The quarter finals of The Masters begins on Thursday with the opening two matches of the round taking place across the pair of sessions of snooker inside the Alexandra Palace and they start with the pick of the bunch as Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on Mark Allen.
O’Sullivan continues his title defence in this match and will be looking to pick up where he left off from the previous round. Allen is a nuggety character who will give this one everything he has got to pull off an upset.
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Ronnie O’Sullivan
If you try to pick apart Ronnie O’Sullivan’s performance in the first round and find a fault or a weakness in it you are likely to take a while to find one. He beat Marco Fu 6-0 and made three centuries and a couple of other significant contributions in a performance which told the rest of the field they have it all to do to deny him the title.
That win was a continuation of an excellent first half of the campaign where O’Sullivan picked up three big titles and lost out in the final of another. We really are seeing the best of him right now. His head appears to be right and there is absolutely nothing wrong with his game. The rankings might not say it but he is dominating snooker right now.
Mark Allen
It has been so long since Mark Allen was playing his first round match that you could be forgiven for having forgotten it but he saw off Luca Brecel 6-3 in what was a decent performance with a couple of centuries and a couple of other decent breaks. He will need all that scoring power here but Allen has never shirked a challenge.
Allen has been in decent form himself this season. He’s made a couple of major finals and he is a rare breed in that he is one of just a few select players who have wins over O’Sullivan at the World Championship and The Masters. That might not do him any good here though as it may make O’Sullivan focused even more.
Head to Head
These two have met six times in all competitions with O’Sullivan prevailing on four occasions to the two of Allen but as I highlighted above Allen’s brace of wins have come on the big stage at the Crucible Theatre and in this tournament. O’Sullivan has won their last three meetings though which have all been in the last 18 months or so.
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Betting
I’m really looking forward to this match. I’m expecting a really good match between two players who are so good to watch. You have to respect Mark Allen and his record here. He has beaten both Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins in this tournament while Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson have also lost to him so as well as the Rocket is playing if he gives Allen chances he could pay the price.
Ultimately I don’t think Allen will win this match but I fancy he’ll give it a good go and along the way I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes a century. Centuries have been flying in for fun this week and Allen has two of them to his name. In the last six frames he has won against O’Sullivan he has made tons in three of them. He raises it big time for the big stages and the big crowds and occasions and I expect him to do that here. The even money on him making a ton is too much to refuse.
Tips
WON – Back M.Allen – Over 0.5 centuries for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Bet365
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