2018 Masters (snooker)

Dafabet Masters
Tournament information
Dates 14 – 21 January 2018
Venue Alexandra Palace
City London
Country England
Organisation(s) WPBSA
Format Non-ranking event
Total prize fund £600,000
Winner's share £200,000
Highest break China Liang Wenbo (139)
Final
Champion Northern Ireland Mark Allen
Runner-up England Kyren Wilson
Score 10–7
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The 2018 Dafabet Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, that took place between 14 and 21 January 2018 in London, England.[1] It was the 44th staging of the tournament. The tournament was broadcast in Europe by the BBC and Eurosport.

Ronnie O'Sullivan was the defending champion, but he lost 1–6 in the quarter-finals to the eventual champion, Mark Allen. It was O'Sullivan's first defeat at The Masters since 2015.

Mark Allen won his first Triple Crown trophy, beating Kyren Wilson 10–7 in the final.[2][3]

Summary

Seeding and notes before the tournament

Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was the number 1 seed. The remaining places were allocated to players based on the world rankings after the 2017 UK Championship. Stuart Bingham, ranked 12, was suspended for betting breaches,[4] so that the player ranked 17 qualified.[5] Luca Brecel and Anthony McGill made their debuts at the Masters. 2012 Masters Champion Neil Robertson was a notable absence. It was the first Masters without Robertson since 2006.

As in previous years, the top eight seeds were allocated fixed positions in the draw. The rest of the draw was made by drawing lots during the final of the 2017 UK Championship.

First round

  • Mark Williams won a match at the Masters for the first time in five years, coming from 3–5 behind to beat World Champion and World number 1 Mark Selby 6–5.[6]
  • Playing in his first Masters tournament in eight years, the other Welshman in the draw, Ryan Day, came from 0–3 down to beat World number 4 and former Masters Champion, Ding Junhui, 6–4.[7]
  • Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan whitewashed world number 9 Marco Fu 6–0, making three centuries during the match.[8] During the first four frames in total, O'Sullivan scored 477 points without reply and Fu had gained only 5 points due to a foul.
  • Kyren Wilson had his first victory in a Masters match after losing in the first round of his debut the year before. He beat former Masters finalist, Barry Hawkins, 6–4 in the first round of this edition of the tournament. Then he beat Mark Williams 6–1. In semi-final, he beat Judd Trump 6–5, by trailing 1–3 and 2–5. But he lost to Mark Allen by 7–10 in the final.[9]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money is shown below:

  • Winner: £200,000
  • Runner-up: £90,000
  • Semi-finals: £50,000
  • Quarter-finals: £25,000
  • Last 16: £12,500
  • Highest break: £10,000
  • Total: £600,000

Main draw

Last 16
Best of 11 frames 		Quarter-finals
Best of 11 frames 		Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames 		Final
Best of 19 frames
            
1 England Ronnie O'Sullivan 6
9 Hong Kong Marco Fu 0
1 England Ronnie O'Sullivan 1
8 Northern Ireland Mark Allen 6
8 Northern Ireland Mark Allen 6
11 Belgium Luca Brecel 3
8 Northern Ireland Mark Allen 6
5 Scotland John Higgins 3
5 Scotland John Higgins 6
14 Scotland Anthony McGill 4
5 Scotland John Higgins 6
15 Wales Ryan Day 1
4 China Ding Junhui 4
15 Wales Ryan Day 6
8 Northern Ireland Mark Allen 10
13 England Kyren Wilson 7
3 England Judd Trump 6
16 China Liang Wenbo 4
3 England Judd Trump 6
6 England Shaun Murphy 4
6 England Shaun Murphy 6
12 England Ali Carter 4
3 England Judd Trump 5
13 England Kyren Wilson 6
7 England Barry Hawkins 4
13 England Kyren Wilson 6
13 England Kyren Wilson 6
10 Wales Mark Williams 1
2 England Mark Selby 5
10 Wales Mark Williams 6

Final

Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Belgium Olivier Marteel.
Alexandra Palace, London, England, 21 January 2018.
Mark Allen (8)
 Northern Ireland		 10–7 Kyren Wilson (13)
 England
Afternoon: 39–80 (65), 82–22 (62), 50–63 (52), 58–49, 58–7, 6–86 (86), 1–105 (89), 75–52 (Wilson 52)
Evening: 65–43, 23–92 (84), 79–0 (73), 119–0 (119), 84–1 (50), 0–98 (73), 49–73, 69–2 (69), 72–0 (71)
119 Highest break 89
1 Century breaks 0
6 50+ breaks 7

Century breaks

Total: 28[10]

References

  1. ↑ "2017/18 World Snooker Calendar" (PDF). World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "Mark Allen defeats Kyren Wilson in tense Masters final". Guardian. 21 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  3. ↑ "Masters 2018: Mark Allen beats Kyren Wilson 10-7 in final to take title". BBC Sport. 21 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  4. ↑ "WPBSA Statement - Stuart Bingham". World Snooker. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  5. ↑ "Race to the Masters". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  6. ↑ "Mark Williams hits back to dump world champion Mark Selby in Masters thriller". Eurosport. 14 January 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  7. ↑ "Day fight back stuns Ding". World Snooker. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "Awesome O'Sullivan White-Washes Fu". World Snooker. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  9. ↑ "Warrior Lands First Masters Win". World Snooker. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  10. ↑ "Dafabet Masters 2018 - Centuries". World Snooker. 14–21 January 2018. Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
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