Two of the best left handed players to grace the game will compete in the second semi-final in The Masters at the Alexandra Palace on Saturday evening when Judd Trump takes on Neil Robertson in what promises to a blockbuster of a contest.
Both men have come through the draw unscathed to this stage and look in good form and generally they have a style which blends beautifully so we should look forward to one of the matches of the tournament here.
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Judd Trump
It has been a slightly different Judd Trump competing this week. I don’t mean that in terms of his appearance or anything like that, but certainly his style has changed slightly. He isn’t going for those reckless shots at the beginning of frames that have got him into trouble. He has adopted a patient approach but when his chances have come along he has generally been quite devastating.
After his win in Northern Ireland and subsequent decent run in the UK Championship and Scottish Opens where it took good performances to beat him, I sense Trump is in a rich vein of form right now. He has mentioned a few times this week that he has put a lot of work in on the practice table and it is showing on the match slate now as well.
Neil Robertson
I think this is a big match for Neil Robertson. He is a Triple Crown winner but he hasn’t really threatened one of those tournaments for a while and he is one win away from getting back into the final of one, where he should feel as though he belongs. He wasn’t in this tournament last year and is clearly out to make up for that by going all the way this year.
I’ve been impressed by Robertson on the table so far this week. In both his matches he fell behind early on but once he found his groove in each of them he put good runs of breaks together and has powered clear of his two opponents. That suggests to me that he is full of inner confidence as he has not panicked or put himself under pressure, which actually takes some doing in those situations.
Head to Head
There have been 27 previous battles between these two men with Trump edging out the Australian 14-13 so far. He won their last match which was in the Players Championship last season. He actually won that match 6-1 surprisingly. This will be the fifth semi-final they have met in. Trump leads 3-1 from the first four. He is only four frames up on Robertson in their career. He has 114 to 110 for the Australian. Just two of their meetings have been in this tournament. They have won a match each. Robertson’s win was in a semi-final however.
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Betting
I was at the second of their meetings in this tournament when Trump beat Robertson 6-5 in a match which contained six centuries in one of the best sporting contests I’ve ever seen. Hopefully this one is as good although it is hard to see six tons being rattled in. Something tells me Robertson is overpriced here but I don’t feel strongly enough about it to act on it though. I do think it will be close though and given that both men have eight breaks of 50 or more in the tournament I think the over 7.5 50+ breaks is a goer here.
The way these two play there won’t be too many frames which won’t have a 50 break. They’ll trust their long potting to get in and when they are in they will be focused on clearing the table to avoid being prone for a counter attack. Generally matches between these two are laced with 50 breaks and on this occasion in the atmosphere that is in the Ally Pally on a Saturday evening I expect both men to be inspired. Over 7.5 50s should land.
Tips
Back Over 7.5 50+ breaks for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
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