Who will be The Masters of 2016?
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| The Masters - From 10th to 17th January 2016 |
The Masters will be the first Triple Crown event of 2016, and will be coveraged by BBC, just like always.
Obviously, the World Snooker Championship is the unarguable most important tournament on the Snooker calendar, but what's the biggest apart from it, The Masters or UK Championship?
Well, in the past I think everyone should agree that the biggest is the UK Championship, because it carries huge Ranking Points - only the World's carry more.
But since the flat draw with 128 players in it was introduced in the UK Championship, it's not my second favourite anymore. Not because I don't like the format, I think the fairest thing is giving all the tour the same opportunities, but you got to have a structure for it. It's normal to see players complaining about the arena and the city. There are matches played in a separated room from the main arena with no one watching. I ask myself if it's fair as if you're giving a place in the event for everyone who's a professional, everyone has qualified for it in the same way and has to play in the same conditions. And to bring 128 players for the same place, the city needs to be capable of receiving them. In fact there are a lot of places hosting PC events that seems to be better than York considering what the players talk about it.
And of course, they can never have all the 128 professionals playing the tournament, not sure why because I think everyone wants to play the UK Championship... So you have a lot of amateurs and some low ranked players that can't really play and are professionals just because they're from certain country. It's a fact that most players are capable of beating anyone, but you would still have about 10 players not really up for the fight. It affects the standard of the tournament and the prestige of the event, because everyone knows whatever happen they can play the UK Championship. The top seeds doesn't make the same preparation and that's why I rather The Masters. You have to be a Top 16 player what's very hard nowadays with a two-years rolling rankings. And for it being so tough the players work as hard as they can because they had to earn their place hardly. It's not a chance for everyone and it doesn't carries ranking points but it's a trophy that everybody wants to lift. It doesn't give everyone a chance, you will still have players like Kyren Wilson and Michael White - who had a fantastic 2015 winning Ranking Events including - not taking part in it. And there will still be players like Ding Junhui who isn't playing well but had a nice run a couple of seasons ago that keep him in the Top 16. But anyway all the players in it are famous names and all matches are potentially a Final.
The UK Championship will always keep as one of the "Big Three", because of it's tradition, ranking points and BBC coverage, but all the rest makes it looks just like the others minor tournaments.
The Masters History (by Chris Varney)
An invitational tournament, it has been held every year since 1975. The event was sponsored, and started by the cigarette company Benson and Hedges.
The Masters is one of the triple crown events, along with the World Championship and the UK Championship. Only four times have the three crown events been won in a season;
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| Wembley held The Masters from 1979 to 2006 |
For those wondering how The Rocket, Ronnie O`Sullivan has fared (who this blog is named after), well he has come close by winning two events in the same season (2007/08), and they were the 2007 UK Championship and the 2008 World Championship.
A lovely gold trophy was presented in the glory days of Benson and Hedges and those days are sadly missed.
Since 2004 a waterford crystal trophy is presented to the winner, in a shape of the 15 red balls before break off.
BBC Sport has always covered The Masters.
Memorable moments
1975 final - John Spencer v Ray Reardon
Held from Monday 13th - Friday 17th January at the West Centre Hotel in London. Ray Reardon made the highest break of the tournament in frame 1 of the final with a 92 break. Tied at 8-8 the match would end on a re-spotted black which Spencer would pot and take home the trophy and £2,000.
1984 semi-final Jimmy White v Kirk Stevens
In a pulsating encounter, Stevens would make the first 147 break at the Masters, the third on BBC television (after Steve Davis in the 1982 Lada Classic v John Spencer, and Cliff Thorburn in the 1983 World Championship v Terry Griffiths). A great shot on the green to get position on the brown was followed by an equally good pink into the green pocket where top spin was required to come back down the table for the final black. Stevens however would go on to lose 4-6, White would go on to win his only Masters title, 9-5 v Terry Griffiths.
1988 final Steve Davis v Mike Hallett
Steve Davis really did set the bar high in the 1988 final by scoring a 9-0 whitewash. The only time this has occurred in a Masters final to date. Davis dominated the 1980`s with 6 World`s and 6 UK`s (2 were before it became a ranking event). He would win the Masters only three times.
1997 final Steve Davis v Ronnie O`Sullivan
O`Sullivan would lead 8-4, but Davis would go on to win 6 straight frames and win 10-8. The match is probably best remembered for 22 year-old secretary Lianne Crofts, who invaded the playing area during the third frame. This was the first time a streaker had appeared at a snooker match. O`Sullivan comically wiped the brow of referee John Street who was refereeing his final ever match - creating one of the sports most iconic images.
1998 final Mark Williams v Stephen Hendry
The best Masters final? The ultimate final in recent years, Hendry a legend against Williams the new kid on the block. What a final these two dished up. Hendry had led 9-6, before Williams tied it at 9-9. What followed was pure BBC Sporting theatre, Williams trailing 34-56 had to pot brown to black to force a re-spot. In the re-spot, Hendry missed a tricky match ball straight black into the middle before Williams potted it in the top left to secure his first Masters title.
2000 final Matthew Stevens v Ken Doherty
Best remembered for a 147 miss. During the 15th frame of the final, Doherty would get to what seemed a straight forward black, however he missed it incredibly and also would go on to lose the match, 8-10. He did have some consolation of picking up the highest break prize.
Paul Hunter - comeback kid
2001 final - trailing Fergal O`Brien 2-6 after the first session, he came back to win a dramatic final 10-9.
2002 final - Mark Williams would lead 5-0, another final would end with a deciding frame, again Hunter would come out on top 10-9.
2004 final - Hunter would never be in front, trailing Ronnie O`Sullivan 1-6, 2-7, 6-8 and 7-9 before winning the final three frames for his third Masters title.
2005 final Ronnie O`Sullivan v John Higgins
Exhibition snooker? It felt like it in this final. O`Sullivan was at his sublime best, winning 10-3.
Jimmy White would make headlines in this tournament, changing his name to Jimmy Brown in a marketing campaign (HP sauce), however the BBC and referees would still refer to him as White.
White/Brown would lose in the semi-finals 1-6 to the eventual winner.
2010 final Mark Selby v Ronnie O`Sullivan
O`Sullivan heartache. Leading 9-6, could O`Sullivan lose in his home tournament from so far ahead? Yes. Selby showed his true grit that players have come to expect over the years and would win a final frame thriller. It would be Selby`s second success in London after winning in 2008.
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| BBC logo in the early 90's |
Tournament sponsors:
1975 to 2003 - Benson and Hedges
2004 - No sponsor
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| BBC logo in the late 90's |
2006 to 2008 - SAGA Insurance
2009 - No sponsor
2010 - PokerStars.com
2011 - Ladbrokes Mobile
2012 - BGC
2013 - Betfair
2014 - present - Dafabet
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| BBC current logo |
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And that's why you have to be excited about The Masters... But talking about the 2016 edition, who are the contenders? Let's see...
Well, I made a quiz asking for a few friends to make a short list of 3 players, giving 20 points for who they think is favourite to win, 10 points for the second favourite to win and 5 for the third favourite to win in their opinion. I will give the results as I talk about the players (NOTE: The "Chance to win" is my opinion, a score from 0 to 10 about how big I think is their chances to win, and the "Head to Head" counts all tournaments, whether his format).
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| Shaun Murphy |
Best run at The Masters: TITLE: 2015.
Quiz points: 35
Chance to win: 4
Last 10 matches record: WWLLWWWLWW
% of matches won this season: 73.53%
Head to Head: 11 wins 4 defeats
Last meeting: 2015 German Masters, Murphy won 5-4
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| Ronnie O`Sullivan |
Best run at The Masters: TITLE: 1995, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2014.
Quiz points: 155
Chance to win: 8
Last 10 matches record: WLWWWWWWWW
% of matches won this season: 90%
1st Round opponent: MARK WILLIAMS
Head to Head: 28 wins 10 defeats
Last meeting: 2015 Championship League, O`Sullivan won 3-2
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| Neil Robertson |
Best run at The Masters: TITLE: 2012
Quiz points: 140
Chance to win: 7
Last 10 matches record: WWWWWWWWWL
% of matches won this season: 71.43%
1st Round opponent: MARCO FU
Head to Head: 7 wins 8 defeats
Last meeting: 2015 PC Grand Final, Robertson won 4-3
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| John Higgins |
Best run at The Masters: TITLE: 1999, 2006.
Quiz points: 5
Chance to win: 5
Last 10 matches record: WLLLLWLWLW
% of matches won this season: 64.58%
1st Round opponent: LIANG WENBO
Head to Head: 7 wins 0 defeats
Last meeting: 2015 Shanghai Masters, Higgins won 5-1
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| Mark Selby |
Best run at The Masters: TITLE: 2008, 2010, 2013.
Quiz points: 50
Chance to win: 7
Last 10 matches record: WLWWWWWWWL
% of matches won this season: 75.51%
1st Round opponent: RICKY WALDEN
Head to Head: 10 wins 5 defeats
Last meeting: 2015 Championship League, Selby won 3-0
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| Judd Trump |
Best run at The Masters: SEMI-FINAL: 2012
Quiz points: 60
Chance to win: 6
Last 10 matches record: WWLLWWLWWW
% of matches won this season: 70.21%
1st Round opponent: STEPHEN MAGUIRE
Head to Head: 6 wins 13 defeats
Last meeting: 2015 6Red World Championship, Trump won 6-4
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| Stuart Bingham |
Quiz points: 0
Chance to win: 3
Last 10 matches record: WLWWWWWLWW
% of matches won this season: 59.38%
1st Round opponent: DING JUNHUI
Head to Head: 9 wins 4 defeats
Last meeting: 2015 Gibraltar Open, Bingham won 4-2
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| COMPLETE DRAW, FOR TIMES AND DATES CLICK HERE |
Well, we've got some really interesting 1st Round matches, if we look for the matches they've played in the past. I will have a quick word about a few of them:
TrumpvMaguire : Judd Trump is probably the most super estimated player ever, and people will expect him to do well here, you can see from the quiz results. But in fact, even not taking part in the Championship League days ago like Trump did (winning Group 2), Maguire won a few more matches than Trump in the last tournaments of 2015 and his game seems to grow a little bit in these big events. And obviously you can't ignore the difference in the head to head between them, with Maguire winning nearly 70% of the encounters, including at The Masters last year, when they also met in the 1st Round, so I think Stephen Maguire will fancy the job.
RobertsonvFu : This match got everything to be a classic, Neil Robertson won back to back Champion of Champions and UK Championship last year, but finished it losing to an amateur in the 1st qualifying round for the German Masters, while Marco Fu won the Gibraltar Open with a 147, playing some really good snooker there. Fu's last win over Robertson came two years ago, but the head to head from the pair is very close, 8 wins for Fu, 7 wins for Robertson and 1 draw. And every match they play seems to be close. Robertson also don't have good memories from Fu, he lost the Australian Open final to him in 2013, 9-6. The Australian Open is Neil Robertson's home tournament, and currently the one he's looking to win, having lost in the Final twice.
HigginsvWenbo : John Higgins has never lost to Liang Wenbo out of 7 matches, but this match is interesting because even though Higgins won 3 Ranking Events in 2015, Liang Wenbo is having an amazing season, he reached the Final of the 6Red World Championship, semi-final of the Gibraltar Open and the Final of a Triple Crown Event, the UK Championship and you have to consider Higgins failed to reach the semi-finals of a Triple Crown Event in 2015 and was relegated in Group 1 of the Championship League this week. Even though I still expect him to win it, there's a lot of reasons to watch this match!
BinghamvJunhui : This one is for me the best match of the 1st Round, reigning World Champion Bingham leads the head to head quite comfortably, beating Ding Junhui 9 times. Junhui's last win out of 4 over Bingham came in 2011, they've played 7 times since. Ding Junhui is also in trouble of dropping from the Top 16 and have to qualify for the World Championship this year, as he's having poor runs for the last 18 months.
But at the other side, Bingham haven't played well since winning the World Championship last May, and he's yet to win a match at The Masters, while Ding Junhui has lifted the trophy here once, in 2011. Junhui also won the most important match, a Last 16 encounter at the Crucible in 2011, where the Chinese came back from 9-12 down to win 13-12. Who can win this time?
I will probably be back here in the blog during The Masters, but be sure you're not losing any fraction of it by following us on Ronnie O`Sullivan Brasil's Facebook Page. Thanks to everyone who read, who voted in the quiz and to Chris Varney for the "Masters History" feature 😊
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