Davis to face Selby in Masters

Snooker star Mark Davis was paired with Mark Selby in today’s (Sunday’s) draw for round one of The Masters.
Mark Davis has been drawn against Mark Selby at The MastersMark Davis has been drawn against Mark Selby at The Masters
Mark Davis has been drawn against Mark Selby at The Masters

The draw for the prestigious 16-man invitation event - which will take place at Alexandra Palace in London from January 12 - couldn’t have panned out much tougher for St Leonards-based Davis.

Selby is the number one seed and defending champion, and has been in red hot form in the UK Championship this week. He compiled the sport’s 100th tournament maximum 147 break in his semi-final win over Ricky Walden yesterday and began today’s final against Neil Robertson with a 130.

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It will be Davis’s third appearance in The Masters. He qualified for the 2003 tournament by winning the old Benson & Hedges Championship and also earned a place this year. He is yet to chalk up a victory, though, having lost to Alan McManus and Mark Allen.

The world’s top 15 ranked players will all be in the field along with Ronnie O’Sullivan, who is ranked 29th. The top 16 usually play in the tournament, but having won his fifth world title at The Crucible in May, O’Sullivan was automatically seeded second behind Selby.

Full draw for The Masters - seeding in brackets:

Mark Selby (1) v Mark Davis (15)

Stuart Bingham (8) v John Higgins (13)

Judd Trump (5) v Marco Fu (10)

Ding Junhui (4) v Shaun Murphy (9)

Neil Robertson (3) v Mark Allen (11)

Stephen Maguire (6) v Joe Perry (16)

Barry Hawkins (7) v Ricky Walden (12)

Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) v Robert Milkins (14)