2024 Masters (snooker)

2024 MrQ Masters
Tournament information
Dates7–14 January 2024 (2024-01-07 – 2024-01-14)
VenueAlexandra Palace
CityLondon
CountryEngland
OrganisationWorld Snooker Tour
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£725,000
Winner's share£250,000
Defending champion Judd Trump (ENG)
← 2023

The 2024 Masters (officially the 2024 MrQ Masters) is an upcoming professional non-ranking snooker tournament that will take place from 7 to 14 January 2024 at Alexandra Palace in London, England. The second Triple Crown event of the 2023–24 snooker season, following the 2023 UK Championship and preceding the 2024 World Championship, the tournament is the 50th edition of the Masters, which was first held in 1975. Organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by online casino MrQ, the tournament will be broadcast by the BBC, Eurosport, and Discovery+ domestically, and by multiple other broadcasters internationally. The winner will receive £250,000 from a total prize pool of £725,000.

The top 16 players in the snooker world rankings as they stood after the UK Championship were invited to the event. Judd Trump is the defending champion, having defeated Mark Williams 10–8 in the 2023 final.

Overview

The event will be held at Alexandra Palace (pictured) in London.
The event will be held at Alexandra Palace (pictured) in London.

The 2024 Masters is an upcoming professional non-ranking snooker tournament that will take place from 7 to 14 January 2024 at Alexandra Palace in London, England. The second Triple Crown event of the 2023–24 snooker season, the tournament is the 50th edition of the Masters, which was first held in 1975 for ten invited players at the West Centre Hotel in London. John Spencer won the inaugural event, defeating Ray Reardon on a re-spotted black in the deciding frame of the final.[1] The second-longest-running professional snooker tournament after the World Snooker Championship,[2] the event has been staged at Alexandra Palace since 2012.[a] The most successful player in its history has been Ronnie O'Sullivan, who has won the title seven times, most recently in 2017.[3]

The 16 highest-ranked players after the 2023 UK Championship were invited to participate in the tournament.[4] The defending champion is English player Judd Trump, who won his second Masters title at the 2023 event by defeating his Welsh opponent Mark Williams 10–8 in the final.[5] As defending champion, Trump will be the first seed, while Luca Brecel will be seeded second as the reigning World Champion. The next six players in the world rankings were seeded three to eight, allocated fixed positions in the draw, and drawn randomly against the remaining eight participants.[6] The first-round draw was made during the UK Championship final..

Matches will be played as the best of 11 frames until the final, which will be the best of 19 frames played over two sessions.[7]

Participants

The event features the top 16 players in the world rankings, as they stood after the 2023 UK Championship. Zhang Anda, who entered the top 16 for the first time after winning his maiden ranking title at the 2023 International Championship, will be the only Masters debutant in 2024.[8] After failing to qualify for the previous two Masters tournaments, Ding Junhui regained his place in the top 16 after reaching the UK Championship final, and thus qualified for the 2024 Masters. Hossein Vafaei, who made his Masters debut the previous year, was ranked 17th after losing to O'Sullivan in the UK Championship semi-finals, meaning that he did not qualify for the 2024 event.[9]

Broadcasters

The tournament will be broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Sport and in Europe (including the UK and Ireland) by Eurosport and Discovery+. It will be broadcast in China by China Central Television and streamed by Huya and Migu. It will be broadcast by Now TV in Hong Kong, by DAZN in Brazil and the United States, by Fastsports in Pakistan, by Astro SuperSport in Malaysia and Brunei, by Sport Cast in Taiwan, by TrueVisions in Thailand, and by Premier Sports Network in the Philippines. In all other territories, the event will be streamed by Matchroom Sport.[10]

Prize money

The winner of the event will receive £250,000 from a total prize pool of £725,000. The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:[11]

  • Winner: £250,000
  • Runner-up: £100,000
  • Semi-finals: £60,000
  • Quarter-finals: £30,000
  • Last 16: £15,000
  • Highest break: £15,000[b]
  • Total: £725,000

Tournament draw

Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the players' seedings, whilst players in bold denote match winners. All matches are the best of 11 frames except the final, which is the best of 19 frames.[13][6]

First round
7–10 January 		Quarter-finals
11–12 January 		Semi-finals
13 January 		Final
14 January
        
 Judd Trump (ENG) (1)
 Kyren Wilson (ENG) (9)
 
 
 Mark Williams (WAL) (8)
 Ali Carter (ENG) (11)
 
 
 Mark Selby (ENG) (5)
 Robert Milkins (ENG) (14)
 
 
 Mark Allen (NIR) (4)
 John Higgins (SCO) (10)
 
 
 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3)
 Ding Junhui (CHN) (12)
 
 
 Neil Robertson (AUS) (6)
 Barry Hawkins (ENG) (15)
 
 
 Shaun Murphy (ENG) (7)
 Zhang Anda (CHN) (13)
 
 
 Luca Brecel (BEL) (2)
 Jack Lisowski (ENG) (16)

Notes

  1. ^ The 2021 event moved to the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. ^ In addition to the highest break prize, any player making two maximum breaks during this season's Triple Crown events will be rewarded with a £147,000 bonus.[12]

References

  1. ^ Hendon, David (5 January 2021). "History of the Masters". WPBSA. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Masters snooker 2018: Draw, schedule, results, betting odds & BBC TV coverage". Sporting Life. 17 April 2018. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Joe Perry to win record seventh Masters title". The Guardian. 22 January 2017. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Race to the 2024 Masters". World Snooker Tour. 25 November 2023. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Judd Trump holds off Mark Williams to win his second Masters title". The Guardian. 15 January 2023. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Masters (2024) Brackets". snooker.org. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Masters (2024)". snooker.org. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  8. ^ "Ding Beats Ford to Close in on Masters Spot". World Snooker Tour. 29 November 2023. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  9. ^ "O'Sullivan through to ninth UK final". World Snooker Tour. 2 December 2023. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  10. ^ "How To Watch The MrQ Masters". World Snooker. 1 January 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  11. ^ "The Masters snooker 2024: How to watch and who is playing? What's the schedule? Is Ronnie O'Sullivan playing?". www.eurosport.com. 1 January 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  12. ^ "£147,000 bonus offered for Triple Crown maximums". World Snooker Tour. 16 November 2023. Archived from the original on 16 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  13. ^ "The Masters 2024" (PDF). World Snooker Tour. 4 December 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.

External links