The first tournament of 2023 gets underway on Sunday when 16 of the best players in the world head to Alexandra Palace in London for The Masters, the most prestigious invitational event in the sport, which has a fantastic history.
Neil Robertson added another slice of his own to the tournament history last season when he took down Barry Hawkins in the final to win the event for a second time in his career. He is back looking to defend the title.
Recent Winners
2022 – Neil Robertson
2021 – Yan Bingtao
2020 – Stuart Bingham
2019 – Judd Trump
2018 – Mark Allen
2017 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2016 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2015 – Shaun Murphy
2014 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2013 – Mark Selby
The Format
There are no nuances to the format this week. It is a pretty simple one it has to be said. The tournament is a straight knockout right from the beginning with every match up to the final over the best of 11 frames on the one main table in the venue. The final is the best of 19 on the second Sunday of the competition with two sessions of action being used to determine who will land the second Triple Crown event of the campaign.
Top Quarter
As the defending champion, Neil Robertson will be the number one seed this week and he is the headline act in the top quarter as he bids to make a successful defence of his crown. This tournament rarely goes to the seed list but if it does in this quarter then the Australian will face a last eight clash with the former finalist Kyren Wilson. The two men who will be looking to stop that from happening are Shaun Murphy and the 2020 champion Stuart Bingham.
Second Quarter
Judd Trump is the third seed this week and he has been placed in the second quarter where he is the highest ranked player. The 2019 champion doesn’t have the best record in these major tournaments, something he’ll be eager to improve on over the course of this week. The man of the season Mark Allen is scheduled to be his quarter final opponent but the beaten finalist of a year ago in Barry Hawkins and the British Open winner Ryan Day will be out to have a good run from this quarter themselves.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for this tournament! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Third Quarter
Mark Selby won the last tournament of 2022 and he will be looking to win the first event of 2023 from the third quarter of the draw. The Leicester cueist has won this tournament three times but not since 2013 so he’ll be keen to get his hands on the trophy once again. John Higgins is his scheduled quarter final opponent but two competent performers in Jack Lisowski and the late entrant into the draw Hossein Vafaei will be the men looking to reach the last eight themselves.
Bottom Quarter
The world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan has a wonderful record in this tournament and he will be looking to enhance that when he takes to the draw in the bottom quarter. This could be a nostalgic quarter because Mark Williams is the other seeded player in it and it would be some occasion if those two met in the quarter final. Luca Brecel has already won a tournament this season and he is one of the players looking to deny them that meeting. Dave Gilbert is the other.
Betting
I took Mark Williams to win this tournament last year and he had Neil Robertson needing snookers in the deciding frame of their semi-final to leave me counting my chips, only for those to turn sour when Robertson got the points he needed to win and then go on and win the title. I’m nothing if not a glutton for punishment though because I’m going to take Williams again this time around. I think he is coming back into a rich vein of form and he’ll relish this atmosphere.
Willo ended 2022 with a maximum break in an epic English Open quarter final against Neil Robertson, one which he lost 5-3 but it had five centuries including that maxi. The stumbling block for Williams would be a potential clash with Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter final but I sense the Rocket isn’t quite up for it at the minute and if that remains the case Williams could take advantage like Ding did in Essex last month. At his best Williams is still capable of great things and there was sign of that sort of form from him in Brentwood. At 20/1 I think he’s the value this week.
Tips
Back M.Williams to win The Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 21.00 with Boylesports (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2023
