THREE BOLD MASTERS PREDICTIONS

Happy new year everyone! In other words, the second Triple Crown event of the year is just around the corner - Sunday sees the start of The Masters.

It's really difficult to predict the winner, since there's a handful of players who have played well this season and no one won multiple tournaments yet. I'll list here three players: the favourite to win, my pick to win, and an outside threat worth watching.

Well, first I think that the favourite to win is Ronnie O'Sullivan. He's not odds favourite to win but in my books he'd be. That's because although I could name a few other players that have probably played as well as him this season, Ronnie has been the most consistent of them and the win at the World Grand Prix last month could be a huge confidence lifter for ending his 15 months trophy drought. 

It's also Ronnie's reunion with his home crowd in London after three years, since the Masters was played behind close doors last year, and he didn't enter the 2020 tournament. Not to forget that Ronnie is by far the most successful player in Masters history, holding the record for most finals (13) and wins (7)

However, my pick to win is Mark Selby. His season so far definitely doesn't support me picking him as the winner, he's only 17th in the one-year ranking list, and could miss the Players Championship and Tour Championship if his results don't improve. Also, his record at the Masters in the last 7 years have not been great, with four first round defeats and failing to reach a semifinal. But we can't forget that he's the World Champion and that the Masters is a tournament where he's been very successful - in his first seven years there, he made five finals and won it three times.

Somehow I feel like Selby is due a deep run this season and due a deep run at the Masters. He is in the bottom half of the draw, what means he won't play Higgins, Robertson or O'Sullivan before the final, and could only meet Judd Trump in the semifinals. If Selby can manage to win his first two matches, we know how tough he's to beat late in a tournament.

Now, my outside pick will be Zhao Xintong. We've known Zhao's talent for a while, and despite a poor start to the season he made his huge breakthrough by winning the UK Championship last month. He's not favourite to win his first round match against John Higgins, but if he can somehow get through that match I think he instantly becomes one of the favourites. His game right now seems to fit very well with the best of 11 matches, and he's proved that the one table set-up thrives him.

I know he's a rookie, but historically rookies have done well at this tournament- in the field this year there are three former debutant winners: Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Selby and the reigning champion, Yan Bingtao.

What do you think? Agree, or are these predictions really bold? Whatever happens, enjoy 2022 and enjoy your snooker!

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