2008 Masters (snooker)

2008 SAGA Insurance Masters

Tournament information
Dates	13–20 January 2008 (2008-01-13 – 2008-01-20)
Venue	Wembley Arena
City	London
Country	England
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Non-ranking event
Total prize fund	£460,000
Winner's share	£150,000
Highest break	Mark Selby (ENG) (141)  Ken Doherty (IRL) (141)
Final
Champion	Mark Selby (ENG)
Runner-up	Stephen Lee (ENG)
Score	10–3
← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 Masters (officially the 2008 SAGA Insurance Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 13 and 20 January 2008 at the Wembley Arena in London, England.

Mark Selby won the tournament on his first attempt by defeating Stephen Lee 10–3 in the final. In the final frame, he tied Ken Doherty for the highest break of the tournament, recording a total clearance of 141.

This was the first time since 2003 that Ronnie O'Sullivan had failed to reach the final; the defending champion lost 5–6 to Stephen Maguire in the first round.

Facts and figures

• Ryan Day potted 15 reds and 14 blacks in his wild-card match against Barry Hawkins before attempting a long black in an attempt to achieve a 147, instead of potting a straightforward brown and getting an almost assured 144.
• Peter Ebdon also was on for a 147, but missed the last-but-one red in his quarter-final match against Stephen Lee.
• Ding Junhui won his match against John Higgins 6–4, needing a snooker in the last frame with the last 5 colours remaining.
• Mark Williams scored his first century of the season (a 118) in winning the first two frames against Ken Doherty, before losing the next six.
• Ken Doherty was 4–1 down to Shaun Murphy, but made three centuries in four frames in winning 6–5.
• Seven matches went to a deciding frame (6–5).
• Two first-round matches went to the last black: Stephen Lee's match against Graeme Dott, where he came from 5–2 down to win 5–6; and Marco Fu also won on the black in defeating Neil Robertson.
• Mark Selby won three deciding-frame matches in reaching the final, coming from 5–3 to beat both Stephen Hendry and Stephen Maguire 6–5, and he also beat Ken Doherty by the same scoreline in his semi-final.
• Michaela Tabb became the first woman to referee a Masters final. She had already refereed the Welsh Open final in 2007.

Field

Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was the number 1 seed with World Champion John Higgins seeded 2. Places were allocated to the top 16 players in the world rankings. Players seeded 15 and 16 played in the wild-card round against the winner of the qualifying event, Barry Hawkins (ranked 19), and wild-card selection Marco Fu (ranked 27). Mark Selby was making his debut in the Masters.

Prize fund

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

Qualifying stage

• Winner: £2,000
• Runner Up: £680
• Semi-final: £250
• Quarter-final: £105
• Total: £3,600

Televised stage

Winner: £150,000 Runner-up: £68,000 Semi-final: £34,000 Quarter-finalist: £16,000 Last 16: £12,000 Last 18 (wild-cards): £2,000

Highest break: £10,000 Maximum break: £25,000 Total: £460,000

Wild-card round

In the wild-card round, the qualifier and wild-card players played the 15th and 16th seeds:^[2][3][4]

Match	Date		Score
WC1	Monday 14 January	Steve Davis (ENG) (15)	2–6	Marco Fu (HKG)
WC2	Sunday 13 January	Ryan Day (WAL) (16)	6–2	Barry Hawkins (ENG)

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	Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)	5
	10	Stephen Maguire (SCO)	6
						10	Stephen Maguire	5
						11	Mark Selby	6
	8	Stephen Hendry (SCO)	5
	11	Mark Selby (ENG)	6
											11	Mark Selby	6
											5	Ken Doherty	5
	5	Ken Doherty (IRL)	6
	12	Mark Williams (WAL)	2
						5	Ken Doherty	6
						4	Shaun Murphy	5
	4	Shaun Murphy (ENG)	6
	14	Ali Carter (ENG)	3
																11	Mark Selby	10
																13	Stephen Lee	3
	3	Graeme Dott (SCO)	5
	13	Stephen Lee (ENG)	6
						13	Stephen Lee	6
						6	Peter Ebdon	1
	6	Peter Ebdon (ENG)	6
	16	Ryan Day (WAL)	4
											13	Stephen Lee	6
												Marco Fu	2
	7	Neil Robertson (AUS)	5
		Marco Fu (HKG)	6
							Marco Fu	6
						9	Ding Junhui	3
	2	John Higgins (SCO)	4
	9	Ding Junhui (CHN)	6

Final

Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Michaela Tabb. Wembley Arena, London, England, 20 January 2008.[2][3]
Mark Selby (11)  England	10–3	Stephen Lee (13)  England
Afternoon: 50–65, 124–1 (124), 88–0 (88), 21–77, 13–61, 76–16, 79–1 (60), 73–9 Evening: 132–0 (132), 76–32, 72–52, 125–5 (125), 141–0 (141)
141	Highest break	41
4	Century breaks	0
6	50+ breaks	0

Qualifying

The 2007 Masters Qualifying Event was held between 7 September and 12 September 2007 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.^[5] The winner of this series of matches, who qualified for the tournament, was Barry Hawkins.

	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
	Joe Swail
	Bye
						Joe Swail		2
						Jamie Burnett		5
	Jamie Burnett		4
	Xiao Guodong		2
											Jamie Burnett		4
											Jimmy White		5
	Matthew Stevens		0
	Jimmy White		4
						Jimmy White		5
						Andy Hicks		1
	Andy Hicks		4
	Leo Fernandez		2
																Jimmy White		5
																Ben Woollaston		0
	Michael Holt		2
	Ben Woollaston		4
						Ben Woollaston		5
						Fergal O'Brien		4
	Fergal O'Brien		4
	Ian Preece		0
											Ben Woollaston		5
											Anthony Hamilton		4
	Anthony Hamilton		4
	Alex Davies		0
						Anthony Hamilton		5
						Mark Davis		1
	Mark Davis		4
	Jamie O'Neill		0
																					Jimmy White		4
																					Kurt Maflin		5
	Mark Allen		4
	Ashley Wright		3
						Mark Allen		5
						Rod Lawler		2
	Rod Lawler		4
	Jimmy Robertson		0
											Mark Allen		4
											Liang Wenbo		5
	Dominic Dale		1
	Liang Wenbo		4
						Liang Wenbo		5
						Joe Delaney		2
	Joe Delaney		4
	Munraj Pal		2
																Liang Wenbo		0
																Kurt Maflin		5
	Gerard Greene		2
	Kurt Maflin		4
						Kurt Maflin		5
						Judd Trump		4
	Judd Trump		4
	Matthew Selt		2
											Kurt Maflin		5
											Andrew Higginson		4
	Dave Harold		1
	Paul Davies		4
						Paul Davies		1
						Andrew Higginson		5
	Andrew Higginson		4
	Joe Jogia		1
																										Kurt Maflin		4
																										Barry Hawkins		6
	Stuart Bingham		2
	Alfie Burden		4
						Alfie Burden		0
						Ricky Walden		5
	Ricky Walden		4
	Lee Spick		1
											Ricky Walden		3
											Jamie Cope		5
	Jamie Cope		4
	Mark Joyce		2
						Jamie Cope		5
						Rory McLeod		2
	Rory McLeod		4
	Lee Walker		1
																Jamie Cope		5
																Michael Judge		1
	Mark King		4
	Issara Kachaiwong		3
						Mark King		5
						David Gray		4
	David Gray		w/o
	Tony Drago		w/d
											Mark King		0
											Michael Judge		5
	Michael Judge		4
	James McBain		0
						Michael Judge		5
						Andrew Norman		4
	Andrew Norman		4
	Steve Mifsud		2
																					Jamie Cope		3
																					Barry Hawkins		5
	Nigel Bond		4
	Gareth Coppack		1
						Nigel Bond		5
						Tian Pengfei		4
	Robin Hull		2
	Tian Pengfei		4
											Nigel Bond		2
											Barry Hawkins		5
	Barry Hawkins		4
	Fraser Patrick		3
						Barry Hawkins		5
						Michael White		2
	Tom Ford		0
	Michael White		4
																Barry Hawkins		5
																Liu Chuang		3
	Ian McCulloch		3
	Martin Gould		4
						Martin Gould		4
						Liu Chuang		5
	Barry Pinches		3
	Liu Chuang		4
											Liu Chuang		5
											David Gilbert		0
	David Gilbert		4
	Supoj Saenla		2
						David Gilbert		5
						Joe Perry		3
	Joe Perry
	Bye

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

Total: 23^[3]

141, 132, 125, 124, 107, 103 – Mark Selby 141, 123, 114, 101 – Ken Doherty 135 – Ding Junhui 120, 113 – Ryan Day 118 – Neil Robertson 118 – Mark Williams

112 – Ronnie O'Sullivan 107 – Graeme Dott 105, 103 – Stephen Maguire 105 – Peter Ebdon 105 – Stephen Hendry 104, 100 – Marco Fu

Qualifying stage centuries

Total: 27^[5]

140 – Jamie Burnett 137, 104 – Liu Chuang 136 – Anthony Hamilton 135, 123, 109, 107, 103 – Jamie Cope 125 – Joe Perry 122, 110 – Kurt Maflin 119, 113 – Judd Trump 114, 105 – Andrew Higginson 114 – Jimmy White

110, 102 – Mark Allen 110 – Xiao Guodong 107, 104 – Ricky Walden 107 – Joe Delaney 103 – David Gilbert 101 – Andrew Norman 100 – Alfie Burden 100 – Nigel Bond

References

1. "2008 Saga Masters Information". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 12 January 2008.
2. "SAGA Insurance Masters 2008". Snooker.org. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
3. "2008 Saga Masters". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008.
4. "The Masters". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
5. "2008 Saga Masters Qualifiers". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008.