Snooker / Alex Lee / 22 January 2012 /

Shaun Murphy has gone into the quarter final and semi final as the outsider and he's odds-against to prevail against Neil Robertson once again. But the Englishman is the smart choice, says Alex Lee.

Today's Masters Snooker final pitches Australian left-hander Neil Robertson against English right-hander Shaun Murphy. Robertson was comfortable and fluent in a 6-4 win against Williams in the quarters and he continued in this rich vein of form against Trump in yesterday afternoon's semi-final.

Robertson's post-match interview following his win over Williams was interesting inasmuch as he reckoned that so long as he could take a lead against Trump, he was confident he'd be able to go on and take the match. He did precisely that, sticking to his game plan to the letter and winning impressively 6-3.

Shaun Murphy's path to today's final has been equally exhilarating and while he doesn't display the same emotion around the table as Robertson, he has the patience, composure and scoring ability to make him one of snooker's most dangerous all-rounders.

Murphy's break-building in the semi against Higgins, where he compiled three tons, was superb and followed on from impressive wins against Mark Selby and Martin Gould.

I've banged the drum for centuries throughout this tournament and with both contestants already scoring tons on their way to the final, I'd advise taking a look at the total centuries market. As for choosing a winner, Robertson has a 100 per cent conversion rate in six ranking tournament finals, but as this one is invite-only, I'm going to plump for Murphy, as his victories as the outsider against Selby and Higgins are enough evidence to show that he's fully prepared to make it three against-the-odds wins on the bounce.

Recommendations:

Back over 2.5 centuries @ [1.9]
Back Murphy to win @ [2.14]

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