The second semi-final of The Masters should be a cracking contest when Mark Allen takes on John Higgins for a place in the final at the Alexandra Palace in London. This will be their third meeting at the tournament having played out two excellent matches previously.
Both men came through their quarter finals impressively and will fancy their chances of winning this. This one has all the makings of a really high quality battle it must be said.
Mark Allen
Arguably the player of the tournament so far has been Mark Allen. The Pistol has seen off two high level opponents who had previously been in good form in Luca Brecel and Ronnie O’Sullivan and now he will need to see off another if he is going to make it into his first Masters final. He is playing well enough to do that.
We haven’t seen too much of his safety game in this tournament with both his opponent’s so attack minded but we know he is very astute in the tactical department. The one thing we have seen in droves is the scoring power that he has. He has made three centuries in the tournament thus far and a stack of other big breaks.
John Higgins
We didn’t see anything like the best of John Higgins in his opening match this week but it is never easy to play a good friend so we can excuse him that. We definitely saw what he is all about in the quarter final where he tied Ryan Day up and then bashed him with a barrage of heavy breaks to make his way into this semi-final.
We know from experience that Higgins generally gets better as he goes along in tournaments and when he gets to this stage he is not afraid to win so you would think he is going to be a tough nut to crack. He has expressed his pleasure and comfort that the tournament is at this venue. You get the feeling that he is ready to win a third title.
Head to Head
These two have met 20 times in their career and if you include their meetings in the Championship League they are level at 10 wins each which highlights just how tight this match could be. This will be their third Masters clash with Allen prevailing in the first two including a 6-5 first round win here last year. His other win was 6-4 two years ago. Higgins won their most recent match 13-9 in the World Championship last 16.
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Betting
I’m going to back this match to be as close as their two previous meetings here. Whether Mark Allen comes out on top again remains to be seen but I certainly think this is going to be one of those classic Masters semi-finals which we are so used to seeing through the years.
Both these players look in fantastic touch and I don’t expect any quarter to be given at any stage in this match. These two generally play out good matches which are close battles whenever they meet and with the form they are in I’m fully expecting this to be another.
Tips
Back Over 9.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Ladbrokes
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