In the first round of the Snooker Masters, Chinese players experienced both joy and concern. Ding Junhui faced off against Mark Williams in a decisive battle, narrowly advancing with a 6-5 victory. However, due to the eliminations of "Old Ma" (presumably referring to Mark Selby) and John Higgins, as well as the absence of "Rocket" Ronnie O'Sullivan, the "Three Musketeers of '75" bid an early farewell. Si Jiahui lost to Mark Allen with a score of 2-6, while Zhang Anda, who made his debut last, took on world champion Kyren Wilson. As a late bloomer, Zhang Anda is still improving and unafraid of any top player. In fact, he had previously held an advantage over Wilson in their encounters.
In the first game, Zhang Anda displayed three consecutive precise long shots, but this did not secure him the win. Kyren Wilson fought back to reverse the situation with a score of 71-59. In the second game, Zhang Anda did not repeat his mistakes, easily scoring 85 points to seal the game without giving Wilson a chance, showing good form. In the third game, Wilson's high-precision long shot impressed even Zhang Anda, but after scoring 63 points, he missed a bottom pocket red ball. Zhang Anda failed to seize the opportunity and returned the favor by missing a bottom pocket shot himself. Wilson completed the super-score, and after a few rounds of struggle, Zhang Anda conceded, with the score at 70-25 in Wilson's favor, allowing Wilson to take the lead.
In the fourth game, Zhang Anda attempted another long shot with hot hands, but at a crucial moment, he failed to handle a pocket red ball properly, attempting a flip shot that fell short. Wilson capitalized on this with a single stroke of 69 points to clear the table and reverse the game, leading the total score 3-1.
In the fifth game, Wilson's forced attack on the bottom pocket red ball was unsuccessful, allowing Zhang Anda to seize the opportunity and score 65 points. Unfortunately, he missed the top pocket red ball, but Wilson had no real chances either. Zhang Anda managed to catch up with a score of 114-0. In the sixth game, Zhang Anda continued his efforts, scoring 83 points in a single stroke to tie the game at 124-0. In the seventh game, Zhang Anda took the lead again, but bad luck struck as he accidentally potted the white ball. Wilson would not let this opportunity slip, securing the game with a score of 73-24. In the eighth game, Zhang Anda scored a century with a single stroke of 141 points, leveling the total score at 4-4.
In the ninth game, Wilson sent a red ball to the pocket opening, but Zhang Anda made a mistake with his bridge shot, and Wilson failed to capitalize. Following this, Zhang Anda's long shot was not accurate enough, leaving a pocket ball behind. Despite Wilson's nervousness, Zhang Anda's impressive long shot accuracy was marred by simple errors, with the black ball at the bottom pocket causing trouble for the third time. Wilson reached match point with a score of 86-33. In the tenth game, Zhang Anda repeated his earlier mistake, executing another spectacular long shot but faltering with a relatively easy bottom pocket red ball. The previously more stable Wilson contributed the biggest blunder of the match by missing the pink ball. Faced with a golden opportunity to turn the game around, Zhang Anda lost his composure, and Wilson managed to pot a difficult middle pocket shot, winning narrowly with a score of 68-43, eliminating Zhang Anda with a final score of 6-4.
In the last match, Brecel defeated Wakelin 6-3, completing the lineup for the top eight in the Masters. Moving into the quarterfinals, Ding Junhui will face Trump, Neil Robertson will play against Murphy, Mark Allen will compete against Selby, and Kyren Wilson will go up against Brecel.