Michael Day (daisy8ball) has been racking up the winners for us all week here at WeLoveBetting. Who's tickling his fancy this Friday?
Mark Allen v Joe Perry | Friday 13:00 | BBC
I was strongly expecting Mark Allen to be facing Ding Junhui in this quarter final, but the man from China played appallingly in a performance littered with unforced errors. Credit to Joe Perry though who took his chances and ended his Masters jinx by notching up his first ever victory in the event.
I called Allen to win this quarter at 12/5, and with Ding out of the way his task is easier, but Perry’s confidence will be up and in his eyes he will probably view this as a great opportunity to advance further.
I was really impressed with Allen’s attitude in his last match against John Higgins. He fell 2-0 down and Higgins didn’t miss a ball in posting consecutive century breaks. It shows how well the Northern Irishman is playing right now, and what good character he had to win the match by a couple of frames in the end.
Looking at their career meetings however, I’ve gotten slightly nervous. Perry has double the wins of Allen, but if you dissect the results, seven of those encounters came in the unique short format of the Championship League.
I believe Mark Allen will come through but Perry at this moment will be high in self belief. Allen though, looks so much stronger and assured at the current time that I now believe he could be on the cusp of winning a really big one.
As previously mentioned he only needs to win this match for the 12/5 shot to come in for winning the quarter, and at best odds of 4/9 to win (Paddy Power) this game it looks very promising. I see him as the favourite for this half of the draw now and can be backed at 15/8 with Paddy Power to reach his maiden Masters final this Sunday.
Shaun Murphy v Stephen Maguire | Friday 19:00 | BBC
There is somewhat of a history between these two players, ever since Shaun Murphy got Stephen Maguire docked a frame for failing to bring his chalk to a match at the 2004 Grand Prix. Many reporters (like I’ve just done!) bring this up to stoke the fire, but overall this is a very evenly balanced match as previous results would suggest.
Murphy, as predicted by myself, managed to scrape past current World Champ Mark Selby surviving one of his trademark fight backs. However it was far from a free flowing performance in which he only posted one break of over 60 in the entire match. On the flip side he did grind out the close and low scoring frames, something you would have probably expected to have been the other way round.
Former UK Champion Maguire took out Judd Trump in round one, which was a shock considering the youngsters recent great run of form. The Scotsman showed his nerve, and I really felt experience told as he won 6-4 after being a couple down in the early stages.
Neither player has won the Masters but both will fancy their chances of moving a step closer to the pinnacle in this match up. Maguire just shades it for me when you take into account previous major tournament clashes. These included semi-final wins in the German Masters, UK Championship and a final victory in the 2008 China Open.
Despite all the stats and analysis the bookies still have Murphy as favourite at best price 3/4 (Boylesports). Mags can be found at 6/5 in Coral's book and I think this is fairly decent.
Other snooker pundits have the same opinion and at odds against, whether he wins or loses, that represents some value for Maguire, the five time major event winner.
Best Bets
Mark Allen v Joe Perry – Mark Allen to win (4/9 Paddy Power)
Mark Allen to reach the Final – 15/8 (Paddy Power)
Shuan Murphy v Stephen Maguire – Stephen Magure to win (6/5 Coral)
