2025 Masters final
Non-Ranking, Snooker Headlines

How the quarter-finals look in 2025 Masters snooker draw

Six of the remaining contenders in the quarter-finals of the 2025 Masters draw have won the prestigious snooker tournament before.

The other two players represent the most recent world champions, making it a stellar last-eight lineup at the Alexandra Palace in London.

There was plenty of drama and high-quality play during the opening round of the competition across the first four days.

Yet three more victories are still required in order to lift the Paul Hunter Trophy and claim the ยฃ350,000 top prize.

It promises to be a barnstorming couple of days in the quarter-finals, so let’s take a look at each of the four clashes to look forward to.

2025 Masters Quarter-Finals

Neil Robertson vs Shaun Murphy

Neil Robertson was offered a last-gasp opportunity to feature in the 2025 Masters snooker draw after the withdrawal of reigning champion Ronnie O’Sullivan.

It initially looked as though the Australian was heading out the door just as quickly as he came in it when he trailed John Higgins 5-1 on Sunday afternoon.

But Robertson fought back in miraculous fashion to deny the Scot in a deciding-frame thriller.

Next up is Shaun Murphy, who had a mid-match wobble but managed to come through his early test with Gary Wilson unscathed.

Robertson and Murphy have faced each other in two Masters finals at the Ally Pally, so they are familiar with each other’s games on the big occasion.

It’s ten years since the latter got his hands on this trophy, a triumph that represents his last in a Triple Crown event.

Murphy boasts an inferior head-to-head record against Robertson, who will continue to feel like he’s playing with nothing to lose after being granted late entry.

When is it? Thursday, January 16th at 1pm UTC.

Mark Allen vs Mark Selby

Mark Selby, a three-time Masters snooker champion, reached the quarter-finals with arguably the best performance of the 2025 tournament so far.

The Leicester man compiled a brace of century breaks, made three more sizable contributions, and had opponent Ali Carter tied up in knots during his 6-1 defeat of the Captain.

Despite having enjoyed so much success in this event in the past, it’s remarkable to think that Selby hasn’t even reached a semi-final since 2014.

Mark Allen will be hoping to extend that trend after the Pistol reached this stage of the competition with a solid 6-2 win over debutant Si Jiahui.

Allen has lost a lot of fans for his, at times, lifeless style of play across the last couple of years.

But the Northern Irishman ended 2024 with victory in the lucrative Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, and he is on course to start the new calendar year with a bang too.

Allen and Selby have faced each other 27 times competitively, and the head-to-head couldn’t be closer with the 2018 Masters champion leading 14-13.

Interestingly, they have encountered each other in this round three times in the past, and on all three occasions the match has gone to a deciding frame.

Selby won 6-5 in both 2009 and 2010, while Allen got his own back last year in a tie where he also constructed a memorable maximum break.

When is it? Thursday, January 16th at 7pm UTC

2025 Masters snooker
The 2025 Masters snooker invitational is staged at the iconic Alexandra Palace. Photo credit: WST

Judd Trump vs Ding Junhui

Judd Trump continues to occupy the role of favourite this year after he orchestrated a resounding 6-1 success over Barry Hawkins in round one.

The runaway world number one has claimed two out of the last six Masters titles and is fancied to add to his major haul again this weekend.

The 35 year-old should, however, face a stern examination of his challenge for glory when he next meets Ding Junhui.

China’s finest emerged from a dramatic affair with Mark Williams on Monday, winning the last two frames to secure a 6-5 victory over the Welshman.

The last time Ding beat Williams in the last 16 of the Masters, he proceeded to etch his name onto the silverware.

That was way back in 2011, the same year that Trump and Ding faced off in a memorable semi-final showdown at the World Championship in Sheffield.

Trump edged a classic, and the Englishman has just about held the upper hand from their head-to-head rivalry since then.

The 35 year-old has won 11 out of their 20 battles in all competitions, including in the final of last year’s World Open.

Ding’s triumph at the International Championship in November ended a five-year barren streak in ranking events, however, making him a more dangerous threat in the majors once again.

When is it? Friday, January 17th at 1pm UTC

Luca Brecel vs Kyren Wilson

While the other six players in the quarter-finals of the 2025 draw boast ten Masters crowns between them, Kyren Wilson and Luca Brecel are bidding for their first.

Yet they both undoubtedly possess the minerals required to go all the way to glory in the English capital city.

Wilson and Brecel have between them won the last couple of World Championship trophies at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

While the latter has generally struggled for form since then, Wilson has kicked on this season and added two more ranking titles to his collection already.

The Kettering cueist rode his luck a little as he defied a huge total points deficit to eventually overcome Zhang Anda in a tight first-round affair.

Brecel, as he so often does, mixed the sublime with the ordinary as he finally moved beyond the challenge of debutant Chris Wakelin.

The Belgian Bullet interestingly boasts a superior head-to-head record against Wilson, including victory at the recent Snooker Championship in which he reached the final.

But the 29 year-old will likely have to cut out the unforced errors if he’s to oust the world number two who is determined to add to his major haul.

When is it? Friday, January 17th at 7pm UTC


For the full 2025 Masters snooker draw and schedule, click here.

Featured photo credit: WST

3 Comments

  1. Jay brannon

    Allen has become less entertaining during this improved period of success but the trophies he’s pocketed make it hard to be critical of the approach. I would still take issue with how long he’s taken in certain matches as the balance between defence and attack became heavily skewed towards a defensive style.

    Selby is very much in the same mould and Allen has at least subconsciously modelled his change in playing style on Leicester’s finest. Selby divides opinion but I doubt he cares with nine Triple Crown titles on his CV!

    All players left have won at least one Triple Crown event and six have been world champion.

    This has been a fine tournament so far, and could become a vintage one if the last four days offer a similar amount of drama and quality to the opening four days.

  2. Allen has won seven of his nine quarter-final matches with Selby.

  3. Jay brannon

    I may have written that Jak Jones set a new record for centuries in a professional tournament during the Championship League. I jumped the gun slightly as the centuries he’d made on the last day of group four had already been added to his seasonal tally. He currently sits on 20 centuries going into group 5, needing four more to break the record of 23 shared by Kyren Wilson and Matt Selt.

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