2007 Masters (snooker)

SAGA Insurance Masters
Tournament information
Dates 14–21 January 2007
Venue Wembley Arena
City London
Country England
Organisation(s) WPBSA
Format Non-ranking event
Highest break 147
Final
Champion England Ronnie O'Sullivan
Runner-up China Ding Junhui
Score 10–3
2006
2008

The 2007 SAGA Insurance Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place from 14 to 21 January 2007 at the Wembley Arena in London, England. It was the 33rd edition of the tournament. In a slight change for 2007, there were 19 competitors, as opposed to 18 up until 2006. The top 16 seeds for ranking events were automatically invited, while the other players entered a qualifying tournament for the right to one of three wild-card places. The two remaining places were granted by the game's governing body at their discretion to Jimmy White and Ding Junhui. Stuart Bingham won the qualifying tournament.

It was won by Ronnie O'Sullivan, who defeated Ding Junhui 10–3 in the final. With a noticeably partisan crowd, a visibly upset Ding went to shake O'Sullivan's hand after the latter won the 12th frame to go 9-3 in front, apparently believing that the match was over. The two walked arm-in-arm out of the arena. After O'Sullivan clinched the match in the following frame, it later transpired that Ding had indeed believed the match was best-of-17 frames.

Field

Defending champion John Higgins was the number 1 seed with World Champion Graeme Dott seeded 2. Places were allocated to the top 16 players in the world rankings. Players seeded 14, 15 and 16 played in the wild-card round against the winner of the qualifying event, Stuart Bingham (ranked 24), and two wild-card selections, Ding Junhui (ranked 27) and Jimmy White (ranked 34). This was the only time that there were three matches in the wild-card round. Barry Hawkins was making his debut in the Masters.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[1]

Qualifying stage

Televised stage

  • Winner: £130,000
  • Runner-up: £62,000
  • Semi-final: £32,000
  • Quarter-final: £16,000
  • Last 16: £12,000
  • Last 18 (seeded): £12,000
  • Last 18 (wild-cards): £2,000

  • Highest break: £10,000
  • Maximum break: £25,000

Wild-card round

In the preliminary "wild-card round", the three wild-card players were drawn against the players seeded 14th, 15th and 16th:[2][3][4] During the course of his match against Anthony Hamilton, Ding Junhui became the 28th and youngest ever player to score a maximum 147 break on live television. Aged 19 years and 288 days, he broke the previous record set by Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1997 who was then 21 years and 137 days old. This was also just the second maximum in the history of the Masters.[5]

Match Date Score
WC1 Sunday 14 January Wales Matthew Stevens (14) 6–1 England Jimmy White
WC2 Sunday 14 January England Ali Carter (15) 6–5 England Stuart Bingham
WC3 Sunday 14 January England Anthony Hamilton (16) 3–6 China Ding Junhui

Main draw

[2][3][4]

Last 16
Best of 11 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 11 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
Final
Best of 19 frames
            
1 Scotland John Higgins 5
9 Scotland Stephen Maguire 6
9 Scotland Stephen Maguire 6
13 Australia Neil Robertson 2
8 Wales Mark Williams 0
13 Australia Neil Robertson 6
9 Scotland Stephen Maguire 4
5 England Ronnie O'Sullivan 6
5 England Ronnie O'Sullivan 6
15 England Ali Carter 1
5 England Ronnie O'Sullivan 6
4 Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 5
4 Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 6
12 England Barry Hawkins 3
5 England Ronnie O'Sullivan 10
China Ding Junhui 3
3 Scotland Stephen Hendry 6
14 Wales Matthew Stevens 5
3 Scotland Stephen Hendry 6
6 England Shaun Murphy 3
6 England Shaun Murphy 6
11 England Steve Davis 3
3 Scotland Stephen Hendry 2
China Ding Junhui 6
7 England Peter Ebdon 3
China Ding Junhui 6
China Ding Junhui 6
10 England Stephen Lee 2
2 Scotland Graeme Dott 2
10 England Stephen Lee 6

Final

Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Jan Verhaas.
Wembley Arena, London, England, 21 January 2007.[2][3]
Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)
 England
10–3 Ding Junhui
 China
Afternoon: 1–77 (77), 16–109 (109), 62–1 (55), 99–22 (99), 128–0 (128), 101–37 (101), 64–72 (O'Sullivan 58), 116–4 (116)
Evening: 96–0 (96), 66–65 (66, 65), 143–11 (143), 97–0, 121–12 (74)
143 Highest break 109
4 Century breaks 1
10 50+ breaks 3

Qualifying

The 2006 Masters Qualifying Event were held between 4 and 9 November 2006 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, England. The winner of this series of matches, who qualified for the tournament, was Stuart Bingham.[6]

Last 64
Best of 7 frames
Last 32
Best of 9 frames
Last 16
Best of 9 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 9 frames
Final
Best of 11 frames
                  
Wales Ryan Day
Bye
Wales Ryan Day 5
England Matthew Couch 2
England Matthew Couch 4
China Liu Song 2
Wales Ryan Day 5
Northern Ireland Gerard Greene 3
Northern Ireland Gerard Greene 4
England James Leadbetter 2
Northern Ireland Gerard Greene 5
New Zealand Dene O'Kane 4
England Lee Spick 3
New Zealand Dene O'Kane 4
Wales Ryan Day 2
England David Gray 5
England Barry Pinches 4
United Arab Emirates Mohammed Shehab 3
England Barry Pinches 5
Scotland Jamie Burnett 4
Scotland Jamie Burnett 4
Republic of Ireland David Morris 3
England Barry Pinches 2
England David Gray 5
England David Gray
Bye
England David Gray 5
England Judd Trump 4
England Judd Trump 4
England Andrew Higginson 2
England David Gray 2
England Stuart Bingham 5
England Stuart Bingham
Bye
England Stuart Bingham 5
England Paul Davison 1
England Jamie Cope w/d
England Paul Davison w/o
England Stuart Bingham 5
England Mark King 1
England Mark King
Bye
England Mark King 5
Northern Ireland Mark Allen 4
Northern Ireland Mark Allen 4
Scotland Robert Stephen 1
England Stuart Bingham 5
England Michael Holt 3
England Ricky Walden 4
China Tian Pengfei 1
England Ricky Walden 5
Malta Alex Borg 3
England David Roe 0
Malta Alex Borg 4
England Ricky Walden 1
England Michael Holt 5
England Michael Holt
Bye
England Michael Holt 5
England Chris Norbury 0
England Chris Norbury 4
Germany Patrick Einsle 1
England Stuart Bingham 6
England Mark Selby 2
England Nigel Bond
Bye
England Nigel Bond 5
England Mark Joyce 3
Scotland Marcus Campbell 3
England Mark Joyce 4
England Nigel Bond 2
Northern Ireland Joe Swail 5
Northern Ireland Joe Swail
Bye
Northern Ireland Joe Swail 5
England Tom Ford 1
England Tom Ford w/o
England Alfie Burden w/d
Northern Ireland Joe Swail 0
England Mark Selby 5
England Mark Selby
Bye
England Mark Selby 5
England Ben Woollaston 3
Finland Robin Hull 1
England Ben Woollaston 4
England Mark Selby 5
England Ian McCulloch 3
England Ian McCulloch
Bye
England Ian McCulloch 5
Thailand Passakorn Suwannawat 0
England Joe Jogia 1
Thailand Passakorn Suwannawat 4
England Mark Selby 5
Hong Kong Marco Fu 2
Hong Kong Marco Fu
Bye
Hong Kong Marco Fu 5
Wales Paul Davies 0
Wales Paul Davies 4
Wales Jamie Jones 0
Hong Kong Marco Fu 5
Thailand Issara Kachaiwong 0
Republic of Ireland Michael Judge 2
Thailand Issara Kachaiwong 4
Thailand Issara Kachaiwong 5
England Jeff Cundy 4
England Jimmy Michie 2
England Jeff Cundy 4
Hong Kong Marco Fu 5
China Liang Wenbo 4
England Dave Harold 4
England Sean Storey 1
England Dave Harold 3
England Andrew Norman 5
England Andrew Norman 4
England Lee Page 0
England Andrew Norman 2
China Liang Wenbo 5
England Joe Perry
Bye
England Joe Perry 3
China Liang Wenbo 5
Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien 1
China Liang Wenbo 4

Century breaks

Qualifying stage centuries

[6]

Televised stage centuries

[3]

References

  1. "Preisgeld Masters 2007". brownball.de. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "SAGA Insurance Masters 2007". Snooker.org. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "2007 Saga Masters". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "The Masters". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  5. "Ding compiles maximum at Masters". BBC Sport. 14 January 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  6. 6.0 6.1 "2006 Saga Masters Qualifying Event". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008.