The 50th Masters reaches its conclusion on Sunday. James Cooper is on hand to assess the upcoming action and recommends one bet.
Snooker betting tips: Masters final
1.5pts Kyren Wilson (-1.5 frames) to beat Shaun Murphy at 21/20 (Betfred)
We now know the finalists for the 2025 Masters and with the prize fund raised considerably to £350,000 for the winner this year, one of Kyren Wilson or Shaun Murphy is set for a bumper payday.
Both semi-finals finished 6-3 and not only did Murphy seal his third Masters showpiece appearance (winner in 2015, runner-up in 2012, both against Neil Robertson) he also gained 147 redemption having snookered himself from black to yellow in his match-clinching visit against the aforementioned Australian in the quarter-final.
Provisionally out of the top-16 for the Crucible going into this week (albeit well entered up from now until the spring given his one-year performance) Murphy has continued the excellent work this season, outplaying Gary Wilson, Neil Robertson and Mark Allen respectively.
The early signs against Allen weren't all that promising for Murphy as he trailed 2-0 with his average shot time sky high courtesy of a scrappy table in frame one coupled with a series of clever shots from his opponent.
From then on, though, Murphy controlled proceedings, limiting Allen to one scoring visit thereafter in frame seven before finally taking his chance in what became a nervy final exchange.
Assuming he wasn't on BBC commentary duty, Murphy can probably be forgiven for shouting Wilson on against Trump when you look at his wildly contrasting head-to-head record against the pair.
It’s 29-13 to Trump against Murphy, including all four outings this season, notably the final of the Shanghai Masters, which finished 11-5.
To be fair, not many people have a positive record against the best player in the world but there are surely a few mental scars for Murphy in and amongst those clashes.
On the other hand, it’s 10-4 in Murphy’s favour against Wilson, including a trio of very important matches which Murphy won, namely a hammering in the 2020 Welsh Open final, the following year’s World Championship semi-final and the 2023 Tour Championship final.
There's a fairly large caveat to those numbers, though, and that is the level Wilson has found in the last two seasons or so.
Unlike Trump, who was destined for stardom from the outset, Wilson has been much more of a slow-burner, earning his stripes in a more regulation manner.
With that in mind, early matches between Murphy (nine years his senior) and Wilson surely hold little to no relevance when assessing who will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy on Sunday evening.
It’s fair to say Saturday evening’s encounter between the word number one and two failed to live up to its billing.
Having raced into a 2-0 lead, Wilson would surely have been seriously frustrated to lose frame five to fall behind.
Having frittered more points in fouls than he probably should have done trying to land on the yellow, he successfully laid the snooker he needed on the blue, only to see Trump cut in a low percentage but beautifully-executed shot on what was frame ball.
Befitting a World Champion though, Wilson smothered Trump for pretty much the remainder of the match, gaining an overdue first century of the tournament in the final frame of the game.
Yes, Trump was off the level he displayed when producing a stunning spell against Ding Junhui but the plaudits must go to Wilson for stifling one of the best match players of all time.
A lack of centuries doesn’t really concern me either when assessing this final from a betting perspective as winning a frame in one visit when the chances arise really is all that matters.
We are, of course, up to best-of-19 frames for the final and the Warrior has displayed at the Crucible in recent years that he’s honed his game to really excel in multi-session matches.
An on-song Murphy is a handful for anyone over any match length and while you have to doff your hat to how he has played this week, he is for my money a streakier player than the rock-solid Wilson.
It may also be significant that Murphy hasn't contested a Triple-Crown Final since losing the 2021 World Championship to Mark Selby.
The Magician has achieved everything in the game but there’s no substitute for high-intensity tussles with a title on the line and that could be telling.
Wilson has yet to add the Masters to his growing CV but is a general 4/6 to put that right and I make him shorter than that to get to 10 frames first.
Betfred go odds-against that Wilson gets over the line without needing a deciding frame and that looks a good bet to me given I make that scenario a 5/6 shot.
Verdict: 10-6
Published at 0900 GMT on 19/01/25
Shaun Murphy v Kyren Wilson
- Career head-to-Head: Murphy 10-4 Wilson
- Head-to-head in finals: Murphy 2-0 Wilson
- Head-to-head in Triple Crown events: Murphy 1-0
- Career frame score: Murphy 71-51 Wilson
Final session times
Sunday January 17
Afternoon session (1300 GMT)
- (8) Shaun Murphy v Kyren Wilson (2)
Evening session (1900 GMT)
- (8) Shaun Murphy v Kyren Wilson (2)
The Masters round-by-round results
SEMI-FINALS
- (8) Shaun Murphy 6-3 Mark Allen (5)
- (3) Judd Trump 3-6 Kyren Wilson (2)
QUARTER-FINALS
- Neil Robertson* 2-6 Shaun Murphy (8)
- (5) Mark Allen 6-2 Mark Selby (4)
- (3) Judd Trump 6-3 Ding Junhui (9)
- (7) Luca Brecel 4-6 Kyren Wilson (2)
ROUND ONE
Quarter one
- Neil Robertson* 6-5 John Higgins (15)
- (8) Shaun Murphy 6-3 Gary Wilson (11)
Quarter two
- (5) Mark Allen 6-2 Si Jiahui (14)
- (4) Mark Selby 6-1 Ali Carter (12)
Quarter three
- (3) Judd Trump 6-1 Barry Hawkins (13)
- (6) Mark Williams 5-6 Ding Junhui (9)
Quarter four
- (7) Luca Brecel 6-3 Chris Wakelin (16)
- (2) Kyren Wilson 6-4 Zhang Anda (10)
Prize money and TV information
- Winner £350,000
- Runner-up £140,000
- Semi-finalists £75,000
- Quarter-finalists £40,000
- First-round losers £25,000
- Highest break £15,000
The Masters will be broadcast in the UK by BBC Sport and Eurosport, who also have the rights for Ireland and in continental Europe.
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