WHO'S UNDER MORE PRESSURE AT THE 2021 MATERS

2021 has started and snooker still is in full flow. The Championship League is ongoing and Stuart Bingham has hit yet another maximum 147 break. Bingham will be defending his Masters title, unfortunately not in London as the pandemic still is a problem.

In Ally Pally or in the Marshall Arena though, the Masters is still the Masters. The Triple Crown tournament that nowadays is widely regarded as snooker's second biggest event after the World Championship. And as it's been discussed here, even stuck in Milton Keynes we've been able to experience a great atmosphere of snooker and the quality has been incredible. There is still a lot at stake - and for some, it can feel like a must win.

A lot has been said about Ronnie lately, and on whether he's still able to mix with the big guys since he's failed to win a title this season so far, having lost finals to Trump and Selby. However, since the last season only ended in August when Ronnie was being World Champion, I think it's far too early to say Ronnie is already under pressure to win again. He's 45, was World Champion five months ago and since, despite not playing his best, made two finals.

As for Judd Trump for instance, who's dominating according to everyone - including me, actually -, he may be under a little bit of pressure. Judd just lost the UK Championship final in a nail-biting deciding frame against Neil Robertson, but his Triple Crown runs in 2019/20 were very poor, so an UK Final doesn't quite feel like enough for him at the level he's at. The Masters is the creme de la creme of snooker and there's no better way for Judd than winning this to show everyone that he can dominate the big ones too.

Talking about domination, the player who last dominated snooker Mark Selby must be under pressure at the Masters as well. A three-times champion, Selby haven't lifted this trophy since 2013. Also, his last Triple Crown title was the 2017 World Championship. That 2017 World Title was a surprising end to a Selby domination from 2013 to 2017 (a period that saw him win 6 TC titles, including three World Championships in four years).

Also under pressure, is Ding Junhui. He failed to defend his UK Title last month, and since his 2011 win he's only been past round one twice at the masters. Inconsistency has been an old enemy of Ding's career, but if you want to be regular, being drawn against the World Champion in round one is not very inviting. Ronnie and Ding play the penultimate round one match on Wednesday.

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Thanks for everyone who was with us in 2020! Hope 2021 is a great year for everyone of you. Let's stick together and get through everything.