On January 8, 2024, the Snooker Masters continued, O'Sullivan defeated Chinese star Ding Junhui 6-3, becoming the third player to advance to the quarterfinals, and then against the winner of Robertson and Hawkins, Ding Junhui scored 147 points in the seventh game after eight years.
The Masters and the World Championships, the British Championships and the three major snooker tournaments, the championship prize money is 250,000 pounds, but it is an invitational tournament, so the results have nothing to do with the points, only the top 16 players in the world participate, this year's Chinese players Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda were shortlisted, and the competition with the famous players from all walks of life, Zhang Anda was out of the first round as early as the first round, lost to Shaun Murphy, and there is still a certain gap with the top.
Ding Junhui is the first person in Chinese snooker, ranked 11th in the world, has won 14 ranking championships, holds 3 British Championships and 1 Masters, although the competitive state is declining now, and there is a gap between the peak and the peak, but this period has picked up, and it is completely telling that he can win Trump to advance to the finals.
The opponent is the No. 1 ranked O'Sullivan, as a legendary player in snooker, he undoubtedly has absolute strength, and he is the favorite to win the championship every time he registers, in fact, the biggest problem at present is age, which makes it difficult to maintain concentration, and the on-the-spot performance is easy to fluctuate, and there is often a sudden drop, but the Masters has a high prize money and few rounds, and this arrangement is still more suitable for O'Sullivan.
The two sides have played each other 32 times in their careers, Ding Junhui has only won seven games, just last year's British Championships, O'Sullivan defeated Ding Junhui 10-7 and won the 40th ranking championship, the two once competed for the Masters championship, when O'Sullivan won easily, the exhibition match that ended some time ago, Ding Junhui reversed O'Sullivan 6-5, 1-5 behind and won five games in a row, but the bonus and results were not officially recorded.
After the start of the game, the two sides made mistakes in the first game, O'Sullivan scored 67 points in a single stroke, taking the lead with 100-27, Ding Junhui's debut was mediocre, O'Sullivan seized the opportunity in the second game and won the grappling 74-37, and Ding Junhui only scored 32 points in the third game to interrupt the attack, and then O'Sullivan scored 87 points in a single stroke, and in the fourth game O'Sullivan took advantage of the situation to chase and win another game with 106 points in a single stroke.
At the end of the intermission, Ding Junhui scored 56 points in a single stroke in the fifth game and reversed 61-59, Ding Junhui scored 92 points in a single stroke in the sixth game and won another game, Ding Junhui scored 147 points in the seventh game, which was also the seventh perfect score in his career, and O'Sullivan scored 127 points in a single stroke in the eighth game, taking the lead in getting the match point, and O'Sullivan ended the game twice in the ninth game, and finally defeated Ding Junhui 6-3.