Shaun Murphy's victory over Kyren Wilson in the Johnstone's Paint Masters on Sunday night brought to a close the 50th birthday of snooker's biggest invitation event.
From relatively modest beginnings in 1975, over the course of half a century the Masters has built a reputation as one of the great occasions on the British sporting calendar. It is renowned for its huge crowds and incredible atmosphere, as well as the elite nature of the line-up, as only the world’s top 16 players are rewarded with a place in the draw.
Here's a look back on the key Masters moments over the past five decades...
1975: The Masters is staged for the first time at the West Centre Hotel in London, with a field of ten players. John Spencer wins the inaugural title, beating Ray Reardon 9-8 in a final which went down to a respotted black in the deciding frame. His prize was £2,000, a far cry from this year’s winner’s cheque of £350,000.
1979: The event moves to Wembley Conference Centre, its home for the next 27 years. Alex Higgins and Doug Mountjoy compile the first two centuries made in the Masters.
1981: The field grows from ten to 12 players.
1983: …and then increases again from 12 to the 16-man field we know today.
1984: Canada’s Kirk Stevens, wearing his trademark white suit, makes the first 147 in the Masters during his semi-final against Jimmy White. At the time it’s only the third official maximum in snooker history. BBC televises every day of the tournament for the first time, having previously only covered selected days.
1986: Another Canadian, Cliff Thorburn, becomes the first back-to-back winner. The Grinder lifted the trophy three times, in 1983, 1985 and 1986.
1988: Steve Davis crushes Mike Hallett 9-0 in the final. This remains the only whitewash in the final of a Triple Crown event.
1989: The era of Stephen Hendry dominance begins as the Scot wins the title on his debut. Hendry goes on to lift the trophy in five consecutive years, a 23-match winning streak which ends with defeat to Alan McManus in the 1994 final.
1990: Wild cards are introduced for the first time, joining the top 16 in the field. This was largely because Alex Higgins had dropped out of the top 16 but sponsors still wanted him in the draw. The event then included wild cards every year until 2010.
1991: Hendry completes the greatest Masters final comeback, recovering an 8-2 deficit to beat Mike Hallett 9-8. Salt is rubbed in Hallett’s wound when he gets back to Grimsby late at night to find his house has been burgled.
1995: Ronnie O’Sullivan wins the event for the first time at the age of 19. He remains the youngest champion.
1996: The format changes to make all early-round matches best of 11 frames (rather than best of nine) and the final best of 19 (rather than best of 17).
1998: Mark Williams beats Stephen Hendry 10-9 in the famous respotted black final, arguably the most dramatic finish to a tournament in snooker history other than the 1985 World Championship final.
2000: Ken Doherty misses the last black for a 147 during his final against Matthew Stevens. One more pot would have earned Doherty an £80,000 sports car.
2001: Paul Hunter lands the first of his three Masters crowns, all of which were won by 10-9 final scorelines. Hunter sadly passed away in 2006 at the age of 27 and the trophy is now named in his honour.
2006: In the last match staged at Wembley Conference Centre, John Higgins beats Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-9 in the final with an incredible 64 clearance in the deciding frame.
2007: Ding Junhui becomes the second player to make a 147 at the Masters, during his first round match against Anthony Hamilton.
2011: Ding becomes the first Chinese winner of the Masters, beating Marco Fu in the only Triple Crown final between two Asian players.
2012: The Masters arrives at its new home of Alexandra Palace. Neil Robertson is the first champion at the iconic venue.
2013: Mark Selby wins the event for a third time, becoming one of only six players to lift the trophy on more than two occasions.
2015: Hong Kong’s Marco Fu makes the third Masters maximum break, during his first round match against Stuart Bingham.
2017: Ronnie O’Sullivan lifts the trophy for the seventh time, eclipsing Stephen Hendry’s record of six crowns.
2021: The tournament is staged in Milton Keynes behind closed doors during the coronavirus pandemic – the only time it has taken place without a crowd.
2024: For the first time, the Masters produces two 147 breaks. Ding Junhui becomes the first player to make two maximums in the event, and his perfect break is matched by Mark Allen, who becomes the first British player to make a 147 in the tournament. Ronnie O’Sullivan beats Ali Carter in the final to extend his record to eight titles. Age 48, he is the oldest winner.
2025: Shaun Murphy makes the sixth 147 in Masters history and goes on to capture the trophy, becoming the 12th player to win the title on multiple occasions.
Did you know?
The idea for the Masters first came from Clive Everton, the great snooker journalist and commentator who sadly passed away last year. Gallaher, the parent group of Benson and Hedges, were looking to sponsor sporting events. Through a consultancy run by Peter West and Patrick Nally, Everton suggested that a snooker tournament with an elite field would fit their brand, and the concept was born.
25 players have won the Masters, from eight different countries: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Canada, China and Australia.
In the 51 stagings of the Masters, 11 finals have gone to a deciding frame. The most recent was 2010 when Mark Selby beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-9.
The first three players to make 147s in the Masters were non-British: Kirk Stevens (Canada), Marco Fu (Hong Kong) and Ding Junhui (China). Last year, Mark Allen became the first British player to score a maximum in the event, and this year Shaun Murphy became the first Englishman.
Between 1990 and 2010, the top 16 were joined by wild cards, either the winners of a qualifying tournament, or those selected by WST. Winners of the qualifying event included Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams, Ali Carter, Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, Stuart Bingham, Barry Hawkins and Judd Trump. Since 2011 there have been no wild cards.
John Higgins holds the record for most consecutive Masters appearances with 31, having been ever present since 1995.
The current Masters trophy, which was first used in 2004, was produced by Waterford Crystal. It stands 12 inches tall, sitting on a two-inch wooden plinth and weighs 9kg, not easy to lift at the end of a long final! It is sculpted from a solid block of highly polished leaded crystal and is renowned as one of snooker’s most coveted trophies. In 2017 the trophy was named after the late Paul Hunter.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has made the most centuries in the Masters, with 86. He also holds the record for the most prize money won in the event, with £2,221,000.
The third frame of the 1997 final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Steve Davis was briefly interrupted when a streaker appeared centre stage, frolicking around the table until she was ushered away by security. She was 22-year-old secretary Lianne Crofts, who later explained: "Watching a football match with my parents when I was six, we saw a streaker run on to the pitch. I can remember jumping up and down and saying that I wanted do that when I grew up. I don't particularly like snooker, but I was in London visiting some friends when I heard about a championship and I thought it was the perfect chance.”
John Street was the leading referee in the early years of the Masters and he took charge of the final 12 times between 1977 and 1997. Jan Verhaas has officiated more finals than anyone other than Street – the Dutchman donned the white gloves for eight finals between 1999 and 2019.
In 1979, South Africa’s Perrie Mans won the tournament with a highest break of just 48, a fact which underlines how different the game was at the time. In last year’s event, Ali Carter made nine centuries and 11 more breaks over 50.
During a 6-0 win over Ricky Walden at the 2014 Masters, Ronnie O'Sullivan scored 556 points without reply, a record for any professional tournament.
Ken Doherty’s black in the 2000 final is the most infamous near-miss of a 147 at the Masters, but in 2003 Stephen Hendry came almost as close during a quarter-final against Jimmy White. Hendry had the balls at his mercy with four colours left, but overran position from blue to pink then missed an awkward pink to a top corner. “I will wake up in a cold sweat,” he said. “I had the maximum on a plate but I didn't serve it up. The car was in the garage and the money was in the bank.”
The event is televised to a global audience of hundreds of millions, by broadcasters including BBC, Eurosport and CCTV5. Fans in countries where there is no alternative broadcast can watch live on our new OTT platform WST Play.