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.

Two players, world number one Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski, withdrew from the event after testing positive for COVID-19.

The defending champion, Stuart Bingham, had defeated Ali Carter 10–8 in the previous year's final.

Yan (one of three debutants at the event, alongside Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Gary Wilson) met John Higgins in the final.

The highest break of the event was a 145 made by Higgins in his quarter-final win over Ronnie O'Sullivan which earned him £15,000.

[4][5] The 16 highest-ranked players according to the world rankings after the 2020 UK Championship in December 2020 were invited to the event.

[12] However, the event was moved to the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, and played without spectators, to comply with stricter regulations against COVID-19.

[5][12][13] Stuart Bingham won the previous year's event, defeating Ali Carter in the final 10–8.

[19] The tournament was broadcast live in the United Kingdom by BBC Sport, as well as by Eurosport in Europe.

[28] Kyren credited his play to competing against John Higgins in practice for four days leading up to the match.

[32] Defending Masters champion Stuart Bingham met Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, who was making his debut at the event.

[35] Two former winners, Shaun Murphy and Mark Williams, met in the fourth first round match.

[33][37] Murphy later clarified that he was "embarrassed" by the fluke, but had intentionally played the difficult shot on the black.

[42] Gilbert tied the match at 1–1 with a break of 58, however, before he cleared the table and also potted the re-spotted black to win the third frame.

[42] Davis described Gilbert as a "vastly improved player" and said Wilson would rue the missed pink in the deciding frame.

[43] Murphy and Bingham, who had contested the 2015 World Snooker Championship final, met in the second quarter-final.

[45] Two missed red balls by Maguire allowed Yan to win the next two frames and lead 4–3.

[49] Former world champion John Parrott described Higgins' performance as "spellbinding", whilst six-time winner Stephen Hendry was surprised he did not play to this quality more often.

[53] Doherty commented that Yan's "composure was fantastic in that last frame",[53] whilst O'Sullivan suggested it was a "significant result for Chinese snooker".

Both players cited their previous meeting in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Snooker Championship, where Higgins won 17–16.

[57] Higgins commented after the match: "I personally think semi-finals are the worst game, you are close to being in a showpiece and David did not play great.

"[58] The final was played on 17 January as the best-of-19 frames held over two sessions, refereed by Paul Collier.

[61] Frame three featured a missed pot on the blue ball by Higgins, who won the fourth to tie the match at 2–2.

[62] Steve Davis referred to Yan as "naive", saying he needed a "flying start and get his tail up" to win the match in the second session.

[66] Higgins suggested Yan would become the world champion "without a shadow of a doubt",[63] and winning the event at his age was a "brilliant achievement".

"[63] O'Sullivan said he would be "very surprised if he doesn't win at least one or two world titles",[68] whilst Davis commented he was "impressed with his temperament and his nerve" in defeating Higgins.

[11][59][69] There were 30 century breaks made during the tournament, the highest was a 145 by Higgins in his quarter-final match with O'Sullivan.