The 2024 Masters (officially the 2024 MrQ Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place from 7 to 14 January 2024 at Alexandra Palace in London, England. The second Triple Crown event of the 202324 season, following the 2023 UK Championship and preceding the 2024 World Championship, the tournament was the 50th edition of the Masters, which was first held in 1975. Organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by online casino MrQ, the tournament was broadcast by the BBC, Eurosport, and Discovery+ domestically, and by multiple other broadcasters internationally. The winner received £250,000 from a total prize pool of £725,000.

The top 16 players in the snooker world rankings, as they stood after the UK Championship, were invited to the event. Judd Trump was the defending champion, having defeated Mark Williams 108 in the 2023 final, but he lost 56 to Ali Carter in the quarter-finals. Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Carter 107 in the final having trailed 3–6 and 6–7 to win a record-extending 8th Masters title and 23rd Triple Crown title. He became the oldest Masters winner, aged , surpassing Stuart Bingham, who was 43 years and 243 days old when he won the 2020 event. O'Sullivan already held the record as the tournament's youngest winner—set 29 years earlier at the 1995 event—which gave him the distinction of simultaneously becoming the youngest and oldest Masters champion.

The tournament produced 27 century breaks, including two maximum breaks. Ding Junhui made the first maximum in his first-round match against O'Sullivan, and Mark Allen made the second in his quarter-final match against Mark Selby. These were respectively the fourth and fifth maximum breaks in the tournament's history. In his quarter-final match against Allen, Carter became the first player to make three consecutive century breaks at the Masters. Carter made a record nine centuries in the tournament, surpassing the previous record of eight set by O'Sullivan at the 2007 and 2009 events.

Overview

The 2024 Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place from 7 to 14 January 2024 at Alexandra Palace in London, England. The second Triple Crown event of the 202324 season, the tournament was the 50th edition of the Masters, which was first held in 1975 for 10 invited players at the West Centre Hotel in London. John Spencer won the inaugural event, defeating Ray Reardon on a in the deciding frame of the final. The Masters is the second-longest-running professional snooker tournament after the World Snooker Championship, and has been staged at Alexandra Palace since 2012. The most successful player in its history has been Ronnie O'Sullivan, who had previously won the title seven times, most recently in 2017.

The 16 highest ranked players in the snooker world rankings after the 2023 UK Championship were invited to participate in the single-elimination tournament. The defending champion was English player Judd Trump, who won his second Masters title at the previous year's event by defeating his Welsh opponent Mark Williams 108 in the final. As defending champion, Trump was the first seed, while Luca Brecel was seeded second as the reigning World Champion. The next six players in the world rankings were seeded third to eighth, allocated fixed positions in the , and drawn randomly against the remaining eight participants. The first-round draw was made during the UK Championship final. Matches were played as the best of 11 until the final, which was played as the best of 19 frames held over two .

Participants The event featured the top 16 players in the world rankings, as they stood after the UK Championship. Zhang Anda, who entered the top 16 for the first time after winning his maiden ranking title at the 2023 International Championship, was the only Masters debutant. After failing to qualify for the previous two Masters tournaments, Ding Junhui qualified for the 2024 event when he regained his place in the top 16 by reaching the UK Championship final. Hossein Vafaei, who made his Masters debut the previous year, was ranked 17th after losing to O'Sullivan in the UK Championship semi-finals and did not qualify for the 2024 event.

Broadcasters The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Sport and in Europe (including the UK and Ireland) by Eurosport and Discovery+. It was broadcast in China by China Central Television and streamed by Huya and Migu. It was broadcast in Hong Kong by Now TV, in Brazil and the United States by DAZN, in Pakistan by Fastsports, in Malaysia and Brunei by Astro SuperSport, in Taiwan by Sport Cast, in Thailand by TrueVisions, and in the Philippines by Premier Sports. In all other territories, the event was streamed by Matchroom Sport.

Prize money The winner of the event received £250,000 from a total prize pool of £725,000. The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:

Winner: £250,000 Runner-up: £100,000 Semi-finals: £60,000 Quarter-finals: £30,000 Last 16: £15,000 Highest : £15,000

Total: £725,000

Summary First round

The first-round matches were played from 7 to 10 January as the best of 11 frames. Luca Brecel, the reigning World Champion, faced 2023 semi-finalist Jack Lisowski, who moved into a 40 lead at the mid-session interval with breaks of 70, 100, 96, and 69. Although Brecel reduced Lisowski's lead to 42 with breaks of 80 and 72, Lisowski produced breaks of 63 and 68 to secure a 62 win. Lisowski's 100 break in the second frame was his 300th century break in professional competition. Having recently reached the final of an exhibition event in Macau, Lisowski commented: "I think I found something in China because I was really struggling [this season] and I was really scared coming here because I did not know which Jack was going to turn up." Brecel expressed frustration with his form, saying: "It was terrible. If I keep playing like this then you will see me in 2025 Q School."

Shaun Murphy, the 2015 champion, played Masters debutant Zhang Anda. The match was level at 11, but Murphy capitalised on Zhang's positional errors in the third and fourth frames to take on a 31 lead at the mid-session interval. Murphy also took the fifth frame with a break of 86. Zhang closed to 24 with a 69 break, but Murphy made breaks of 71 and 89 to win the last two frames for a 62 victory. Murphy commented that Zhang had "been one of the best players of all season" and that if he had played badly, "he would have turned me over. With that in mind I've worked very hard in the background." In defeat, Zhang commented "Shaun played better than me tonight. I missed some very simple shots and he took his chances to win the game."

Ronnie O'Sullivan, a seven-time winner, faced the 2011 champion Ding Junhui. The players had met at the 2023 UK Championship final, where O'Sullivan defeated Ding 10‍7 to capture his eighth UK title. O'Sullivan took a 40 lead, making breaks of 67, 87, and 106. After the mid-session interval, Ding responded with breaks of 61 and 92, followed by a maximum break of 147, to narrow O'Sullivan's lead to 43. It was the fourth maximum in the tournament's history, the seventh maximum of Ding's professional career, and the second time Ding had made a maximum at the Masters, having previously done so at the 2007 event. However, O'Sullivan then made breaks of 127 and 93 to secure a 63 victory. Afterwards, O'Sullivan called Ding's maximum break "unbelievable" and called his opponent a "magnificent player" and a "delight to watch." Ding said: "To make a maximum was amazing, it has been a long time since I felt like that."

Mark Williams, a two-time winner, played 2020 finalist Ali Carter. The score was level at 22 at the mid-session interval. Williams made a 93 break in frame 5 to lead 32, but Carter produced back-to-back century breaks of 118 and 133 to take a 43 lead. Williams tied the scores at 44 with an 86 break, but Carter took the last two frames with breaks of 61 and 73 to secure a 64 victory. Carter said after the match: "All parts of my game were good. I potted a lot of tricky balls tonight and that was pleasing."

Defending champion Judd Trump faced 2018 finalist Kyren Wilson. Kyren established a 30 lead as he made breaks of 65 and 76. Trump then won five frames in a row to lead 53. However, Wilson won the next two frames to level the score to 55 and force a . Wilson made a break of 51 in the deciding frame, before running out of and missing a pot on a tricky . This allowed Trump to pot the same red and make a of 65 to win the frame on the last for a 65 victory. Trump commented: "I felt nervy from the start and my wasn't good. Under pressure in the clearance at the end, I shortened my backswing, it was more of a 'stab' but that helped with my position."

Neil Robertson, another two-time winner, played two-time runner-up Barry Hawkins. The players had contested the 2022 final, with Robertson winning 104. The score was level at 11 after two closely contested frames that lasted over an hour. Hawkins won three frames in a row to lead 41, but Robertson made back-to-back centuries of 117 and 110 to narrow Hawkins's lead to 43. Hawkins then took the eighth and ninth frames with breaks of 69 and 57 to win the match 63. He said after the match: "It didn't come easily tonight and everything was a bit of a struggle. I tried my hardest and that is all you can do out there really."

Mark Allen, who had suffered five consecutive first-round defeats at the Masters since winning the 2018 event, faced two-time champion John Higgins. Higgins made breaks of 83 and 80 to lead 31 at the mid-session interval, but Allen won 4 frames in a row to lead 53, making a century break of 123 in the eighth frame. Higgins won frames 9 and 10 with 58 and 61 breaks to level the score at 55 to force a decider, which Allen took with a break of 86 to secure a 65 victory. Allen commented: "I was edgy all day but then 55 was the calmest I felt. This was a big hurdle for me to get over, having lost all of my first round games since I won it. The positive I can take from today is how good I felt in the last frame."

Mark Selby, a three-time winner, played Robert Milkins, who made his third Masters appearance and his first in nine years. Milkins had never won a match at the Masters, having lost in the first round to O'Sullivan in 2014 and Robertson in 2015. Selby produced breaks of 119, 53, and 63 to lead 40 at the mid-session interval. Milkins narrowed the score to 41 with an 88 break in the fifth frame, but Selby won the next two frames with breaks of 70 and 74 for a 61 victory. Selby said after the match: "[Milkins] had a good chance in the first frame after I missed an easy black. If he wins the frame there he settles and it is a totally different game. Thankfully he missed, I settled first and managed to kick on from then."

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played from 11 to 12 January as the best of 11 frames. In the first quarter-final, O'Sullivan faced Hawkins. The players had previously contested the 2016 final, which O'Sullivan won 101. O'Sullivan opened the match with a break of 88, but Hawkins led 32, having made breaks of 74 and 56 in the fourth and fifth frames. Despite missed pots by both players, O'Sullivan won three of the next four frames to lead 53. In the ninth frame, Hawkins missed a pot while on a break of 50, and O'Sullivan made a 77 clearance to win the match 63. After the match, O'Sullivan apologised to Hawkins for his poor performance, saying: "I felt bad for [Hawkins]. I just dragged him down to my level. That's the most awful standard of snooker." Hawkins commented: "[O'Sullivan] was there for the taking. I had plenty of chances but I didn't take them. It's frustrating but I didn't deserve to win."