The opening semi-final of The Masters sees two Englishmen battling it out for a place in the first major final of the new decade, when former champion Shaun Murphy takes on Ali Carter inside the Alexandra Palace on Saturday afternoon.
Murphy has taken care of the world champion and a dangerous Joe Perry so far while Carter has kicked out two Triple Crown badge wearers and will be eyeing up a third such scalp to book his place in a first Masters final.
Shaun Murphy
Not only is Shaun Murphy the highest ranked player left in the tournament but he is the only player who has ever made a Masters final who remains in the competition, let alone actually won the title in the past. That sort of history probably makes him a worthy favourite, but if there is one thing we’ve seen all week it is that no higher ranked player is comfortable, and certainly not anything like a sure thing.
To be fair to Murphy, he has probably been one of the better players so far this week, and thoroughly deserves his place in this semi-final. He is also one of the rare men to sit in the higher ranked seat and win and that will serve him well for the remainder of the event. There is room for improvement in his game, especially in the size of his scoring, but he certainly has plenty on his side going into the game.
Ali Carter
I had my suspicions that Ali Carter was free rolling from the moment he turned up to Alexandra Palace this week, given that he shouldn’t be in the draw in the first place, but got his chance when Ronnie O’Sullivan decided the Eurosport couch was the venue for him this week rather than the green baize, and to be fair to the Essex cueist he has taken full advantage of his opportunity, and done it in decent style, if a little controversial.
Carter will need to score a lot better if he is going to win this match. It wasn’t until the final frame against John Higgins in the quarter final that he made a 50 break and that just isn’t going to cut the mustard here, but as he has done all week he can approach this semi-final with the pressure largely off him and that could be the difference in the end. If he can score we know the rest of his game is more than good enough to win this.
Place 5 accumulators either in a Boylesports shop or online and get an acca free! Click the image above to bet. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Head to Head
These two have faced off against each other 16 times in previous competitions and it is Carter who holds a narrow 9-7 lead. In terms of frames that equates to an advantage of 85-76 so that would suggest that when Carter wins he does so with a fair bit in hand, which might give Murphy something to think about here. This will be their second meeting at The Masters, with Murphy coming through 6-4 in the first round a couple of years ago and it is Murphy who has won three of the four semi-finals between the two as well. That should be enough to give him some confidence here.
Betting
We’ve not seen too many close matches this week but I fancy we’ll get one here purely because of the prize that is up for grabs. A place in the final of The Masters is no small thing so that will ensure both give their all and will probably ensure we get plenty of drama along the way. Both men have improvements they can make in their scoring so I don’t see either player running away with this unless one gets a significant run of the ball over the other.
When these two met here two years ago it ended 6-4 and both look to be playing better now than they were then. Carter has had a couple of wins to boost his confidence and familiarise himself with the venue while Murphy is the better player but has plenty of pressure on him here. This one feels like a tight semi-final which could easily go all the way. With that in mind I’m happy to be on over 9.5 frames at a decent odds against price.
Tips
Back Over 9.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with William Hill
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020
