Today is January 18th, and the last two quarter-final matches of the 2025 Snooker Masters have just concluded. Ding Junhui lost to Trump 3-6 and stopped at the top 8, failing to advance to the semi-finals, which is quite a pity. In another match, Kyren Wilson defeated Luca Brecel 6-4 to secure the last ticket to the semi-finals. The four finalists have now been determined: Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen, Judd Trump, and Kyren Wilson. As one of the three major events in snooker, the Masters has high standards and generous prizes, with only the top 16 ranked players in the world eligible to participate. The champion's prize is £350,000, the runner-up's prize is £140,000, and the player's appearance fee is £25,000. This makes it an event that many snooker athletes aspire to compete in. Among the 16 participants, there are three Chinese players: Ding Junhui, Si Jiahui, and Zhang Anda, all of whom have now been eliminated. Si Jiahui and Zhang Anda were eliminated in the first round, while Ding Junhui made it to the second round. Here are the details of the two recently concluded matches:
Ding Junhui 3-6 Trump
Ding Junhui's career has recently hit a low point, forming a stark contrast to his impressive debut. Apart from winning the National Championship last year, he has mostly been eliminated in the first or second rounds of other competitions, with few breakthroughs, causing heartache for many. There are already doubts about his status as China's number one snooker player. In this quarter-final, Ding was leading 2-0 but was reversed by Trump with a score of 6-3, which is really speechless. Ding played smoothly in the first half, from 2-0 to 3-1, making three breaks over 50. However, in the second half, Trump won five consecutive games, making a miraculous comeback with a score of 6-3. Throughout the match, Trump made five breaks over 50 and one century break. Ding, on the other hand, scored no points in the last three frames.
Kyren Wilson 6-4 Luca Brecel
The two players have faced each other nine times before, with Brecel leading 5-4. This match fully demonstrated that "Brother Jing" is not so embarrassing, and Brecel is not so exciting. Kyren Wilson took the lead with two consecutive wins in the first two frames, leading 2-0. In the following eight frames, both sides engaged in friendly exchanges, with Brecel winning one frame and Wilson winning one frame, exchanging victories like they had planned it, each winning four frames, resulting in a final score of 6-4. On the surface, it seemed very friendly, but in reality, it was a fierce battle on the court, with tension and excitement. In the entire match, Brecel made three breaks over 50, with the highest being 96 points. Kyren Wilson made five breaks over 50. Brecel was eliminated, while Kyren Wilson advanced.
Tonight, the two semi-finals of this Masters will begin, with matches scheduled at two different times. One match starts at 9 pm, featuring Murphy against Allen, and the other starts at 3 am, with Xiao Te against Brother Jing. CCTV-5 will broadcast the 9 pm match live.