The 2024 MrQ Masters received beneath means on Sunday, with the likes of reigning champion Judd Trump and world primary Ronnie O’Sullivan within the draw.
The primary piece of silverware of the brand new calendar yr can be claimed subsequent Sunday on the Alexandra Palace in London.
World champion Luca Brecel, Mark Allen, Mark Selby, and Neil Robertson are among the many others competing for the Paul Hunter Trophy.
The fiftieth version of the celebrated invitational can even function the likes of former champions John Higgins, Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy, and Ding Junhui.
Leap to attract with outcomes and reside scores.
Prize, historical past, and format
An annual fixture on the snooker schedule since 1975, the Masters is the second oldest Major Tour occasion with 2024 representing the fiftieth version.
Consequently, it carries an enormous quantity of status that’s magnified by its standing as an invitational, usually granting participation to solely these ranked contained in the world’s prime 16 on the official rankings listing.
The roll of honour acts as a who’s who of the game’s best protagonists, from its inaugural winner John Spencer to its most up-to-date in Trump.
The likes of Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Jimmy White, Paul Hunter, Cliff Thorburn, and Alex Higgins have loved Masters success too.
There are 9 former champions performing within the 2024 Masters schedule, with O’Sullivan bidding to assert a record-extending eighth crown.
Selby, Higgins, Williams, Robertson, and Trump are the opposite multi-time winners competing once more this yr.
The Masters trophy is mostly thought-about the most important and most vital to combat for apart from the World Championship itself.
A tried and examined format will see the primary three rounds contested over eleven frames earlier than the best-of-19 closing subsequent Sunday, the place the Paul Hunter Trophy and a whopping £250,000 can be on supply for the champion.
The best way to watch the 2024 Masters
The total 2024 Masters schedule can be broadcast reside on the BBC and Eurosport.
There are numerous different broadcasters around the globe offering protection of the Masters schedule, which may be considered on the WST web site by clicking right here.
For all different territories, the motion may be adopted on the Matchroom.Dwell streaming service by way of a subscription.
2024 Masters
– draw, reside scores, outcomes –
Final 16 (bo11)
Matches to be performed from Sunday, Jan 7 to Wednesday, Jan 10. Occasions in UTC.
Judd Trump 6-5 Kyren Wilson
Mark Williams 4-6 Ali Carter
Mark Selby vs Robert Milkins
(Wed, 7pm)
Mark Allen vs John Higgins
(Wed, 1pm)
—
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-3 Ding Junhui
Neil Robertson vs Barry Hawkins
(Tues, 7pm)
Shaun Murphy 6-2 Zhang Anda
Luca Brecel 2-6 Jack Lisowski
Quarter-Finals (bo11)
Matches to be performed on Jan 11 and Jan 12
Judd Trump vs Ali Carter
(Fri, 1pm)
Selby/Milkins vs Allen/Higgins
(Fri, 7pm)
—
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Robertson/Hawkins
(Thurs, 1pm)
Shaun Murphy vs Jack Lisowski
(Thurs, 7pm)
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Matches to be performed on Jan 13
Remaining (bo19)
Match to be performed on Jan 14
2024 Masters first-round preview
Quarter 1
Judd Trump (1) vs Kyren Wilson (9)
Tuesday, 1pm
———-
Mark Williams (8) vs Ali Carter (11)
Monday, 7pm
Each of final yr’s finalists function within the prime quarter of the 2024 Masters draw.
Judd Trump beat Mark Williams 10-8 to seize the crown for the second time twelve months in the past.
In the event that they negotiate their preliminary hurdles, the pair would conflict once more within the quarter-finals this time round.
Trump’s defence begins with a match in opposition to Kyren Wilson, who has typically struggled for prime type this season.
Whereas Trump already has three items of silverware this time period from 5 closing appearances, Wilson’s greatest return was a solitary quarter-final run on the European Masters.
The pinnacle-to-head additionally reads favourably for Trump, who beat Wilson 6-1 the final time they crossed paths on the Ally Pally a yr in the past.
Reigning British Open champion Williams, in the meantime, faces reigning German Masters champion Ali Carter.
The latter is again within the Masters area for the primary time since 2020, when he reached the ultimate solely to be denied glory by Stuart Bingham.
Williams is a two-time former Masters champion who boasts a 20-16 win-loss file in opposition to Carter from all competitions.
Quarter 2
Mark Selby (5) vs Robert Milkins (14)
Wednesday, 7pm
———-
Mark Allen (4) vs John Higgins (10)
Wednesday, 1pm
Three extra former Masters champions are concerned within the prime half of the attract 2024.
Three-time winner Mark Selby will entertain Robert Milkins, whereas Mark Allen has drawn John Higgins.
After a promising begin to the 2023/24 marketing campaign the place he reached the final 4 of the European Masters and the ultimate of the British Open, issues have gone a bit of quiet for Selby.
Nevertheless, the Leicester man can be a powerful favorite in opposition to an opponent in Milkins who has struggled badly this time period to duplicate his type from early-2023.
Milkins beat Selby final yr en path to capturing the Welsh Open title, however the 47 year-old solely has 4 victories over his fellow Englishman from 18 total encounters.
Higgins, the champion in 1999 and 2006, challenges 2018 winner Allen within the different match on this part.
The previous has produced some robust shows lately with out actually gaining a lot reward, continuously getting eradicated within the semi-finals of tournaments.
Allen’s transient quiet interval on the circuit ended in direction of the tip of 2023 with triumphs in each the Champion of Champions and the Snooker Shoot Out.
This conflict will characterize the sixth Masters assembly between Allen and Higgins, and the scoreline reads 4-1 in favour of the Northern Irishman.
Quarter 3
Ronnie O’Sullivan (3) vs Ding Junhui (12)
Monday, 1pm
———-
Neil Robertson (6) vs Barry Hawkins (15)
Tuesday, 7pm
Shifting into the underside half of the 2024 Masters draw, there are as soon as once more three former champions that includes within the third quarter.
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui meet once more solely a month after their showdown for silverware on the UK Championship in York.
O’Sullivan prevailed on that day to seize a record-extending eighth UK crown, and he’ll be trying to attain that variety of Masters titles subsequent week in London.
Ding, the Masters champion in 2011, returns to the competitors for the primary time since 2021 after rejoining the highest 16 on the planet rankings.
Barring a couple of notable exceptions, the Chinese language competitor has typically struggled in opposition to O’Sullivan prior to now and has misplaced all 5 prior Masters battles with the Rocket.
The opposite fixture on this bracket sees two-time winner Neil Robertson face former runner-up Barry Hawkins.
Robertson has had a glittering profession and is extensively thought-about to be among the finest gamers of his technology.
However the Australian has been on arguably the worst run of type of his profession, and Hawkins might be the favorite based mostly on current outcomes.
The European Masters champion has misplaced his final 4 outings with Robertson however will hardly ever get a greater alternative to play the Melbourne man.
That being stated, Robertson took an extended overdue break again residence over the vacation season, so it is going to be fascinating to see if he can come again refreshed and reinvigorated.
Quarter 4
Shaun Murphy (7) vs Zhang Anda (13)
Sunday 7pm
———-
Luca Brecel (2) vs Jack Lisowski (16)
Sunday, 1pm
World champion Luca Brecel is the second seed and has been drawn within the fourth quarter in opposition to Jack Lisowski.
Brecel has been disappointing since his scintillating string of performances in Sheffield final April and Could.
Towards Lisowski, the Belgian Bullet comes up in opposition to a participant who’s remarkably nonetheless trying to find a maiden title on the World Snooker Tour.
The pair are vulnerable to producing unpredictable performances, and with this being the primary match of the event, it might be a troublesome one to foretell.
Lisowski boasts a touch superior head-to-head file from all competitions, however Brecel gained their final tie on the 2023 Gamers Championship.
The winner will tackle both 2015 champion Shaun Murphy or Zhang Anda, who’s the one debutant within the 2024 Masters draw.
Since profitable the rating occasion model of the Championship League in July, it has been a dreadful season for Murphy with a number of early exits in occasions.
Zhang, in contrast, is having fun with the very best spell of his profession, along with his surprising look within the English Open closing shortly adopted by an impressive triumph on the Worldwide Championship.
Murphy and Zhang have met solely 4 instances beforehand, with the Magician rising efficiently on three events.
Featured picture credit score: WST