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2005 Masters (snooker)
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2005 Masters (snooker)
The 2005 Masters (officially the 2005 Rileys Club Masters) was the 2005 edition of the non-ranking Masters professional snooker tournament. It was held from 13 to 20 February 2005 at the Wembley Conference Centre, London. The tournament was the 31st staging of the competition and was the sixth of nine World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) main tour events in the 2004/2005 season. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC and by Eurosport in Europe.
Ronnie O'Sullivan, the 2004 world champion, won the tournament, defeating 1999 Masters winner John Higgins ten frames to three in the final to claim his first Masters tournament victory since 1995. It was O'Sullivan's second Masters title in his fifth appearance in the final. O'Sullivan became the sixth player in Masters history to win the tournament more than once. In the semi-finals Higgins beat Peter Ebdon 6–3 and O'Sullivan defeated Jimmy White 6–1. Ding Junhui made the tournament's highest break of 141 in his first round match against Ken Doherty. The Masters preceded the Irish Masters and followed the Malta Cup.
The Masters was first held in 1975 and is part of the Triple Crown events of the game of snooker alongside the World Snooker Championship and the UK Championship; it does not have official ranking status. The 2005 tournament, held between 13 and 20 February at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, was the sixth of nine World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) main tour events of the 2004/2005 season, following the Malta Cup and preceding the Irish Masters. The defending Masters champion was Paul Hunter, who defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–9 in the 2004 final.
Sponsored by the national sports member company Rileys Club for the first time, it had a total prize fund of £400,000, and the host broadcasters were the BBC and Eurosport. All matches were the best-of-11 frames until the final, which was played to the best-of-19 frames. While Hunter had a poor form since making the semi-finals of the Grand Prix tournament, he said he was unworried, "I have been preparing for events in the same way and I'm not going to change my game. It's just one of those things at the moment and once I get a run of wins under my belt I'll be fine."
Defending champion Hunter was the first seed with world champion O'Sullivan seeded second. Places were allocated to the top 16 players in the world rankings. Players seeded 15 and 16 played in the wild-card round against the two wild-card selections, Stephen Maguire (ranked 24) and Ding Junhui (ranked 76). Maguire had won the UK Championship the previous November and was making his Masters debut. Ding played seed 16 Marco Fu and won 6–4. Trailing 4–2 after Fu took the opening four frames with breaks of 100 and 57, Ding responded to win the next four frames with breaks of 50 and 77 in the seventh and eighth frames to win. Graeme Dott was 2–1 behind fellow Scot Maguire when he clinched five of the next seven frames with breaks of 98, 92, 83, 62 and 54 to win 6–4. It was Dott's first victory at the Wembley Conference Centre in his fourth Masters appearance.
In his first round match world number 13 and three-time Masters champion Steve Davis overhauled Hunter 6–5. Breaks of 70 and 82 put Davis into a 2–0 lead. The match went to a final frame decider that Davis led with a score of 58–0. He missed a routine red ball shot, and Hunter countered with a 46 break, only for him to miss a shot. A brief safety shot exchange ensued before Davis undercut the final red ball 12 ft (140 in) down the side cushion and into the top right-hand corner pocket. Davis then potted the coloured balls to win. Peter Ebdon took 1 hour and 45 minutes to whitewash his opponent David Gray 6–0 with breaks of 106, 96, 110, 69 and 96; Gray did not pot a single ball in the final three frames. After the match, Ebdon attributed the result to losing weight through physical activity. The 2004 Players' Championship winner Jimmy White edged out Matthew Stevens 6–5. Trailing 5–3 White needed two snookers and a clearance to get back into contention. He achieved this when Stevens narrowly missed a long-range red ball shot. White then compiled a break of 115 to force a final frame decider in which he outscored Stevens 88–0 to progress into the quarter-finals.
O'Sullivan began his match against Dott with a break of 64 and then made his 21st century break of the 2004/2005 season with a 130 in the second. Dott tied the match at 3–3 with a 41 clearance. O'Sullivan then clinched the next three frames with breaks of 72 and 85 with a 51 clearance to win 6–3. John Higgins, the 1999 Masters champion. faced fellow Scot Chris Small. Higgins won the opening four frames with 106, 60, 47 and 48 runs. Small prevented a whitewash by taking frame five. Higgins lost the chance of a maximum break in frame six when he missed the sixth black ball shot while on 65 points. He then won frame seven and the game 6–1. At age 17 Ding became the youngest quarter-finals player in Masters history when he defeated Ken Doherty, the 1997 world champion, 6–1; Doherty contracted an ear infection three days earlier . Doherty won frame two as Ding took the first, third and fourth frames with the tournament's highest break (a 141 clearance) and further runs of 81 and 52. Doherty lost frame five after missing the black ball and then the sixth with a missed shot on the pink. He then forced a re-spotted black ball finish in frame seven that Ding won.
Two time Masters and world champion Mark Williams played the 1994 tournament winner and world number 10 Alan McManus. McManus made breaks of 63 and 54 to lead 2–1. Williams compiled breaks of 67, 54, 116 and a 66 clearance to defeat McManus 6–3 after the latter missed a straightforward red ball shot in the eighth frame. In the final first-round game Stephen Hendry played world number 12 Stephen Lee. Hendry led the match throughout from breaks of 61, 78, 110 and 82. He amassed an unchallenged 325 points to win 6–1 and claim his 40th match victory at the Masters. Hendry missed the chance to achieve a seventh career maximum break when attempting a 13th black ball shot in frame five; he was out of position from a four-cushion positional shot and was required to pot the blue ball. Lee stated afterwards that he was considered ending his snooker career had he not improved his confidence and playing ability.
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2005 Masters (snooker)
The 2005 Masters (officially the 2005 Rileys Club Masters) was the 2005 edition of the non-ranking Masters professional snooker tournament. It was held from 13 to 20 February 2005 at the Wembley Conference Centre, London. The tournament was the 31st staging of the competition and was the sixth of nine World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) main tour events in the 2004/2005 season. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC and by Eurosport in Europe.
Ronnie O'Sullivan, the 2004 world champion, won the tournament, defeating 1999 Masters winner John Higgins ten frames to three in the final to claim his first Masters tournament victory since 1995. It was O'Sullivan's second Masters title in his fifth appearance in the final. O'Sullivan became the sixth player in Masters history to win the tournament more than once. In the semi-finals Higgins beat Peter Ebdon 6–3 and O'Sullivan defeated Jimmy White 6–1. Ding Junhui made the tournament's highest break of 141 in his first round match against Ken Doherty. The Masters preceded the Irish Masters and followed the Malta Cup.
The Masters was first held in 1975 and is part of the Triple Crown events of the game of snooker alongside the World Snooker Championship and the UK Championship; it does not have official ranking status. The 2005 tournament, held between 13 and 20 February at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, was the sixth of nine World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) main tour events of the 2004/2005 season, following the Malta Cup and preceding the Irish Masters. The defending Masters champion was Paul Hunter, who defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–9 in the 2004 final.
Sponsored by the national sports member company Rileys Club for the first time, it had a total prize fund of £400,000, and the host broadcasters were the BBC and Eurosport. All matches were the best-of-11 frames until the final, which was played to the best-of-19 frames. While Hunter had a poor form since making the semi-finals of the Grand Prix tournament, he said he was unworried, "I have been preparing for events in the same way and I'm not going to change my game. It's just one of those things at the moment and once I get a run of wins under my belt I'll be fine."
Defending champion Hunter was the first seed with world champion O'Sullivan seeded second. Places were allocated to the top 16 players in the world rankings. Players seeded 15 and 16 played in the wild-card round against the two wild-card selections, Stephen Maguire (ranked 24) and Ding Junhui (ranked 76). Maguire had won the UK Championship the previous November and was making his Masters debut. Ding played seed 16 Marco Fu and won 6–4. Trailing 4–2 after Fu took the opening four frames with breaks of 100 and 57, Ding responded to win the next four frames with breaks of 50 and 77 in the seventh and eighth frames to win. Graeme Dott was 2–1 behind fellow Scot Maguire when he clinched five of the next seven frames with breaks of 98, 92, 83, 62 and 54 to win 6–4. It was Dott's first victory at the Wembley Conference Centre in his fourth Masters appearance.
In his first round match world number 13 and three-time Masters champion Steve Davis overhauled Hunter 6–5. Breaks of 70 and 82 put Davis into a 2–0 lead. The match went to a final frame decider that Davis led with a score of 58–0. He missed a routine red ball shot, and Hunter countered with a 46 break, only for him to miss a shot. A brief safety shot exchange ensued before Davis undercut the final red ball 12 ft (140 in) down the side cushion and into the top right-hand corner pocket. Davis then potted the coloured balls to win. Peter Ebdon took 1 hour and 45 minutes to whitewash his opponent David Gray 6–0 with breaks of 106, 96, 110, 69 and 96; Gray did not pot a single ball in the final three frames. After the match, Ebdon attributed the result to losing weight through physical activity. The 2004 Players' Championship winner Jimmy White edged out Matthew Stevens 6–5. Trailing 5–3 White needed two snookers and a clearance to get back into contention. He achieved this when Stevens narrowly missed a long-range red ball shot. White then compiled a break of 115 to force a final frame decider in which he outscored Stevens 88–0 to progress into the quarter-finals.
O'Sullivan began his match against Dott with a break of 64 and then made his 21st century break of the 2004/2005 season with a 130 in the second. Dott tied the match at 3–3 with a 41 clearance. O'Sullivan then clinched the next three frames with breaks of 72 and 85 with a 51 clearance to win 6–3. John Higgins, the 1999 Masters champion. faced fellow Scot Chris Small. Higgins won the opening four frames with 106, 60, 47 and 48 runs. Small prevented a whitewash by taking frame five. Higgins lost the chance of a maximum break in frame six when he missed the sixth black ball shot while on 65 points. He then won frame seven and the game 6–1. At age 17 Ding became the youngest quarter-finals player in Masters history when he defeated Ken Doherty, the 1997 world champion, 6–1; Doherty contracted an ear infection three days earlier . Doherty won frame two as Ding took the first, third and fourth frames with the tournament's highest break (a 141 clearance) and further runs of 81 and 52. Doherty lost frame five after missing the black ball and then the sixth with a missed shot on the pink. He then forced a re-spotted black ball finish in frame seven that Ding won.
Two time Masters and world champion Mark Williams played the 1994 tournament winner and world number 10 Alan McManus. McManus made breaks of 63 and 54 to lead 2–1. Williams compiled breaks of 67, 54, 116 and a 66 clearance to defeat McManus 6–3 after the latter missed a straightforward red ball shot in the eighth frame. In the final first-round game Stephen Hendry played world number 12 Stephen Lee. Hendry led the match throughout from breaks of 61, 78, 110 and 82. He amassed an unchallenged 325 points to win 6–1 and claim his 40th match victory at the Masters. Hendry missed the chance to achieve a seventh career maximum break when attempting a 13th black ball shot in frame five; he was out of position from a four-cushion positional shot and was required to pot the blue ball. Lee stated afterwards that he was considered ending his snooker career had he not improved his confidence and playing ability.