The draw for the Masters never lets us down, with the world’s top 16 heading for Alexandra Palace and eight cracking first round matches coming up.
The tournament runs from January 11-18 in London, with £350,000 on the line for the winner of snooker’s biggest invitational event.
Shaun Murphy won the title last year, beating Kyren Wilson in the final and he will begin the defence of his title against Wu Yize, who is on debut in the competition.
Judd Trump has a brilliant first round outing against Ding Junhui, while another standout tie sees Mark Williams face Mark Allen.
There is one either/or in the draw, which is dependent on the outcome of Sunday’s final of the UK Championship.
If Mark Selby beats Judd Trump in York then he will move into the world’s top eight and face Xiao Guodong at the Masters and Ronnie O’Sullivan will play Neil Robertson.
If Selby loses to Trump and remains outside of the top eight then he faces Robertson at Ally Pally and O’Sullivan meets Xiao.
2026 Masters Draw
Zhao Xintong vs Gary Wilson
Shaun Murphy vs Wu Yize
Judd Trump vs Ding Junhui
Kyren Wilson vs Si Jiahui
John Higgins vs Barry Hawkins
Mark Williams vs Mark Allen
Ronnie O’Sullivan/Mark Selby vs Xiao Guodong
Neil Robertson vs Ronnie O’Sullivan/Mark Selby
There remains some question as to whether O’Sullivan will even play at the tournament having suggested earlier this year that he would not compete at Alexandra Palace.
He has decided to skip the tournament in the past, in fact, he did not play in the 2025 edition after snapping his cue just days before it.
World number 17 Chris Wakelin will be waiting by the phone to take a spot in the draw if the Rocket opts out of a bid for a ninth Masters title.
After defeat to Zhou Yuelong at the UK Championship this week, O’Sullivan told the BBC on whether he will play in London: ‘I’ll have a nice Christmas, enjoy that and see how I feel come January.’
Asked the same question in a press conference, he said: ‘Hopefully. I’d like to. We’ll see.’
Other than one brief trip to Milton Keynes during Covid, the Masters has been held at Alexandra Palace since 2012, when it moved from Wembley Arena.
Robertson beat Murphy in that 2012 edition and the Australian has been to three further finals at the north London venue, winning again in 2022.
The Thunder from Down Under has been hit with a tricky task whatever happens, though, just waiting on whether it is O’Sullivan or Selby he has coming up.