Mark Allen before the start of the Masters, he suffered from food poisoning, but recovered and won Mark Williams with a score of 6:2, which ensured his passage to the quarterfinals.
After three matches of the tournament in “Alexandra Palace”, three former world champions were eliminated from the competition – all lost with the same score of 2:6. Williams joins Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby in early defeats.
WST. Mark Williams With his first-ever victory over Williams at the Masters, Allen advances to the quarterfinals, where he will play either Judd Trump or Ding Junhui.
World number 10 Allen won the Masters title in 2018 by defeating Kieran Wilson in the final and is now aiming to join the list of 12 players who have lifted the trophy more than once.
He was bedridden for most of last week, but luckily for Pistolet, he was back to full fitness on match day, making his 11th Masters quarter-final appearance.
WST. Mark Allen Mark Allen took the opening frame with a series of 67, and the second was in the balance at 47:47, when Williams perfectly scored the far yellow ball in the corner and cleared the table to the blue, it was enough for 1:1. The Welshman then took the lead in the third frame but Northern Ireland’s Allen won the fourth with runs of 54 and 28.
In the fifth frame, Williams had a chance for a run, but at 13, he missed a simple red in the top corner, and Allen punished him with a run of 60 to take the lead again. Riding the momentum, Allen broke 125 to make it 4-2 before dominating the seventh frame with a 70 run.
In a fragmented eighth, Williams trailed 10:40 when he twisted a difficult red into the top corner, and it turned out to be his last shot – Allen got the necessary points (6:2).
WST. Mark Allen Mark Allenwho turns 40 next month, said: “Last week I was really sick, but I didn’t even think about acting – I would play sick if I had to. It is by such tournaments that a career is evaluated. I can’t believe it’s been 8 years since I won here because it seems like yesterday – I remember every emotion in those last strokes and celebrating with my dad afterwards.
Any victory over Mark is great. I played well, especially after the break, and I think 6-2 was fair. Both Dean and Judd have had fairly quiet seasons by their very high standards, so they’ll be looking for an opportunity to make things right this week.”
Mark Williams, whose highest break was only 36 points, noted:
“I played badly. I expect this – it will probably happen to me more and more often, and I just accept it.
I tried, but my son Joel could make bigger breaks than I could. I simplified Mark’s tasks.”
WST. Zhao Xingtung Zhao Xingtung boosted his chances of becoming the first Asian player to collect snooker’s Triple Crown (Champions League, UK and Masters) by beating Gary Wilson 6-2 in the first round of the Masters.
Although Zhao admits that being the reigning world champion adds to the pressure, he was confident tonight to seal his first title at the tournament, with his only previous appearance at Alexandra Palace ending in defeat to John Higgins in 2022.
This time, he will play either Higgins or Barry Hawkins in the quarter-finals on Thursday, January 15. Zhao is one of only 5 Chinese players in the tournament draw, which is a record. Three of them have already reached the quarterfinals, as Wu Yijie and Xiao Guodong also advanced on Sunday.
WST. Zhao Xingtung British Champion 2021 Zhao Xingtung became the first Asian to conquer the Crucible last spring, so he is now just a Masters title away from becoming the 12th player to win all three Triple Crown trophies. The 28-year-old snooker’s ability to make the game extremely easy was evident this evening as well, as he posted five streaks of 50+ points.
Wilson took the opening frame with a run of 76, but scored just 10 points over the next four, while Zhao pulled away with runs of 50, 51, 54 and 72.
The sixth frame was Wilson’s, and he had chances in the seventh, but he missed crucially, missing a difficult green with an extension in the corner, and then botched the next safety putt on the green, giving his opponent the opportunity to take a 5-2 lead.
That ended Wilson’s hopes of a comeback, as Zhao closed out the match in the next frame with a 67. All four matches this week went 6-2.
WST. Zhao Xingtung Zhao Xingtung: “I really enjoyed today, I heard a lot of Chinese fans and got extra confidence from their support. Gary is a very good player and he started well, but after the first frame I focused and believed that I could play well.
It is a surprise and very good news for me that there are five Chinese players left here. Chinese snooker is now much stronger than before and hopefully in the future there will be even more of our players at the Masters as it is an incredible tournament.
After winning the World Cup, I definitely feel a lot of pressure. I don’t think about it until I get to the arena and approach the table – then I feel it. But I try to enjoy this pressure.”
WST. Gary Wilson Gary Wilson, who has lost opening matches in all three of his Masters appearances, noted:
“I was very calm, but deep down I knew that I wasn’t playing the stick well enough – I was playing like a bad amateur. The best player won.
You come out wanting to show at least some game, and I’m not even close to the player I should be. I used to be much stronger.”
According to the materials of the World Snooker Tour
Snooker. The Masters 2026
1/8 finals. London (England), January 12, 2026
Mark Williams (Wales) – Mark Allen (Northern Ireland) – 2:6
Zhao Xingtung (China) – Gary Wilson (England) – 6:2
Tournament grid
Video fragments of matches
Source: sport.ua