The 2026 Masters Snooker tournament begins on Sunday at Alexandra Palace. It is the second Triple Crown event of the snooker season, and exclusively features the world’s top 16 players. Take a look at this year’s competitors…
Gary Wilson
The Tyneside Terror is the lowest-ranked player in the event and has never won a match at Alexandra Palace. Last year he lost 6-3 to Shaun Murphy, who went on to win the tournament. However, he has cemented himself at the top of the game, with three ranking titles in the last four years.
So far this season, Wilson has reached the final of the Wuhan Open and the semis at the Xi’an Grand Prix. He faces tough competition in the form of 2025 World Champion Zhao Xintong in round one.
World ranking: 17 Season ranking: 14 Ranking titles: 3 Masters appearances: 3
Si Jiahui
Si will be making his second appearance at the Masters, having lost 6-2 to Mark Allen last year. He is the only player in the tournament who has not won a ranking event. He reached two finals in 2024, but lost to Judd Trump in Germany and Xiao Guodong in Wuhan.
This season, Si’s best run was also in Wuhan, where he reached the quarter-finals. He plays against Kyren Wilson, who appeared in his second Masters final in 2025.
World ranking: 16 Season ranking: 20 Ranking titles: 0 Masters appearances: 2
Barry Hawkins
The Hawk has been a Masters finalist twice and is the only player to appear in all three Triple Crown finals without winning one. This will be his 15th appearance in the competition.
Hawkins has made three quarter-finals this season but has not advanced further in any of them. He will play four-time world champion John Higgins in round one.
World ranking: 15 Season ranking: 13 Ranking titles: 4 Masters appearances: 15
Chris Wakelin
Chris Wakelin wasn’t initially in the tournament due to his being outside the top 16 when the draw was completed in November. However, he replaces Ronnie O’Sullivan, after snooker’s GOAT pulled out for the second year running due to medical reasons.
Yet Wakelin fully merits his place. He made his Masters debut in 2025 and won the Scottish Open, which was the most recent tournament. He faces another all-time great, Neil Robertson, in the first round.
World ranking: 14 Season ranking: 7 Ranking titles: 2 Masters appearances: 2
Wu Yize
Wu is one of this year’s two debutants and the youngest player in the event, aged just 22. He has improved massively in the last 18 months. He reached two finals in 2024.
Wu picked up his first ranking title in this season’s International Championship, beating Higgins in the final. His round one match is against last year’s champion, Shaun Murphy.
World ranking: 13 Season ranking: 5 Ranking titles: 1 Masters appearances: 1 (2026)
Ding Junhui
Ding is perhaps snooker’s most influential player. He was the first Chinese man to win a tournament, back in 2005, but is now joined in this year’s event by four of his fellow countrymen.
He won his first ranking title in five years at the 2024 International Championship. However, he has missed a number of events this year and will play world number one Judd Trump.
World ranking: 12 Season ranking: 21 Ranking titles: 14 Masters appearances: 20 (won 1)
Xiao Guodong
Xiao is the other Masters debutant, but is much later in his career, aged 36. He won the 2024 Wuhan Open to take his maiden ranking title.
Xiao then backed that up by defending his crown in this year’s event, beating Gary Wilson in a deciding frame. He will play Mark Selby in round one.
World ranking: 11 Season ranking: 11 Ranking titles: 2 Masters appearances: 1 (2026)
Mark Allen
The Pistol became snooker’s world number one for the first time in 2024. However, by his standards, last season was poor. His first Triple Crown win was at the Masters in 2018.
His New Year’s resolution was to play shots more quickly, and he won the 2025 English Open earlier this season. He is Northern Ireland’s biggest snooker talent since Alex Higgins. Allen’s first round match is against Mark Williams.
World ranking: 10 Season ranking: 9 Ranking titles: 12 Masters appearances: 18 (won 1)
Zhao Xintong
Zhao is part of one of sport’s biggest stories. Some thought his career was over at age 25 when he was suspended for being “liable as a party” to two matches that were fixed by another player in 2022. However, he regained his tour card at Q school in 2025.
He won four qualifying matches to reach the 2025 World Championship. Zhao then beat Jack Jones, Lei Peifan, Wakelin, O’Sullivan and Williams to become China’s first snooker world champion, as an amateur. He hopes he can beat Wilson to win his first ever match at Alexandra Palace. Winning the Masters would complete the Triple Crown.
World ranking: 9 Season ranking: 19 Ranking titles: 3 Masters appearances: 2
Shaun Murphy
The Magician won his fourth Triple Crown and second Masters title in last year’s event. That ended a drought of almost two years without winning a tournament.
He has been in strong form this season, winning the British Open. He has also reached a quarter-final, semi-final and final. Murphy hopes to use his experience to his advantage against Wu Yize.
World ranking: 7 Season ranking: 3 Ranking titles: 13 Masters appearances: 22 (won 2)
Mark Selby
The Jester from Leicester has won the Masters three times, but his last victory was in 2013. Since then, he has won four world championships. He is also the only man to have beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan in all three Triple Crown finals.
Selby is in formidable form. He won the UK Championship in November to end a four-year Triple Crown title drought. He is a strong favourite to beat Xiao Guodong and go deep in this year’s event.
World ranking: 6 Season ranking: 2 Ranking titles: 25 Masters appearances: 19 (won 3)
John Higgins
Higgins briefly dropped out of the top 16 in 2024. That marked the Scotsman’s first time out of the prestigious group for 29 years. However, while some suggested he may retire, Higgins responded by winning back-to-back tournaments and climbed back up to world number three.
This season hasn’t been quite as successful, but having turned 50, he still reached the final of the International Championship. Barry Hawkins will provide him with a tough test.
World ranking: 5 Season ranking: 15 Ranking titles: 33 Masters appearances: 32 (won 2)
Mark Williams
The Welshman is the oldest player in the competition, also aged 50. He is part of the famous “Class of ‘92”, alongside Higgins and O’Sullivan.
Williams has shown no signs of slowing down. He won the Xi’an Grand Prix earlier this season to claim his 27th ranking title. The winner of his match against Allen will face either Ding or Trump.
World ranking: 4 Season ranking: 4 Ranking titles: 27 Masters appearances: 28 (won 2)
Neil Robertson
The Thunder from Down-Under had previously appeared to be past his best. He even failed to qualify for the 2024 World Championship. However, he won two tournaments last season, breaking back into the top 16.
Robertson has carried that from last season into this season. He won the Saudi Arabia Masters, which has the same prize money as the World Championship. He is another player who is a heavy favourite to beat his round one opponent, Chris Wakelin.
World ranking: 3 Season ranking: 1 Ranking titles: 26 Masters appearances: 20 (won 2)
Kyren Wilson
The other Wilson in the field finally achieved his dream of becoming a world champion in 2024. He backed that up by winning four tournaments last season and reaching the final of the Masters. But he was surprisingly knocked out of the 2025 World Championship in the first round.
This began a big slump in form, with only one quarter-final to show for his efforts so far this season. He has had the worst season of any player in this year’s event, so the Warrior will be hoping to get back on track against Si Jiahui.
World ranking: 2 Season ranking: 23 Ranking titles: 10 Masters appearances: 9
Judd Trump
Trump is one of snooker’s most successful players. He is on course to overtake O’Sullivan’s record of 41 ranking titles. The 36-year-old is 14 years his junior and already has 30.
Yet Trump has lost his last four finals. He will be desperate to add to his Triple Crown tally, which must be increased if he wants to become the game’s all-time great. He last won the Masters in 2023 and has a tough draw against Ding in round one.
World ranking: 1 Season ranking: 8 Ranking titles: 30 Masters appearances: 15