Who are the favourites to win the 2025 Masters Snooker? Tournament preview for the Alexandra Palace event

Professional snooker’s most historic invitational event will be celebrating its 51st annual installment, half-a-century on from John Spencer ousting Ray Reardon on a re-spotted black in the deciding frame of the inaugural final.

Please note, this article was produced before Ronnie O’Sullivan’s withdrawal from the event.

Judd Trump: World number one, two-time Masters champion

Trump is in exceptional form, fresh from a UK Championship final win in December where he eventually shrugged off a gallant Barry Hawkins 10-8.

‘The Ace in the Pack’ picked up five titles across 2024, solidifying his position as the world number one and the leading contender for major events. Most recently, the 35-year-old rattled in a 147 break against Ding Junhui at the Superstar Invitational exhibition in Hangzhou, underlining his prestige as the sport’s top break-builder at present.

As a former Masters champion in 2019 and 2023, Trump will be confident of completing a hat-trick and adding to his collection of five Triple Crown titles. He begins his 2025 campaign with a rematch of the previous Triple Crown final, facing an opponent who will be eager to avenge defeat at the York Barbican.

The pre-tournament title favourite, Trump is priced 7/2 by bookmakers.

Kyren Wilson: Reigning world champion, former Masters finalist

Wilson arrives at the Alexandra Palace following the best year of his career to date, where he took the Crucible crown alongside further ranking titles in Xi’an and Northern Ireland.

The current world number two has been brimming with confidence since becoming world champion in May, with the look of a man keen to show the snooker world that he is there to stay.

First to stand in Wilson’s path of a maiden Masters title is world number 10, Zhang Anda, who will make his second Ally Pally appearance following his debut last year. This matchup could provide a stern test for Wilson, facing a player who recently made a maximum break at the York Barbican last month and someone who has built a reputation for making sizable scalps of top players in recent seasons.

15/2 are Wilson’s odds from bookmakers to lift the iconic trophy for the first time.

Mark Selby: Three-time Masters champion

World number five Selby returns to the Palace as a strong contender for the title. As a Masters winner in 2008, 2010 and 2013, he aims to end a 12-year drought and lift the trophy for a fourth time - something that only two players in history have done before.

‘The Jester from Leicester’ faces Ali Carter in round one who reached last year’s final where he lost 10-7 to Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Selby has experienced inconsistencies in recent years, but he still collected silverware at the British Open and Championship League Invitational in 2024 and remains a threat for any title.

Without a Triple Crown win since the 2021 World Championship - or a semi-final outing at the Masters since 2014 - Selby will want to make a statement by going far in the tournament. He is currently placed at 9/1 to win the title.

Mark Allen: 2018 Masters champion

The world number four heads to Alexandra Palace hoping to improve on his semi-final position last time out and claim a second Masters title.

The 2018 winner has had a reasonably solid first half to the season, reaching three ranking event semi-finals and claiming the big-money 2024 Riyadh Season Championship invitational title just before Christmas.

‘The Pistol’ has come under fire for his slow play in recent tournaments, but this has not impeded his scoring, as he has compiled the second-most centuries breaks so far this season.

Northern Ireland’s Allen begins his 2025 campaign against Si Jiahui, who he has beaten in four out of five meetings in his career.

Mark Williams: Two-time Masters champion

At the age of 49, Williams is showing no signs of slowing up. The world number six reached the final of the Saudi Arabia Masters in September, agonisingly missing out on the £500,000 prize 10-9 to Judd Trump, although elsewhere in 2024 he won both the Tour Championship and Champion of Champions titles.

The Welshman comes into the 2025 Masters as an outside favourite, but it will not be much of a surprise if he manages to claim a third title at the Palace.

Williams begins his campaign against Ding Junhui, who has also had a pleasing start to the season, winning the 2024 International Championship in November, thus ending a near five-year wait for another ranking accolade.

Ding holds a winning record in his career against Williams, narrowly beating him 6-5 in their last meeting at the 2023 UK Championship.

Si Jiahui: One to watch

The exciting 22-year-old prospect will make his Masters debut this year, hoping to emulate his Crucible bow in 2023 where he took the sport by storm in reaching the semi-finals.

Si has enjoyed several highlights this season, so far: making the final four of the Saudi Arabia Masters, compiling his first maximum 147 break in professional competition on his way to the final of the Wuhan Open, and recently having won a group at the Championship League.

In his young career, Si has become known for a brand of fast, attacking snooker and will hope to deploy his heavy scoring when facing Allen in a tasty first round encounter.

He will certainly be one to keep an eye on in this year’s edition of the competition, and an outside bet to go deep into the tournament.

2025 Masters Snooker Round One Fixtures:

All matches in round one will be best of 11 frames (first to six). Match schedule:

Sunday 12th January

• 13:00 - Neil Robertson v John Higgins
• 19:00 - Shaun Murphy v Gary Wilson

Monday 13th January

• 13:00 - Mark Williams v Ding Junhui
• 19:00 - Mark Selby v Ali Carter

Tuesday 14th January

• 13:00 - Judd Trump v Barry Hawkins
• 19:00 - Mark Allen v Si Jiahui

Wednesday 15th January

• 13:00 - Kyren Wilson v Zhang Anda
• 19:00 - Luca Brecel v Chris Wakelin

All start times above are GMT

Odds correct at time of writing and sourced from: https://www.oddschecker.com/snooker/the-masters

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