It is a strange day at the Players Championship on Friday as the last of the quarter finals are played out at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno and then in the evening the opening semi-final takes place too.
That means we are guaranteed some excellent snooker especially with the cast list we have for the two matches where Shaun Murphy, Anthony McGill, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump form personnel of the very highest quality.
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Afternoon Session
Anthony McGill vs Shaun Murphy
The last quarter final is a battle between Anthony McGill and Shaun Murphy. In many ways both men surprised us in the first round. McGill certainly did when he thrashed John Higgins 6-0 but reading in the media and everything most expected Murphy to be walking wounded but two centuries and a 6-3 win over Kyren Wilson later we were left wondering if we had been duped.
Those doubts over the fitness of Murphy still remain, certainly from a media standpoint at the very least, whether it will affect him in this match or not remains to be seen but one thing we do know is that even if he is 100% McGill has the upper hand over him having won their last two meetings (I won’t include the Shootout as a meeting).
This hasn’t been the best season of McGill’s career although he has run into John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan half a dozen times which hasn’t helped him but I like the look of him here. He has a good record over Murphy which doesn’t actually surprise me because he offers little and mops up on the chances he is given. For some reason Kyren Wilson failed to keep Murphy at long range but McGill will and that can be the catalyst to victory.
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Evening Session
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Judd Trump
The first semi-final of the tournament has all the hallmarks of being a fantastic contest when Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on Judd Trump for a place in Sunday’s final. Trump spoke of having no fear of O’Sullivan in his interview after the quarter final and I only hope that is true. If it is we are in for a classic.
The fact that Trump has beaten O’Sullivan in a couple of finals suggests to me that what he says is true. There is no doubt that Trump has played much better this week and now that he is the outsider or the underdog he can let his cue arm really flow.
O’Sullivan is also in fantastic form at the minute and it will be interesting to see how he goes when someone lays it down to him, like Trump surely will. There is a lot of fascinating things about this semi-final but they generally play out tight matches these two. I fancy this could be another so over 9.5 frames is my fancy.
Tips
Back A.McGill to beat S.Murphy for a 4/10 stake at 2.50 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
WON – Back R.O’Sullivan vs J.Trump – Over 9.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with William Hill
Back it here:
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