Ronnie O’Sullivan’s continued dominance over Shaun Murphy in the Masters Snooker 2024 is a testament to his skill and consistency.

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s continued dominance over Shaun Murphy in the Masters Snooker 2024 is a testament to his skill and consistency.

On Saturday afternoon, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Shaun Murphy engaged in combat during the Masters semi-finals at Alexandra Palace.

Despite not being at his captivating best, the world No. 1 defeated Murphy and advanced to Sunday’s final, when he will play either Mark Allen or Ali Carter. Watch the 2024 Masters live on Discovery+ and Eurosport.

After defeating Shaun Murphy 6-2 in the Masters semi-finals, Ronnie O’Sullivan continued his stellar play.
O’Sullivan has made 14 appearances in the Masters semifinals and has won 13 of them.

On Saturday afternoon at Alexandra Palace, that streak was continued even though the seven-time champion was far from his best.

Murphy had opportunities to put pressure on O’Sullivan, but he missed the key ones, allowing the world No. 1 to extend his winning streak over Murphy to six games.
O’Sullivan took the lead early in the game with a break of thirty, but he missed. Murphy made a mistake on a fantastic snooker that gave O’Sullivan the upper hand.
Before potting the blue and finishing the frame, he had to escape many snookers put out by Murphy. He missed frame-ball red twice.

After an O’Sullivan miss at the beginning of the second, Murphy had a chance to calm the crowd down, but as his break was coming to an end at 32, he lost position and ultimately missed a black.
O’Sullivan hit back with 56, but he was unable to reach the final red. On this occasion, the 48-year-old got the better hand in the safety exchange and moved to the pink to open up a two-frame advantage.
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Both players had some unexpected misses in the third. O’Sullivan’s proved to be the most costly, as Murphy used a break of 131 to take the lead in the match.

O’Sullivan had several unexpected misses in the third, but some of his shot selections in the fourth were concerning.
He took on high-tariff pots that did not appear on a few occasions, and both times they were missed by a considerable margin. However, as the game went on, he appeared to gather himself and won a safe exchange to lead 3-1 at the break.
Murphy would have been upset to behind at the half, but he rallied well, taking advantage of O’Sullivan’s shoddy break to produce his 29th Masters century and win the fifth frame.

Before the break, O’Sullivan’s play was inconsistent, and the sight of a second Murphy ton in the fifth could have raised some red flags, but he bounced back magnificently in the sixth.
He started the game with a fantastic long red and cued brilliantly, the finest move of the match by far, as a run of 90 points regained a two-frame lead.
Murphy was first in the eighth, but he cued a blue awkwardly and missed the pot. O’Sullivan was eager to accept the offer, and he came within one frame of winning with a 71-run sequence.
Earlier in the week, O’Sullivan defeated Ding Junhui and Barry Hawkins, putting an end to any threat.

The best shot was a gorgeous double to extend the lead to forty, but he failed to connect on a pot to the right middle, giving Murphy a chance to tie the score. He failed to capitalize, missing a straightforward red in the lower right corner, allowing O’Sullivan to come back and secure the match and move one win closer to an eighth Masters title.

 


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