Judd Trump was the defending champion, having defeated Mark Williams 10‍–‍8 in the 2023 final, but he lost 5‍–‍6 to Ali Carter in the quarter-finals.

The 2024 Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place from 7 to 14 January 2024 at Alexandra Palace in London, England.

The second Triple Crown event of the 2023‍–‍24 season, the tournament was the 50th edition of the Masters,[1][2] which was first held in 1975 for 10 invited players at the West Centre Hotel in London.

John Spencer won the inaugural event, defeating Ray Reardon on a re-spotted black in the deciding frame of the final.

[8] The defending champion was English player Judd Trump, who won his second Masters title at the previous year's event by defeating his Welsh opponent Mark Williams 10‍–‍8 in the final.

[10] The next six players in the world rankings were seeded third to eighth, allocated fixed positions in the draw, and drawn randomly against the remaining eight participants.

Zhang Anda, who entered the top 16 for the first time after winning his maiden ranking title at the 2023 International Championship, was the only Masters debutant.

Hossein Vafaei, who made his Masters debut the previous year, was ranked 17th after losing to O'Sullivan in the UK Championship semi-finals and did not qualify for the 2024 event.

[15] The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Sport and in Europe (including the UK and Ireland) by Eurosport and Discovery+.

[13] Luca Brecel, the reigning World Champion, faced 2023 semi-finalist Jack Lisowski, who moved into a 4‍–‍0 lead at the mid-session interval with breaks of 70, 100, 96, and 69.

[13] Having recently reached the final of an exhibition event in Macau, Lisowski commented: "I think I found something in China because I was really struggling [this season] and I was really scared coming here because I did not know which Jack was going to turn up.

The match was level at 1‍–‍1, but Murphy capitalised on Zhang's positional errors in the third and fourth frames to take on a 3‍–‍1 lead at the mid-session interval.

Wilson made a break of 51 in the deciding frame, before running out of position and missing a pot on a tricky red ball.

This allowed Trump to pot the same red and make a clearance of 65 to win the frame on the last black ball for a 6‍–‍5 victory.

"[38][39] Mark Allen, who had suffered five consecutive first-round defeats at the Masters since winning the 2018 event, faced two-time champion John Higgins.

"[41][42] Mark Selby, a three-time winner, played Robert Milkins, who made his third Masters appearance and his first in nine years.

In the ninth frame, Hawkins missed a pot while on a break of 50, and O'Sullivan made a 77 clearance to win the match 6‍–‍3.

Carter commented that he "lost [his] composure for a couple of frames" but was "delighted to make an unbelievable clearance to force a decider."

It wasn't the best cue ball [control] in the world but it made it more exciting for the crowd and a bit more nerve-racking for me, but I'm glad I've finally done it for the fans.

"[66][67] Murphy, who received criticism for participating in the BBC commentary team for the previous night's quarter-final between Allen and Selby, insisted that the late finish of that match had not affected his semi-final performance, saying: "If I thought [commentating] was detrimental to my life I wouldn't be doing it.

[77][78] In the evening session, Carter extended his advantage to 6‍–‍3 by winning the ninth frame, but O'Sullivan won the next with a break of 58.

[82][83] O'Sullivan already held the record as the youngest winner at the Masters, having won the 1995 event aged 19 years and 69 days.

[91] The match between Neil Robertson and Barry Hawkins was paused to allow referee Rob Spencer to remove a wasp from the table.

[92] In his quarter-final match against Carter, Judd Trump made a century break of 129 in the seventh frame, while having a wasp attached to his waistcoat throughout.

[55] Trump commented: "It's gone on a little bit too long now, they need to find a way to get rid of it, just to make it easier for the viewing public.

[96] However, during the quarter-final match against Robert Milkins, a clattering sound from the audience caused Mark Selby to miss a red.

A frustrated Carter called them "some morons" after the match, saying: "You've got people shouting when you are on your shot and saying stupid things at important times because half of them haven't got enough brains, it's ridiculous.

"[98] In the post-match interview following the final, Carter accused O'Sullivan of "snotting all over the floor", calling it "outrageous behaviour from a top professional".

[99] O'Sullivan responded with a series of expletive-laden tirades, saying that "To have to play snooker against someone like that is a nightmare" and claiming that Carter needed to "sort his life out".

"[101] O'Sullivan, who is involved in a disciplinary dispute with the sport's governing body, the WPBSA, is being reviewed by the World Snooker Tour for the outburst.