During the mid-session interval of this afternoon’s UK Championship final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump, the draw was made for the first round of this season’s Dafabet Masters, with defending champion O’Sullivan drawn against Ricky Walden, while the stand out tie of the round is that between Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy…
As we reach the semi-final stages of the ongoing UK Championship, the identity of the 16 players who will compete at the 2015 Masters has now been confirmed, with defeat for Mark Davis meaning that nobody else can break into the all-important top 16 places in the rankings.
Dafabet has extended its title sponsorship of snooker’s most prestigious invitation tournament, The Masters, for the next three years.
Dafabet sponsored the event for the first time in 2014 and has now signed up until 2017.
Following Ricky Walden’s victory at the International Championship last week, there are now just two more events to run before one of the most important ranking revisions of the season, as the field for the 2015 Masters is set.
While the situation is now more open than in previous seasons due to the introduction of a prize money based ranking list, it nevertheless remains a race worth looking at and in reality can still be narrowed down to a few key contenders…
Congratulations to Ronnie O’Sullivan, who has tonight defeated Mark Selby 10-4, to capture the Masters title for the fifth time in his career and with it a top prize of £200,000.
So after a week of drama, tension and quality on the baize at the Alexandra Palace, today will see a third Masters final contested between defending champion Mark Selby and reigning world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, with the score currently standing at 1-1 between the two.
Click below then to read my frame by frame blog as the action progresses (most recent on top), and feel free to leave your comments at the bottom of the article, with that facility now restored to the blog…
Ronnie O’Sullivan today booked his place in the semi-finals of the Masters in double quick time against Ricky Walden, completing a 6-0 victory in just 58 minutes at the Alexandra Palace in London.
Next up for him, will be Stephen Maguire, after the Scot too impressed in defeating 2012 Masters champion Neil Robertson, while Mark Selby will face Shaun Murphy in the first semi-final tomorrow…
Four days and eight matches into the 2014 Masters, we are now down to the last eight in London, with the quarter-finals set to get underway tomorrow. Click below for a round-up of the results from the past couple of days…