The second match of the opening day of The Masters is an intriguing battle between the former champion John Higgins and a man who is more than capable of landing the title himself in Ryan Day, with Ronnie O’Sullivan a potential opponent for the winner.
These two met in the quarter final here 12 months ago and Higgins thrashed his Welsh foe on that occasion but Day has kicked on again since then and will know that the next step in his career is to go deep in these elite events.
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John Higgins
Much was made prior to Christmas of the struggles John Higgins has had since he made the World Championship final. He made a final out in China in which he had victory snatched away from him but other than that it has been a largely quiet time of things. There were signs of his form beginning to come back in Scotland last month however.
In many ways what has gone before will be largely irrelevant for Higgins here because if anything is going to inspire his best form and bring out his best snooker it will be a one table arena with a huge crowd and the spotlight on him. With that in mind I think it would be foolish to think Higgins will not have something approaching his better game with him this week.
Ryan Day
I think it would be fair to say that Ryan Day didn’t put up his best performance in his tournament last year but he has had 12 months of playing in the big one table set ups now and has firmly established himself as one of the best in the game so he shouldn’t lack for belief that he belongs on this stage. That is often a massive thing in this tournament given its prestige and its history.
Day has had a consistent campaign so far without the standout result that maybe he would have liked heading into a tournament of this magnitude. He has all the tools you need to go well here though. He is an accomplished break builder and has a decent knowledge of the tactical side of the game so we can expect the Welshman to be tough to beat here.
Head to Head
These two have met on 25 previous occasions with John Higgins having the upper hand as you would expect. He has won 16 of them and Day victorious on nine attempts. Higgins won their last meeting at the Champion of Champions and that Masters match last year. Three of their last six matches have gone to a deciding frame and although Higgins has seven more wins than Day he only leads 111-83 in frames which suggests they have tight battles a lot of the time.
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Betting
I’m expecting another tight one here too. I expect John Higgins to play well but even if he doesn’t he will fight as hard as anyone and will still take all the beating. The thing I like about Ryan Day is it does not matter who he is playing, he takes his game to his opponent, and he is beginning to raise his game for these big matches so I’m expecting a right good battle here.
Given their tendency for producing tight matches I think the natural bet here is for over 9.5 frames. It is a popular bet of mine at this tournament anyway because the environment and the quality on show is of the highest order. Even though he wasn’t playing well around the time of the Champion of Champions, Higgins still made two tons in a 4-3 win over Day to enforce the thinking that the setting will bring a good performance from him. 6-4 or 6-5 either way looks good to me.
Tips
WON – Back Over 9.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with William Hill
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