The perfect tournament to start the year. The second most prestigious tournament of the snooker calendar – the Dafabet Masters.
There are a number of interesting things just by looking at the line-up alone. Seven nations are represented here! There has been a debutant every year since 2016 and this one is no exception with the addition of Jack Lisowski. The line-up has also slightly changed from last year too. Lisowski, Stephen Maguire, and Neil Robertson, who failed to qualify last year for the first time since 2006, replace Marco Fu, Anthony McGill, and Ali Carter.
Many players are coming into this event on fantastic form. Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, and Mark Allen certainly fit that bracket while Barry Hawkins, Ding Junhui, and Luca Brecel are losing their way a little. We will see Mark Williams embrace Alexandra Palace as the current World Champion too as Allen defending his Masters crown and the atmosphere will be electric. A new rivalry was born between Judd and Kyren Wilson (supposedly), which may get snooker on the front pages of many newspapers. Maybe. Anyway, we have a lot to look forward to!
I will list their recent meeting and the head-to-head records of these matches, according to CueTracker. The H2H will exclude the Championship League and the Snooker Shoot-Out.
Mark Allen (1) vs. Luca Brecel (15)
H2H: Mark Allen leads Luca Brecel 4-0.
Recent meeting: 2018 Masters – Mark Allen beat Luca Brecel 6-3.
Think we’ve been here before. Last year, Mark Allen had a convincing win over the Belgian Bullet, scoring two centuries and two half-centuries. Then Allen went on to win his first Triple Crown event! Fast-forward a season and Mark is facing the same opponent in the first round to defend his crown.
Mark Allen is in the form of his life. Two ranking titles, a non-ranking semi-final, and one Triple Crown final since November is not too shabby. He always said his form is there on the practice table but is never helped by his attitude towards travelling and his frustrations at not making it big. Now that he’s proved that, he needs to carry it on to bigger things – who knows, if the World Championship is also in his sights?
We must also remember that the 2018 Masters was the start of Luca’s decline. If you go into tournaments with more than one cue, then you know you’ve got problems. 2018 was a bad year for Luca and there are no signs of improvement this season. He hasn’t reached even the quarter-finals this season, with his best performances being two Last 16 appearances in the Paul Hunter Classic and the Northern Ireland Open.
Allen should win fairly comfortably here. Ally Pally is now his fortress, aside from the fact that the Pistol is unbeaten against Brecel. The only way he will lose is if he will cave in to the pressure of defending champion. I can’t imagine he will.
Winner: Mark Allen vs. Luca Brecel (6-3)
Ding Junhui (8) vs. Jack Lisowski (16)
H2H: Ding Junhui leads Jack Lisowski 1-0.
Recent meeting: 2014 Shanghai Masters – Ding Junhui beat Jack Lisowski 5-1.
We are finally starting to see what Jack Lisowski is capable of. He is reaching the latter stages of tournaments on a regular basis, with his first ranking finals in Riga being the main highlight. He follows the road of many young professionals who made their debuts in recent years, such as Kyren Wilson, Anthony McGill, and Luca Brecel. Hopefully, like Luca and Kyren, he will cement his place for many years to come.
While Lisowski impressed, reached a ranking final and significantly improved – Ding has done none of those things. Looking at performance alone, he hasn’t reached even one quarter-final of a ranking event this season. Yes, he reached the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters and the quarter-finals of the Champions, but that means nothing to the ranking table. But I think we can forgive him. Ding Junhui became a father last August and especially with the amount of travelling already, he will be feeling the strain.
This will be a huge occasion for Lisowski and my problem with him is what he is like when the pressure is ramped up. He managed to lose to Peter Lines from 3-0 up in the Paul Hunter Classic to lose 4-3. We saw a perfect example of his when he completely broke down after losing a 50/50 frame for Ronnie to go 2-1 up in the UK Championship, allowing him to steamroller Jack 6-1. Though by form, Ding would be Jack’s perfect opponent by experience, Jack is Ding’s too.
Winner: Ding Junhui vs. Jack Lisowski (4-6)
John Higgins (5) vs. Ryan Day (13)
H2H: John Higgins leads Ryan Day 12-6.
Recent meeting: 2018 Champion of Champions – John Higgins beat Ryan Day 4-3.
John Higgins is not a happy bunny. By his standards, he is having a miserable season, despite reaching the China Championship final. He recently spoke out of his dissatisfaction with snooker in general. This includes being burnt out, fed up and contemplating retirement. He showed some fighting spirit in the Scottish Open though. Despite all of that, as well as a broken rib, he managed to hit his 9th maximum against Gerard Greene in the Scottish Open. Looking at his record, it isn’t too bad. He reached the semi-finals in last year’s Masters before losing to Mark Allen, who of course went on to win the event.
Ryan Day has been fairly consistent this season, though it’s nothing to write home about. Three quarter-final appearances on three Home Nations events is pretty decent, though his season took a slight dent because he lost in the first round of the UK Championship to No. 117 Joe O’Connor.
Last year at Ally Pally, Higgins beat Day in the quarter-finals 6-1. But Ryan has taken Higgins’s scalp a few times recently, having won twice in the past three meetings. I would actually go for Ryan Day with this. Despite the fact that Higgins might be refreshed after the Christmas break, Ryan will have confidence going into the tournament that he can win in the Masters. He doesn’t have a good record here but his win over Ding Junhui last year should perk him up a tad.
Winner: John Higgins vs. Ryan Day (2-6)
Ronnie O’Sullivan (4) vs. Stuart Bingham (12)
H2H: Ronnie O’Sullivan leads Stuart Bingham 14-3.
Recent meeting: 2018 Champion of Champions – Ronnie O’Sullivan beat Stuart Bingham 4-2.
What can be said about Ronnie O’Sullivan that hasn’t been said already? Excluding a couple of withdrawals, he won three tournaments including the UK Championship for a record-breaking seventh time. He reached the final of the Northern Ireland Open and the semis of the English Open, where he scored his thirteenth maximum. He is a dominant force despite being largely absent! His record at the Alexandra Palace isn’t too shabby either. He won three titles in the last five years, though his excellent record was damaged after he lost to eventual champion Mark Allen in the quarter-finals last season.
Stuart Bingham is having an inconsistent start to the season. He lost his first couple of first-round matches because he was still struggling to recover from his suspension last season. However, that burden was lifted when he won the English Open, beating the first-time finalist Mark Davis 9-7 after which he got understandably emotional. Since then, it’s been rather bumpy. On one hand, he reached the semi-finals of the UK Championship. On the other, he got knocked out of the first round of the Northern Ireland Open and Scottish Open to low-ranked opponents Peter Lines and enigma Tian Pengfei respectively.
These two had some epic battles over the years, including in the 2014 UK Championship, the 2015 World Championship and Champion of Championship. I think I will go with Ronnie on this because not only on his relentless form but of Bingham’s rocky record in the Masters.
Winner: Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. Stuart Bingham (6-2)
Mark Selby (3) vs. Stephen Maguire (14)
H2H: Mark Selby leads Stephen Maguire 9-6 and one draw.
Recent meeting: 2017 China Open – Mark Selby beat Stephen Maguire 5-1.
This is quite a match-up I’m surprised I don’t see that often.
It’s weird to say that Selby’s having a decent season, considering it is nowhere near as successful as any season in the past five years. He won the China Championship and reached a semi-final and quarter-final. However, what is concerning is his record in England. The last time he won an event in his home soil was in 2017. Outside of the Triple Crown, it is 2012. He is vulnerable to a shock, of course. His loss to amateur James Cahill was a massive surprise, especially since he played so well in the Northern Ireland Open.
So, Stephen Maguire. Back in the Masters’ circle for the first time since 2016. Maguire mustered two semi-finals and a quarter-final this season, but you do wonder how he will turn up? He complained about his back during the English Open. He also complained over the past few years over whether he can compete at the top level anymore, let alone win another title.
It’s one where I am in trouble with to pick a winner. Assuming his loss against Cahill was an anomaly, I think Selby will nick it. He won’t underestimate Maguire though, especially how he came back from 4-0 down to beat Mark Williams 6-5 in the UK Championship last year!
Winner: Mark Selby vs. Stephen Maguire (6-5)
Judd Trump (6) vs. Kyren Wilson (10)
H2H: Kyren Wilson leads Judd Trump 6-3.
Recent meeting: 2018 Champion of Champions – Kyren Wilson beat Judd Trump 6-1.
The biggest tie of the Masters without a doubt. This is the tie that everyone wanted including Judd and Kyren. Both players are having successful seasons having won ranking events Northern Irish Open and the Paul Hunter Classic respectively and reached the semis once. Judd hit more century breaks and recently hit a maximum. Kyren reached the latter stages more regularly, therefore winning more matches.
Since their rivalry was ignited after the Champion of Champions, these records mean little as they will play under a different kind of pressure. World Snooker documented their rivalry well and you can read it by clicking here. However, as I said before, I think the rivalry feels slightly forced.
The competitiveness between the two was inevitable because they are two hot prospects, with very different styles who hope to take the mantle from the old guard. Both Judd and Kyren rate each other incredibly highly. After Kyren made an ignorant comment and Judd retorted, all was blown out of proportion and a new rivalry was born. Snooker had a rich history of rivals. But the last ‘rivalry’ we have was between Mark Allen and Mark Joyce, but even Allen said that cooled down last season. So there had to be another one somewhere!
Both players clearly don’t fear each other. Kyren having the better H2H record and is renowned for his bottle and fighting qualities. Judd has more firepower and more experience with rivalries, having been involved with many ties against O’Sullivan. Not that it makes too much difference, but Judd will take confidence from beating Kyren twice in the Championship League, qualifying from one of the groups. How very exciting!
Winner: Judd Trump vs. Kyren Wilson (6-4)
Barry Hawkins (7) vs. Shaun Murphy (11)
H2H: Shaun Murphy leads Barry Hawkins 9-2.
Recent meeting: 2017 Gibraltar Open – Shaun Murphy beat Barry Hawkins 4-1.
If I wrote this before the Scottish Open, I would’ve said that both players were struggling this season and making a number of early exits because of inconsistent form. However, Shaun’s form came out of nowhere recently and reached the final of the Scottish Open, with his 6-3 semi-final win over Trump being a particular highlight, dominating the first interval. That would give him a lot of confidence going into this tie, despite six first-round losses.
Hawkins is unusually inconsistent this season. It started brightly when he pushed Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Shanghai Master final before losing 11-9, as well as the reaching the World Open semi-final and the China Championship quarter-final. However, his Home Nations record was inadequate and is behind in form players like Allen and Wilson.
Barry Hawkins has an unfortunate record, having been knocked out of the four times out of the past six appearances, even though he reached the final. Interestingly, they played together in 2017 and Hawkins won convincingly 6-1. However, I think it’ll be a reverse scoreline.
Winner: Barry Hawkins vs. Shaun Murphy (1-6)
Mark Williams (2) vs. Neil Robertson (9)
H2H: Neil Robertson leads Mark Williams 6-3 and one draw.
Recent meeting: 2017 European Masters – Mark Williams beat Neil Robertson 4-2.
You have to feel sorry for Mark Williams. Since he returned to the fixtures list of the Masters in 2016, he was drawn to Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby. Now he gets drawn against Neil Robertson. Draws can be cruel.
Mark Williams was still celebrating his World Championship win last season by drinking, pulling people’s legs on Twitter, and more drinking. Though he came from 9-5 behind to win 10-9 against David Gilbert in the World Open final, he hasn’t achieved much since then. But who cares, he’s the World Champion – something that was considered impossible five years ago. His past three first-round Masters visits went to deciders, don’t forget…
It’s odd to say this about Neil Robertson, but he has been relatively anonymous this season. He won the Riga Masters and reached the final of the International Championship. He’s hit 41 centuries, the most out of any players so far, only equalling Judd’s total. It’s also good to see him back, as he didn’t qualify last year. You would imagine he wants to make a good impression.
Williams will embrace the atmosphere when he walks into Alexandra Palace as the World Champion. I hope this is the match where they knock hells bells and buckets of blood out of each other. On form, I would go with Robertson in this century-laden match based on form and his Masters record. The last time he lost a Masters first round match was in 2010!
Winner: Mark Williams vs. Neil Robertson (4-6)
The Dafabet Masters will commence on Sunday 13th January 2018. The first match will be between Mark Allen and Luca Brecel at 13:00 GMT.
Great preview! Shaun’s form this season is maddening – his final in Glasgow was completely unexpected, and I don’t know why he’s been so poor this season. Most people are probably saying Shaun’s form is due to his injury back end of last season, but I wonder if it’s related to all the P.R. he’s doing for world snooker at the moment.
Hi!
I just had the pleasure of reading this wonderful article; it was very interesting and enjoyable.
Watching Judd get awarded the Maiden Masters Crown this year reminds me of a successful comeback for Judd when O’Sullivan beat him 10-3 in the 2017 Shanghai Masters!
I eagerly look forward to your next post.
King regards,
David at Hamilton Billiards.