As we know, the Dafabet Masters is coming soon! Now, I am sure we are all excited for such an illustrious event to start, so here’s a countdown to warm us up!
I did a similar countdown last year on the Top Ten Masters Finals, which you can find by clicking here. The finals deserve all the compliments they get, as there are many memorable moments, twists and turns and where history is made. But surely, the matches outside of the finals deserve a bit of love?
Here is a short countdown on it!
5. Joe Perry vs. Barry Hawkins (2017), 6-5
A lot of matches that come to mind include many breaks with the most superior players in the world. Thankfully, not all matches are like that. On the other side of the coin, the best Masters battles include scrappy frames, comebacks and those not quite as famous as Ding, Selby or Murphy.
Joe Perry and Barry Hawkins are both tournament winners but aren’t the sort of players that would be among the runaway winners of this event. Perry had won just one match at Ally Pally in eight appearances before 2017. But he met the Hawk in the semi-finals and unfortunately for him, Hawkins started the better of the two. In fact, Barry was 5-2 up and shockingly, Perry needed a snooker just to win the frame. Joe Perry’s started a spirited fightback to force a decider. This included an escape which got the most generous applause of the night!
In the decider, Joe Perry was 0-50 behind. However, Joe went on to make a gutsy 70 break that included cutting the red into the yellow pocket and potted a wonderful brown on the top cushion to get position on the blue. After he had potted the brown, he blew a kiss to his father and he made his first Triple Crown final in 26 years. After making the best comeback of his career, how brilliant is that???
4. Alex Higgins vs. Steve Davis (1985), 5-4
This contest turned out to be one of the all-time greatest matches between the pair. The rivalry between Alex Higgins and Steve Davis is well documented. They were “not merely as snooker’s most memorable enemies but as the founding fathers” of snooker.
Davis had a better H2H record over Higgins, but the Northern Irishman had a superior Masters record. This tie had a rowdy crowd, unusually in favour of Higgins, despite Davis being a Londoner. It was described as an absorbing match with five half-centuries between them, where the match went to the decider. As Snooker Insider reported, “Davis led the decider 53-0 but missed a mid-distance red, Higgins made 51 and won the safety battle on the blue before potting blue and pink to win 5-4.”
What was intriguing is the reaction of Higgins. After the match, he turned to his supporters and exclaimed, “We’re fucking back!” before being subsequently fined. The slightly sad thing about this is that this didn’t end up true. Since that match, Higgins won just once in the next thirteen meetings, including losing the 1988 Grand Prix final to Davis 10-6. It is a shame that it didn’t happen as much, but it can’t take away how exciting that match was by arguably the greatest rivals in snooker.
3. Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. Ricky Walden (2014, 6-0)
This one is memorable and incredible in more ways than one. It is not the fact that Ronnie O”Sullivan whitewashed Ricky Walden. Whitewashes are rare in the Masters but not always spectacular. It’s the way the Rocket demolished Ricky so quickly. Put it this way:
O’Sullivan scored one century (134) and five half-centuries (88, 79, 77, 72, 56). Ricky Walden scored only 39 points throughout the whole match. All of Ricky’s points were scored in just the first frame. Ronnie scored 556 points without reply. Ronnie had 97% pot success and 94% safety success rate. The entire match lasted just 58 minutes – that’s under ten minutes a frame. Wow.
If that isn’t the definition of rapid, I don’t know what is.
In the commentary box, Ken Doherty said that was “probably the best performance I have seen from anybody in all the years I’ve been coming to the Masters.” Considering how often people praise O’Sullivan for performances that the Rocket regards as sub-par, that is quite the compliment! This was of course no fault of Ricky Walden – he barely had a chance excluding the first frame. Watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34fwoKa9jBo
2. Jimmy White vs. Kirk Stevens (1984; 6-4)
When talking about one of the greatest matches during the older generation of snooker, this is the match that usually comes into conversation. It’s a match between Jimmy White, where I can’t say anything about him that hasn’t been said, and Kirk Stevens with his famous white suit. This was famous for a few magical moments.
The first happened after the match went to 5-3 to Jimmy White, where Jimmy hit a century break of 113 and two century breaks. Then came history – the first maximum break of the Masters. It’s interesting as this ended up being the third maximum ever scored in professional competition. The maximum break was superb. The shot of the break was when Kirk potted the green and had to hit three cushions to position himself almost perfectly on the black. After potting the final black, Kirk rushed over to hug referee John Smyth and an even more affectionate embrace with friend Jimmy White.
Then was the final frame. The 119 break by The Whirlwind. Without going into too much detail, you can see Kirk’s 147 and Jimmy’s final frame break, but please listen to the commentary when Jimmy clears the final colours – it is brilliant! This was later followed by the presenter offering both players champagne for “one of the greatest sessions of snooker in the history of the game.” Even Jimmy mentioned that he didn’t think there was snooker like that in a match before.
1. Judd Trump vs. Neil Robertson (2016; 6-5)
The previous entry had a maximum and a few breaks by the two greatest artists of that era. This No. 1 spot is taken by two of the most powerful players on the tour. Bear in mind, Robertson came into this with the Champion of Champions and the UK Championship titles under his belt that season and was the man to beat. Trump had no form at all before this match, which makes this as quite something.
But when on their prime, they are break-building machines. The pair hit six centuries and two half-centuries here together. The final frame is the icing on the cake. Judd’s first red was incredible and he composed the break superbly. This isn’t without mistakes though, which means a lot of tension and excitement for all of us! He almost missed the blue and get himself snookered on a red, where he was forced to swerve the cue ball to pot it. He was shaking like an leaf before punching the air in delight. This was rare for Judd, as he doesn’t really show that much emotion on the table.
No wonder this match ended with a standing ovation! No wonder John Virgo exclaimed that this was ‘one of the greatest matches you will ever see.’ John Parrott said ‘you will not see better match-play snooker ever‘ Stephen Hendry called the match ‘proper snooker.‘ Talking about the 129 clearance in the final frame by Judd Trump, Virgo added that it was ‘one of the greatest finishes you will ever see.’ The standard here was pretty incredible. Watch the final frame below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnSwVF2jG98
