The second semi-final of The Masters will guarantee a new finalist for the tournament as two men who have never made it beyond this stage meet when Dave Gilbert takes on Stuart Bingham in what is sure to be a packed Alexandra Palace in London on Saturday evening.
Both men have come through against higher ranked opposition without too much fuss this week, and look to be playing well, so everything is in place for a fantastic semi-final with Shaun Murphy or Ali Carter awaiting the winner in the final on Sunday.
Dave Gilbert
He might be a debutant at The Masters this year, but you wouldn’t have thought that was the case for Dave Gilbert. He has been superb in both of his matches and right now looks like the man most likely to win the tournament. That might change as the pressure mounts up and the occasion gets greater, but through the quarter finals nobody was playing better snooker and often in big events like this that stands the test of time.
Gilbert has scored like a dream this week. In that regard he has certainly been the best. The other key to his success has been making fast starts in his matches and he has kept the pressure on from the front. It remains to be seen what he’ll be like and how he’ll go if he does fall behind at any stage, but you sense he is right up for the challenge this week and could take a lot of beating over what could be a special weekend for him.
Stuart Bingham
Coming into this week Stuart Bingham had a dismal record at The Masters. I wouldn’t say he has been fantastic this week but he has come through his two matches with a fair bit in hand so he can’t be criticised for that. You could rightly point out that Mark Williams wasn’t at the races and Kyren Wilson weakened the longer their quarter final went on, but none of that really matters to Bingham. He got his chances and took them accordingly.
Bingham will probably need to score a little bit better in this semi-final if he is to make it to his first Masters final, but he doesn’t lack for motivation as he is desperate to show that his World Championship win in 2015 wasn’t a fluke and a one-off. Making it through to the final of this and coming out on top would certainly silence the growing band of people who think that is currently the case.
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Head to Head
If you are Dave Gilbert it is probably best that you look away now as these two men have met on 10 previous occasions and Gilbert is still looking for his first win over Bingham. It doesn’t get a great deal better in terms of frames won where Bingham holds a significant 48-20 advantage. Their last two meetings were over this distance with Bingham winning 6-2 in last season’s UK Championship and 6-4 in the Players Championship. This is one of the most emphatic head to heads in the game which will give Bingham plenty of confidence.
Betting
The history would suggest that Stuart Bingham is a good thing here but on the evidence of the week Dave Gilbert is the man to be on. I’ve a hunch that Gilbert will win this but I’m in no mad rush to back a bloke who has played his opponent on 10 previous occasions and lost the lot without getting too close all that often. I especially can’t back him at odds on. If you purely played history Bingham at evens would be the bet but I prefer one from the side markets.
That comes in the form of the total frames where I think we’ll go beyond the 9.5 target. The way these two are and the huge occasion it is for them combined with the opportunity in front of them is sure to create a lot of drama. I don’t see anything but a dramatic semi-final here. It is almost what the occasion will dictate. One man is scoring like a dream, the other has battled well all week. This doesn’t feel like a match that will be won easily.
Tips
Back Over 9.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with William Hill
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