2023 Masters (snooker)
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The 2023 Masters (officially the 2023 Cazoo Masters) was a professional non-ranking
snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in ...
tournament that took place from 8 to 15 January 2023 at
Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...
in London, England. It was the 49th staging of the Masters, which was first held in
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
, and the second of three
Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...
events in the
2022–23 snooker season The 2022–23 snooker season is a professional snooker season with tournaments played between June 2022 and May 2023. Players The World Snooker Tour in the 2022–23 season initially consisted of a field of 131 professional players, but later ...
, following the
2022 UK Championship The 2022 UK Championship (officially the 2022 Cazoo UK Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 12 to 20 November 2022 at the York Barbican in York, England. The fifth ranking event and first Triple Crown event o ...
and preceding the
2023 World Snooker Championship The 2023 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2023 Cazoo World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 April to 1 May 2023 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 47th consecu ...
. Organised by the
World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of approximately 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. The World Snooker Tour is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial ar ...
and sponsored by car retailer
Cazoo Cazoo is a British online car retailer based in London, England which was founded in 2018 by Alex Chesterman. History Cazoo was founded in 2018 by British internet entrepreneur Alex Chesterman. It launched an online marketplace for used cars in ...
, the tournament was broadcast by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
domestically, by
Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...
in Europe, and by
Matchroom Sport Matchroom Sport is a sporting event promotions company founded by English entrepreneur Barry Hearn and run by Hearn and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, go ...
and other broadcasters elsewhere in the world. The winner received £250,000 from a total prize pool of £725,000. The top 16 players in the
snooker world rankings The snooker world rankings are the official system of ranking professional snooker players to determine automatic qualification and seeding for tournaments on the World Snooker Tour. The ranking lists are maintained by the sport's governing body, ...
as they stood after the UK Championship were invited to the event. However, the sport's governing body subsequently suspended invitees
Yan Bingtao Yan Bingtao (, born 16 February 2000) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the youngest player to win the Amateur World Snooker Championship after defeating Muhammad Sajjad 8–7. Having qualified to compete on the main tour for ...
and
Zhao Xintong Zhao Xintong (; born 3 April 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player. Long considered one of the brightest talents in the game, he won his first ranking title (also his first Triple Crown title) at the 2021 UK Championship, defeating Lu ...
from professional competition amid a match-fixing investigation. Yan was replaced in the draw by David Gilbert. Zhao was replaced by
Hossein Vafaei Hossein Vafaei ( fa, حسین وفایی ایوری; born 15 October 1994) is an Iranian professional snooker player. He is the first professional player from Iran. He won his first professional title at the 2022 Snooker Shoot Out, beating Mark ...
, who was the only Masters debutant and the first Iranian player to compete in the tournament.
Neil Robertson Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United ...
was the defending champion, having defeated
Barry Hawkins Barry Hawkins (born 23 April 1979) is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season, when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championship ...
10–4 in the 2022 final. However, Robertson lost 4–6 to
Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting. Born in Harlow, Essex and r ...
in the first round. Mark Williams reached the final for the first time in 20 years, becoming the oldest finalist since
Ray Reardon Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...
in
1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
.
Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranki ...
defeated Williams 10–8 in the final to capture his second Masters title, becoming the 11th player to win the title more than once. There were 30
century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...
s at the tournament. The highest break prize was shared by Trump, Vafaei, and Williams, who all made 143 breaks in their quarter-final matches.


Overview

The Masters is a non-ranking
snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in ...
tournament that was first held in
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
for ten invited players at the West Centre Hotel in London. John Spencer won the inaugural event, defeating
Ray Reardon Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...
on a in the deciding frame of the final. The Masters is the second-longest-running professional snooker tournament, after the
World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927, it ...
. The most successful player in its history is
Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...
, who has won the title seven times, most recently in
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
. Organised by the
World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of approximately 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. The World Snooker Tour is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial ar ...
and sponsored by car retailer
Cazoo Cazoo is a British online car retailer based in London, England which was founded in 2018 by Alex Chesterman. History Cazoo was founded in 2018 by British internet entrepreneur Alex Chesterman. It launched an online marketplace for used cars in ...
, the 2023 event was the 49th staging of the tournament. The second
Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...
event of the
2022–23 snooker season The 2022–23 snooker season is a professional snooker season with tournaments played between June 2022 and May 2023. Players The World Snooker Tour in the 2022–23 season initially consisted of a field of 131 professional players, but later ...
, following the
2022 UK Championship The 2022 UK Championship (officially the 2022 Cazoo UK Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 12 to 20 November 2022 at the York Barbican in York, England. The fifth ranking event and first Triple Crown event o ...
and preceding the
2023 World Snooker Championship The 2023 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2023 Cazoo World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 April to 1 May 2023 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 47th consecu ...
, it took place from 8 to 15 January 2023 at
Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...
in London. Matches were played as the
best of A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
11 until the final, which was the best of 19 frames and played over two . The tournament was broadcast live in the United Kingdom by
BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...
, and in Europe by
Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...
. It was broadcast in China by China Central Television and Superstars Online, and
streamed Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
by Huya, Youku, Migu,
Douyin TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...
, and
Kuaishou Kuaishou ( zh, c=快手, l=quick hand) is a users video sharing, short video-sharing mobile app, a social network, and video special effects editor, based in Haidian District (Beijing), developed in 2011 by Beijing Kuaishou Technology, by engineer ...
. It was broadcast by
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in Hong Kong, by
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in Brazil and the United States, by Fastsports HD in Pakistan, by
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in Malaysia, by Sport Cast in Taiwan and Indonesia, by
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in Thailand, and by Premier Sports Network and TapGO in the Philippines. In all other territories, the event was streamed by
Matchroom Sport Matchroom Sport is a sporting event promotions company founded by English entrepreneur Barry Hearn and run by Hearn and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, go ...
.


Participants

The 16 highest-ranked players after the 2022 UK Championship were invited to participate in the tournament. The defending champion was Australia's
Neil Robertson Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United ...
, who won the tournament for a second time at the 2022 Masters by defeating England's
Barry Hawkins Barry Hawkins (born 23 April 1979) is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season, when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championship ...
10–4 in the final. Robertson was seeded first for the event as defending champion, while O'Sullivan was seeded second as the reigning
world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
. The next six players in the world rankings were seeded and allocated fixed positions in the draw, with the remaining eight participants drawn randomly against them. The first-round draw was made during the UK Championship final, which was contested by Mark Allen and
Ding Junhui Ding Junhui (; born 1 April 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport. Throughout his career, he has won 14 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (200 ...
on 20 November 2022. Ding would have re-entered the top 16 and been invited to the event had he won the UK Championship, but Allen defeated him, so the last Masters spot went to
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champion
Yan Bingtao Yan Bingtao (, born 16 February 2000) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the youngest player to win the Amateur World Snooker Championship after defeating Muhammad Sajjad 8–7. Having qualified to compete on the main tour for ...
, who was ranked 16th in the world at the cutoff. Yan was drawn against seventh seed Mark Williams. However, on 12 December 2022, the sport's governing body, the
World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards based in Bristol, England. It owns and publishes the official rules of the two sports and engages in promotion ...
, suspended Yan amid a match-fixing investigation, making him ineligible to compete in or attend any World Snooker Tour event. David Gilbert, ranked 17th in the world after the UK Championship, replaced Yan in the draw. On 3 January 2023, the WPBSA suspended the world number nine
Zhao Xintong Zhao Xintong (; born 3 April 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player. Long considered one of the brightest talents in the game, he won his first ranking title (also his first Triple Crown title) at the 2021 UK Championship, defeating Lu ...
, who had been drawn against third seed
Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the ...
in the first round, as part of the same investigation.
Hossein Vafaei Hossein Vafaei ( fa, حسین وفایی ایوری; born 15 October 1994) is an Iranian professional snooker player. He is the first professional player from Iran. He won his first professional title at the 2022 Snooker Shoot Out, beating Mark ...
, ranked 18th after the UK Championship, replaced Zhao in the draw. Vafaei was the only Masters debutant at the 2023 event and the first Iranian player to compete in the tournament.


Prize money

The winner of the event received £250,000 from a total prize pool of £725,000. The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below: * Winner: £250,000 * Runner-up: £100,000 * Semi-finals: £60,000 * Quarter-finals: £30,000 * Last 16: £15,000 * Highest break: £15,000 * Total: £725,000


Summary


First round

The first round was played from 8 to 11 January as the best of 11 frames. On the opening afternoon, 2015 winner
Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting. Born in Harlow, Essex and r ...
faced the defending champion Robertson, who won the first frame. Murphy then won five consecutive frames, making a
century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...
in frame six after a from Robertson, to move one frame from victory. However, Robertson won the next three frames, including a
maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a one-four-seven) is the highest possible in a single of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, followed by all six for a further 27 ...
attempt in the ninth, which ended when he missed the 14th . Robertson had chances in the tenth to force a , but missed a key shot on the after potting the penultimate red, which allowed Murphy to clinch the match 6–4. Afterwards, Robertson said that a bad flu had affected his preparation for the event as well as his performance in the match. In the evening, debutant Vafaei faced three-time winner Selby. The scores were tied at 2–2 at the mid-session interval, but Vafaei won all four frames played after the interval for a 6–2 victory, making two centuries and three in the match. It was the third consecutive time Vafaei had beaten Selby, after eliminating him in the previous two UK Championships; it was also the ninth consecutive year Selby had lost at either the first-round or quarter-final stage, having last reached the semi-finals in 2014. Vafaei paid tribute to Selby, calling him a "tough opponent" and a "legend", and commented: "Am I asleep or awake? Honestly I can't believe it".
Luca Brecel Luca Brecel (born 8 March 1995) is a Belgian professional snooker player. He won the European Under-19 title at the age of 14 and went on to break Stephen Hendry's record as the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible Theatre. He made h ...
faced world number one O'Sullivan, who took the opening frame with a 97 break and won both the second and third on the after errors from his opponent. Although Brecel made a century break to win frame four, O’Sullivan responded with back-to-back centuries of 134 and 104 before wrapping up a 6–1 victory in frame seven. O'Sullivan commented: "It is not easy to play under pressure and I sensed that Luca felt a little uncomfortable and I tried to make the most of that and punish every mistake he made". In the evening,
Jack Lisowski Jack Adam Lisowski (born 25 June 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Churchdown, Gloucestershire. He turned professional in 2010 by finishing first in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. A left-handed player, he is known for his atta ...
, who had won just four frames across his three previous Masters appearances, faced two-time winner
John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...
, who was playing in the tournament for a record-extending 29th time. Higgins made a 142 break in the third frame but Lisowski led 3–1 at the interval. Higgins won frame five, but Lisowski made a century in the sixth and came from 55 points behind to win the seventh. Higgins attempted a maximum break in frame eight but missed the ninth black; he won the frame after Lisowski missed the last red. Lisowski clinched his first Masters victory in frame nine, making a 93 break to win 6–3. He commented afterwards that the event had "always overawed me but the crowd were incredible and kept lifting me. I've broken my duck". Higgins expressed frustration at his errors in the match and said he was considering working with a sports psychologist. The
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winner Allen faced two-time runner-up Hawkins, who trailed by 55 points in the opening frame but recovered to win it on the colours. Hawkins took the next two with breaks of 76 and 114 and won frame four on the colours after Allen missed the brown to a pocket. Hawkins took the fifth with breaks of 45 and 41. In the sixth, Allen missed a rest shot while on a 45 break and then made a safety mistake with two reds remaining that let Hawkins close out a 6–0 whitewash. It was Allen's fifth consecutive first-round defeat since winning the tournament, and also made him the fourth consecutive UK champion to lose in the first round of the Masters. Allen praised Hawkins's safety play, saying: "It was probably one of the best safety performances I have ever played against as a professional". In the evening, two-time winner Williams faced Gilbert, who had reached the semi-finals on both his previous appearances in the tournament. Williams won the first two frames with back-to-back centuries of 126 and 127 and took the third with a 95 break. After Gilbert missed a rest shot on the penultimate red in the fourth, Williams cleared to lead 4–0 at the interval. Gilbert won the fifth frame with a 59 break, and produced an 80 clearance in the sixth from 42 points behind, reducing his deficit to two frames. Even though Gilbert also made half-centuries in the next two frames, Williams won the seventh after a safety exchange on the last red, and won the eighth on the colours to wrap up a 6–2 victory. Williams, referee Marcel Eckardt, and a cameraman all became involved in trying to swat a wasp during the final frame before the referee asked Williams to continue play. The
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
winner
Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranki ...
faced the season's
British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
winner Ryan Day. The scores were tied at 3–3 after Trump made a 105 century, the highest break of the match, in the sixth frame. Day won the next two frames to move one from victory, and the ninth frame went to a re-spotted black. Day missed a pot to a baulk pocket that would have won the match, and Trump potted the black to take the frame. Day led in the tenth, but missed the black after potting the last red, and Trump tied the scores at 5–5. In the deciding frame, Day played a into the while potting the black, but when a red dropped into the middle pocket. Trump made a 58 break to leave Day . However, with one red remaining, Trump failed to escape from a snooker and conceded a . Day could have won the match by clearing from the free ball, but missed his nominated brown to the middle pocket, and Trump potted the last red to win 6–5. "I was a bit nervous at the start and it took going 5–3 behind to feel like the weight was lifted off me to go for my shots", said Trump. In the final first-round match, 2018 runner-up
Kyren Wilson Kyren Wilson (; born 23 December 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Kettering and a five-time ranking event winner. He has been a runner-up at two of the three Triple Crown events, having reached the final at both the 2018 ...
faced
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
winner
Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former world and Masters champion. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his professional ...
, who won the first two frames with back-to-back centuries of 102 and 109. Bingham took the third after Wilson missed a pot on the blue and won the fourth with an 85 break. He made a 127, his third century of the match, to take a 5–0 lead. Wilson won the next two frames with breaks of 90 and 81, and won the eighth on the colours to reduce his deficit to two frames. However, Bingham sealed a 6–3 victory with a pot on the yellow in frame nine after a safety error from Wilson. “At 5–0 I was cruising then Kyren showed his true grit and made a fight of it. In the end I was lucky to get through", Bingham commented. Wilson said: "I was proud of the way I came back. I just played a couple of bad safeties in the last frame”.


Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played on 12 and 13 January as the best of 11 frames. Facing Williams, O'Sullivan began with a 115 century and took a 3–0 lead, but he ran out of position in the fourth and Williams came from behind to win the frame with a 55 break. O'Sullivan maintained a two-frame lead at 4–2, but Williams made a 143 total clearance in frame seven and a 90 break in frame eight to level the scores at 4–4. Leading by 49 points in the ninth, O'Sullivan missed a red to a middle pocket, and Williams made a 59 clearance to take the lead at 5–4. O'Sullivan forced a deciding frame with a 77 break in the tenth, but Williams closed out a 6–5 victory with a 102 century. It was the first time Williams had beaten O'Sullivan in a Triple Crown event since the semi-finals of the
2000 UK Championship The 2000 Liverpool Victoria UK Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Bournemouth International Centre in Bournemouth, England. The event started on 18 November 2000 and the televised stages were shown on ...
. Calling the match one of his best performances, Williams said: "In the first three frames I didn't have a shot, he tied me up in knots but I felt the crowd wanted me to win towards the end, that is unbelievable." O'Sullivan said: "I just didn't score, didn't make any breaks and my cue ball wasn't great". Vafaei faced Lisowski, with both players competing in their first Masters quarter-final. Lisowski, who suffered from a migraine in the hours before the match, made breaks of 96 and 76 to win the first two frames, but Vafaei responded with a 68 and a total clearance of 143 to level the scores at the mid-session interval. Vafaei won the fifth frame, but Lisowski drew level at 3–3 with a break of 67. Vafaei led in the seventh, but missed a shot on the yellow with the rest, and Lisowski cleared to win the frame. Vafaei won the eighth on the colours to level the scores again at 4–4. However, Lisowski won the ninth after a safety exchange on the blue, and took the tenth with a break of 74 to win the match 6–4 and advance to his second Triple Crown semi-final, after reaching the same stage at the 2022 UK Championship. Lisowski said that playing in the semi-finals "is what I had dreamed of and had aspirations of doing when I was growing up". Vafaei was philosophical in defeat, saying: "You need to lose until you learn how to win". Facing Hawkins, Trump won a safety battle on the penultimate red to take the opening frame. Hawkins responded with a 110 century to win the second, and also took the third, before Trump levelled the scores at the mid-session interval with a 69 break. In the fifth, Hawkins led by 39 points when he missed a black off the spot, allowing Trump to win the frame with a 61 break. In the sixth, Hawkins missed a red that would have left his opponent requiring snookers; Trump attempted a counter-clearance, but missed the black after potting the last red, and Hawkins tied the scores at 3–3. Hawkins went ahead with a 66 break in frame seven, but Trump tied the scores again with a 143 total clearance in the eighth, his highest ever break at the Masters. Hawkins won the ninth, aided by a fluke on a red, but Trump forced a deciding frame with a 107 break and then made an 81 break to win the match 6–5. Afterwards, Hawkins expressed frustration with his positional play, and said that Trump, even though not at his best, deserved to win. Trump stated that he had suffered from nerves in his matches but said: "I seemed to relax, get control and felt my best towards the end". Speaking as a pundit for the BBC, six-time winner
Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...
praised Trump's performance, saying: "A sign of a true great and a world-class player is to produce the best snooker when you have your back against the wall. The frames he won at the end of the match were magnificent". In the last quarter-final, Bingham faced Murphy. Bingham won the first frame on the colours after a fluke on the green, and then made breaks of 78, 128, and 107 to lead 4–0 at the mid-session interval. Bingham won the fifth after Murphy missed a red, and received 24 points in fouls in the sixth frame as Murphy attempted to escape from a snooker. Bingham wrapped up a 6–0 whitewash with a break of 65. "I got a bit lucky in the first frame which settled me down, and after that I went from strength to strength", Bingham commented afterwards. "My preparation for this match was very good but I was beaten by someone who played like a superhero", said Murphy.


Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on 14 January as the best of 11 frames. In the first semi-final, Lisowski faced Williams, who made two half-centuries as he moved into a 3–0 lead. Lisowski led in the fourth frame, but played a poor safety shot on the penultimate red, and Williams took the frame to lead 4–0 at the interval. Williams made another half-century to go 5–0 ahead. Lisowski had a chance to win the sixth on the colours, but played a poor positional shot to get on the brown. After a safety exchange, Williams potted the brown, blue, and pink to wrap up a 6–0 whitewash. "There were no century breaks but I maybe had three or four breaks from positions where the balls weren't easy. Those breaks are as good as any century", said Williams. "It wasn't meant to be. I couldn't get anything going and he just shut me out", commented Lisowski. In the other semi-final, Bingham met Trump, who made breaks of 58 and 87 to win the opening two frames. Trump led by 38 points in the third when he missed a red; Bingham produced a frame-winning 93 clearance, his only break over 50 in the match. The fourth frame was decided when Bingham went in-off after a lengthy safety exchange on the green, enabling Trump to take a 3–1 lead at the mid-session interval. Trump won the 45-minute fifth frame after safety battles on the yellow and blue, and won the sixth frame by potting the penultimate red and a green. He made a 58 break in the seventh before missing a red; Bingham obtained two snookers before Trump closed out a 6–1 victory on the colours. The match was noted for numerous errors by both players. Trump indicated that he needed to play better in the final, saying “I need to step up my game, the way I played tonight won’t work against Mark, he won’t play that badly".


Final

The final took place on 15 January as a best-of-19-frame match, played over two sessions, between fourth seed Trump and seventh seed Williams. Trump was contesting his second Masters final while Williams was competing in his fourth. Williams had last reached the final at the 2003 event, when he won his second title with a 10–4 victory over Hendry. Aged 47 years and 300 days, he became the oldest finalist since
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. Williams won the first frame with a total clearance of 138. Trump won the next four frames, making a 106 century in the fourth, to lead 4–1. Williams took the next two frames, making a 100 century in the sixth, reducing Trump's lead to one. In frame eight, Williams missed a double, allowing Trump to make an 89 break and lead 5–3 after the first session. In the evening session, the first two frames were shared before Williams won three consecutive frames to take the lead at 7–6. The 57-minute 14th frame went to Trump after Williams conceded three fouls while attempting to escape from a snooker on the green, leaving himself requiring snookers. Williams made a 107 break in the 15th to regain the lead at 8–7, but Trump levelled again at 8–8 after snookering Williams on the yellow. Trump cleared from the last red to win the 17th frame after Williams made a safety error. Williams had the first scoring opportunity in the 18th, but he missed a long red to a baulk corner pocket. Trump made a 126 break, the fifth century of the final, to win the match 10–8 and capture his second Masters title, becoming the 11th player to win the tournament more than once. Trump said: "This is by far my best ever win. The way I played this week is not my best, but this is my best ever performance to grind out and win this". Williams said: "It was a great game and a great occasion, the crowd was unbelievable. I played well and tried as hard as I could. I had a couple of chances to go 8–6 up, but not easy ones. I loved every minute of it, I just didn’t get over the line".


Tournament draw

Numbers given on the left show the players' seedings in the tournament draw. Players in bold denote match winners.


Final


Century breaks

There were 30
century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...
s made during the tournament. For every century at the event, the World Snooker Tour donated £500 to the Jessie May Children's Hospice, which received a total donation of £15,000. * 143, 138, 127, 126, 107, 102, 100 Mark Williams * 143, 126, 107, 106, 105
Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranki ...
* 143, 107, 104
Hossein Vafaei Hossein Vafaei ( fa, حسین وفایی ایوری; born 15 October 1994) is an Iranian professional snooker player. He is the first professional player from Iran. He won his first professional title at the 2022 Snooker Shoot Out, beating Mark ...
* 142
John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...
* 134, 115, 104
Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...
* 128, 127, 109, 107, 102
Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former world and Masters champion. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his professional ...
* 114, 110
Barry Hawkins Barry Hawkins (born 23 April 1979) is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season, when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championship ...
* 104
Neil Robertson Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United ...
* 100
Luca Brecel Luca Brecel (born 8 March 1995) is a Belgian professional snooker player. He won the European Under-19 title at the age of 14 and went on to break Stephen Hendry's record as the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible Theatre. He made h ...
* 100
Jack Lisowski Jack Adam Lisowski (born 25 June 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Churchdown, Gloucestershire. He turned professional in 2010 by finishing first in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. A left-handed player, he is known for his atta ...
* 100
Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting. Born in Harlow, Essex and r ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Masters (snooker) 2023 in English sport 2023 in snooker 2023 sports events in London Masters
2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...
2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...
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