Mark Selby v Ronnie O'Sullivan Masters Final 2014

Afternoon here we go 7 titles between them I'm here for frame by frame updates


Mark Selby 1-7 Ronnie O'Sullivan (first to 10 frames, best of 19 frames 2 sessions)


Frame 1: Early nerves from Selby 3 long reds missed you daren't give the Rocket a sniff, the Rocket is in the balls remember he doesn't usually hang around so if you need a cuppa get it quick because the frame could well be done before you get back to your chosen seating arrangements! Like I said he doesn't hang around! Ronnie seals the frame in double quick time 97 great break! 1-0 O'Sullivan.


Frame 2: Clean as a whistle pot from Ronnie he could be in again! 48 at the moment cue ball is on a thin wire for Ronnie controls it so well, breaks down on 70 frame definitely over, Selby potting some balls for table time, 2-0 O'Sullivan.


Frame 3: Ronnie in again frame over in 2 visits imperious form 96 break 3-0 O'Sullivan.


Frame 4: Mark pots a lovely long red runs out of position on 7, 20 break for Selby reds down the table at the moment, Ronnie hampered over the yellow safety battle being won by Ronnie at the current stage, Selby had a little visit lost his concentration, great safety though from the man from Leicester behind yellow & brown, Ronnie gets out of it though by hitting a red onto the bottom cushion, 45 from Ronnie leads by 13, colours left now, Mark potted yellow couldn't develop the green, Ronnie has to pot the green by swerving round the pink, Ronnie seals the frame 4-0 O'Sullivan at the interval.


Frame 5: First one after the mid session interval and Ronnie looks as though he hasn't been affected by the break, 37 for Ronnie missed blue, Selby only has 6 points in this frame, safety battle going on now, Mark gets 3 points, great red along the bottom cushion from Ronnie, the Rocket wins the frame with a break of 47 5-0 O'Sullivan.


Frame 6: A 53 break from Ronnie a good start to the frame, 36 from Selby one red & colours left, Mark pots the red & the colours 5-1 O'Sullivan


Frame 7: This frame has started on the tactical side a lot of colours down the black ball end yellow, blue, pink, black all tying each other up, Selby given 7 points after Ronnie fouls on the black trying to connect with a red he did 2nd time, Selby missed a pot, Ronnie back in, not as many points as the Rocket has hoped 2 point lead in this one, Mark Selby produces a lovely pot on the red along the cushion, 37 for Mark this is better, Ronnie gets 35 a re-spotted black! Ronnie pots the black in the middle 6-1 O'Sullivan.


Frame 8: 25 points for Mark at the start of this 8th frame, Ronnie in the balls 36 break, Ronnie in a spot of bother behind the blue almost got out of it first time was very close! Got it 2nd time, Ronnie levels the score with a long red, another fantastic red along the cushion BBC's John Parrott & Dennis Taylor saying Ronnie plays them so well, I wouldn't argue! At the end of the session 7-1 O'Sullivan.

Ronnie O'Sullivan will take a commanding lead into the final session of the Masters after winning seven of the first eight frames against Mark Selby at Alexandra Palace.

O'Sullivan, 38, raced into a 5-0 lead before Selby finally won a frame.

The defending champion had chances to win the seventh frame but a missed black proved costly.

O'Sullivan, who won the Masters in 1995, 2005, 2007 and 2009, then took the final frame of the first session.

Selby won the tournament in 2008, 2010 and 2013 and faces a difficult task in the evening session with the first to 10 taking the title, but it has been done before.

In 2004 Paul Hunter was trailing by the same scoreline to O'Sullivan before eventually winning 10-9, taking the final three frames to secure his sixth professional title.



I'm back at 1900 for the remainder of the final! See you then!

Selby v O'Sullivan in tomorrow's final

Defending champion Mark Selby set up a Masters final reunion with Ronnie O'Sullivan after they both enjoyed easy victories at London's Alexandra Palace.

 

Selby beat Shaun Murphy 6-1 and O'Sullivan beat Stephen Maguire 6-2 to set up Sunday's final showdown.

Selby's Masters finals

2008: Beat Stephen Lee 10-3
2009: Lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-8
2010: Beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-9
2013: Beat Neil Robertson 10-6

It will be a repeat of the 2009 and 2010 finals, with O'Sullivan chasing his fifth Masters title.

World number two Selby is also on course to claim a fourth Masters victory in seven years.



Selby raced into a 5-0 lead in the earlier semi-final after winning the opening two frames with breaks of 86 and 104.



Murphy avoided the whitewash by winning the sixth frame, but Selby closed out the victory to reach the final once again.



"Before the interval I thought I played quite well and I shut Shaun out apart from the fourth frame, which I thought he had a chance to win," said Selby.
 

Selby's victory means he will compete in his fifth final in seven years, having won last year's trophy with a 10-6 triumph over Neil Robertson.



"Just lately I have not been taking my chances and not been as clinical as I have in the past," admitted Selby.



"That was probably because I had doubts and I was listening to too many people, but I have stuck with what I do."



O'Sullivan was equally dominant in the later match after Maguire won the opening frame with a 98 break, taking the next five frames in succession.



Maguire pulled one back but world champion O'Sullivan secured his 10th Masters final appearance with a 129 break in the eighth frame.



"This is the final of the Masters and you have to enjoy occasions like this," said O'Sullivan.

"You have to beat all sorts of players and Mark is going to make it very difficult for me."

Masters 2014 Day 4

World number one Neil Robertson claimed the final two frames to beat Mark Allen 6-5 in the opening round of the Masters at Alexandra Palace in London.

Allen won the opening frame with a 114 break but Robertson took the fourth on the black to level at 2-2.


Robertson never led but stayed within a frame and a 59 in the decider sealed a quarter-final with Stephen Maguire.


Ricky Walden won the last four frames to beat Barry Hawkins 6-5 and faces Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last eight.

Recent Masters finals

2013: M Selby 10-6 N Robertson
2012: N Robertson 10-6 S Murphy
2011: Ding Junhui 10-4 M Fu
2010: M Selby 10-9 R O'Sullivan
2009: R O'Sullivan 10-8 M Selby

Hawkins was 5-2 up but a mistake on a re-spotted black allowed Walden to level the match before taking the win.

Robertson's win in the day's early game was a repeat of the scoreline from last year's Masters quarter-final meeting with fellow left-hander Allen.


Robertson, who was beaten in last year's final by Mark Selby, took advantage in the final frame when Allen ran out of position to record a decisive break to move into the last eight.


Robertson survived a bad contact on the blue during his 59 and said the conditions were far from ideal.


"When the arena is so hot the balls just spray off all over the place," the 31-year-old said. "We had to get the white changed because it was playing like a ping-pong ball.


"After the interval it got a bit better but it was hard work. But I'm really happy with that clearance there, especially with that kick off the blue."


Meanwhile world number six Hawkins raced 3-0 ahead in another intriguing encounter against Walden in which, despite further problems with the table, there was a break of at least 50 in the first eight frames.


Cueing cleanly, Hawkins had runs of 85, 57 and 132 in the opening three.


Walden was 52 points ahead in the fourth when he was another to suffer a dreadful contact on the blue, but having closed to within 11 points, Hawkins missed the brown and world number 10 Walden took the frame.


Aided by a fluke when a long red wriggled out of the jaws, along the top cushion and into the adjacent corner pocket, Hawkins recorded his second century of the contest with a 112 but Walden narrowed the gap to two frames with a clearance of 100.


The high breaks receded as the tension increased in the remaining frames, and the gap was only one when Walden won a re-spotted black that Hawkins left over the edge of the corner pocket, having overturned a 25-point deficit by potting the final five colours.


Frame 10 took 53 minutes and was eventually taken by Walden, who then seized on further mistakes from a deflated Hawkins to secure his first Masters quarter-final, completing victory in a match lasting over four hours

Masters 2014 Day 3

Ronnie O'Sullivan cruised to a 6-1 victory over Robert Milkins to reach the quarter-finals at the Masters.

O'Sullivan raced into a 5-0 lead but slipped up in frame six and allowed Milkins to avoid the whitewash.



Four-time Masters winner O'Sullivan responded by winning frame seven to seal victory.

Earlier, Shaun Murphy beat Ding Junhui 6-4 in a match that was delayed because of a power cut at Alexandra Palace in London.



O'Sullivan, 38, will next face either Barry Hawkins or Ricky Walden in the last eight, who meet at 19:00 GMT on Wednesday.



O'Sullivan made short work of Milkins and took little over an hour to establish a 5-0 lead.

A rare mistake allowed Milkins, 37, to pull a frame back before O'Sullivan finished the job.



Murphy was made to work harder for his victory over Ding and battle back from 2-0 and 4-2 down to set up a meeting with Marco Fu in the last eight.



Ding took a 2-0 lead with breaks of 99 and 84 but Murphy was able to make it 2-2 at the interval.



After restoring his two-frame lead, Ding lost his way and Murphy took the next four frames to go through.



China's Ding, 26, who won the Masters title in 2011, looked favourite to go through but missed the chance to go 5-2 up when he led frame seven and never recovered.



England's Murphy took advantage by winning frames seven and eight before taking the lead for the first time in the match and going on to seal victory.


The 31-year-old, who has never won the Masters, will meet Hong Kong's Fu, who came through the first round with a 6-5 victory over Judd Trump .



The match between Murphy and Ding started at 14:20 GMT - 80 minutes late - because of the power failure.

Masters 2014 Day 2

Former world number one Judd Trump was knocked out in the first round of the Masters on Monday, losing 6-5 to Marco Fu.

After winning the first frame, Fu twice fought back and led 5-4 after nine frames before Englishman Trump forced an 11th-frame decider.





But Fu, of Hong Kong, kept his nerve to produce a cool break of 78 and ensure his passage into the last eight.





Scotland's Stephen Maguire survived a late Joe Perry fightback to win 6-4.




Fu is competing in the Masters for the first time since 2011, when he lost 10-4 to Ding Junhui of China in the final.





He showed great resilience in this absorbing encounter, having trailed 4-3 before winning the next two frames to move within one of victory.





But a 101 break from Trump ensured a final-frame decider and the world number four led 12-0 before failing to pot a tricky black, allowing Fu to take control and secure the win.



Two-time semi-finalist Maguire, meanwhile, made an impressive start with breaks of 112 and 80 to take the first two frames before England's Perry halved the deficit with a run of 78.
 

Maguire reeled off the next three frames to move within one of victory, however Perry then set up a tense finish by winning three in succession himself - including a break of 106 to move him within one of the Scot.



The comeback ended there, however, as Maguire eventually grasped the initiative in the 10th frame before holding his nerve to clinch the match.

Happy New Year! Masters 2014 Day 1

13:00 GMT

Mark Selby (Eng) 6-5 Mark Davis (Eng)

19:00 GMT

Stuart Bingham (Eng) 2-6 John Higgins (Sco)

Defending champion Mark Selby survived a Mark Davis fightback as he won their first-round clash at the Masters 6-5.

Selby hit three half-century breaks as he won the first four frames before Davis hit back to trail 5-3 and then forced a decider.

But Selby regained his composure to win a cagey 55-minute final frame after a lengthy safety exchange.

In Sunday's other first round match at Alexandra Palace, John Higgins beat Stuart Bingham 6-2.

Selby, 30, from Leicester, has won the prestigious invitational event, which features the world's top 16 players, three times.

He is aiming to be just the fourth person to successfully defend the title.

He took a 4-0 lead into the mid-session interval against Davis before facing some resistance.

After taking the fifth and sixth frames, Davis had chances to claim the seventh, missing a straightforward red which allowed Selby to go 5-2 up.

Davis then took the next three frames to level the scores, including the tournament's first century in the eighth frame.

The decider was a tense affair with both players missing pots at the start of the frame but Selby finally knocked a red into the middle pocket to move into the quarter-finals.

Higgins built a commanding 5-1 lead in his first round encounter with Bingham.

A brief rally from 37-year-old Basildon-born Bingham saw him cut the deficit to 5-2, but after surviving a late scare with a snooker on the green, Higgins won the next frame to join Selby in the last eight.