Masters Snooker Bet Day Five: Favourites can breeze through to the semis

Snooker / Paul Krishnamurty / 13 January 2010 / Leave a comment

Ronnie O'Sullivan looks a cert to reach the Masters semis

Ronnie O'Sullivan should have no-one to blame but himself if he loses to Peter Ebdon, while Shaun Murphy can conquer Mark Williams with ease. Back the pair in a double, says Paul Krishnamurty

"Two first round matches at the Masters stood out for their outstanding quality. Shaun Murphy's 6-4 victory over Stephen Hendry, followed by Ronnie O'Sullivan's classic comeback to eliminate Neil Robertson, were among the best games seen in this, or any season."

The opening set of matches at Wembley really emphasised the gap between the best and the rest in snooker at the moment.

Whereas most have been scrappy, with players needing at least two or three chances to win a frame, two matches stood out for their outstanding quality. Shaun Murphy's 6-4 victory over Stephen Hendry, followed by Ronnie O'Sullivan's classic comeback to eliminate Neil Robertson, were among the best games seen in this, or any season.

Bearing in mind how well their opponents played in vain, its hard to see either Ronnie or Shaun having too much trouble clearing today's quarter-final hurdles. Ronnie takes on Peter Ebdon, an old foe who he trounced 9-3 in the recent UK Championships. Ebdon didn't look in particularly good touch in his previous match against a badly out of form Marco Fu, and makes no appeal even at [6.0]. In fact, I doubt he'll get three frames on the board.

Murphy's match against Mark Williams is slightly more tricky, but 'The Magician' is usually proficient against inferior opponents. Much depends on which Williams turns up. His first round match against Rory Mcleod rated as one of the most awful, depressing professional matches I've ever seen, and on that evidence, Murphy would win in double-quick time. However, if Williams can repeat his much improved display against Ali Carter in the second round, he would have a chance even if still rating as the clear outsider in this match.

At [1.2] and [1.4] respectively, the double on these two red-hot favourites pays around [1.68]. Such a double can be placed by either backing both matches as singles and accumulating the running stakes, or via Betfair multiples.

Selection:
Double on Ronnie O'Sullivan @ [1.2] (vs Ebdon)
Shaun Murphy @ [1.4] (vs Williams)

To back Paul's multiple click on this link

Tags: Mark Williams, Masters Snooker, Neil Robertson, Peter Ebdon, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shaun Murphy, Snooker Masters, Stephen Hendry