The first day at the 2024 Masters was a bit disappointing in that both matches were pretty one-sided.
In the afternoon match, Luca Brecel was very poor as he has been all season so far. No matter how gifted you are you don’t get away with partying for over half a year and not putting the work in. Going by his post-match interview, Luca is well aware of that now, but will he be able to turn it around and save his season? I’m not sure.
In the evening match, Zhang appeared to be a bit overawed by the Ally Pally atmosphere, or conditions1. He played nowhere near his best, he struggled to close frames out, and Shaun duly took advantage. In fact there were three centuries in that match – it wasn’t a bad standard at all – and Zhang scored two of them but he couldn’t win the closer frames.
Jack Lisowski put on a stunning display to beat World Champion Luca Brecel 6-2 in the first round of the MrQ Masters, despite branding the event as the scariest to play in.
Lisowski came into the 2023 running of the Masters having never won a match at the iconic Alexandra Palace. He suffered defeats in his first three appearances, at the hands of Ding Junhui, Kyren Wilson and Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Last year the Gloucester scored momentous wins over John Higgins and Hossein Vafaei to make the semi-finals and rectify that, but suffered a crushing 6-0 defeat at the hands of Mark Williams.
Seeded in 16th position, Lisowski had a nervous wait to secure his place at the Masters. He had to rely on results at the MrQ UK Championship to go his way to secure his berth, having been dumped out in the first round 6-4 at the hands of Jamie Jones.
This afternoon’s victory sets up a quarter-final clash with either 2015 winner Shaun Murphy or International Champion Zhang Anda, who contest this evening’s first round tie.
Defeat sees Crucible king Brecel continue his difficult first season as World Champion. His first event of the season saw him make the final of the invitational Shanghai Masters, where he was runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan, but since then he has failed to go beyond the last 16.
Lisowski came flying out of the traps this afternoon and breaks of 70, 100, 96 and 69 saw him take the first four frames in just 49 minutes ahead of the mid-session interval.
When play resumed the Belgian Bullet showed signs of resistance, making breaks of 80 and 72, to cut his arrears in half and make it 4-2. That resistance was short lived and runs of 63 and 68 saw Lisowski wrap up victory.
“I got very nervous coming into it. For me it is the scariest tournament to play in. I started well and it turns into a great place to play. Then you can start enjoying it.“
Jack Lisowski – 16th Seed
“I felt really good after the first frame. I settled and felt like I was concentrating really well. He is the World Champion, so I couldn’t relax at any point. I tried to keep my concentration and intensity to get over the line,” added 32-year-old Lisowski.
“That’s what you play for. When you are getting beat, like I had a stinker at the UK Championship and lost qualifiers. It gets you down. Today was such a big occasion. I don’t know what I’d have done if I lost that game. I was really thinking that I wanted to win it.”
“It was terrible. If I keep playing like this then you will see me in 2025 Q School,” said a frustrated Brecel.
“I can recapture the form and I know I will, but at the moment it is just not good enough. Jack is a good player and I am happy for him.”
World number six Shaun Murphy defeated debutant Zhang Anda 6-2 to set up a mouth-watering quarter-final showdown with Jack Lisowski at the MrQ Masters in London.
The Magician is competing in the Masters for the 20th time in his career this week. It is an event which Murphy holds fond memories of having completed the Triple Crown with victory at Alexandra Palace in 2015. The Englishman had already won the World Championship in 2005 and the UK Championship in 2008.
By contrast, Zhang was making his maiden appearance at the Masters this evening. The Chinese cueman, who first turned professional in 2009, earned a spot in the top 16 by winning his first ranking title at the International Championship earlier this season.
Murphy now faces a blockbuster meeting with Lisowski, who has beaten him in their last three meetings. The pair will cross cues on Thursday evening.
A fiercely contested first three frames of the evening saw Murphy establish a 2-1 advantage. The last before the mid-session looked to be going the way of Zhang, when he moved 61-0 ahead. However, Murphy pulled off a superb clearance of 65 to steal on the black. After depositing the final ball, he clenched his fist before exiting the arena 3-1 up.
When play resumed it was soon 4-1, courtesy of a run of 86 from Murphy. Zhang reduced his arrears by taking the sixth, but breaks of 71 and 89 saw Murphy over the line for an impressive victory. Afterwards he admitted that stealing the fourth frame was a key moment.
Murphy said: “He had to think about it for 20 minutes. If we rolled straight into frame five and racked the balls up, it perhaps wouldn’t have left the same kind of mark. Those types of frame losses leave marks and scars. To then have to sit in his dressing room thinking about it and rueing that mistake is tough.
“He’s been one of the best players of all season. I thought that I had my work cut out here. If I didn’t play properly, he would have turned me over. With that in mind I’ve worked very hard in the background, I’ve not told anyone about it, I was delighted to see that come out there.
“The ladies and gentleman who have a ticket for Thursday night are in for a treat. Neither of us pull our punches. I don’t think it will take very long, whoever wins, and Jack is showing how much talent he has. He is ready to win big. This could be his week. I hope not, but I am going to give it everything I’ve got.”
MURPHY EASES PAST ZHANG
It’s often very humid and rather cold in the arena, and noisy too. It’s a huge hall and it “echoes” easily. ↩︎
Ronnie O'Sullivan 