2008 Masters (snooker)

2008 SAGA Insurance Masters
Tournament information
Dates13–20 January 2008 (2008-01-13 – 2008-01-20)
VenueWembley Arena
CityLondon
CountryEngland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£460,000
Winner's share£150,000
Highest break Mark Selby (ENG) (141)
 Ken Doherty (IRL) (141)
Final
Champion Mark Selby (ENG)
Runner-up Stephen Lee (ENG)
Score10–3
2007
2009

The 2008 Masters (officially the 2008 SAGA Insurance Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 13 and 20 January 2008 at the Wembley Arena in London, England.

Mark Selby won the tournament on his first attempt by defeating Stephen Lee 10–3 in the final. In the final frame, he tied Ken Doherty for the highest break of the tournament, recording a total clearance of 141.

This was the first time since 2003 that Ronnie O'Sullivan had failed to reach the final; the defending champion lost 5–6 to Stephen Maguire in the first round.

Facts and figures

  • Ryan Day potted 15 reds and 14 blacks in his wild-card match against Barry Hawkins before attempting a long black in an attempt to achieve a 147, instead of potting a straightforward brown and getting an almost assured 144.
  • Peter Ebdon also was on for a 147, but missed the last-but-one red in his quarter-final match against Stephen Lee.
  • Ding Junhui won his match against John Higgins 6–4, needing a snooker in the last frame with the last 5 colours remaining.
  • Mark Williams scored his first century of the season (a 118) in winning the first two frames against Ken Doherty, before losing the next six.
  • Ken Doherty was 4–1 down to Shaun Murphy, but made three centuries in four frames in winning 6–5.
  • Seven matches went to a deciding frame (6–5).
  • Two first-round matches went to the last black: Stephen Lee's match against Graeme Dott, where he came from 5–2 down to win 5–6; and Marco Fu also won on the black in defeating Neil Robertson.
  • Mark Selby won three deciding-frame matches in reaching the final, coming from 5–3 to beat both Stephen Hendry and Stephen Maguire 6–5, and he also beat Ken Doherty by the same scoreline in his semi-final.
  • Michaela Tabb became the first woman to referee a Masters final. She had already refereed the Welsh Open final in 2007.

Field

Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was the number 1 seed with World Champion John Higgins seeded 2. Places were allocated to the top 16 players in the world rankings. Players seeded 15 and 16 played in the wild-card round against the winner of the qualifying event, Barry Hawkins (ranked 19), and wild-card selection Marco Fu (ranked 27). Mark Selby was making his debut in the Masters.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[1]

Qualifying stage

  • Winner: £2,000
  • Runner Up: £680
  • Semi-final: £250
  • Quarter-final: £105
  • Total: £3,600

Televised stage

Wild-card round

In the wild-card round, the qualifier and wild-card players played the 15th and 16th seeds:[2][3][4]

Match Date Score
WC1 Monday 14 January  Steve Davis (ENG) (15) 2–6  Marco Fu (HKG)
WC2 Sunday 13 January  Ryan Day (WAL) (16) 6–2  Barry Hawkins (ENG)

Main draw

[2][3][4]

Last 16
Best of 11 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 11 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
Final
Best of 19 frames
            
1  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 5
10  Stephen Maguire (SCO) 6
10 Scotland Stephen Maguire 5
11 England Mark Selby 6
8  Stephen Hendry (SCO) 5
11  Mark Selby (ENG) 6
11 England Mark Selby 6
5 Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 5
5  Ken Doherty (IRL) 6
12  Mark Williams (WAL) 2
5 Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 6
4 England Shaun Murphy 5
4  Shaun Murphy (ENG) 6
14  Ali Carter (ENG) 3
11 England Mark Selby 10
13 England Stephen Lee 3
3  Graeme Dott (SCO) 5
13  Stephen Lee (ENG) 6
13 England Stephen Lee 6
6 England Peter Ebdon 1
6  Peter Ebdon (ENG) 6
16  Ryan Day (WAL) 4
13 England Stephen Lee 6
Hong Kong Marco Fu 2
7  Neil Robertson (AUS) 5
 Marco Fu (HKG) 6
Hong Kong Marco Fu 6
9 China Ding Junhui 3
2  John Higgins (SCO) 4
9  Ding Junhui (CHN) 6

Final

Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Michaela Tabb.
Wembley Arena, London, England, 20 January 2008.[2][3]
Mark Selby (11)
 England
10–3 Stephen Lee (13)
 England
Afternoon: 50–65, 124–1 (124), 88–0 (88), 21–77, 13–61, 76–16, 79–1 (60), 73–9
Evening: 132–0 (132), 76–32, 72–52, 125–5 (125), 141–0 (141)
141 Highest break 41
4 Century breaks 0
6 50+ breaks 0

Qualifying

The 2007 Masters Qualifying Event was held between 7 September and 12 September 2007 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.[5] The winner of this series of matches, who qualified for the tournament, was Barry Hawkins.

Last 64
Best of 7 frames
Last 32
Best of 9 frames
Last 16
Best of 9 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 9 frames
Final
Best of 11 frames
                  
Northern Ireland Joe Swail
Bye
Northern Ireland Joe Swail 2
Scotland Jamie Burnett 5
Scotland Jamie Burnett 4
China Xiao Guodong 2
Scotland Jamie Burnett 4
England Jimmy White 5
Wales Matthew Stevens 0
England Jimmy White 4
England Jimmy White 5
England Andy Hicks 1
England Andy Hicks 4
Republic of Ireland Leo Fernandez 2
England Jimmy White 5
England Ben Woollaston 0
England Michael Holt 2
England Ben Woollaston 4
England Ben Woollaston 5
Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien 4
Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien 4
England Ian Preece 0
England Ben Woollaston 5
England Anthony Hamilton 4
England Anthony Hamilton 4
England Alex Davies 0
England Anthony Hamilton 5
England Mark Davis 1
England Mark Davis 4
England Jamie O'Neill 0
England Jimmy White 4
Norway Kurt Maflin 5
Northern Ireland Mark Allen 4
England Ashley Wright 3
Northern Ireland Mark Allen 5
England Rod Lawler 2
England Rod Lawler 4
England Jimmy Robertson 0
Northern Ireland Mark Allen 4
China Liang Wenbo 5
Wales Dominic Dale 1
China Liang Wenbo 4
China Liang Wenbo 5
Republic of Ireland Joe Delaney 2
Republic of Ireland Joe Delaney 4
England Munraj Pal 2
China Liang Wenbo 0
Norway Kurt Maflin 5
Northern Ireland Gerard Greene 2
Norway Kurt Maflin 4
Norway Kurt Maflin 5
England Judd Trump 4
England Judd Trump 4
England Matthew Selt 2
Norway Kurt Maflin 5
England Andrew Higginson 4
England Dave Harold 1
Wales Paul Davies 4
Wales Paul Davies 1
England Andrew Higginson 5
England Andrew Higginson 4
England Joe Jogia 1
Norway Kurt Maflin 4
England Barry Hawkins 6
England Stuart Bingham 2
England Alfie Burden 4
England Alfie Burden 0
England Ricky Walden 5
England Ricky Walden 4
England Lee Spick 1
England Ricky Walden 3
England Jamie Cope 5
England Jamie Cope 4
England Mark Joyce 2
England Jamie Cope 5
England Rory McLeod 2
England Rory McLeod 4
England Lee Walker 1
England Jamie Cope 5
Republic of Ireland Michael Judge 1
England Mark King 4
Thailand Issara Kachaiwong 3
England Mark King 5
England David Gray 4
England David Gray w/o
Malta Tony Drago w/d
England Mark King 0
Republic of Ireland Michael Judge 5
Republic of Ireland Michael Judge 4
Scotland James McBain 0
Republic of Ireland Michael Judge 5
England Andrew Norman 4
England Andrew Norman 4
Australia Steve Mifsud 2
England Jamie Cope 3
England Barry Hawkins 5
England Nigel Bond 4
Wales Gareth Coppack 1
England Nigel Bond 5
China Tian Pengfei 4
Finland Robin Hull 2
China Tian Pengfei 4
England Nigel Bond 2
England Barry Hawkins 5
England Barry Hawkins 4
Scotland Fraser Patrick 3
England Barry Hawkins 5
Wales Michael White 2
England Tom Ford 0
Wales Michael White 4
England Barry Hawkins 5
China Liu Chuang 3
England Ian McCulloch 3
England Martin Gould 4
England Martin Gould 4
China Liu Chuang 5
England Barry Pinches 3
China Liu Chuang 4
China Liu Chuang 5
England David Gilbert 0
England David Gilbert 4
Thailand Supoj Saenla 2
England David Gilbert 5
England Joe Perry 3
England Joe Perry
Bye

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

Total: 23[3]

Qualifying stage centuries

Total: 27[5]

References

  1. ^ "2008 Saga Masters Information". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 12 January 2008.
  2. ^ a b c "SAGA Insurance Masters 2008". Snooker.org. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d "2008 Saga Masters". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008.
  4. ^ a b "The Masters". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  5. ^ a b "2008 Saga Masters Qualifiers". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008.