** The Masters completed two more first-round matches yesterday, Trump beat his old rival Wilson, and Robertson still did not come out of the slump after the holiday, losing 3-6 to Hawkins, who has been in good form this season.
To be fair, yesterday's two games can hardly be called spectacular. Trump vs. Wilson, the prepared embarrassed brother opened with a burst of hands, and the success rate of hitting the ball was as high as 95% at one point, leading 3-0. The turning point occurred in the fourth game, when Brother Yu made a mistake after taking a risky K ball, and Trump recovered a game to stabilize the situation. Although Trump was still in poor condition, he still won four games in a row and reached the match point 5-3 first. The next game was reversed: Brother Yu recovered a point in the 9th game, Trump made a mistake in the 10th game, and Brother Yu reversed in a single game. In the decisive game, Brother Yu took the lead to score 55 points but made a mistake in position, and forced the middle bag to send a chance, Trump withstood the pressure and scored 65 points in a single stroke, winning 6-5 thrillingly.
Trump's performance in this match was mediocre, a far cry from the form he had when he won three consecutive ranking tournaments in October last year, and closer to the performance of the British Championship and the Scottish Open. However, last year's Masters Trump also won the championship after stumbling all the way, so as long as he is still in the draw, he is still the favorite to win the Masters.
The other match was between Hawkins and Robertson. The quality of the game was not high, Hawkins was in average form, and Robertson, who was extremely sluggish this season, still did not find his touch after returning from the holiday - after the whole game, Robertson still had a poor batting success rate of 86% when he hit two shots to break 100, which is obviously impossible to win in the three major tournaments. As for Hawkins, he obviously needs to put in a better performance than this one against the bitter Rockets in the next round.
Tonight is the fourth matchday of the Masters, with the final two first-round matches set to end. Allen's match with Higgins is the highlight of the round, with Allen having won two titles this season but has not performed well in the vast majority of races since winning the World Grand Prix last year. Another statistic that should not be overlooked: since winning the championship in 2018, Allen has been in the Masters for five consecutive years, and he was swept by Hawkins 0-6 last year at the peak of his prime. As for Higgins, the semifinals of this season have been difficult for a 48-year-old veteran, but the successive reversals and power outages from time to time have raised concerns about whether he can withstand the middle game of the sixth.
The other game is Selby vs. Milkins. Selby's form this season has not been very impressive, and he has not reached the semi-finals since the British Open, but the lower limit is relatively stable, and his odds to win the title are currently second only to the Rockets and Trump. Milkins has been in poor form this season, not in the top 32 in a single season, and facing the danger of falling out of the top 16 before the World Championships, and Selby has a good chance of winning overall.