On January 15, 2021, the semi-finals of the Snooker Masters were all over. Williams conceded two consecutive match points with a 4-1, 5-3 lead, Robertson faced the decisive game and was over-6 points in the face of the decider, completing the extreme reversal in the offensive and defensive battle that was destined to become an eternal classic in snooker history, beating Williams 6-5. In the other semi-final, Hawkins, 4-5 behind, kept two consecutive sets of zero sheets from Trump, and won 6-5 to advance to the final.
Robertson hit a break 100 to win the first set, and Williams followed with consecutive 59, 71, 60 and 60 points to build a 4-1 lead. Williams had a chance to pick up match points 5-1, but a simple blackball error allowed Robertson to win the sixth inning and shoot an 83 in the seventh inning to make it 3-4. Williams regrouped, scoring 91 points and then taking the match point 5-4, but then a few slightly sloppy attacks gave the opponent another chance, Robertson hit 85 and 119 points in a row to tie the score to 5-5.
The decider is destined to become an immortal classic in the long history of snooker. Robertson took the lead, but after scoring 21 points, he conceded a red ball, Williams then got the opportunity, and continued the attack with a red ball that fainted into the top bag, Williams scored a super dividend ball with a single shot of 67 points, and then although he played a black ball afterwards, he still completed the super point with a 6-point advantage.
In the subsequent defensive battle, Robertson made the red ball and the black ball in the bag mouth stick to each other through several adjustments, and Williams completely resolved the crisis with a very wise deliberate solution failure and a precise remote platform and a library rescue under the desperate situation that as long as he touched the red ball, he would cause the black ball to fall into the bag and then lose the super point advantage. Surprisingly, Williams made a mistake in the subsequent unsparable tie-in, Robertson scored the yellow ball, and after scoring the difficult green ball, adjusted the white ball in place, and then withstood the pressure to complete the clearance steadily, and completed the extreme single set reversal in the decider with a score of 69-67, and reversed Williams 6-5.
Winning in such a difficult and fantastic way, Robertson burst into tears in an interview on the sidelines. Robertson, 39, said. "We all left the arena before the tiebreaker and came back to hear the audience standing ovation, which was a shocking thing. We smiled at each other and realized how lucky we were to be able to experience such a scene. I was surprised to reverse when I needed two snookers in the decider. I have to enjoy this victory, mentally reposition and set off again tomorrow. ”
This season, Robertson has achieved a pass for the "75 Three Masters" - the England Open final in a 6-8 deficit 9-8 to kill Higgins, the Masters quarter-final after a 4-4 draw after a 4-4 win to eliminate O'Sullivan in two consecutive sets, and the brilliant victory just won against Williams.
Now, Robertson is reaching the Masters final for the fourth time in his career and will strive to win the second individual Masters title. "Any final is a great opportunity to win a trophy. I can't help myself thinking about what it would mean if I won or lost. I just have to try my best to play well, and when I shake hands with my opponent, I need to be gracious in my defeats and humble in my victories. Robertson said.
Williams was generous in his post-match remarks, "I had the last chance to win, and people might say I lost the win, but I don't see it that way." I think I just lost a snooker game and I should have won it, I had no complaints, wasn't upset at all, and good luck to Neil. I've had a great week, the audience is good, I'm out, there's no problem. "
The other semi-final was equally intense. Trump shot a 2-50+ in the first half to draw Hawkins to a 2-2 draw. Returning from the break, Hawkins hit a 4-2 lead, and Trump won three consecutive sets with 78 innings to take the lead 5-4. Surprisingly, Hawkins kept a clean sheet in the final two innings, including a single 76 inning in the 10th inning, and four times in the 11th set to take advantage of the opportunities left by his opponents to finally complete the super score. In the end, Hawkins reversed Trump 6-5 and reached the Final Four of the Masters for the second time in his career.
Results of the 15th (semi-finals).
M. Williams 5-6 N. Robertson
22-103(102)，81(59)-0，71(71)-4，60(60)-53(52)，103(60)-20，46-71，0-83(83)，91(91)-1，23-108(95)，0-128(119)，67(67)-69
J. Trump 5-6 B. Hawkins
61-72，86(86)-4，92(63)-1，49-59，41-78(60)，14-124(124)，78-19，78(65)-21，78(54)-0，0-122(76)，0-71(58)
16th (Final) Schedule
21:00/27:00, N. Robertson vs. B. Hawkins