Snooker: Shanghai Masters

[kevshat]

Bit late putting this thread up which I apologise for. Been a ridiculously hectic weekend. The second major ranking event of the season begins on Monday as Ali Carter flies in to defend his Shanghai Masters title. Usual format for this event. A day of wildcards and a tournament played out as per the draw with best of 9's up to the semis which are best of 11's and the final is a best of 19 frame affair. All the event proper is covered on Eurosport so should be a good week of snooker. Fire away peeps :ok.

[RussP]

Re: Snooker: Shanghai Masters Should be another good event and I'm taking 2 outrights, both would be massive shocks but I just cannot be confident on the front runners. S.Lee to win Shanghai Masters, 0.75pts EW @ 50/1 Coral (1/2 odds 1-2) S.Lee to win Quarter 3, 1pt Win @ 8/1 Skybet I like the big lad here. For me, he's still a really talented player and can mix it with the big boys and I don't mind his draw. His likely run to winning the quarter in Matthew Stevens, Ding & Mark Williams, not easy by anyone's standards but all 3 are beatable. Reached the quarters last time he was in these parts so doesn't mind the travelling and that event included a win over Williams. His recent form in the PTC's has been excellent. He's reached the last 8 of the last 2 events, beating the likes of Ricky Walden, Mark Allen, Stephen Maguire and Ding for the loss of only 4 frames in those 4 matches. With early season form still a major factor in these events and upsets not uncommon, I'll take Lee to go deep into this event. F.O'Brien to win Shanghai Masters, 0.25pts EW @ 125/1 Bet365 (1/2 odds 1-2) F.O'Brien to win Quarter 1, 1pt Win @ 16/1 Skybet The modern day grinder, Fergal O'Brien ain't an obvious choice but he has a shot here and, with an outsider always going well at this event, I feel Fergal could be the one. Quarter 1, with the exception of Ronnie, is full of out of form sorts and O'Brien has the best recent form of any. Ronnie, meanwhile, is always one to take on as we just can't be sure whether he'll turn up or whether he's fully focused on his game. Fergal's likely route to the semis would be Vafaei, Ebdon, Carter, Ronnie. I know nothing of his wildcard opponent and the next 2 are out of form so definitely beatable to a player that won't make chances easy. Since qualifying for this by destroying Walden 5-1, he's reached the semis of one PTC and the quarters of another. En route, he's taken out both Carter and O'Sullivan, likely opponents if he's to progress, as well as other another top 16 player in Ding. It's just as likely Fergal goes out in Round 1 but at a 3 figure price, I'll take a small chance he'll do well this week.