Only seven players have won snooker's 'Big Three' titles: the World Championship, UK Championship and Masters.
They are Steve Davis, Alex Higgins, Terry Griffiths, Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams.
Shaun Murphy and Peter Ebdon each have a chance to join that elite list this week but they have their work cut out today against two of the players who have already completed the hat-trick.
Ebdon is up against O'Sullivan, who hammered him 9-3 in the last 16 of last month's UK Championship.
The 2002 world champion started poorly against Marco Fu before growing stronger to beat him 6-2 in his opening match.
He will have to play much better to stand a chance against O'Sullivan, who currently leads him 18-11 in past meetings.
Murphy played very well to see off Hendry 6-4 and will be looking to reach the Masters semi-finals for the first time in six Wembley appearances.
He tackles Williams, who produced a typically wily performance in beating Ali Carter despite his car accident.
It's a tough match for Shaun but he cued superbly against Hendry and must start out as the more likely to complete the triple crown than Ebdon, whose form has become more erratic over the last couple of seasons.
17 comments:
The snow's gone in London but there's lots of empty seats this afternoon.
You expect a 2,000 seat arena to be packed on a Thursday afternoon?
Why?
i wasnt the first poster
however in reply to you dave, i dont expect it to be, but when venues are half empty and Ronnie isnt playing his fans go on like a broken record about him being the "only draw".
now he may be far and away the best draw, but its no wonder you get folk like the first person posting a comment like that when so much is said by ROS fans who "slag off" other players for not filling seats.
needless to say this blog gets linked to on many websites i am sure, some just snooker in general, but every single blog post you put is also put on the Ronnie website forum with links and i am sure it brings a fair amount of "hardcore" Ron fans here to give their obviously unbalanced and educated views.
In a big city like London why should'nt it be packed, when the dart's was at the ally pally a few week's back full house every single afternoon session, what's the differance here Dave?
The Masters has never been packed out on afternoons apart from on very rare occasions when Alex Higgins or Jimmy White was playing
Not packed in the evening's either.
I assume all the people carping pointlessly about the attendances have all bought their tickets?
I think the venue is like some echoey dungeon which may explain the whiplash which Mark Williams is suffering from.
"carping pointlessly about the attendances" 8:21pm
Please read 11:27pm's post on Dave's blog about Brecel...
Do all these people moaning about ticket sales buy tickets and attend themselves?
Or do they just sit at home having a go because other people don't?
Still thought Ronnie would have got a bit bigger gate, as he nearly as popular as Jimmy and Alex. I sometimes think this venue is too big.
I go to the Masters every year and it is disappointing to see the attendances in decline in recent times.
And to those who say people are carping on about it, why can't someone comment on the fall in those attending? I think it's a valid point; if they are down, why are they down?
Simply dismissing a valid point about deceasing numbers is akin to putting your head in the sand and hoping the problem will fix itself.
Is it the venue, ticket prices, the economy, the weather, the format? All of the aforementioned!?
Another poor crowd for Maguire v Day. These are the 2nd and 6th best players in the world. Surely more people should be turning up for this?
Serious point here: why don't the commentators mention that tickets are available on the door?
Snooker © The Fine Art Method
A secret is wasted if not shared
Hello Dave.
How are you! I don’t think the commentators should advertise ticket sales but there comments on the players and the ebb and flow of the game are pretty limited if not “Stunted”.
The commentators “IN” word for detail on basic technique is the “Fine Art” expression “Going through the ball”. This phrase by the way was unheard of in snooker until copied from the “Fine Art” book or the “Fine Art” video or (home made) DVDs.
This is the problem for the poor ole Ex- pro’s new job, trying to create interest with the same old jokes. You can see also the hard work in “Hazel’s corner” now that there is no coaching, like “Watch Me” and I’ll show you again. Snooker is not yet. Brain dead just sleeping
Commentators of the future will be on the spot teachers, inviting reason why shots are played perfectly or missed. For the record Dave; accomplished players never aim wrong, it is always a fault in technique. Mr hey you
PS. Playing across the ball is not a reason Dave, but what caused the change of direction.DM
I agree,the arena looks empty and whether it actually is or not,that is what anyone watching is going to think!
I was shocked to see how quiet the place was for O'sullivan game,and the other matches were dreadful!
being a close friend of a member of the top 8 I have spent plenty of time at tournaments,and luckily get tickets or a players guest pass,so when I actually noticed the prices of £25 to watch a 1/4 final match I was shocked! I mean,I am I big snooker fan and watch most matches on tv but I'd never pay that(however this could be that I've fortunate over the years to not have too!?)
should the ticket prices be less? should the venue be smaller? I actually went to wembley arena last year and was really disappointed with the venue,it felt empty and cold,there was nothing going on other than snooker,no betting,lame merchandise,no where really to eat/drink and no where close by to hang out between matches for food or dinner,when compared to Sheffield it's dire!
oh,btw I have a little theory,maybe the reason people don't want to watch other top players as much is actually O'sullivans fault,what I mean is that he can take the game to such high standards,and make it beautiful for anyone to watch and appreciate,he actually makes other great players look really ordinary and dull...perhaps if ronnie never came along to spoil us so much then folks would be looking forward to going to watch maguire/carter/Robertson etc as they would be the cream producing great standards!? thoughts?
Well it sure proves one thing, dart's has overtaken snooker in the attendance stake's. Even with all the razzmatazz of walk on music for the player's, it really has been poorly attended..
Snooker © The Fine Art Method
A secret is wasted if not shared
Hello Dave.
How are you lad! The "Walk On" in snooker isn’t new. The great Steve Davis introduced the practice about twenty five years ago.
We didn’t get a song or a jig from Steve but a dignified entrance with a hesitation to acknowledges and to accept (with thanks) the applause.
For the record: Mr Peter Ebden tried “A Steve” without the same reaction. Mr hey you
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