The Masters Snooker 2025 Preview and How To Watch
One of Snooker's most prestigious competitions, The Masters, will be underway soon at Alexandra Palace in London.
The big story heading into the tournament is the withdrawal of last year’s champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, who has elected to opt-out on “Medical grounds” despite being due to play John Higgins in a mouth-watering opener on Sunday.
This comes shortly after the Englishman’s loss to Rob Milkins in the Championship League, where in a show of frustration he whacked his cue against the table after missing a shot and later was seen putting his cue in the bin.
Neil Robertson will replace the seven-time World Champion in the draw.
The Draw
The Masters is invitational and matches are due as follows:
Round one
12/01 from 1pm GMT - Neil Robertson vs John Higgins
12/01 from 7pm GMT - Shaun Murphy vs. Gary Wilson
13/01 from 1pm GMT Mark Williams vs. Ding Junhui
13/01 from 7pm GMT - Mark Selby vs. Ali Carter
14/01 from 1pm GMT - Judd Trump vs. Barry Hawkins
14/01 from 7pm GMT - Mark Allen vs. Si Jiahui
15/01 from 1pm GMT - Kyren Wilson vs. Zhang Anda
15/01 from 7pm GMT - Luca Brecel v Chris Wakelin
Quarter-finals
Robertson/Higgins vs. Murphy/G. Wilson
Allen/Si vs. Selby/Carter
Trump/Hawkins vs. Williams/Ding
Brecel/Wakelin vs. K. Wilson/Zhang
These will take place on the 16th and 17th of January at 1pm and 7pm GMT but the exact match order is not known as of yet.
The two semi-finals will take place on January 18th at 1pm and 7pm GMT. The final will be on the 19th across two sessions; 1pm and 7pm GMT.
Matches will be the best of 11 frames until the final, which is best of 19.
Prize Money
The prize money totalling £1,015,000 will be set out as follows:
Winner: £350,000
Runner-up: £140,000
Semi-finals: £75,000
Quarter-finals: £40,000
Last 16: £25,000
There is also a £15,000 payment for whoever makes the highest break in the competition.
How to Watch
Matches can be watched on BBC and Eurosport.