Masters snooker 2021 LIVE - John Higgins v Yan Bingtao in best-of-19 final in Milton Keynes
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Updated 17/01/2021 at 23:35 GMT
Masters snooker 2021 LIVE - It's the final. John Higgins faces Yan Bingtao for the trophy in Milton Keynes. Two-time champion Higgins is bidding for a first title at the event since 2006, while Yan steps out for his first Triple Crown final. Watch every ball live on Eurosport 1, eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app.
John Higgins and Yan Bingtao ahead of 2021 Masters final
Image credit: Eurosport
Higgins 8-10
Higgins gets one snooker, but no more and Yan closes out the match to become the first debutant to win the Masters since Mark Selby in 2008. At the age of 20, he has made the big breakthrough
Higgins 8-9 Yan (31-74)
Yan holds his nerve to knock in a break of 64 and Higgins needs three snookers. .
Higgins 8-9 Yan (27-11)
Higgins runs out of position and misses a red. Yan is back at the table. Can he keep his nerve? The balls are open for him.
Higgins 8-9 Yan (19-10)
Wow! What a miss from Yan. He leaves a routine red in the jaws and Higgins is out of his seat in a flash.
Higgins 8-9 Yan (19-1)
Yan forces the error and knocks in a red. He has his chance to close out the match.
Higgins 8-9 Yan (19-0)
It's tense stuff in the 18th frame. Both players have had chances and we are now in a safety exchange.
Higgins 8-9 Yan (0-0)
"You just cannot pull yourself away from this final." It's late on a school night but Joe Johnson sums up the feelings of all snooker fans with the match on a knife edge after five hours and 40 minutes of play.
Higgins 8-9 Yan
Yan's break is 70 and he's now one frame from victory.
Higgins 8-8 Yan (12-11)
An excellent snooker from Yan forces the error from Higgins and he's at the table with a chance to establish a sizeable lead.
Higgins 8-8 Yan (12-0)
Yan goes for a red and as Johnson says "that's the first time he's missed and been a long way off." Maybe the youngster is starting to feel the pressure?
Higgins 8-8 Yan
A Herculean effort from Higgins. It was a tough table but he crafted a 63 to draw level.
Higgins 7-8 Yan (12-5)
A brilliant red from Higgins with Eurosport's Joe Johnson in awe: "He was leaving reds all over the place and it did not touch the sides. Brilliant shot."
Higgins 7-8 Yan (0-5)
Yan is not backing off here and he splits the pack off the brown but is unfortunate not to fall on a red and retreats to the baulk area.
Higgins 7-8 Yan
The snooker paid off for Higgins but he missed a long blue to hand the chance to Yan and he knocks in the final three colours to move ahead.
Higgins 7-7 Yan (50-55)
Higgins knocks in a break of 50 and lays a snooker on the final red. A terrific response from the Scot.
Higgins 7-7 Yan (6-55)
Higgins pulls out a brilliant long red and drops perfectly on the brown. It was a good safety from Yan, but Higgins has the chance to counter.
Higgins 7-7 Yan (0-55)
Yan breaks down but he has a handy 55-point advantage.
Higgins 7-7 Yan (0-24)
Yan knocks in an excellent red and is in the balls again. He looks super-cool at the moment.
Higgins 7-7 Yan
A century break from Yan (103) and we are all square once again at 7-7.
Higgins 7-6 Yan (0-75)
Yan knocks in frame ball and Hggins now needs snookers. We are going to be tied up at 7-7.
Higgins 7-6 Yan (0-28)
Yan opens the pack off the blue and it's a nice split. This is an opportunity to draw level.
Higgins 7-6 Yan (0-16)
Higgins leaves a red on when attempting to get behind the brown and Yan knocks it in. He knocks in a tough black and it is now a chance.
Higgins 7-6 Yan
Higgins goes for a double but leaves it in the jaws and Yan knocks it in to get back within one.
Higgins 7-5 Yan (68-66)
Higgins knocks in the pink but the black is on the cushion so it's anyone's game.
Higgins 7-5 Yan (62-66)
Yan clears to the blue but cannot get the pink. This frame is on for both players.
Higgins 7-5 Yan (62-52)
Disaster for Higgins who goes in-off playing safe off the black. A chance for Yan.
Higgins 7-5 Yan (55-45)
Higgins develops the tough red on the side cushion. A brilliant shot, but it appears the person in charge of the applause button is making a cuppa as that got nothing but certainly deserved it.
Higgins 7-5 Yan (27-45)
Higgins gets his chance after forcing the error. This a big moment in the match.
Higgins 7-5 Yan (5-45)
Higgins wins a safety battle and has put Yan in a devilish snooker. Tough one to get out and leave safe.
Higgins 7-5 Yan (0-41)
Yan breaks down on 41 as the cueball sticks to the reds when attempting a second split of the pack
Higgins 7-5 Yan (0-27)
Yan splits the pack off the blue and then knocks in a tough red. This is now a decent chance.
Higgins 7-5 Yan (0-8)
After Higgins leaves a red in the jaws, Yan produces a swerve to pot it and is at the table.
Higgins 7-5 Yan (0-0)
Back underway after the interval and Yan brings a red up the table off the break so it could be cagey.
Higgins 7-5 Yan
The Wizard knocks in the first century of the match (116) and his sixth of the tournament to move two frames ahead at the mid-session interval.
Higgins 6-5 Yan (70-0)
The black drops and Yan needs snookers so it appears Higgins will be two ahead at the interval.
Higgins 6-5 Yan (55-0)
It's a half-century for Higgins, and all reds are in the open here. The frame looks a certainty, as does as a century.
Higgins 6-5 Yan (33-0)
There's a re-rack at the start of the twelfth, after which Higgins gets in first. He's up to 17 here, and he's in business at the business end of the table. He's just manufactured a lovely split on the reds too, and he looks good here.
Higgins 6-5 Yan
It's a brilliant 74 from Higgins, who long doubles the pink into the bottom left to ensure Yan can't play for a snooker. He's back in front!
Higgins 5-5 Yan (54-51)
What a break this is from Higgins. The final red takes him to 49, the blue secures a half-century to put him in front in the frame. He needs up to the blue on the colours to nick the frame.
Higgins 5-5 Yan (0-51)
It's 47 for Yan, but a glancing contact on an attempted split on the reds leaves an awkward mid-ranger to the bottom right, and he's missed it. John misses a long one to the green pocket without leaving anything, but gets in with a four ball plant followed by a thin blue to the left middle. Chance here.
Higgins 5-5 Yan (0-24)
Yan's away first in the 11th with a nice long red, but he can only make four before missing a red to the bottom right. That's left John a thin cut with the extended cue and rest, which he tries to slice into he bottom right but misses it. Yan then pulls out an absolute beauty of a plant, on two reds fully two feet apart, and he's on the black; good chance here, and he's accumulating points at a rate.
Higgins 5-5 Yan
He only has gone and stolen it! A magnificent break of 76 levels up this engrossing final.
Higgins 5-4 Yan (31-17)
The split goes nicely, making this a great chance to restore his two-frame advantage. But what's this?! He takes a while over a brown that's easy, switches to the slightly harder yellow ... and misses it! This is now a great chance for Yan to steal again, and imagine the inverse proportion of their mental states if he does!
Higgins 5-4 Yan (24-0)
John will have been steaming with himself for missing that black. but being who he is, he'll have put it behind him to get on with things. He actually leaves Yan a long starter that you'd expect him to drain - he doesn't - then when a double kiss leaves the white down the business end, he takes on a difficult pot that opens the frame for him. He'll have to go into the pack soon, but does some picking to begin with.
Higgins 5-4 Yan
Yan has balls for weeks.
Higgins 5-3 Yan (67-74)
This is a great tussle, both players cracking the table in appreciation of the other's chops ... until John leaves Yan a thin cut but a long pot ... and he sinks it beautifully! What a shot, what a frame what a steal!
Higgins 5-3 Yan (67-67)
This is really good from Yan, but he deploys slightly too much power in potting the brown so gets low on the blue; he can only screw in behind the pink, but a good several feet behind the pink. This would be some pot ... and it's there! That's a great shot, he drains the black too, and what a frame this is to start the evening!
Higgins 5-3 Yan (67-24)
Yan wallops home a tremendous red, cannoning the pink to get position on the black. The latter goes safe, which might be a problem later on ... but then he misses his second red. John, though, can't take advantage, missing a red of his own - but with power rather than dead weight in order not to leave anything easy. So Yan glides in another fine opener but this time he doesn't get such good position. Doesn't matter; he sinks the black, then a long red, and this is a really good chance to force a re-spot.
Higgins 5-3 Yan (67-0)
He's an absolute master; geddit? That's what they pay me for. And as I type that, of course John misses a black off its spot, bringing Yan back to the table; five red-blacks and all the colours gives him a re-spot
Higgins 5-3 Yan (44-0)
Yeah, John is potting balls.
Higgins 5-3 Yan (13-0)
Thing is, playing tactical snooker against whoever and playing tactical snooker against John Higgins are not that similar, and he has a fair bit of thinking to do when stuck behind yellow and brown. He opts for the two-cushion escape and clatters a red full in the pus; that's not good at all, and Higgins is immediately into a break, taking two red-blues before getting down to the black-spot area.Yan really needed this frame, but already that looks a forlorn hope.
Higgins 5-3 Yan (0-0)
Five minutes in and no one's potted anything, though a few long reds have been refused. Yan's safety game is so good - for anyone, never mind a 20-year-old.
Off we go!
First to 10 wins a quarter of a mill. Don't mind if I do.
It's hard to beat Higgins though
At anty time. But in a triple crown final, from behind? Good luck old mate.
Whatever happens in the next few hours
This has been a colossal week for Yan Bingtao. He's got a brilliant snooker brain and a fantastic sporting mentality - he's got work to do on his actual play, but he's got loads to look forward to.
Who’s your money on?
The lead, the experience and the fact that he’s John Higgins makes John Higgins the favourite tonight. Yan is unlikely to just fade out of this final though; he was 3-5 down to Neil Robertson and 2-4 down to Bingham, before turning around both situations to win. We’ve had six final frame deciders in 14 games so far at the 2021 Masters; don’t be surprised if we’re still here near midnight working this one out.
Earlier today
Yan was fearless this afternoon, which strayed into reckless on a few of occasions and cost him a couple of frames. He’ll no doubt work that out of his game as he gathers more big match experience, but my it makes for an absorbing watch right now.
Higgins hasn’t been able to relocate the form that devastated Ronnie O’Sullivan on Friday – and if he could do so like flicking a switch, we wouldn’t even bother debating who might win this – but he hit upon a streak of his best stuff to rattle off three frames in a row in the first session.
Good evening
Welcome to live coverage of the final session of the 2021 Masters final between John Higgins and Yan Bingtao. It’s nicely poised – 5-3 to John at the moment – and it’s first to ten frames for the title. If Higgins wins, he becomes the oldest Masters winner in history. If Yan pips him to it, he’ll win the tournament on his debut at 20 years old. It’s back on, from 7pm.
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Thanks for your company
We'll be back with you from 6.45pm for the conclusion of the 2021 Masters. Take care until then, ta ra for now.
John Higgins leads Yan Bingtao 5-3 in the Masters final
What an absorbing afternoon of snooker that was. Higgins has been the better player, but Yan has produced a few nerveless clearances to stay in touch. Yan's front foot commitment to attacking today has cost him a couple of frames, but it's also earned him the one's he has won. With Higgins currently on what we might call his B plus game, it makes for an intriguing final session tonight. Don't miss it.
Higgins 5-3 Yan
A loose safety from Yan leaves John a shot at the green to yellow pocket, and it's in! A tough brown then goes into the green pocket followed by frame ball blue and the pink. It's the frame, and an evening session lead, for Higgins.
Higgins 4-3 Yan (52-44)
The green is tight to the top cushion and Yan can't get onto it, so has to play safe. This is like the third frame all over again; John needs up to and including the blue, Yan needs up to and including the pink.
Higgins 4-3 Yan (52-37)
Higgins misses a red to left middle! That was too quick and rolled out off the knuckles, but he's only left a difficult red for Yan. No bother; Yan cuts it into the bottom right, but he's not got position on a colour so tucks Higgins in behind the brown, snookered full ball on the last red. Higgins escapes, but he's served the red up over the right middle for Yan; it's a chance to dish and pull level!
Higgins 4-3 Yan (36-36)
Higgins is taking his time here, and picks off the pots one by one to pull level in the frame. There are four reds left out there, and he can clear the path for each one by potting another, so he won't need to risk a cannon here. This is a big chance now to go into the evening session in front.
Higgins 4-3 Yan (0-36)
Yan negotiates a hazardous cluster of reds, yellow and blue near the bottom right perfectly, clearing the path to the pocket. He then cues a bullet straight mid-range red to the bottom right, before bridging high over a red to guide the black into the bottom left, come off two cushions and land on his next red. The accent of difficulty on that shot is high under any conditions, let alone when you're trailing in a Masters final. Yet just as he looks nailed on to develop a frame-winning chance, he's lost position on the blue. Yan takes on a long green to its own pocket instead, and he's missed it to leave Higgins in.
Higgins 4-3 Yan (0-16)
The last frame of the session then, and it's a big one. Both players know it; after some tense safety, Higgins coughs a red up over the left middle for Yan. It goes in, and Yan gets a kiss off two reds to fortuitously land on the black. What a touch of luck that is. He's got the first chance of the frame, but it's an awkward table.
Higgins 4-3 Yan
A fantastic 97 from Yan reduces Higgins' lead to one frame.
Higgins 4-2 Yan (48-75)
Yan takes his break to 70 with a pink to left middle off the final red. Up to the green will do it...and it's there! What a break under pressure, this young man is some talent.
Higgins 4-2 Yan (48-50)
I said he'd need to dig in to get a frame back here, but Yan's continued commitment to attacking with that brilliant yellow has opened this chance up. He's now ahead in the frame with three reds remaining as his break goes to 49. There's one red on the left rail that he'll need to shift if he's to do this in one visit, and shift it he does as he pots the red that brings up his half-century. This is a magnificent effort.
Higgins 4-2 Yan (48-3)
It's five reds with blacks to start this break from Higgins, but just as we all start thinking about the maxi his attempt to develop reds off the fifth black goes awry and he's not on a red. From his safety he splits the reds open everywhere, an aggressive shot to tempt Yan into a pot. It works, and Yan clips in a lovely long red followed by a stunning yellow into the right middle to come back down the table. He's right in position now, what a chance this is to hit back.
Higgins 4-2 Yan (17-0)
Yan has shown magnificent composure all week, and will need to do so now as he's up against it. He's been aggressive today, but since the first frame his long game has temporarily deserted him; he needs to dig in here and stop this run of frames against him. Higgins has him in trouble here though, trapped behind the green, and Yan gives away eight points from his attempted four-cushion escape. He's also left a plant on to the left middle, which Higgins drops in the land on the black. It's a nice table, with lots of open reds and the black now available into both corners.
Higgins 4-2 Yan
Higgins moves 35 ahead, and pots the final, frame ball red along the bottom cushion and into the bottom left. For good measure he sinks the black into the right middle deadweight, before crashing in a long yellow as a flourish. The green doesn't go but Yan concedes; that's a 4-2 lead for Higgins, who has now won three frames on the spin.
Higgins 3-2 Yan (55-28)
Another excellent safety from Yan forces Higgins into a pot on a long red, and he drills it in superbly. He then thunders the brown into the yellow pocket to come down for a red below the black, and he's got a chance here. A cannon on two reds below the pink works out too, and he's the favourite for the frame now.
Higgins 3-2 Yan (36-28)
A good safety from Yan forces Higgins to commit to a red down the rail and into the bottom left, and he's missed it. Yan can't plug a long red into the green pocket though, and John tags a red into the right middle to get going again. Both players have had some loose shots in this frame, and the importance of it is no lost on either of them. Higgins has overhit a positional shot here and he's not on a red, so his break curtails on 24 as he plays back to baulk. There are five reds left on the table.
Higgins 3-2 Yan (12-28)
Higgins has another shocker with a black off its spot. It just about wobbles in to the bottom right, but he's lost position as a result and can't job a short-range red into the yellow pocket thereafter. He's let a chance slip there.
Higgins 3-2 Yan (0-28)
Yan goes into the pack off the black, but he's only left with a tight red to left middle. He has to bridge over the black to get to the white, and he puts the read onto the lower knuckle and serves it up over the yellow pocket for Higgins. This could be a pivotal visit early in this match; if John can step in and steal here, he'll open up a two-frame gap in the match.
Higgins 3-2 Yan (0-20)
Higgins leaves Yan a cut on a red to left middle at the start of the sixth, and in it goes. A difficult green to right middle follows, and Yan is now in position at the business end of the table.
Higgins 3-2 Yan
It's 98 for Higgins, who can't quite double the last red into the bottom right. No century then, but he's got the lead in the match.
Higgins 2-2 Yan (70-0)
That's the frame, Higgins is about to take the lead for the first time in this match. Can he kick and record the first century of this final?
Higgins 2-2 Yan (54-0)
Higgins seems to be settling in to this match now, as he brings up his half-century with a black to bottom right. All seven remaining reds are in the open and it looks a formality from here.
Higgins 2-2 Yan (19-0)
We're back from the interval, and Higgins is in first with red-yellow. He then cues well from the centre of the pack to jab in a red and land on the black, before rolling in his next red along the rail and into the bottom right. It's been hard work early on but he's in position now.
Higgins 2-2 Yan
A break of 63 wins the frame for Higgins, and we're all square at the interval. We'll be back in 15 minutes.
Higgins 1-2 Yan (65-0)
Higgins affects a split on the reds that you couldn't scatter any better by hand. A blue takes him over the half-century mark for the frame, and he's quickly over the winning line. This is effortless, and the white is having to do very little travelling in this break.
Higgins 1-2 Yan (18-0)
Phew! What next? Yan goes so close to potting a long red to the bottom right at the start of the fourth, but it rattles out of that pocket and then the bottom left to sit up as an easy starter for Higgins. He can only make 8 though as his attempted split on the pack leaves the white stuck to it, and that’s end of break. He's soon back in though as Yan again fully commits to a long red and misses, and there's a load on here.
Higgins 1-2 Yan
Yan steps in, and he dishes all three balls to nick the frame by a point. What a few minutes that was!
Higgins 1-1 Yan (66-54)
Yan misses the blue completely when trying to play a thin contact on a safety. He tries the same shot a second time and he's left a thin cut on to the right middle. Higgins lines it up...but he's missed it and left it on to the bottom right!
Higgins 1-1 Yan (61-54)
Yan's missed the green and left it in the jaws of the green pocket! That was a tough shot, and it was close. He's not covered it with the brown either, and here comes Higgins. He pots green and brown, but overruns so badly on the blue that he's not on it. A big three balls here early in this match. Blue and pink needed for Higgins, Yan requires the lot.
Higgins 1-1 Yan (54-52)
Yan drops the second to last red into the bottom left with the rest; it doesn't just wipe it's feet, it takes it's jacket off too before dropping in to the pocket. Time stood still there. He's now on to the colours, and if he can negotiate a tricky green near the top cushion he can nick the third frame here.
Higgins 1-1 Yan (54-31)
From close to the bottom cushion Yan drops a deadweight red into the left middle to land on the blue. That's a brave shot, because he'd have handed John the frame had he missed it. He's got a real chance to dish here, because all the reds and colours are in the open bar the green.
Higgins 1-1 Yan (54-12)
What a shocker this is; Higgins misses a routine black off its spot, and he's handed Yan a gift chance to punish him here. Yan can't take it though, as he makes a mess of his first red, snookering himself on all colours as he tries to develop the pack. He gives away seven more points as he fails to hit the black, but connects after Higgins puts him back in.
Higgins 1-1 Yan (6-11)
Higgins picks up six at the start of the third frame after Yan catches the pink when trying to rest on the pack off one cushion. Yan's forced an error from Higgins here though after forcing him to play from tight off the top cushion; a red pops out over the bottom right from John's reply, and Yan snicks it in followed by a superb brown into the left middle. Yan has such a naturally straight cue action, so compact and flawless it's like it's been developed from a schematic. He's missed a red to the bottom right here though and left it in the jaws; chance for John here.
Higgins 1-1 Yan
Yan concedes in his chair, and we're level in the final.
Higgins 0-1 Yan (73-16)
Higgins moves to 35 with the pink, nudging frame ball red into position as he does so. He rolls it into the bottom right and then adds the pink, so we're going to be all square shortly,
Higgins 0-1 Yan (32-16)
Only 11 for Higgins as he loses position on the reds early in his break and plays safe. Yan throws the cue at a long red to the bottom left but it misses, and cracks the pack open to send reds everywhere. That should cost him the frame, but Higgins surprisingly misses a straight red to the left middle. Yan's missed another long red though, with no safety in mind, and Higgins gets another chance.
Higgins 0-1 Yan (20-16)
Higgins gets his first chance of the day with a sweet shot to nothing on a red to bottom left, and he's on the green. He advances his break to 20, but a split on the reds doesn't go to plan and he misses a tight cut back on a red to bottom right. Yan's in again, potting an awkward red just above the black to nudge the latter into position for his next pot. He looks so comfortable in getting to 16, but then misses a red on the stretch into the bottom right and John's on a red to left middle.
Higgins 0-1 Yan
Nerves? What are those? Yan adds 33 to take the first frame. That's a very impressive start for someone in their first Triple Crown final.
Higgins 0-0 Yan (0-72)
Higgins misses a long red, and in response Yan glides in another superb red to the bottom right to land on the blue. That goes too, and Higgins needs snookers. There's plenty more coming though, and it's advantage Yan in this final.
Higgins 0-0 Yan (0-66)
Yan gets to 66, cannoning the white into the pack as he pots the black, but he's not on a red and has to play safe to baulk. There's still 75 left on the table so there's still a glimmer of hope for Higgins in this one.
Higgins 0-0 Yan (0-50)
This is a great start from Yan, who splits the pack off the blue and lands on a red to the bottom right. He's amassed a half-century in no time here, and is inching towards taking the lead in the match.
Higgins 0-0 Yan (0-20)
Both players miss their first attempts at long reds, before Yan drains one into the bottom right to land on the blue. His long game has been such a strength this week. He's off here, and up to 20 and counting already.
Baizing squad
Here come the players, introduced by our MC Rob Walker. It's best of 19 then for the Masters title; we'll have eight frames in this afternoon session, with an interval of 15 minutes after four. Let's get at it.
Heads up
Yan Bingtao has the edge over Higgins in their five meetings so far, winning three to two. He's also won their two most recent meetings, in the quarters of the UK Championship in 2019 and Welsh Open in 2020 respectively.
Yan the man
When Higgins won his first Masters title in 1999, Yan Bingtao wasn’t even born. The 20-year-old is making his debut at the Masters this year and what a run he’s had, beating Neil Robertson, Stephen Maguire and Stuart Bingham in final frame deciders. That’s a testament to his ice cool nature under pressure – he has a touch of Higgins about him in that regard – and this run is no fluke; he’s already won a ranking event as a teenager and is currently 11th in the world rankings. Winning here won’t improve that, but it will confirm his status as a serious rising force in the game.
The Wizard
Guess who’s back? The great John Higgins returns to the Masters final for the first time he won the title in 2006. That was his second Masters victory; today he’s chasing his tenth Triple Crown title, which would be his first since his triumph at the Crucible in 2011. A decade is an unfathomably long time for a player of the quality of Higgins, but there’s no doubt that he’s still got it; on Friday night, he took down Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-3 in the quarter-finals with one of the greatest performances of his career.
What’s on offer
There’s the Paul Hunter Trophy for the winner, a quite magnificent bauble, and a cool quarter mill in prize money. But more than the cash, there’s the cachet – yeah, the World Championship is the ultimate, but your name rings out loud if you win this one.
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Stuart Bingham poses for a photo with the Paul Hunter Trophy after victory in the Final of the Dafabet Masters between Stuart Bingham and Ali Carter at Alexandra Palace on January 19, 2020 in London, England
Image credit: Eurosport
Good afternoon!
Welcome to live coverage of the final of the 2021 Masters from the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes. This is the showpiece that never disappoints, and has provided a relentless supply of drama, brilliance and controversy since John Spencer pipped Ray Reardon in a final frame decider at London’s West Centre Hotel in the first ever final in 1975.
To pluck a few from history since then, you had Dennis Taylor turning over rival Alex Higgins in an emotionally charged decider in 1987; Stephen Hendry pipping Mike Hallett 9-8 in 1991 after trailing 0-7 and 2-8; Ronnie O’Sullivan becoming the youngest ever winner in 1995; Steve Davis rolling back the years to win six frames in a row to pip Ronnie in 1997, and Mark Williams beating Hendry on a re-spotted black in the decider in 1998.
We’re not done. There’s the late, great Paul Hunter coming from behind to win it on a decider in 2001, 2002 and 2004; the greatest single performance in any final ever from Ronnie in 2005 when he thumped John Higgins; revenge for John a year later when he dished up a 64 to win the title on the black; Mark Selby coming back from 6-9 down to beat Ronnie in a decider in 2010 and Judd Trump serving notice of his takeover with a 10-4 destruction of the Rocket in 2019.
It’s brilliant, is what we’re saying, so brew up and settle in. Boys will be baized around 1.15pm.
Welcome
Good morning everyone, welcome to Eurosport's coverage of the final at the 2021 Masters! It’s John Higgins versus Yan Bingtao for the trophy in the very familiar setting of Milton Keynes’ Marshal Arena. Higgins reached the showdown with a 6-4 win over David Gilbert while Yan edged a final-frame decider with defending champion Stuart Bingham.
Full Masters schedule
First round
Sunday January 10
- Kyren Wilson 6-2 Gary Wilson (1pm)
- Joe Perry 2-6 David Gilbert (7pm)
Monday January 11
- Stuart Bingham 6-4 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (1pm)
- Shaun Murphy 6-4 Mark Williams (7pm)
Tuesday January 12
- Neil Robertson 5-6 Yan Bingtao (1pm)
- Mark Selby 3-6 Stephen Maguire (7pm)
Wednesday January 13
- Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-5 Ding Junhui (1pm)
- John Higgins 6-5 Mark Allen (7pm)
Quarter-finals
Thursday January 14
- David Gilbert 6-5 Kyren Wilson (1pm)
- Stuart Bingham 6-3 Shaun Murphy (7pm)
Friday January 15
- John Higgins 6-3 Ronnie O'Sullivan (1pm)
- Stephen Maguire 5-6 Yan Bingtao (7pm)
Semi-finals
Saturday January 16
- Stuart Bingham 4-6 Yan Bingtao (1pm)
- David Gilbert 5-6 John Higgins (7pm)
Final
Sunday January 17
- Yan Bingtao v John Higgins (1pm, 7pm)
HOW TO WATCH THE MASTERS 2021 TV AND LIVESTREAM
You can watch every moment of the Masters live and ad-free on the Eurosport app and eurosport.co.uk.
The Masters will also be broadcast on Eurosport 1 across the week.
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