra Palace on Friday – Richard Mann previews the action.
Snooker betting tips: The Masters quarter-finals
2pts Over 9.5 Frames in Judd Trump/Ali Carter match at 5/4 (General)
Mark Selby v Mark Allen
- Quarter-Finals
- Friday, 1900
- BBC, Eurosport
The fourth quarter-final sees three-time Masters winner Mark Selby lock horns with Mark Allen, champion in 2018. The betting favours Selby, making him a general 8/13 favourite, but I’m not sure about that at all.
Selby can boast the better CV and confirmed he remains a big force when reaching another Crucible final as recently as the spring, but it is Allen who is a tournament winner this season having won the Champion of Champions in brilliant style.
Selby has been more consistent, a couple of semi-finals and a runner-up finish at the British Open suggesting he’s close to winning again himself, and he looked very good when making light work of Robert Milkins in round one on Wednesday. But in truth, his opponent offered very little resistance there, and Allen will be an entirely different proposition.
The Northern Irishman fought back from 3-1 behind to beat John Higgins in the first round, and his frame-winning break in the decider was all class – the hallmark of a top player who is more than capable of winning his second Masters title this week.
The other factor the market doesn’t seem to have considered is the head-to-record between this pair. Selby currently leads 12-11, but there is very little in it and Selby only prevailed 17-15 at the World Championship when they met in the semi-finals in Sheffield last year.
In their last six meetings dating back to their Champion of Champions quarter-final in 2019, it's honours even, and this is another meeting between these two closely-matched players that could go either way.
Both men have terrific scoring ability when playing well but are renowned safety players when they need to lean of that part of their game. Neither can be questioned under pressure on the big stage.
I expect there to be very little in it again, and it’s not a match I’d want to take a strong view on. We’re already with Allen outright at 14/1, so I’m not desperate for another bet in regards to him, even if he might be a tad underestimated once more.
Those not already involved might conclude that 13/10 about Allen in what looks a 50/50 match is a spot of value. Alternatively, Allen to win 6-4 is 15/2, and the same price to win 6-5. That might be another way in ahead of what could be a late night.
Judd Trump v Ali Carter
- Quarter-Finals
- Friday, 1300
- BBC, Eurosport
We certainly didn’t see Judd Trump at his brilliant best when he edged past Kyren Wilson in the first round, but what can never be in question is his bottle and temperament in the big moments of big matches.
Trump is a different animal to his younger self, and his nerveless, match-winning clearance from 55 down in the decider against Wilson was so typical of the defending Masters champion.
And it was just the same 12 months ago. Trump somehow found a way past Ryan Day in his first match and he again had to battle hard when beating Barry Hawkins in another decider. He eased past Stuart Bingham in the last four but was second best to Mark Williams for much of the final before again coming good at the death.
I strongly suspect he’ll do that when meeting Ali Carter on Friday, and if anything, his game is in better shape this year having won three titles before Christmas and reached two more finals.
But in Carter, Trump comes up against a vastly experienced campaigner and a high-class operator.
Carter was runner-up in this very event in 2020 and having won the German Masters last year, has continued in the same vein this term by reaching two quarter-finals, a semi-final and the final of the Wuhan Open, where Trump beat him 10-7.
Carter actually led 5-4 at one stage in that match, only for Trump to once again summon his best snooker when he needed it most. But that match continued the trend of close matches between the pair recently, with Carter winning their previous meeting at last year’s Players Championship 6-5, and Trump prevailing 5-3 when they clashed at the 2022 Turkish Masters.
Buoyed by an impressive display against Mark Williams earlier in the week which featured two centuries, Carter is sure to fancy the job on Friday.
Trump will be an awfully tough nut to crack, but expect it to be close, and backing OVER 9.5 FRAMES at 5/4 looks good business.
Posted at 0840 GMT on 11/01/24
Related Masters links
- Richard Mann's outright preview
- Neal Foulds' Masters column
- Robert Milkins exclusive
- James Cooper's Masters form guide and round one preview
- Masters memories
- Masters 2024 draw and results
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