Masters Snooker 2015: Daily Results, Updated Draw, Schedule and Prize Money Info
After a relaxing Christmas break, World Snooker is back with a bang as the Masters gets underway at Alexandra Palace, London.
Part of the game’s coveted Triple Crown, the Masters is one of the most sought-after titles in snooker and never fails to disappoint for thrills, big breaks and shock results.
Last year, Ronnie O’Sullivan played a faultless tournament, dropping just seven frames on the way to a fifth Masters title and the £200,000 winner’s share of the prize fund.
However, the defending champion was ousted by Neil Robertson at the semi-final stage with the Australian advancing to the final to face Shaun Murphy, where he was thrashed 10-2.
Read on for daily reports of the action at Alexandra Palace, plus an updated daily schedule.
World Snooker Masters Schedule
1 of 11
Final Schedule
Sunday 18 January
19:00 GMT: Neil Robertson (Aus) vs. Shaun Murphy (Eng)
World Snooker Masters Draw
2 of 11
For a full draw of the Masters, follow our link to the World Snooker website.
Day 8: Shaun Murphy Crushes Neil Robertson in Final
3 of 11
Neil Robertson 2-10 Shaun Murphy
Shaun Murphy crushed world No. 1 Neil Robertson 10-2 to win the 2015 Masters at Alexandra Palace on Sunday.
In a repeat of the 2012 final—which the Australian won—Murphy dominated from beginning to end, winning the first five frames with Robertson only getting on the board by taking the sixth.
Robertson actually won the final frame before the end of the first session to make it 6-2 but he could not take any momentum into the evening’s play, and Murphy wrapped things up with four consecutive frame wins to claim his first Masters title and complete the Triple Crown.
Both players came into Sunday's showpiece match off the back of convincing semi-final victories—Murphy over Mark Allen and Robertson against Ronnie O'Sullivan—but it was the Englishman who dominated proceedings.
Murphy stormed into an early 5-0 lead on Sunday afternoon, scoring consistently well as his opponent made a couple of mistakes but could largely only sit and watch.
The 2005 world champion produced a break of 64 to win the opener, a visit of 76 to take the fourth, and a terrific 127 in the third to put himself in complete control.
Robertson finally got on the board to make it 5-1 with a break of 80, only for Murphy to reassert his five-frame margin by winning the seventh for 6-1.
There was a slight ray of hope for Robertson, however, after he won the final frame of the first session, potting a fine long red to set up the opportunity after an intriguing, but cagey, tactical battle to go in at 6-2 down.
A similarly tight opening frame of the evening session was seemingly heading Robertson’s way, but the Aussie made some uncharacteristic mistakes and handed Murphy the key win.
There was only ever going to be one winner from there and Murphy took on the momentum to produce another break of 127 to move within two of victory.
He wrapped things up in the end with consummate ease and style, the damage having been done in the early session, and Murphy’s 10-2 win is the largest margin of victory in a Masters final.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Day 7: Ronnie O'Sullivan Thrashed by Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy Reaches Final
4 of 11
Ronnie O'Sullivan 1-6 Neil Robertson
Neil Robertson saw off defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan with remarkable ease in the first Masters semi-final on Saturday, cruising to a 6-1 victory.
O'Sullivan was 3-0 down and uncharacteristically struggling early on, but he got on the board with a century ahead of the mid-session interval to potentially kick-start a comeback.
However, it was not be, as the Australian world No. 1 claimed three more consecutive frames to close out the match and reach his third Masters final.
The contest had been billed as a potential classic between two of the game's finest players, but Robertson was clinical in the end and was clearly delighted with his performance, per BBC Sport's Shamoon Hafez:
"I am really happy with the way I played, Ronnie was struggling but I put him under pressure early on. When he made mistakes, I had to capitalise, that was the key. He never seemed to settle.
"
Robertson opened proceedings with a break of 100 to claim the first frame before making a clearance of 66 after O'Sullivan had missed a black to draw level.
The Aussie having won the third frame, O'Sullivan then produced a 101 break to move back within two, but it was to be his sole frame win of the match.
Robertson took advantage of some sloppy play from the Englishman and closed out his victory as he won the next three frames in fine fashion.
He will be looking to claim his second Masters title against Shaun Murphy in Sunday's final.
Mark Allen 2-6 Shaun Murphy
Shaun Murphy recovered from a slow start to eventually thrash Mark Allen 6-2 in the second Masters semi-final on Saturday and book himself a place in the final to face Neil Robertson.
Murphy scored heavily from the third frame after going 2-0 down, playing himself into the match and eventually surging to a convincing victory.
The Englishman lost out to Robertson in 2012’s final but takes terrific form from his defeat of Allen into Sunday’s match, where he will look to take revenge on the Australian.
Allen was the quicker out of the blocks at Alexandra Palace and he took the opening frame with an 83 break and then doubled his lead as Murphy looked to find his rhythm.
Murphy then won the next two frames to level things up at the mid-session interval and the 32-year-old continued his momentum after the break.
Allen struggled slightly but was barely given a chance by an incredibly controlled Murphy who stormed towards victory as he opened up a 5-2 lead to move within touching distance of Sunday’s final.
Although playing at a very high level, Murphy’s first century of the match did not come until a 102 in frame seven, a bad omen for Allen as his opponent moved to within one of victory.
While Murphy gave his opponent a couple of chances to take a cagey eighth frame—including a potted white—he eventually saw out a much-deserved win.
Day 6: Mark Allen Beats Joe Perry, Shaun Murphy Edges Stephen Maguire
5 of 11
Joe Perry 4-6 Mark Allen
Mark Allen beat Joe Perry in a sloppy but hard-fought affair during Friday's afternoon session, setting up a semi-final date against the winner of the match between Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy.
The duo went head-to-head throughout the session until the ninth frame, when Allen finally took advantage of a number of mistakes of his opponent to pull away for the win.
In total, the match lasted over 90 minutes longer than the BBC had anticipated, as neither player could find a rhythm and each frame seemed to last an eternity. Afterwards, the network's Twitter feed was brutally honest:
"Not a classic but Mark Allen beats Joe Perry 6-4 to reach Masters semi-finals for second time #bbcsnooker"
Snooker News took it one step further:
"On behalf of Mark Allen and Joe Perry, I'd like to apologise for anyone who has plans this evening #thisisgoingtotakeawhile#MastersSnooker"
The first frame in particular was littered with mistakes in the latter stages, to the point where after several consecutive misses on pink, Allen handed his cue to referee Brendan Moore, urging him to have a go himself.
Allen would pot the next ball and steal the frame on the last shot, setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon. You can watch the comical frame by clicking here.
Friday's first match was an ugly affair, but Allen won't care one bit. He's in the semi-final, and while a date with Maguire or Murphy won't be an easy one, the 2015 Maters can already be considered a success for the 28-year-old.
Stephen Maguire 4-6 Shaun Murphy
Shaun Murphy overcame a sloppy start to edge Stephen Maguire during the evening session, booking his spot in the semi-finals with a 6-4 win.
Maguire took the first two frames before Murphy fired back to tie things up, and after splitting the next four, Murphy nicked a win on black that allowed him to clear the table in the final frame.
Compared to the afternoon session, the battle between Maguire and Murphy was a joy to watch for fans. Both played a fantastic match, even potting magical shots unintentionally, as Maguire did on this red he tried to snooker frozen.
Both registered several centuries, including this 103 from Murphy and this magnificent 137 from Maguire.
The latter struggled slightly with the pace on his cue ball, and it finally came back to bite him in the last two frames. Murphy's aggressive approach paid off, setting up a meeting with Mark Allen on Saturday.
Day 5: Ronnie O'Sullivan Breaks Century Record, Robertson Trashes Carter
6 of 11
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-1 Marco Fu
Ronnie O'Sullivan easily dispatched of Marco Fu in the quarter-finals of the 2015 Masters, winning 6-1 and breaking Stephen Hendry's record of 775 centuries in the process.
The Rocket tied the mark in the final frame of his 6-4 win over Ricky Walden in the first round of the tournament end picked up where he left off against Fu, scoring 101 in the opening frame to become the sport's all-time leader in centuries.
Hendry was on site to provide commentary for the event, and as reported by the Press Association (for The Guardian), and the seven-time world champion gave his old rival all the credit in the world:
“It hasn’t been in doubt from very early on,” He said. “Every shot has been cued to perfection.”
You can watch the historic frame by clicking here.
Fu leveled thing at 1-1 after a long break of his own, but after that, it was all O'Sullivan. The Rocket won the next two frames to go into the intermission up 3-1 and took full advantage of a plethora of mistakes by his opponent after the intermission to win 6-1, booking his ticket to the semi-finals.
As shared by BBC Snooker, the Rocket set another record on Thursday, totaling 43 Masters wins in his career. The defending champion remains the strong favourite for another Masters trophy, although the competition at Ally Pally will be fierce.
Ali Carter 1-6 Neil Robertson
Ali Carter couldn't build on his emotional first-round win over Barry Hawkins during Thursday's evening session, and Neil Robertson continued his excellent form with a convincing 6-1 win.
The Thunder from Down Under, who currently sits atop the world rankings, opened things up with a century and would land three more as he breezed to the semi-finals. His lowest score of the night was 58—Carter managed just a single higher score, as he won the third frame.
Breaks of 128, 127, 98 and 84 had the crowd in awe of the Australian's performance, with even former great Peter Ebdon unable to hide his admiration. Robertson's 128 break can be watched by clicking here.
Saturday's semi-final between Robertson and O'Sullivan has the potential to be an early candidate for match of the year, pitting arguably the most in-form player on the tour against the defending champion and purest talent the sport has ever seen.
Day 4: Mark Allen Topples John Higgins, Ding Junhui Falls to Joe Perry
7 of 11
Mark Allen 6-4 John Higgins
Mark Allen made it through to the quarter-finals of the 2015 Masters on Wednesday as he beat John Higgins 6-4 at Alexandra Palace in a storming first-round contest.
Both men were playing close to the top of their respective games and put on a terrific show, but it was the world No. 6 who eventually came out on top.
It was Higgins who started the brighter of the pair in north London as he won the first two frames, putting together century breaks in each to go 2-0 up.
However, the Northern Irishman was not about to see his foe take a commanding lead in their first round match and his 121 break in the third frame took the score to 2-1.
Another two more frame wins for Allen saw him move into the lead only for the Scot Higgins to tie things up at 3-3 with a break of 96 in an incredibly high-quality encounter—perhaps the best of the tournament so far.
Allen took himself to within a single frame of the quarter-finals with victories in the following pair to make it 5-3, but Higgins delayed his defeat for a while in fine fashion in the ninth frame.
The world No. 14 potted 15 reds and 15 blacks to set up what could have been a tremendous maximum, but a long-pot miss on the yellow saw his chances of a 147 scuppered, although Higgins took the frame to make it 5-4.
But Allen, given an opportunity early in the 10th frame, potted a long red and eventually wrapped up the match with a 6-4 win and proceeds to the last eight of the 2015 Masters.
Ding Junhui 3-6 Joe Perry
Joe Perry claimed his first ever Masters win at Alexandra Palace on Wednesday as he beat Ding Junhui 6-3 to make it through to the quarter-finals of the 2015 tournament.
Perry took advantage of some slack play from his opponent and produced some decent snooker of his own—particularly in closing out the match—to eventually claim a convincing and well-deserved victory.
The opening exchanges produced some top-quality snooker, with Perry winning the opener with a century break and Ding producing a visit of 82 to tie things up at 1-1.
However, from there it was a somewhat attritional affair, with both players making mistakes and Ding particularly failing to find his rhythm.
A scrappy third frame was eventually won by Perry after over 40 minutes. The Englishman stretched his lead to two, winning the fourth with a break of 104.
Frames six and seven were desperately close affairs, and Ding moved to within one at 4-3 courtesy of a brilliant long pot on the pink, having thrown the previous frame away.
However, Perry moved to within one frame of his first Masters victory and the quarter-finals as he took a 5-3 lead. Continued mistakes from Ding saw the Chinese player fall at the first hurdle.
It was simply not the world No. 2’s day and Perry took advantage. He will now face Mark Allen in the last eight.
Day 3: Ronnie O'Sullivan Matches Century Record, Ali Carter Returns with Big Win
8 of 11
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-4 Ricky Walden
Ronnie O'Sullivan ran out to a quick 5-1 lead before dropping three consecutive frames, but kicked back into gear at just the right time to advance to the second round of the 2015 Masters.
The Rocket made history in the process on Tuesday, equaling the great Stephen Hendry's record of 775 centuries, via BBC Sport's Shamoon Hafez.
The defending champion came into the tournament just two centuries shy of Hendry's record and bagged his first 100 in the sixth frame, part of another incredible run that saw him win five of the opening six frames.
The 39-year-old swept Walden in the quarter-finals of last year's event, but the Walnut put together a much better showing on Tuesday, fighting back to bring himself within one frame of his opponent.
The Rocket took advantage of a bad miss from Walden in the 10th frame, however, and managed to bag his 775th century of his career thanks to a very lucky bounce on yellow. You can watch the final frame by clicking here.
Speaking to BBC Sport (h/t ESPN.co.uk), O'Sullivan didn't hide the fact he got lucky in the final frame:
"You go chasing records and you end up doing it on a fluke. I'd had a bit of 'run' through the match and thought, 'I could fluke this one'.
These guys are playing week in, week out and I'm nowhere near where I was 18 months ago, I don't play enough tournaments.
At the moment I'm just scraping though a few victories and you can't keep doing that.
"
The defending champion will face Marco Fu in the second round, who bagged himself a 147 in his win over Stuart Bingham.
Ali Carter 6-1 Barry Hawkins
Ali Carter made a heroic return to the Masters just one month after being fully cleared by doctors from a cancerous tumor on his lung, per BBC Sport's Shamoon Hafez, beating Barry Hawkins 6-1 during the evening session.
The 35-year-old, who received a standing ovation when he entered the arena, quickly built a 3-1 lead heading into the intermission, and aided by a century, he won the final three frames to advance to the second round to set up a date with Australia's Neil Robertson.
Carter missed the start of the season having only just recovered from testicular cancer in 2013, and the snooker world was in shock when it was announced he would face another battle with the terrible disease in May. He played in the UK Championship and was finally cleared after a heavy course of chemotherapy in December.
After a dreadful two-year span, fans and colleagues can only hope 2015 will be much kinder on the well-liked Carter. The year started well on Tuesday, and a meeting with snooker.org's top-ranked player is something he must have been looking forward to for months.
The final first-round matches will take place on Wednesday, with Mark Allen taking on John Higgins and Ding Junhui facing off against Joe Perry.
Day 2: Stephen Maguire Upsets Judd Trump, Neil Robertson Beats Robert Milkins
9 of 11
Stephen Maguire 6-4 Judd Trump
The trend of underdog victories continued at Alexandra Palace on Tuesday as 12th-seeded Stephen Maguire beat Judd Trump 6-4 to beat the No. 7 seed out of the Masters running.
After making his way to the semi-finals in last year's competition, Maguire again has a good shot of advancing and will take on Shaun Murphy—who knocked out Mark Selby on Sunday—in the last eight.
Trump recently finished runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan in both the Champion of Champions and UK Championship, opening well against Maguire after taking the first two frames.
However, the Scot showed admirable fight to stage his comeback and took advantage of a missed long pot on Trump's behalf which would have seen him assume a 3-0 lead.
Lining up the snooker, Maguire proceeded to pot the blue his opponent could not, followed by pink and black to bring the deficit back to one frame.
What ensued was a much closer battle for the match's foothold as Maguire then took three frames in a row with high breaks of 96 and 82. It wasn't long before Trump hit back with a tremendous 109 break of his own, however, swiftly followed by a win in the eighth to level scores at four frames apiece.
Per the official World Snooker website, Maguire said of his revival:
"The third frame changed the match because if he had gone 3-0 that would have been tough to come back from. The balls punished him after that. At the time I was just hoping to be 3-1 down at the interval. So to nick that frame made me feel as if I was part of the match, and I could see Judd was hurting.
It was important for me to go 2-2 and then he had 20 minutes to think about it at the interval. It was the difference between winning and losing in the end. It's amazing how crazy the game is because that could have been a best of 19 and that one frame could still have changed the match.
"
It's just as well he found his calm in the ninth frame, a tetchy to-and-fro of tactical manoeuvres that saw Maguire eventually come out on top.
In the end, though, it was a mistake by Trump that sealed the match. Focused on breaking the reds up, the 25-year-old missed the black off the spot and allowed his Scottish foe to record a break of 64 and book his quarter-final berth.
Luck assuredly played some part in Maguire's win, a complacency which Murphy showed against Selby he may not be so willing to offer in the next round.
Neil Robertson 6-4 Robert Milkins
In Monday's evening encounter, Neil Robertson emerged as the victor in what was a back-and-forth tie to remember against Robert Milkins. The pair exchanged the lead no fewer than four times.
Gloucester native Milkins got off to an ideal start at Alexandra Palace and could have even hit a century break in the first frame, but was forced to settle for 94 after missing brown, taking a 1-0 lead nonetheless.
Robertson struck back straight away and traded frames with his No. 16 seed opponent, Milkins hoping to make it past the first round of the Masters for the first time in his career.
At three frames apiece, a penalty-ridden seventh set pitted the foes close to one another as a tactical head-to-head ensued with both players focused on outmanoeuvring his enemy.
Milkins at one point trailed 49-65 in what would prove to be a match-turning frame, but found composure to take brown, blue, pink and black in succession and win 71-69. It was a testament to how close the pair were in their fray.
However, a 4-3 lead was as bright as it got for Milkins, losing the eighth set 95-0 after Robertson had gathered his thoughts.
The Australian was relentless from this point on as if the frustration of losing such a close frame suddenly triggered his most efficient form, taking frames nine and 10 to seal his 6-4 triumph.
As shown by BBC Sport (h/t ProSnookerBlog), Robertson was perhaps the deserved victor despite his early slump, boasting a safety success 17 percent higher than that of Milkins and a superior pot success.
"The Thunder From Down Under" makes the quarter-finals for the seventh time in his career as a result and will face either Barry Hawkins or Ali Carter, who clash on Tuesday.
Day 1: Shaun Murphy Knocks out Mark Selby as Marco Fu Makes Maximum
10 of 11
Shaun Murphy 6-5 Mark Selby
The Masters always seems to bring the best out of Mark Selby, but the 2015 tournament saw the Leicester potter bow out at the first hurdle at the hands of Shaun Murphy.
It wasn’t through the lack of trying, though, as Selby came perilously close to staging the most remarkable of remarkable fightbacks.
These two have a habit of producing feisty battles on the big stage, and Monday’s encounter didn’t disappoint, with Selby setting the tone early on by kicking things off with a century break.
However, Selby’s joy was short-lived, as his opening-frame brilliance only succeeded in firing up Murphy, who took the next five frames in emphatic fashion.
Breaks of 92, 55 and 56 together with a pair of topsy-turvy frames that he stole from Selby saw Murphy move into a 5-1 lead, needing just one more to put his name into the quarter-final hat.
Putting the match to bed seemed a relatively simple task for the Englishman, then, but it turned out to be far from the case.
Any snooker fan will tell you that Selby is the king of comebacks, as he’s rescued games from the brink of defeat on countless occasions on the biggest stages of them all. And he was at it again at the Alexandra Palace.
Breaks of 120, 54 and 92 together with an 81-9 frame victory saw Selby bring the match back to 5-5, as we entered into a final-frame shootout.
As expected, the opening exchanges were much like a game of chess, with both players waiting patiently for their opponent to slip up.
That someone was Selby, who was amongst the balls and looking good before over-cutting a simple black and handing the advantage back to Murphy.
From then on, the 32-year-old didn’t falter, as he moved into an unassailable lead to win the match 6-5.
Murphy will take on either Judd Trump or Stephen Maguire in the last eight, where he’ll be looking for a much more solid performance.
Stuart Bingham 3-6 Marco Fu
A masterclass from Marco Fu saw the Hong Kong potter put his name into the quarter-final hat following a 6-3 victory over Stuart Bingham.
The 37-year-old produced a spectacular maximum 147 and two more century breaks on the way to his win, as he put Bingham to the sword with a solid display.
Having won the first frame with a 57 break, Fu got a little complacent in the second and allowed Bingham onto the scoreboard.
However, the Marco Fu party then got started.
A 70 break after a Bingham slip-up put Fu in the lead at 2-1, and he took full advantage by putting together an incredible maximum in the next frame.
He looked so relaxed amongst the balls, never really coming out of position throughout the entire break.
Bingham could only shake Fu’s hands after his brilliance but was in his seat once again as the Hong Kong ace chalked up another century in the next frame.
His 103 was incredibly impressive, and at 4-1, he never looked like surrendering the lead.
Bingham fought back by taking a few frames and even had a 50 break of his own to make it 4-3, but another 103 followed by a solid ninth frame saw Fu over the line at 6-3.
The 37-year-old will likely take on Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals, where he’ll need just as much class as he showed on Sunday to reach the last four.
World Snooker Masters Prize Fund
11 of 11
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
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
