2021 Masters (snooker)
The 2021 Masters (officially the 2021 Betfred Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 10 and 17 January 2021 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. It was the 47th staging of the Masters tournament, which was first held in 1975, and the second of three Triple Crown events in the 2020–21 season, following the 2020 UK Championship and preceding the 2021 World Snooker Championship. The top sixteen players from the snooker world rankings were invited to compete in a knockout tournament. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association organised the tournament, which was broadcast by the BBC and Eurosport in Europe. The event was played behind closed doors because of COVID-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom. Two players, world number one Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski, withdrew from the event after testing positive for COVID-19. The event was sponsored by sports betting company Betfred. The defending champion, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Masters (snooker)
The Masters is a professional invitational snooker tournament. Held every year since 1975, it is the second-longest running tournament behind the World Championship. It is one of the three Triple Crown events, and although not a ranking event, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the circuit. The Masters began as an invitational event for 10 top players. The field was expanded to 12 competitors in 1981, and 16 in 1983. Since 1984, the standard invitees have been the top 16 players in the world rankings, with the addition of two or three wild-card places in tournaments held between 1990 and 2010. The reigning (2022) champion is Neil Robertson, winning his second Masters. Ronnie O'Sullivan holds the record for the most Masters titles, having won the tournament seven times. Stephen Hendry has won six titles, Steve Davis, Cliff Thorburn, Paul Hunter and Mark Selby have won three, and Alex Higgins, Mark Williams, John Higgins and Neil Robertson have won tw ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Single-elimination Tournament
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, whose winner becomes the tournament champion. Each match-up may be a single match or several, for example two-legged ties in European sports or best-of series in American pro sports. Defeated competitors may play no further part after losing, or may participate in "consolation" or "classification" matches against other losers to determine the lower final rankings; for example, a third place playoff between losing semi-finalists. In a shootout poker tournament, there are more than two players competing at each table, and sometimes more than one progressing to the next round. Some competitions are held with a pure single-elimination tournament system. Others have many phases, with the last being a single-elimination final stage, of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Marshall Arena Milton Keynes 6 July 2020
Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean United States of America * Marshall, Alaska * Marshall, Arkansas * Marshall, California * Lotus, California, former name Marshall * Marshall Pass, a mountain pass in Colorado * Marshall, Illinois * Marshall, Indiana * Marshall, Michigan * Marshall, Minnesota * Marshall, Missouri * Marshall, New York * Marshall, North Carolina * Marshall, North Dakota * Marshall, Oklahoma * Marshall, Texas, the largest U.S. city named Marshall * Marshall, Virginia * Marshall, Wisconsin (other) ** Marshall, Dane County, Wisconsin ** Marshall, Richland County, Wisconsin ** Marshall, Rusk County, Wisconsin Businesses * Marshall of Cambridge, a British holding company encompassing aerospace, fleet management, property ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, he has won the World Snooker Championship seven times, a modern-era record he holds jointly with Stephen Hendry. He has won a record seven Masters and a record seven UK Championship titles for a record total of 21 Triple Crown titles, the most achieved by any player. He holds the record for the most ranking titles, with 39, and has been world number one on seven season ending occasions. After an impressive amateur career, O'Sullivan turned professional in 1992, aged 16. He won his first professional ranking event at the 1993 UK Championship aged 17 years and 358 days, making him the youngest player to win a ranking title, a record he still holds. He is also the youngest player to win the Masters, which he first achieved in 1995, aged ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Gary Wilson (snooker Player)
Gary Wilson (born 11 August 1985) is an English professional snooker player from Wallsend in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear. After showing promise from a young age, Wilson turned professional in 2004. He dropped off the tour in 2006 however, and did not regain his professional status until 2013. During his time as an amateur, Wilson spent time working as a taxi driver, bar man and in a frozen food factory. Noted for his cue ball control and break building ability, Wilson has won one ranking title, the 2022 Scottish Open, and has finished as runner up at the 2015 China Open and the 2021 British Open. He also reached the semi-final at the 2019 World Championship as a qualifier. Career Early career Wilson started playing snooker aged three and soon started showing promise. At the age of 8 he had already been put into a team performing in the local league, despite some clubs refusing to allow a child to play. Aged 9, he made his first century, and appeared for the first time at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (, ; born 18 April 1985) is a Thai professional snooker player. He has won one ranking event, the 2019 Snooker Shoot Out, and finished as runner-up in the 2019 World Open. He is regarded as one of the fastest snooker players on the World Tour, averaging less than 17 seconds per shot during the 2017–18 and the 2019–20 snooker seasons. Career Un-Nooh first entered the professional tour for the 2009–10 season by winning the 2008 IBSF World Snooker Championship. He dropped off the main tour after just one season. 2012–13 season He received the Thai nomination to compete on the snooker tour for the 2012–13 season. As a new player on the tour, he needed to win four matches to reach the main stage of the ranking events. He lost in the third qualifying round in three of the first four ranking events of the season. In September, it was announced that his match at the Players Tour Championship – Event 3 against Steve Davis was under investigation d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ali Carter
Allister Carter (born 25 July 1979) is an English professional snooker player. He has twice been the World Championship runner-up, in 2008 and 2012, losing both finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has won four ranking titles and briefly reached number two in the world rankings in 2010. His nickname, "The Captain", comes from his hobby of piloting aeroplanes. Career Carter turned professional in 1996. He first emerged in 1999, winning the WPBSA Association Young Player of the Year award after winning the Benson and Hedges Championship in 1999 – this earned him a wild card place in the Masters. He also reached the semi-finals of the 1999 Grand Prix. It was eight years before he reached another ranking semi-final, the 2007 Malta Cup. He was close to the elite top 16 for three successive seasons ranking as 17, 19, and 19 through 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06, respectively, before reaching it in the 2006–07 season and remaining there in 2008. He reached the last 16 (seco ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Stuart Bingham
Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former world and Masters champion. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his professional career. His form improved in his mid-thirties: at age 35, he won his first ranking title at the 2011 Australian Goldfields Open, which helped him enter the top 16 in the rankings for the first time. At 38, Bingham won the 2015 World Championship, defeating Shaun Murphy 18–15 in the final. The oldest first-time world champion in snooker history, he was the second player, after Ken Doherty, to have won world titles at both amateur and professional levels. His world title took him to a career-high number two in the world rankings, a spot he held until March 2017. He won his second Triple Crown title at the 2020 Masters, defeating Ali Carter 10–8 in the final. Aged 43 years and 243 days, he superseded Ray Reardon as the oldest Master ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Betfred
Betfred is a bookmaker based in the United Kingdom, founded by Fred Done.Pronounced to rhyme with "bone". It was first established as a single betting shop in Ordsall, Salford, in 1967. Its turnover in 2004 was reported to be more than £3.5 billion, having risen from £550 million in 2003 and has continued to grow to over £10 billion in 2018-2019. It has its head office is in Birchwood, Warrington, and also has offices in Media City, Salford Quays, Salford. Betfred.com, the company's online gambling site, is based in Gibraltar and registered as Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited. History Done Bookmakers was first established as a single shop in Ordsall, Salford in 1967. Fred Done financed the first Done Bookmakers shop with capital made from a winning bet he placed on England to win the 1966 World Cup. In 1997, Done Bookmakers acquired the Robert Walker chain of bookmakers, taking their total to one hundred shops. A mixture of organic and acquisition growth has resulted in B ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Jack Lisowski
Jack Adam Lisowski (born 25 June 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Churchdown, Gloucestershire. He turned professional in 2010 by finishing first in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. A left-handed player, he is known for his attacking style of play. Lisowski has reached six ranking finals, but has been runner-up each time, losing three finals to Judd Trump, two to Neil Robertson, and one to Mark Selby. He has made one maximum break in professional competition. Career Amateur years Lisowski began playing "snooker" at the age of 7, using ping-pong balls on a carpet. As a young player, he was trained by Gloucester professional Nick Pearce. He made his first century break at the age of 11. He was runner-up to Mitchell Mann in the 2007 Junior Pot Black. In the 2008/2009 season he was runner-up in the sixth event of the International Open Series to Xiao Guodong, and finished 23rd in the rankings. In 2009 Lisowski was awarded the inaugural Paul Hunter Scholarshi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Judd Trump
Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranking event winners, with 23 ranking titles. Trump won his maiden ranking title at the 2011 China Open, was runner-up to John Higgins at the 2011 World Snooker Championship, and captured his first Triple Crown title at the 2011 UK Championship. By the end of the 2017–18 season, he had won eight ranking titles, but was facing persistent criticism that he was underachieving in the sport, given his talent. In the 2018–19 season, his form and focus notably improved. He completed his Triple Crown by winning both the Masters and World Championship, won two other ranking events, and became the first player to win over £1 million in prize money in a single season. In the 2019–20 season, he won six ranking events, setting a new record for t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
COVID-19 Pandemic In The United Kingdom
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirmed cases, and is associated with deaths. The virus began circulating in the country in early 2020, arriving primarily from travel elsewhere in Europe. Various sectors responded, with more widespread public health measures incrementally introduced from March 2020. The first wave was at the time one of the world's largest outbreaks. By mid-April the peak had been passed and restrictions were gradually eased. A second wave, with a new variant that originated in the UK becoming dominant, began in the autumn and peaked in mid-January 2021, and was deadlier than the first. The UK started a COVID-19 vaccination programme in early December 2020. Generalised restrictions were gradually lifted and were mostly ended by August 2021. A third wave, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |