The Masters snooker 2024 LIVE – Judd Trump begins title quest with Kyren Wilson showdown, Neil Robertson to come

Judd chases his snooker … and gets it, hiding white behind yellow and brown. Kyren then refuses a thin cut – he’s getting nervous – but Judd still needs blacks with both reds and all the colours. not for long, though, Kyren flukes a starter into left-centre and that was a fun start.

Problem for Judd, who’s struggling to get from high-value colour to red. So he tries pink to the yellow, jawses it, and as such now requires a snooker. In comms, Nealf reckons he should’ve gone for the easier blue, with the caveat that he’s capable of such brilliance it’s hard to chastise him for taking on difficult balls.

I say that, but then he finishes well short of the blue … only to redeem the situation with a fine shot, going in and out of baulk … only to miss an absolute dolly to left corner! He thought that was down, walking around the table when it refused to drop, but it never looked good and Judd has a chance to steal 62 behind with 65 left.

Kyren stays down on a red because it looks like it’s going into the far jaws of right-middle, but somehow it squirms down and he should seal the frame from here.

Judd foul-misses then, left one to left corner, he tucks it away … only to miss an easier second red which hands Kyren a chance. He looks in decent touch here, and he’ll know he’s much more likely to win from the front than from behind.

But Kyrizzle appears to have moved on from Sandstorm. Shame.

He loves this event “gladiatorial mega adrenaline rush” – and is excited to have his young sons, both of whom love snooker, there watching him. He’s not had a great time of it recently, but he’s far too good not to right himself – perhaps from now.

He says the Masters is a rare event to which he specifically looks forward, and he enjoys being in London. On Kyren, he says that he’s no worries trading safety, and acknowledges that the two have been big rivals having grown up playing each other and he was inspired by the – sport needs rivalries. They’re more friendly know, but “not friendly enough to want to lose to him”.

Is the defending champ, and he’s playing a lot better now than he was this time last term. He’s so so good at finding a way to win, but Kyren isn’t fazed by him and if his cue-ball control is on-point, he’s going to be a serious threat.

It’s first to six, then tonight, same again with the battle of the lefties, Neil Robertson v Barry Hawkins. Neil’s in horrible form at the moment, so could badly use a win.

And what an afternoon this promises to be. Judd Trump has been in vintage form this season, winning three ranking events and losing in the Champion of Champions final. But Kyren Wilson has the game to beat him, especially over a longer stretch, and is desperate for a first triple-crown event too,l which is to say this should be intense. Bring it on!

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s ability to deal with the pressure of elite snooker makes him “special”, said The Rocket’s beaten opponent Ding Junhui after the pair met at the Masters.

Their encounter was illuminated by a sparkling 147 from Ding, who stormed back to 4-3 having been 4-0 down early on.

But O’Sullivan kept his composure to reverse Ding’s momentum and seal the next two frames for a 6-3 victory, and with it a place in the quarter-finals at London’s Alexandra Palace.

Speaking to Eurosport’s Rachel Casey afterwards, Ding said: “In the [last] few weeks I’ve spent the most time I’ve spent with him in my career.

“I think he still wants to win everything. Sometimes, [there’s] too much pressure.

“But his talent plays, he knows how to do it. I’ve never got [to] that level yet.

“The top players like him, he always knows how to play with the pressure, how to play with the bad days, bad situations between the matches, he knows how to cover it.

“That’s how special [he is].”

• 1pm: Judd Trump v Kyren Wilson
• 7pm: Neil Robertson v Barry Hawkins