2015 Masters (snooker)

The 2015 Masters (also referred to as the 2015 Dafabet Masters for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 11 and 18 January 2015 at the Alexandra Palace in London, England.[1] It was the 41st staging of the Masters tournament. Shaun Murphy won his first Masters title, beating Neil Robertson 10–2 in the final, the biggest winning margin in a Masters final since Steve Davis whitewashed Mike Hallett 9–0 in 1988. In winning the title, Murphy became the tenth player to win all Triple Crown events at least once.[2] This year's final line up was a repeat of the 2012 tournament, albeit with a different result.

Dafabet Masters
Tournament information
Dates11–18 January 2015
VenueAlexandra Palace
CityLondon
CountryEngland
Organisation(s)WPBSA
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£600,000
Winner's share£200,000
Highest break Marco Fu (147)
Final
Champion Shaun Murphy
Runner-up Neil Robertson
Score10–2
← 2014
2016 →

Marco Fu made the 112th official maximum break during his first-round match against Stuart Bingham. This was Fu's third official 147 and the seventh maximum break in the 2014/2015 season. It was the third maximum break in Masters history, after Kirk Stevens's maximum in 1984 and Ding Junhui's in 2007.[3]

Ali Carter played his first match since being given all-clear from lung cancer. He received a standing ovation from the crowd before his first-round encounter with Barry Hawkins, which he won 6–1.[4]

Ronnie O'Sullivan equaled Stephen Hendry's career record of 775 competitive century breaks in his first-round match against Ricky Walden.[5] He did so on the exact date of Hendry's 46th birthday.[6]

Two days later, in the first frame of his quarter-final match against Marco Fu, O'Sullivan set a new record when he compiled the 776th century of his career. In defeating Fu 6–1, O'Sullivan also broke Hendry's record for the most wins in the Masters, setting a new record of 43.[7]

O'Sullivan was the defending champion,[8] but he lost 1–6 against Robertson in the semi-finals.[9]

Field

Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was the number 1 seed with World Champion Mark Selby seeded 2. The remaining places were allocated to players based on the latest world rankings (revision 5) except that Ali Carter was seeded 13, despite being ranked 18, because of illness that had stopped him from playing for an extended period.[10] Players ranked 13 to 15 were seeded 14 to 16 while Graeme Dott, ranked 16, was not invited. The field was the same as in 2014 except that Carter returned for his 9th appearance in place of Mark Davis.

Prize fund

The total prize money of the event was unchanged at £600,000. The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[11]

  • Winner: £200,000
  • Runner-up: £90,000
  • Semi-finals: £50,000
  • Quarter-finals: £25,000
  • Last 16: £12,500
  • Highest break: £10,000
  • Total: £600,000

Main draw

[12][13][14]

Last 16
Best of 11 frames 		Quarter-finals
Best of 11 frames 		Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames 		Final
Best of 19 frames
            
1 Ronnie O'Sullivan 6
9 Ricky Walden 4
1 Ronnie O'Sullivan 6
10 Marco Fu 1
8 Stuart Bingham 3
10 Marco Fu 6
1 Ronnie O'Sullivan 1
4 Neil Robertson 6
5 Barry Hawkins 1
13 Ali Carter 6
13 Ali Carter 1
4 Neil Robertson 6
4 Neil Robertson 6
16 Robert Milkins 4
4 Neil Robertson 2
11 Shaun Murphy 10
3 Ding Junhui 3
14 Joe Perry 6
14 Joe Perry 4
6 Mark Allen 6
6 Mark Allen 6
15 John Higgins 4
6 Mark Allen 2
11 Shaun Murphy 6
7 Judd Trump 4
12 Stephen Maguire 6
12 Stephen Maguire 4
11 Shaun Murphy 6
2 Mark Selby 5
11 Shaun Murphy 6

Final
Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Brendan Moore.
Alexandra Palace, London, England, 18 January 2015.[14]
Neil Robertson (4)
 Australia		 2–10 Shaun Murphy (11)
 England
Afternoon: 6–70 (64), 53–66, 0–127 (127), 24–77 (76), 32–80, 80–0 (80), 0–70 (69), 69–49
Evening: 55–57 (Robertson 51), 0–127 (127), 13–73, 7–83 (60)
80 Highest break 127
0 Century breaks 2
2 50+ breaks 6

Century breaks

Total: 28[15]

References
  1. "Calendar 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  2. "Masters 2015 final: Shaun Murphy thrashes Neil Robertson". BBC Sport. 18 January 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  3. "Fu Makes Magical Maximum". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 11 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  4. Hafez, Shamoon (13 January 2015). "Masters 2015: Ali Carter beats Barry Hawkins". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  5. "Masters 2015: Ronnie O'Sullivan equals Stephen Hendry's record". BBC Sport. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  6. "Ronnie O'Sullivan 775th Century with superb fluke!". World Snooker Tour. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  7. Hafez, Shamoon (15 January 2015). "Masters 2015: Ronnie O'Sullivan breaks Stephen Hendry's record". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  8. Mulgrew, John (19 January 2014). "Ronnie O'Sullivan wins snooker Masters: The 'Rocket' blazes to stunning victory over Mark Selby". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  9. "Ronnie O'Sullivan 'taken apart' by Neil Robertson at Masters". BBC Sport. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  10. "Carter To Retain Top 16 Seeding". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 22 October 2014. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  11. Kalb, Rolf (6 January 2015). "Snooker - Die Turnier-Infos zum Masters". Yahoo Eurosport. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  12. "Dafabet Masters Draw And Format". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  13. "Masters Provisional Format of Play" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  14. "Dafabet Masters (2015)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  15. "Masters – Century Breaks". worldsnookerdata.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 15 January 2015.

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