The Masters Snooker Tips
A week on from seeing Luke Littler crowned winner of the PDC World Darts Championship for a second year running, Alexandra Palace hosts more top-class sporting action as snooker’s elite head to London’s iconic venue for the Masters.
The tournament features the world’s top 16 and sees defending champion Shaun Murphy top the seedings after he got the better of Kyren Wilson in last season’s final.
Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams are all dual winners of what is the first Triple Crown event of the season and their inclusion goes some way to highlighting the pool of talent on show.
We have picked out two outright bets and one first-round selection for the seven-day extravaganza, which gets underway on Sunday 11th January.
Tip 1 - Zhao Xintong to win the Masters @ 11/2
Victory at this season’s Masters would see Zhao Xintong become the 12th player to secure the career Triple Crown and he would become the first to do so hailing from China.
Zhao won the UK Championship in 2021 before enduring a ban. He returned with a vengeance, claiming last season’s World Championship despite having to come through qualifying as he was technically considered an amateur.
The Chinese cueman has had a stop-start season as he comes to terms with his Crucible success but the lucrative prize tournaments are when he tends to be at his most focused.
Zhao won this season’s Riyadh Season Championship – which was a £250,000 top prize – and he has also reached semi-finals at the International Championship, Shanghai Masters and Champion of Champions.
Being seeded second is another string to Zhao’s bow. The Cyclone opens up against Gary Wilson and has landed in the softest section of the draw, where John Higgins would be his toughest quarter-final rival.
Trump could await in the last four but he would first have to come past Ding Junhui and one of Mark Williams or Mark Allen, which looks more fraught with danger than Zhao’s passage.
Tip 2 - Shaun Murphy to win the Masters @ 11/1
Going back-to-back in the Masters is never easy – O’Sullivan was the last person to do so in 2016 and 2017 – but Murphy’s claims of a repeat triumph look better than his odds suggest.
The Magician has won all the game’s big prizes and he has enjoyed a consistent campaign, headlined by landing the British Open and making the final of the Xi'an Grand Prix.
Murphy thrives in this tournament, with the warming, atmospheric crowd playing to his big character and he has made at least the semi-final in three of the last six years.
The 43-year-old has a decent first-round draw against Wu Yize and, with O’Sullivan and Wilson two leading performers in the top half that are operating below their best, he could have another starring role to play.
Tip 3 - Neil Robertson to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan @ 10/11
Choosing to skip the majority of the ranking events played on home soil, O’Sullivan has been restricted to just six tournament appearances this season and that rustiness could leave him vulnerable against Robertson.
The Rocket is an eight-time Masters champion but a lack of match sharpness may see him struggle against a player of Robertson’s calibre.
O’Sullivan has lost his last three matches, which include a first-round exit to Zhou Yuelong at the UK Championship in December, and he has also been beaten in four of his last five meetings with the Australian.
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change