Who are we tipping for Masters glory?
Roll up, roll up. The new year is only but a few days old and it’s straight into one of snooker’s most prestigious and glorious events to kickstart 2024.
Since 1975, the world’s finest players have been battling it out at the Masters – an invitation event steeped in fine history and now well-established as the most sought-after title in our sport behind the World Championship.
This event never disappoints and with the top 16 in the world back at Alexandra Palace – a venue we’ve been venturing to for more than a decade – it’s showtime in front of a sell-out London crowd who always deliver when it comes to producing a buoyant atmosphere.
To get you in the mood for eight days of captivating snooker starting on Sunday, here’s our look at each first-round match and Snooker System’s prediction for who will lift the title.
Judd Trump v Kyren Wilson
Judd has won three titles this year and reached two further finals, coming here as defending champion and one of the hot favourites. Kyren on the other hand hasn’t produced anywhere near his best this season and will be absent from the upcoming World Grand Prix owing to not being among the top 32 on the one-year ranking list.
Kyren though has taken many notable scalps against Judd and is
not overawed by him. Most famously at Alexandra Palace, Wilson battled back to beat him in a decider to reach the final in 2018.
Verdict: Form is too strong to ignore in this one. Judd to run a relatively comfortable winner and make it three consecutive wins against Kyren in the Masters in the past five seasons.
Mark Williams v Ali Carter
Mark Selby v Robert Milkins
What they do have in common is that they’ll both look back on their seasons and think there will be more to come. Milkins is struggling a little on the one-year ranking list and while Selby has been consistent with a handful of deep runs including reaching the final of the British Open, he is very much in the business of lifting titles.
This feels like a close one.
Verdict: Milkins has never won a match at the Masters albeit he’s only played in it twice before. Selby has lost in the first round here four times in the past six years, but something has got to give. This one will go close. Selby to shade it.
Mark Allen v John Higgins
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Ding Junhui
Ding showed plenty of signs that he could be back to somewhere near his best in York and as a result has some momentum to count on in this one. Neither profess to really loving this venue. Ding has never reached a final at Alexandra Palace and Ronnie hints the pressure of a home crowd takes its toll, but he did win back-to-back titles here in 2016 and 2017. Time for another one?
Verdict: Ronnie has only ever lost in the first round at the Masters three times, having been battling out at this event for more than three decades now. We think he’ll get the job done and maybe it’ll inspire him to go all the way.
Neil Robertson v Barry Hawkins
Robertson has been there and done it when it comes to winning the big titles, included two Masters titles on his CV. However, he’s had a howler of a campaign so far and is facing the prospect of having to qualify for the World Championship.
Looking to turn around his fortunes, he is just back from a trip to his Australian homeland, hoping a break from the baize will perk up his game. He’s a man for the big stage and this feels like a clean slate for him as he looks to get back on track.
Verdict: Throwing the form book out of the window, we’re going for Robertson simply because it seems inevitable that he will have to burst back into life at some stage – why not here?
Shaun Murphy v Zhang Anda
In the other corner is an established top player in Murphy. He’s still waiting to find his rhythm this season but of course famously saved his best for the second half of the campaign last time, and can easily do so again.
Luca Brecel v Jack Lisowski
Brecel is of course back on the BBC as the reigning world champion but has not managed to conjure up any of the old magic we saw in Sheffield so far this season. We know he’s a player for the big stage though and this venue is one hell of a stage. Could this be the match to get his juices flowing?
Jack has had a better season than Brecel. He’s enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals of the British Open and semi-finals of the Northern Ireland but has not produced his best either.
Despite not yet being a title winner, this is his sixth straight season qualifying for the Masters as a top-16 player, so he is clearly doing something right.
This is a match to sit back and enjoy but we have no idea what’s going to happen.
Verdict: We hope we’re not repeating ourselves but this is probably the hardest match to have a strong feeling either way. Looking at this quarter of the draw though, this does feel like an opportunity for one of these players to go deep. Left-field shout but could one of them get on a run after winning the first match and become a first-time finalist this year?
PREDICTED TOURNAMENT WINNER: Only three players have ever successfully defended the Masters title. Stephen Hendry, Paul Hunter and Ronnie O’Sullivan. What a list of greats that is. Our tip is for Judd Trump to join that illustrious crowd. Say what you like about Judd but he has habit of doing marvellous things in snooker. This could be the next one. If he were to do it, it would also be a third Masters title in his past five appearances at Alexandra Palace. A win would be quite fitting because he does seem to enjoy the glitzy side of the game which this venue has become renowned for.
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