Gary Wilson and Si Jiahui both set to make Ally Pally debuts at the 2025 Masters

It will be the first time that both cueists play within the one-table set-up at the iconic 'Ally Pally' venue, and for China's Si it will be his maiden Masters appearance altogether.

The second Triple Crown event of the 2024/25 World Snooker Tour professional season, the 2025 Masters is set to feature the world's top 16 players, only.

Snooker's most prestigious invitational tournament will be celebrating its 51st edition, 50 years on from the inaugural staging in 1975 when John Spencer ousted Ray Reardon 9-8 on a re-spotted black in the deciding frame to claim the title at the West Centre Hotel in London.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is the reigning champion having defeated Ali Carter 10-7 in the 2024 final. It was a record-extending eighth Masters crown for O'Sullivan.

Contestants play for The Paul Hunter Trophy, named in honour of the late three-time Masters champion.

It has been announced by the World Snooker Tour that there will be record-breaking prize money for the 2025 event, with a total purse of over £1 million.

The champion will pocket £350,000 (£100,000 more than last year's top prize), and first round losers will take away £25,000.

Wilson and Si through to the party at the Palace

The final cut-off for qualification for the 2025 Masters is after the 2024 UK Championship.

At the time of writing this article (during round two in York), 13 players are already guaranteed invites for the upcoming Masters, and were before a ball was struck in the 2024 UK Championship.

This list includes Gary Wilson and Si Jiahui, who can both look forward to a trip to the English capital city after Christmas.

For three-time ranking event winner Wilson, this will not be his maiden Masters appearance, but his first at the Alexandra Palace.

In 2021, as the world number 19, Wilson received a late call-up to the Masters following the withdrawals of both Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski due to positive Covid-19 test results, and because of Anthony McGill declining his invite. Wilson lost in the opening round to Kyren Wilson, 6-2.

The 2021 Masters staging, though, was held behind-closed-doors at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes due to the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic.

As for 22-year-old Si, this will be his first Masters experience altogether, and richly deserved after a breakthrough 24 months or so which have seen him reach the semi-finals of the World Championship, last four of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and ranking event finals at the German Masters and Wuhan Open.

At present, Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, Mark Allen, Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Williams, Luca Brecel, Ding Junhui, Shaun Murphy, Zhang Anda and Ali Carter are the other guaranteed qualifiers.

The identity of the remaining three 2025 Masters qualifiers will become clear during the latter stages of the 2024 UK Championship.

The draw for the 2025 Masters will take place during the final of the 2024 UK Championship and will be shown live on the BBC. The draw is likely to be conducted during the mid-session interval of the opening session of the final on Sunday 1st December.

There will be two bags of balls, as the top eight in the world rankings will be randomly drawn against those ranked 9-16.

UPDATE: The draw has since been made and can be viewed here

For an up-to-date picture in the race for Masters qualification, please visit the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association’s dedicated rankings page here.