In a direct contrast to the last European Masters final which saw one competitor claim all the frames, this year witnessed the opposite as the final was played through to its entirety in a deciding contest. Mark Selby, who ended his season strongly found himself up against a fresher-faced Martin Gould, who had only reached two semi-finals since his ranking victory in 2016. Who would end up winning the first ranking title of the new season?
Breakdown
As most would have expected, Selby began the match strongly as he swept the opening mini-session with a 4-0 lead, aided by a 130 and 96 break in Frames 2 and 3; supported by consistent contributions in the other frames to run away with the proceedings. Despite this score, Gould wasn’t making too many errors and his long potting was pretty solid. Thanks to a fabulous clearance of the final red and colours in Frame 5, Gould was able to get himself on the board and reel off the following three frames with breaks of 70 and 131 in Frames 7 and 8.
It was a terrific response from Gould as he seemingly found his form and rhythm that allowed him to reach this final. He commenced the evening session with a 94 and this is where the evening proceedings didn’t allow either competitor to run away with victory. An even exchanging of frames which included Selby making a 113 in Frame 12, and Gould making a 107 in Frame 14 led to a level 7-7 score-line.
Frame 15 turned out to be pivotal as Gould was able to steal from 42-7 down until he reached a relatively simple blue which no one expected him to miss. This would have given him an 8-7 lead and if all things remained the same, would have won him the title. Although, this wasn’t the case. Despite allowing Selby to win this frame, Gould did well to erase it from memory with a 96 break to force a decider. However, it was Selby who would hold his form with a great opening pot to become the European Master.
Afterthoughts
It was a very evenly matched contest with both players making two centuries and six 50+ breaks. And three of those 50+ breaks were above 90. It was a final where neither player was playing poorly, but was able to capitalise on the mistakes of his opponent. It was clear as the evening session progressed that it would run to the wire, and it would be a matter of which player got their chance first in the deciding frame. On this occasion, Selby was the victor as he secures the first ranking title of the 2020/21 season.
This win marks the tenth successive ranking final victory for Selby, who hasn’t lost a final since 2016. It also shows a continuation of form as displayed throughout last season, in particularly, the World Championship. Selby highlighted that he is a goal setter for each new season, and this season’s personal goal would be to reach No. 1. Considering his recent performances, he’s only one or two majors away (along with a few other events) from really closing the gap and reaching No. 2. From then, he can go into the next season and take advantage of Judd Trump’s eroding points. If anyone is capable of accomplishing this, Selby is the guy.
As for Gould, he showed exactly what he’s made of with a formidable voyage to this final. Claiming victories over the likes of Higgins, Bingtao and Trump saw Gould’s best performance since his German Masters win in 2016. Even though he didn’t get the result he was aiming for, being able to run an opponent like Selby to a decider especially after being 4-0 down is a very commendable feat. Gould’s ranking has climbed seventeen places and another performance like this would see him comfortably settled into the Top 32.
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