Masters 2018

[ken147]

Who's going to Alexandra Palace to watch the Masters snooker? I've got tickets for Monday 15th to watch Ding v Day, should be a good match.

[gavpowell]

I go every year and cannot wait! Ding v Day is one of those matches I'll be happy to sit out

[Shockerz]

Going on the Thursday and Friday (18th/19th), 7 of us going from same club.

If you're going (or watching on the tv we will all be wearing green Snooker Crazy polo shirts!!

Good couple of days for us and bit of fun in between with good company.

[SnookerFan]

Who's going to Alexandra Palace to watch the Masters snooker? I've got tickets for Monday 15th to watch Ding v Day, should be a good match.

I'm at that match too.

Also up for the Friday afternoon Quarter Final.

[Dredd46]

I should kick myself or let others do it for me. I live a easy 20mins from Ally Pally and keep letting it slip away. Still yet to pop my live pro comp cherry :upset: Would of made a great xmas pressie for me and me brother, horlicks. The Ebay/StudHub hunt begins

[cebs]

I got tickets for all the days that were included in the black Friday sale but always struggle to find cheap accommodation for the week.

I should remember and book and pay earlier as I always run low on funds in January.

So i might have a pair of all day tickets going spare, Monday to Friday not great allocated seats but you can sit in any empty seats once in and bar Ronnie's match there will always be some empties.

I do hope Ding beats Day, he isn't a top 16 player imo and never was 10 years ago.

Allen Vs Brecel could be a cracker, the masters seem to bring loads of 6-5 results and I reckon this could be one as both play a similar attacking game.

Also, I never get the scheduling of snooker matches, Ronnie is the current champion but plays on the third day?

At the WC the champion plays the opening game, why not here and always then it would be on the Sunday as well.

Ok, Selby is world number one but it that just random or they always out world number one match on first here?

They will put next year's tickets on sale next week probably and you cannot even be sure who will play the first session, crazy.

Anyway another great week of snooker hopefully, enjoy it live when possible and on TV almost as much if not.

[gavpowell]

I got tickets for all the days that were included in the black Friday sale but always struggle to find cheap accommodation for the week.

National Hotel Muswell Hill is about as cheap as you'll get - bit down at heel but clean and the staff are friendly enough. I've stayed there several times a year ever since the Masters moved to Ally Pally, but this year my London mate bought a flat so I've not had to book

[Dan-cat]

I got tickets for all the days that were included in the black Friday sale but always struggle to find cheap accommodation for the week.

I should remember and book and pay earlier as I always run low on funds in January.

So i might have a pair of all day tickets going spare, Monday to Friday not great allocated seats but you can sit in any empty seats once in and bar Ronnie's match there will always be some empties.

I do hope Ding beats Day, he isn't a top 16 player imo and never was 10 years ago.

Allen Vs Brecel could be a cracker, the masters seem to bring loads of 6-5 results and I reckon this could be one as both play a similar attacking game.

Also, I never get the scheduling of snooker matches, Ronnie is the current champion but plays on the third day?

At the WC the champion plays the opening game, why not here and always then it would be on the Sunday as well.

Ok, Selby is world number one but it that just random or they always out world number one match on first here?

They will put next year's tickets on sale next week probably and you cannot even be sure who will play the first session, crazy.

Anyway another great week of snooker hopefully, enjoy it live when possible and on TV almost as much if not.

Yo!

Do you have any of these tickets left?

[Dan-cat]

I should kick myself or let others do it for me. I live a easy 20mins from Ally Pally and keep letting it slip away. Still yet to pop my live pro comp cherry :upset: Would of made a great xmas pressie for me and me brother, horlicks. The Ebay/StudHub hunt begins

Just turn up, there are usually a few spares, no problem if not you can watch in the bar!

[SnookerFan]

Just turn up, there are usually a few spares, no problem if not you can watch in the bar!

I did that one year. Was up earlier in the week, and purchased a ticket for Thursday. May even have been the day before.

[cebs]

Yes, I hadn't decided whether to go but got some work nearby on Thursday night so think I will be able to go for the quarter finals.

That means I have tickets for Monday to wednesday all sessions available, like I said not great seats but just sit further forward in empty seats once you are in.

Bar Ronnie's match, I doubt you will have a problem.

[gavpowell]

Bar Ronnie's match, I doubt you will have a problem.

Yeah, I need a ticket for Ron's match because I cocked up and forgot to buy Tuesday in Black Friday's sale. But I expect to find one by asking at the box office every day - the last time it was O'Sullivan v Selby in the final, I went out duiring the interval of the afternoon session and managed to get newly released seats for the evening - some of the press or corporate bods had notified Worldsnooker they weren't required, so I got 'em

[cebs]

Nice , handy tip to get last minute seats. Probably good ones as well, they seem to block the third row with all their VIP guests.

[cebs]

Got all day tickets for next week's snooker at Alexander Palace, the masters 2018.

Got the following tickets.
Monday all day x 2 @ £25 each
Tuesday all day x 2 @ £30 each
Wednesday all day x 2 @ £25 each

And the quarter finals.
Thursday all day x 2 @ £60 each
Friday all day x 2 @ £60 each.

Ronnie is playing Tuesday afternoon and if he wins then Thursday afternoon, both these sessions are sold out.

Not the world's best seats sadly, but once inside you can move to empty seats and there are always some.

Tickets in hand and can post today for delivery tomorrow (Saturday) or first thing Monday am.

Collection more than welcome as well.

[Odrl]

So, the Masters starts tomorrow...

It has always been one of my favourite tournaments on the calendar. The matches are slightly longer, everything is televised, and the standard is usually pretty high. It helps that the rankings are now updated more regularly, so we usually don't get too many out-of-form players in the Masters anymore. Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham are missing, but all the other major players in snooker are here this week.

Let's quickly go through the draw...

Quarter 1:

Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Marco Fu
Mark Allen v. Luca Brecel

Ronnie O'Sullivan is the defending champion and starts as the tournament favourite here, having won three titles in the first half of the season, two of them in the proper format. It was hard to see anyone challenging Selby's status as the best player in the world this season, but O'Sullivan has managed to do just that, and he has a great chance to add to his recent success here. He is the most successful player in the history of the Masters, having won it seven times, including three titles in the last four years. When the Masters was first moved to January, more than a decade ago now, we had a number of years where the players who had a successful UK Championship struggled to repeat their performance in the Masters the following month, but recent years have seen that trend reversed to a large extent. That said, for all of O'Sullivan's UK and Masters titles, 13 in total, he has never actually managed to win both tournaments in the same season before. Is it time for that to change? Traditionally, the 1st round seems to be where he is the most vulnerable. I remember Joe Perry, Mark Williams and Liang Wenbo all having great chances to take him out in the opening round, in 2009, 2016 and 2017 respectively, and each time O'Sullivan managed to get over the line and went on to win the tournament. This time he faces Marco Fu in his opening match, a player he used to have quite an underwhelming record against, but he has dominated their meetings in recent years and hasn't actually lost to him since 2009. They met in the semi-finals of both the UK Championship and the Masters last season, both very close and high quality matches. The thing is though, Fu was playing much better snooker a year ago, whereas this season he has been pretty awful by his standards. He hasn't actually been to the business end of any ranking event this season, minor or major, he is not playing in the German Masters, and he looks set to miss out on the World Grand Prix as well, so it will be difficult for him to salvage anything from this season. You never know with him though, he could suddenly find some form again from nowhere and start playing world-class snooker.

Mark Allen has been a little quiet recently, after quite a good start to the season for him, which included a run to the final of the International Championship. It's been a while since he has won any sort of title, let alone a major one, but he has been showing some good form at times, and he is actually the only player in this quarter who will be playing in Berlin at the end of the month. Luca Brecel is making his debut at the Masters this year, but it doesn't really feel like he is an underdog here, because he has been one of the best players of the season so far, especially in the major events. I think the Masters is the sort of environment that could suit him, so I wouldn't be surprised if he had a good tournament here. When he won the China Championship at the start of the season, he actually beat both Fu and O'Sullivan along the way, so he doesn't really have any reason to be afraid of anyone in this quarter.

I don't really mind who makes it through to the quarter-finals here, because every possible pairing looks exciting on paper. I suspect it will be O'Sullivan against Allen though, with O'Sullivan the favourite to go through.

Quarter 2:

John Higgins v. Anthony McGill
Ding Junhui v. Ryan Day

John Higgins is traditionally not a very strong Masters player, relatively speaking of course. This will be his 24th consecutive appearance, but he has actually lost in the 1st round in more than half of his previous appearances, even though he would have been the higher seed and the favourite on paper in the vast majority of those matches. He hasn't produced anything particularly special this season, but he has still had a couple of decent results before new year, so he could be the man to beat in this relatively weak quarter of the draw. His opening match against Anthony McGill is a repeat of the Indian Open final this season, which Higgins won comfortably. McGill is another Masters debutant this year, so it will be interesting to see what he can do. He was fantastically consistent in the first part of the season, right through to October, but more recently he hasn't enjoyed any great success.

I'm not really sure what to make of Ding Junhui's chances here. He managed to win the World Open in September, which was one of the five biggest events in the first half of the season, but apart from that his season has been pretty awful. His 1st round defeat in the UK Championship was particularly pathetic, from 5-1 up against a player he should never have lost to. He seems to be playing without any motivation or ambition at the moment, which is something that has happened before in certain periods of his career. On top of that, his Masters record is a little suspect as well. He won the last ever tournament staged at the Wembley Arena in 2011, but since the tournament has moved to Alexandra Palace, Ding has only won one match here, last year when he stopped a run of five consecutive 1st round defeats. Well, he's still won more matches than Ryan Day here, but that's only because Day hasn't actually played at the Alexandra Palace before. This is actually Day's first appearance at the Masters in eight years, having got back into the top16 with a run of pretty solid results. He played a good UK Championship last month, getting to the semi-finals after a few really close and hard-fought matches, and he showed great composure at the business end of his matches. He has caused problems for Ding in the past, so I would not be surprised at all if he prevailed here.

As for the quarter-final match in this section, the only recent result worth pointing out is McGill whitewashing Day in the opening round of the Scottish Open last month, in what was a ridiculously harsh 1st round draw for both players. Ding and Higgins have the most history here, with Ding having the better record as far as major matches are concerned, but I don't think the head-to-head statistics are particularly relevant in this quarter. I think inconsistency will be the bigger factor, with only one or two players finding their form and playing close to their best. At the moment, I think that's most likely to be Higgins.

Quarter 3:

Judd Trump v. Liang Wenbo
Shaun Murphy v. Allister Carter

A tough quarter for Judd Trump, but he should be okay if he can play to the high standard we've seen from him at times this season. The only worry is, he gets a lot of really one-sided wins in the early rounds, with the centuries flying in from everywhere, but he can't quite reproduce it when he really needs it at the business end of tournaments. It also doesn't help that some players have played ridiculously well against him recently, such as Dott in the UK Championship or Cao Yupeng in the Scottish Open. There are a lot of similarities with Neil Robertson's recent struggles, only Trump's have not been anywhere near as bad. Anyway, Trump's season has gone okay so far, quite similar to where he was at this point last year as well. His best results in the Masters are a couple of semi-finals, so he still has something to prove here. Liang Wenbo has not enjoyed a particularly good season so far, and would not even be here if the cut-off point was a little later. He has won matches in most events he's played in, but he hasn't actually reached the business end in any of them, which is a bit disappointing. He beat Trump in the English Open final last season, so he won't be scared of him, although Trump did prevail when they met in the International Championship earlier this season. I expect him to prevail here as well.

Shaun Murphy, the 2014 champion, is enjoying quite a good season so far. His biggest success was winning the Champion of Champions in November, and he also lost in the final of three events that carried ranking points, two of them major ones. The only problem is, he seems to either reach the final or go out early, so there is room for improvement as far as consistency is concerned. I'm looking forward to his match against Ali Carter here, one of the better 1st round prospects in my opinion. Carter actually has quite a strong record against Murphy, including a couple of real thrashings. They've already played twice in the major events this season. Murphy won in the semi-finals of the China Championship, in a match where Carter had plenty of chances and failed to take them, while Carter prevailed in the International Championship a few months later. Those two Chinese events were the highlights of the first half of the season for Carter, or to put it a little better, they were the only two events where he played anywhere close to his potential. I actually thought he played the best snooker out of anyone in Daqing, but he seemed to give up halfway through his quarter-final against Martin Gould, for no good reason really. I think he has been in quite a negative frame of mind recently, letting every little setback frustrate him immensely, which is unusual to see in someone who has dealt with and overcame much worse setbacks outside of snooker. Anyway, Carter is another player who has a poor record at the Masters, with eight 1st round exits in ten appearances, so I will go for Murphy on this occasion.

If my predictions come through, it should be Trump against Murphy in the quarter-finals, which could be very exciting. Trump has the better record there, so I would give him a slight edge. A couple of other potential pairings look quite interesting as well, Trump against Carter would be a bit of a grudge match, while Murphy and Liang have had a couple of close matches on the big stage in the past as well.

Quarter 4:

Barry Hawkins v. Kyren Wilson
Mark Selby v. Mark Williams

It's funny, I said the ranking system has helped filter out the out-of-form players ahead of the Masters in recent years, but now I find myself talking about how poor some of the players have been this season much more than I expected to. There is no better example than Barry Hawkins really... Early exits everywhere you look, and even in the two events where he managed to string together more than one victory, he ended up getting whitewashed in the 3rd round. I've been saying this all season, but Hawkins just seem to play better after new year for some reason, so his part of the year is still to come. He was a finalist in this event two years ago, and should have reached another final last year as well in all honesty, but he managed to throw away the semi-final against Joe Perry from a very commanding position. Kyren Wilson has been in much better form this season, reaching the final in two events, and he can count himself fairly unlucky to have run into such inspired opponents both times. The only problem I see with him at the moment is a little too much negativity, not in terms of shot selection, but rather his inability to shrug off the little setbacks that inevitably happen on a snooker table. He isn't quite as bad as Carter or Maguire, but there is a lot of those sarcastic little smiles and head shaking, which is something you don't really see with players like Selby for example.

And Mark Selby is exactly the player we come to next. I guess we have come to expect a lot from him, so most people would say his season has been a little disappointing so far. He still managed to win one of the two biggest events in the first half of the season though, so one can't be too harsh on him. He has a better Masters record than everyone else here apart from O'Sullivan, with three titles and two further finals in only ten appearances. He also seems to enjoy the best-of-11 format more than anyone else. Before the UK Championship, Selby had actually won the last five best-of-11 (or longer) ranking events, which is quite a remarkable statistic. It's also remarkable how often Selby and Mark Williams have played each other recently, and they could have met even more times, because they always seem to land in the same quarter of the draw. Selby won 6-5 in last year's Masters, and I seem to remember Williams getting an unlucky kick when he was nicely in the balls to win the match. Selby also prevailed in their China Open final and again in the International Championship this season, but Williams finally managed to stop his run of defeats by beating Selby in the Shanghai Masters. Williams has actually been a model of consistency this season. He won the Northern Ireland Open in the short format, and he also reached at least the quarter-finals in five other events that carried ranking points, including three that had the traditional format. I would give Selby the edge on this occasion though.

While it's true that Hawkins has been something of a bogey player for Selby in recent years, it's tough to see him getting past Selby with the kind of form he has shown recently. I think Wilson has a better chance of doing so, but the head-to-head is very much in Selby's favour there. Wilson has also beaten Williams in the only two proper matches they've played, including the quarter-finals of the World Open this season. As for Hawkins against Williams, I'm afraid the chances don't look any better for Hawkins in that match-up either... I'm going for Selby in this quarter.

Possible SF line-up:

Ronnie O'Sullivan v. John Higgins
Judd Trump v. Mark Selby


There we are... It's all set for a brilliant week of snooker. I know I will enjoy every minute of it, and I wish everyone else the same. :smile: