Stephen Hendry makes his long-awaited return to the tour on Wednesday January 20th, in Group G alongside Gary Wilson, Lu Ning, Martin O’Donnell, Liam Highfield, Jamie O’Neill, Zhao Jianbo and Rory McLeod.
Play will begin at 10am each day at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes and the fixtures for each group will be released shortly, along with details of how to watch online. The new WST Pro Series will have total prize money of £420,500.
Players are split into 16 groups of eight for the initial round-robin phase. All matches are best of three frames, and the top two in each group will progress to the second group stage.
The second phase will feature 32 players split into four groups of eight. Once again the top two in each group will go forward.
The player who finishes top of the final group of eight players will be crowned the champion.
The dates for the event are:
January 18-25: Groups one to eight March 9-16: Groups nine to 16 March 17-20: Second group stage March 21: Final group
Scottish ex-world snooker champ Stephen Hendry raking in cash with £56 personalised shoutout messages online
Kevin Duguid
STEPHEN Hendry is raking in cash by flogging personalised shoutout messages online.
The ex-world snooker champ, 51, records videos for punters at £56 a pop.
He is giving out personalised messages on Cameo
Telly pundit Hendry — who’s planning a comeback to the game he ruled in the 90s — has had rave reviews for his efforts on the Cameo app.
One fan gave him five stars, saying: “Thank you!”
In another clip, legend Hendo wishes a man called Michael a Merry Christmas.
The cue king, from Dalgety Bay, Fife, said in November: “I believe you’re looking forward to my return, which will be some time next year.
“I’m still doing lots of practice to get ready for it.”
Last night a source added: “Sports stars are getting in on the act. It can be lucrative. Fans are desperate to surprise pals with a message.”
IF this is true – and I hope it’s not – it’s extremely sad. Does Stephen need money so really badly? Possibly, alas. For a start, divorces in the UK can be very expensive, especially for the men. In his book Hendry wrote that he ended his career in debts, and he left their house to his ex-wife. Could his decision to return be linked to his financial worries?
Since Ronnie has beaten Mark Selby in the semi-finals of the 2020 World Championship, things have been a bit tense between the two. Ahead of tonight’s match, Ronnie reflects on their semi-final last August and Mark’s response to the defeat.
MASTERS SNOOKER 2021: ‘HE’LL NEVER GET OVER IT’ – RONNIE O’SULLIVAN ‘SHOCKED’ BY MARK SELBY REACTION
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby could collide in the 47th Masters final in Milton Keynes on Sunday in the latest epic chapter of snooker’s fiercest rivalry. Speaking exclusively to Eurosport, world champion O’Sullivan feels Selby will “never get over” losing 17-16 in their rousing Crucible semi-final last August, a match that gave him the platform to lift a sixth title in Sheffield.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed he is “really shocked” at how much his epic 17-16 World Championship semi-final win over fierce rival Mark Selby last August appears to have “hurt” and “scarred” the three-times Crucible champion.
Selby – world champion in 2014, 2016 and 2017 – accused O’Sullivan of being “disrespectful“ to him and the sport by hitting the balls at pace and hoping for the best when escaping from snookers during a taut 33-frame contest behind closed doors in Sheffield.
“I felt he was being a bit disrespectful to me and the game, not many players would just get down and hit them at 100mph when you put them in a snooker,” said Selby in the immediate aftermath.
Despite his objections, the method in the madness all worked out like a dream for the sport’s greatest player, who recovered from trailing 16-14 to reel off three rapid frames with lovely knocks of 138, 71 and 64 sealing a memorable victory over three gruelling days.
It should also be noted that O’Sullivan’s approach was not a revelation as he had vowed to avoid another tactical battle with Selby after he commented in June: “I’m just going to blast them open, I’m not getting sucked into eight or nine frames of 50-minute frames, because it destroys you.”
The Essex man collected his sixth World Championship with an 18-8 victory over Kyren Wilson to equal Steve Davis and Ray Reardon’s record, but admits he has been baffled by Selby’s reaction to the semi-final.
The pair were embroiled in more controversy during the Scottish Open final last month that saw Selby complete a 9-3 win to equal Stephen Hendry’s haul of 11 straight victories in ranking event finals during the 1990s.
The contest was marred by accusations of gamesmanship from both men with Selby claiming O’Sullivan was chalking his cue to distract him early in the match and the counter argument being made that Selby’s water bottle was proving a nuisance between shots.
Selby – the only man to defeat O’Sullivan in the World, Masters and UK finals – has also aimed a few light-hearted barbs at O’Sullivan for lamenting his cue tips and cue action in recent months.
“You know what, after playing Selby at the last tournament, I’ve realised that semi-final really has hurt him,” commented O’Sullivan. “I didn’t realise at the time. I thought: ‘It’s just a game, he’s lost a semi-final. No big deal, he’ll probably come back and win it another time’.
“But when I watched his interview after that match, I could really see he was hurt. He was just focused on two shots out of a 33-frame match. He’s forgotten the 33 frames and just focused on two balls.”
I THINK THAT HAS SCARRED HIM IN A WAY. I DON’T THINK HE’LL EVER GET OVER THAT BECAUSE I THINK HE THINKS THAT IS ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HE LOST THAT HE CAN NEVER GET BACK.
“Even if he goes and wins it another one or two times, that match will still be in his head,” said O’Sullivan, who begins his campaign for a record eighth Masters title against 2011 winner Ding Junhui at the Marshall Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
“That’s one I think he thought he definitely had won. The way he’s been recently, and some of the things he’s said, that has definitely bothered him so much more than I ever thought it would.
I WAS REALLY SHOCKED TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, BUT HE OBVIOUSLY HAS TO DEAL WITH THAT IN HIS OWN WAY.
Selby begins his quest for a fourth Masters triumph against Stephen Maguire on Tuesday evening in the game’s biggest invitational event.
O’Sullivan watched a player he once dubbed ‘The Torturer’ recover from trailing 10-5 to deny him a sixth world title with an 18-14 win in 2014 that gave the ‘Jester from Leicester’ his first.
Rocket Ronnie does not think he was guaranteed victory after watching Selby produce a similar recovery against four-times world champion John Higgins in the 2017 final from 10-4 adrift.
“People will say that 2014 final was probably one that got away, but then he did that to Higgins,” said O’Sullivan.
“People have come to expect now that Selby is probably a better player when he is four or five frames down.
“He’s more dangerous in a way because there is a shift in his approach. I lost in 2014, but I never thought that I should have won that one.
“I still knew at 10-5 that there was still a long way to go. I think I missed a black at 10-5 and thought: ‘God, that could come back to haunt me.’
“At 10-5 up against most players, you miss a ball and it’s probably not the end of the world, but he’s made of tougher stuff.”
I think that Ronnie is right here, and he would know because, let’s be honest, he was deeply hurt by the way he lost in 2014, and it affected him for years at the Crucible. He had allowed himself to be dragged into a type of game that doesn’t suit him and lost a match he had dominated at first.
Last August, he didn’t allow that to happen, and it’s Selby who found himself dragged into a type of game that doesn’t suit him, and he too lost having be in front for almost the whole match.
The second day at the 2021 Masters delivered two quite different matches.
The afternoon match saw the defending champion, Stuart Bingham, take on Thepchaiya Un-nooh, a Masters’ debutant. Both players looked nervous at the start of the match, probably for different reasons: being the defending champion brings its own pressure and being a debutant in such a big event can be intimidating. Stuart lead 5-1, despite, in my opinion, not really playing at his best. Then, facing a quasi-certain defeat, Theppy started potting everything in sight and, in no time, it was 5-4. At that point, pressure came back on him, and with it, errors returned, allowing Stuart to clinch the match on a 6-4 score.
Defending champion Stuart Bingham survived a late surge from Thepchaiya Un-Nooh to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Betfred Masters with a 6-4 win in Milton Keynes.
Bingham claimed his maiden Masters title 12 months ago with a sensational victory at Alexandra Palace. The Basildon cueman defeated Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson, David Gilbert and Ali Carter to claim the £250,000 top prize and the famous Paul Hunter Trophy. It was a second Triple Crown success for Bingham, who became World Champion for the first time in 2015.
Debutant Un-Nooh will be disappointed to taste defeat in what was his maiden Masters appearance. However, a late rally from 5-1 down allowed him to showcase his considerable talents and he has the consolation of £15,000 for the first round loss.
Bingham assumed complete control in the opening exchanges this afternoon. The Basildon cueman composed breaks of 63 and 114 on his way to leading 3-1 at the mid-session.
A run of 95 saw him move 4-1 ahead when play resumed, before Bingham claimed a dramatic sixth frame on the pink to lead 5-1. He then embarked on a maximum break attempt, but broke down by going in off on 64. That allowed Un-Nooh to clear with 68 and reduce his arrears to 5-2. Further runs of 80 and 113 saw the Thai crank up the pressure and move within one at 5-4.
However, despite the Un-Nooh onslaught, Bingham held his nerve and composed a steely break of 67 to secure victory. He’ll face either Shaun Murphy or Mark Williams in the last eight.
Bingham said: “I was probably a bit mad to go for the max at 5-1 up. I am a bit mad for them and when I get a few reds with blacks, I start going for more. I was a bit unlucky going in off. It gave him an easy starter and the onslaught started.
“He can make people look stupid with how quick and heavy he scores. I just tried to stay focussed and hope I got a chance. Luckily for me I did.
“It puts me in good stead having played out there. I know what it is like now. Whoever I play I’ll be looking forward to it. I’m sure it will be tough and a good game.”
The Eurosport pundits, discussing the players’s performances in the studio, stated that Theppy’s game is unidimensional; he knows only one type of game: attack. When that doesn’t work he has nothing to fall back on. They reflected that this was a weakness and, probably, the main reason why he isn’t winning titles. At the same time, they also admitted that his style made him very entertaining to watch.
Shaun Murphy defeated Mark Williams 6-4 in a thrilling encounter at the Betfred Masters in Milton Keynes.
Triple Crown winner Murphy, who won the Masters in 2015, has endured a difficult season to this point. Since reaching the semi-finals of the European Masters in September, the Magician has failed to go beyond the last 32 stage of any ranking event.
World number seven Murphy will now face defending champion Stuart Bingham in the quarter-finals. Bingham defeated Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-4 this afternoon.
Welshman Williams now trails Murphy 10-6 in their head-to-head record. The three-time World Champion exits the Masters in the opening round for the fifth time in his last six appearances.
This evening’s high quality clash got off to a pulsating start, with Murphy firing in a sublime break of 93 to take the opener. Williams immediately levelled with a century run of 108, but Murphy claimed the third to lead 2-1.
The fourth frame came to a fascinating conclusion. With Murphy requiring the pink and black, he fluked the pink before taking on and potting a phenomenal black down the right cushion to establish a 3-1 advantage at the mid-session.
When they returned, Williams composed his second 108 break of the evening and went on to take the sixth and restore parity at 3-3. They then traded frames, before Murphy made his burst for the line.
The Englishman crafted a contribution of 81 to move a frame from victory at 5-4. Williams had looked set to force a decider, but it was Murphy who stole the frame with a fine clearance of 47 to steal on the black and win 6-4.
Murphy said: “Any time you rock up against one of those players, they test every aspect of your game. I knew going into that match that Mark might shine a very bright light on any weaknesses I was showing. I was a bit frustrated through the game, because I made all of the running in the match and at 4-4, I was wondering how I’d only won four frames. I played really well and played all of the attacking shots. I put that to bed and I was very proud of myself the way I won the match.
“Every time Stuart Bingham has played recently it looked as if he was going to make a 147. He is one of the best scorers we have seen in the game. He perhaps doesn’t get the credit he deserves for that, he is an immense scorer. I definitely think he is favourite for the match, on current form and as defending champion. I am going to go out, give it my best and hopefully get to six first.”
Interviewed by Rachel for ES, Shaun had explained that the rules in Ireland have changed, and that, as an elite sportsman, he was now able to practice, and had practiced over the Christmas break. Well, it certainly paid off !
Ronnie O’Sullivan pictured with fellow volunteers working on two community projects in Waltham Forest
Snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan stepped forward to support his community over Christmas alongside several hard-working, caring volunteers.
Two of Waltham Forest’s most inspiring community projects, The Hornbeam Centre and The Gleaners Community Cafe, have been supporting residents with hot nutritious meals throughout the pandemic.
The Gleaners has served more than 30,000 mostly free meals while Good Deeds on Bikes have delivered more than 7,000 meals and nearly 3,000 grocery bags, made by the Hornbeam Centre.
On Christmas Day, Mr O’Sullivan received an invitation to hand out meals and bags to those in need, which the keen runner accepted.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
He said: “I really enjoyed the day doing my bit for a great cause. So many people are grateful for what the volunteers are doing here. The food is tasty and it’s great to put a smile on people’s faces and to help where possible.”
Meals are cooked daily by a team of volunteers with quality ingredients donated from businesses and organisations such as Today Bread on Hoe St, OrganicLea in Chingford, The Felix Project and City Harvest.
Outside The Hornbeam in Walthamstow
Volunteer Aileen Cooney said: “At the cafe we provide hot meals and groceries on a pay-as-you-feel basis, which has established a wonderful sense of community among volunteers and our customers.
“I feel this is especially important in a time where a lot of us may otherwise be feeling isolated. The pandemic has been hard but volunteering at the cafe has shown me the best in people.”
I thought it was worth sharing, if only for the picures 😊
Todays matches will see Neil Robertson take on Yan Bingtao, whilst Mark Selby will face Stephen Maguire. Yan is a Masters’ debutant and Neil has been in good form so fat this season, therefore I pick Neil as the winner of the first match. Mark Selby has been poor in the CLS, but then he had a problem with his tip (*). Stepen Maguire has been poor all season. I’ll go with Selby here.
(*) Maybe the snooker gods having a bit of a laugh here, after Selby mocked Ronnie about the tip issues at the Scottish Open last December? 😇
The first day at the 2021 Masters brought one expected and one unexpected result.
Following Judd Trump’s and Jack Lisowski’s withdrawals, Kyren Wilson faced Gary Wilson and David Gilbert faced Joe Perry.
After the incident involving Gary Wilson last week, and his admission about struggling badly mentally, I was expecting a very easy win from Kyren. Gary actually played better than I expected. It was 2-2 at the MSI, and deservedly so. The match turned in frame six, when Gary, on 51 and close to secure the frame, missed a pink, and Kyren duly took advantage to make it 4-2.
Kyren Wilson sealed a comfortable 6-2 defeat of late call up Gary Wilson to make the quarter-finals of the Betfred Masters in Milton Keynes.
The world number five has now reached eight of a possible nine quarter-finals so far this season and has also secured a fourth ranking title of his career with victory at the first Championship League event of the campaign. He’ll be aiming for a maiden Masters title this week, having been runner-up to Mark Allen in 2018.
Gary Wilson leaves Milton Keynes with the consolation of £15,000 in prize money. He was a late entrant to the event after Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski were forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid-19. He was already present at the venue as a second reserve.
The pair battled out a keenly contested opening four frames this afternoon. It was the Warrior who came charging out of the blocks, firing in a run of 83 to take the opener. Gary Wilson then levelled, courtesy of an 85 break. He then added a second on the bounce by stealing the third on the black to lead 2-1.
However, that would prove to be the Wallsend cueman’s last frame of the tie, as the World Championship runner-up ensured they went into the mid-session level at 2-2 with a contribution of 108.
When they returned, Kyren Wilson secured four more frames on the bounce, making further breaks of 136 and 65, to ensure his 6-2 win. Next up he faces either David Gilbert or Joe Perry, who contest this evening’s first round match at 7pm.
Kettering’s Wilson said: “I was quite wary that he is on a free run. There is a lot of money in the Masters and that takes so much pressure off people. They are playing for their livelihoods and their mortgages and especially in today’s world it is massive. I was aware he could come out all guns blazing. I used my experience and tried to keep him under pressure.
“I work really hard and see myself lifting these titles, I don’t see myself losing in quarter-finals. It has been a consistent year and to be honest that is something I wanted to do. Previously it was either a first round defeat or the semis or a final. I’ve kind of found that level ground, I’m just coming up against really top professionals. I’ve lost to Judd Trump a couple of times, Mark Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan.
“With basically the whole country in lockdown, people are stuck in their houses and losing their jobs. It is really hard with what is going on in the world at the moment. How lucky are we? Still playing the game we love.”
I didn’t watch the other match. The way David Gilbert had been playing so far this season, I expected a very one sided contest, going the way of a solid but unspectacular Joe Perry, whilst a disgrunted, moody , David Gilbert would be spending a lot of time sulking in his seat. Not a very enthralling prospect, especially when you are in a place where it’s already past 9 pm when the first ball is struck. I’m not night owl… By all accounts, I was very wrong. David Gilbert played really well, and there was a 50+ break in every frame.
IWorld number 13 David Gilbert defeated Joe Perry 6-2 to seal his place in the quarter-finals of the Betfred Masters in Milton Keynes.
Tamworth cueman Gilbert went on a fine run to the semis of last year’s Masters at Alexandra Palace, beating Mark Allen and Stephen Maguire, before losing to eventual winner Stuart Bingham.
However, Gilbert has struggled to find his best so far this season, having only reached the last 32 of one ranking event so far. Today’s win sees him book a quarter-final clash with world number five Kyren Wilson.
Perry still receives the consolation of an unexpected £15,000. The Gentleman was here this week as first reserve, but a positive Covid-19 test from world number one Judd Trump saw Perry receive a late call up.
Gilbert made an electric start to this evening’s match, as Perry struggled to gain a foothold. He took the opener with a break of 58 and cleared the colours to steal the second on the black. Further runs of 62 and 60 saw Gilbert open up a 4-0 lead at the mid-session.
When they returned, Gilbert fired in a break of 71 to make it five on the bounce. From that point Perry began to exert some pressure, making contributions of 73 and 108 to reduce his arrears to 5-2. However, it was too little too late and Gilbert wasn’t to be denied, booking his place in the quarters by taking the eighth frame.
“I’ve been pretty poor for a long time now, so to get a win at the Masters feels good,” said 39-year-old Gilbert. “I think I played really well, considering I had no idea what I was going to do. I’m hitting the ball pretty well in practice, but it is hard when you aren’t putting matches together and difficult to get your confidence up and believe in yourself.
“I won’t get carried away and think I will win the thing or anything daft. I’m not looking forward, I’m just trying not to look behind. I’ll put my head down and I want to make the most of the rest of the tournaments this season.
“I don’t know what happened to me a few months ago. I completely lost my head, I hated every bit of the first lockdown. It got to Christmas and I hoped Boris would shut sport off the other day. I thought if they postponed the Masters, I would be playing alright in a couple of months. It didn’t matter to me and I’ve just chilled out. What will be will be”
So many players struggling mentally…
Today, Stuart Bingham, the defending Champion will take on Thepchaiya Un-nooh who is making his debut. I have no idea about what will happen there. Both played in the CLS last week. In Group 1, Stuart played well and made a 147, and Theppy got eliminated, making too many mistakes. Then, in Group 2, Stuart was rather terrible and finished last of the group, having won just one match.
In the other match Shaun Murphy will play Mark Williams. How Willo will play is anyone’s guess, as for Shaun, he’s been very active on social media, mainly about his challenge with Phil Seymour: “the biggest loser”, but not much transpired regarding his preparation for this…
John Higgins beat Kyren Wilson 3-0 in the Group Three final to advance to Winners’ Group of BetVictor Championship League Snooker.
Higgins topped his group for the third time this week. He then fell 2-0 down to Tom Ford in the semi-finals, but took the last three frames of the match to make it through to his second group final of the week.
Wilson finished second in the group phase and then defeated Zhao Xintong 3-1 in his play-off semi-final.
Wilson had chances in all three frames of the final, but it was Higgins who prevailed each time, with a 73 break in the third clinching victory for the Scot.
“I’m really happy to get through,” said Higgins. “I have managed to get through Group One and Group Two but I was lucky because Tom was one ball away from knocking me out at the semi-final. I got a chance to live another day and played pretty well in the final.
“I’m happy to win and I showed a bit of bottle to clear up and win the group. I felt really good all week, I have been hitting the ball really well so onwards and upwards.”
Mark Selby will join Zhao, Ford and Wilson in Group Four having finished fifth in Group Three, where they will be joined by newcomers Judd Trump, Yan Bingtao and Jack Lisowski. Scott Donaldson and Matthew Selt have been eliminated from the event having finished sixth and seventh respectively in the group.
PLAY-OFFS
Semi-Finals
John Higgins 3-2 Tom Ford 0-73 (73), 0-90 (85), 78-32 (70), 57-55, 73-6
Final Kyren Wilson 0–3 John Higgins 20-74, 59-49, 81-43 (73)
FINAL GROUP THREE TABLE
PLD
W
L
FW
FL
PTS
John Higgins
6
4
2
16
10
4
Kyren Wilson
6
4
2
13
12
4
Zhao Xintong
6
3
3
13
15
3
Tom Ford
6
3
3
12
12
3
Mark Selby
6
3
3
11
12
3
Scott Donaldson
6
2
4
12
14
2
Matthew Selt
6
2
4
10
12
2
Congratulations John Higgins !
Ronnie may well be proved right when he tipped John Higgins to win the Masters.
It is of course a completely different competition. Much more prestige, much more money. But John sounds confident and he played competitively all week. Contrary to most of the others involed in the tournament, he will be match sharp.
The group draw for the new WST Pro Series has been made. Stephen Hendry is set to make his long-awaited comeback, while the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump and Mark Selby are also among the 128-man field.
Group A
Shaun Murphy
Michael Holt
Alan McManus
Louis Heathcote
Xu Si
Ken Doherty
Fraser Patrick
Brian Ochoiski
Group B
Kyren Wilson
Li Hang
Yuan Sijun
Sunny Akani
Pang Junxu
Kacper Filipiak
Aaron Hill
Fan Zhengyi
Group C
Stuart Bingham
Scott Donaldson
Sam Craigie
Chris Wakelin
Jamie Clarke
Ashley Carty
Billy Castle
Jamie Curtis-Barrett
Group D
Barry Hawkins
Ricky Walden
Jimmy Robertson
Alexander Ursenbacher
Gerard Greene
Duane Jones
Farakh Ajaib
Paul Davison
Group E
Mark Selby
Matthew Selt
Joe O’Connor
Stuart Carrington
Eden Sharav
Soheil Vahedi
Lukas Kleckers
Daniel Womersley
Group F
Mark Allen
Ben Woollaston
Noppon Saengkham
David Grace
Igor Figueiredo
Jordan Brown
Riley Parsons
Fergal O’Brien
Group G
Gary Wilson
Lu Ning
Martin O’Donnell
Liam Highfield
Jamie O’Neill
Zhao Jianbo
Rory McLeod
Stephen Hendry
Group H
Yan Bingtao
Ali Carter
Mark Davis
Tian Pengfei
Chang Bingyu
Simon Lichtenberg
Amine Amiri
Kuldesh Johal
Group I
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Tom Ford
Lyu Hoatian
Mark Joyce
Chen Zifan
David Lilley
Ben Hancorn
Jamie Wilson
Group J
David Gilbert
Martin Gould
Elliot Slessor
Ian Burns
James Cahill
Peter Lines
Oliver Lines
Iulian Boiko
Group K
Anthony McGill
Zhao Xintong
Mark King
Dominic Dale
Andy Hicks
Si Jiahui
Peter Devlin
Lee Walker
Group L
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Zhou Yuelong
Anthony Hamilton
Luo Honghao
Mitchell Mann
Lei Peifan
Ashley Hugill
Leo Fernandez
Group M
Joe Perry
Xiao Guodong
Matthew Stevens
Daniel Wells
Jak Jones
Rod Lawler
Allan Taylor
Haydon Pinhey
Group N
Jack Lisowski
Graeme Dott
Luca Brecel
Andrew Higginson
Jackson Page
Brandon Sargeant
Zak Surety
Michael White
Group O
Judd Trump
Hossein Vafaei
Ryan Day
Jamie Jones
Barry Pinches
Jimmy White
Steven Hallworth
Sean Maddocks
Group P
Mark Williams
Kurt Maflin
Robert Milkins
Nigel Bond
Robbie Williams
Gao Yang
Alex Borg
Oliver Brown
The schedule and details of how to watch will be confirmed in due course.
The new WST Pro Series will have total prize money of £420,500. The innovative world ranking event will take place for the first time in 2021 at Arena MK in Milton Keynes.
Players are split into 16 groups of eight for the initial round-robin phase. All matches are best of three frames, and the top two in each group will progress to the second group stage.
The second phase will feature 32 players split into four groups of eight. Once again the top two in each group will go forward.
The player who finishes top of the final group of eight players will be crowned the champion.
The dates for the event are:
January 18-25: Groups one to eight
March 9-16: Groups nine to 16
March 17-20: Second group stage
March 21: Final group
If, like me, you are confused about the groups being “named” by a letter, and then, when it’s about the schedule, the letters being replaced by numbers … here is the explanation I got from Ivan Hirschowitz : it’s because, although the “composition” of the groups are known, the order in which they will play is yet to be decided… so it’s not that Group A is the same as Group 1 f.i.
Four members of the top 16 gave the event a miss: John Higgins, Stephen Maguire, Ding Junhui and Neil Robertson. The latter also withdrew from the Championship League this week.
The big news of course is Stephen Hendry’s return in Group G. It’s a good idea to come back in a rather minor event, where he will play intensively for one day and face different opponents, with different styles. I would be surprised if he gets through to the second stage though. However, he has to start somewhere, and this is a good place IMO.
Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski have both tested positive for Covid-19 at the Betfred Masters in Milton Keynes and have been withdrawn from the event.
Trump was due to play David Gilbert in his opening match. He has been directly replaced by Joe Perry, who will face Gilbert at 7pm on Sunday evening.
Lisowski was due to play Kyren Wilson, and he has been directly replaced by Gary Wilson. The two Wilsons will clash on 1pm on Sunday in the opening match of the tournament.
Perry and Gary Wilson were both already present at the event as reserves and have received negative test results.
WST is following extensive Covid-19 guidelines in a ‘bubble’ environment for this event. All players are tested two days in advance of their first match, and after the test they remain in isolation until the result is received.
All other players and officials tested at the event so far have had negative results.
Trump and Lisowski will now undergo a further period of self isolation and will receive the support of WST and WPBSA.
Since WST events restarted in June 2020, strict Covid-19 regulations have been and continue to be followed, under UK Government guidance.
Well … that’s 2 out of 16, and there might be more as some players have probably not yey been tested. But don’t worry, that virus is a hoax… eh?
Judd Trump is aiming for a second Masters title this year (Picture: Getty Images)
He’s the world number one and the finest player on the planet, but Judd Trump goes to the Masters this year still with something of a point to prove in snooker’s most prestigious events.
The 31-year-old has had a spectacular couple of years on the baize, winning the Masters for the first time in January 2019, before claiming his first World Championship title four months later.
Even in the trying and unusual times we lived in during 2020, the Bristolian won six ranking titles over the calendar year, cementing his position as world number one, a long way clear of his rivals.
However, while he may have added the English Open to his collection, retained the Northern Ireland Open and regained the World Grand Prix crown, Trump is without any of snooker’s three biggest titles.
There is some debate over the stature of the UK Championship these days, but it remains part of the Triple Crown alongside the World Championship and Masters, none of which Trump holds currently.
The Juddernaut has not won any of the three majors since his 2019 Crucible triumph, most recently losing out in the final of the UK Championship in an epic struggle with Neil Robertson in December.
Stuart Bingham heads to Milton Keynes this weekend as the defending Masters champion, while Ronnie O’Sullivan won his sixth World Championship title in Sheffield in August.
Trump’s Triple Crown tally stands at three, having won each of the events once over nearly a decade. His UK Championship triumph came back in 2011.
The current world champion thinks Judd should be aiming for many more than three major titles on his CV and has set the world number one a challenge..
‘The only thing in snooker that’s constant are the three majors,’ the Rocket told Eurosport. ‘You’d probably want to be looking at getting to maybe [Steve] Davis’ level, or [Stephen] Hendry’s – 15, 16, 17, 18 majors.
‘Obviously, the icing on the cake would be to beat my record of 20, which he’s capable of.’
The fact Trump is a long way off that tally now is no criticism, he is achieving incredible things in snooker and producing performances as good as any we have ever seen.
His displays have created plenty of talk of Trump dominating snooker and making this part of the sport’s history his own.
Hendry said as Trump thrashed John Higgins in the World Championship final: ‘It’s just such a dominant performance from Judd and we could be starting to see a new era of dominance by a new player,’
Trump’s stunning 18-9 win over John Higgins in the Crucible final took him to world number one (Picture: Getty Images)
However, he can’t really claim to be dominating anything without stamping his authority on the biggest events in the sport on a regular basis.
Novak Djokovic or Serena Williams could be clear at the top of the tennis world rankings, but it would be very tough to argue they were dominating their sport if they didn’t hold any of the Grand Slams. The same point can be made in golf with the four majors.
Snooker is different because there is not a set of major titles with the same weighting and prestige. The World Championship stands above all else, followed by the Masters and then the UK Championship taking third spot.
But while the Triple Crown is recognised and promoted as such, they will be considered the majors, and as O’Sullivan says, that is how players will be judged.
With ranking events more numerous than ever, the sheer number of total titles does not mean quite what it did in the past, and while Trump’s achievement of 20 ranking titles is stunning, it is his Triple Crown titles he will be truly judged on at the end of his career.
‘With the amount of tournaments that are around today, I think [Judd’s] got to be looking at 60 to 70 ranking event titles,’ said O’Sullivan.
Trump has beaten O’Sullivan in the last three Northern Ireland Open finals (Picture: Getty Images)
‘When [Stephen] Hendry was doing it and I was doing it, we might have played 10 ranking events, but I think Judd is playing 20 ranking events [a season].
‘If Hendry did 36 ranking events and I did 37, you’d probably have to say he’s got to be looking to at least make 60 or 65. If he was to get to 70 or 75 then pro rata, you’d have to say that’s the greatest record of all-time.’
Time is on Trump’s side, he is only 31-years-old, and as O’Sullivan proved at the age of 44 this summer, it is possible to perform at the top level as you edge towards the half century.
Of the 16 men in the Masters this year, only three are younger than Trump – Kyren Wilson, Yan Bingtao and Jack Lisowski – so he will have plenty more opportunities to lift big trophies, and the task may get a touch easier as his older rivals inevitably decline.
Trump may spend the next 10-15 years picking up the odd Triple Crown title every season or two and finish with a fabulous collection when he hangs up his cue, but for this to truly go down as the Trump era, they must start coming more regularly.
True domination is extremely hard. O’Sullivan has never managed it, neither have the likes of John Higgins or Mark Williams. The last man to be dominant was Hendry, before that Davis, and even then they did not win everything, there are just too many good players in the game.
Trump is capable of dominating the sport as much as any one player can, and it feels like he is on the verge of doing so, but Triple Crowns are the only way he can take the next step, not only to domination but to crossover recognition.
There is no argument against Trump being the best snooker player of 2020, but it was world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan who was nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year, not Judd.
The 2021 Masters could be Judd’s next step to truly ruling the roost.
The Masters gets underway on Sunday afternoon with Trump beginning his campaign against Dave Gilbert in the first round.
Well that’s not gonna happen just yet now…
And BTW, Ronnie is absolutely right when he points out that comparing numbers of titles, without taking the number of available events into account is misleading.
The same goes about the number of centuries made by a player. The only real indicator there is the ratio (nb frames played)/(nb centuries). The lower the ratio , the better. The record of centuries in a season belongs to Neil Robertson in 2013/14. He made 103 of them, playing in 18 events, and his ratio was 8.17. In 2007/2008, Ronnie made “only” 49 centuries, but his ratio was 7.82, playing in only 7 events., five of them ranking … and it’s not as if there were many more events to play in. The only ranking event that Ronnie missed that season, was the Shanghai Masters.
Defending champion Stuart Bingham survived a late surge from Thepchaiya Un-Nooh to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Betfred Masters with a 6-4 win in Milton Keynes.
Shaun Murphy defeated Mark Williams 6-4 in a thrilling encounter at the Betfred Masters in Milton Keynes.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Outside The Hornbeam in Walthamstow
Kyren Wilson sealed a comfortable 6-2 defeat of late call up Gary Wilson to make the quarter-finals of the Betfred Masters in Milton Keynes.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 