To generate the list this week I looked at the last five Masters events (From 2012-2016 with 2012 being the first held at the Alexandra Palace), this seasons China Championship which was also a 16-man invitational, the Champion of Champions from November, the International Championship and UK Championship from this season so far. That is also along with my statistics looking at the average frame aggregate, average frames per 50+ break, average break when 50 or above and the close frames win percentage.
With all that in mind here is how the top ten looks for this weeks Masters:
10- Barry Hawkins - Starting us of in the top ten is last year's runner-up Barry Hawkins. Prior to last year he had never won a match at the Masters which is the reason he is so low on the list. As well as this he did not qualify for the China Championship or Champion of Champions and went out early in the UK Championships and International Championships. Statistically Hawkins is fourth on the average aggregate list after some good performances in the home nations so far this season and this does make him a threat again this week in London.
9- Mark Allen - Next up is Mark Allen. Allen was a quarter-finalist last year, following a semi-final the season before. Otherwise he has only reached one quarter-final in thee previous three years at the Alexandra Palace. In the back to back invitationals at the China Championship and Champion of Champions, Mark Allen was a semi-finalist in both and played well there. After a series of centuries in the UK Championship, Allen has reached fourth on the list of average break when above 50 list which has put him a fair way clear of Hawkins.
8- Stuart Bingham - Just creeping ahead of Allen into eighth spot is Stuart Bingham. Bingham was like Hawkins having not passed round one until last year when he made the semi-finals. His form has been very good at times this year, as he reached the final of the China Championship and the semi-finals of the International Championship prior to that. A quarter-final at the Champion of Champions was also a decent effort after the short turnaround from the China Championship. Statistically, he is fourth in this weeks field for close frames win percentage and fifth in the list for average break when 50 or above.
7- Judd Trump - Judd Trump is lower than many people may expect on this weeks Tournament Top Ten. However, Trump lost in the first round of the Masters in both 2014 and 2015, whilst making the semi-finals in 2016 and 2012 but has yet to reach a Masters final. Despite making the semi-finals of the International Championship he was then knocked out in the first round of the China Championship and lost in the quarter-finals of the Champion of Champions. Following that an early Last 64 exit in the UK Championship really prevents him from getting higher on the list. Statistically, Trump features in the top five on three of the four statistics used to build the list this week. A fifth placed finish for frames per 50+ break is joined by third placed finishes on the average frame aggregate and average break when 50 or above.
6- Marco Fu - Finishing ahead of Trump is his first round opponent Marco Fu. Fu's recent win at the Scottish Open was not taken into account in this list otherwise he may have been well inside the top five. However, his quarter-finals at the 2014 and 2015 Masters are taken into account here as well as a quarter-final at the China Championship. His best performance that counts towards the list is his UK Championship semi-final where he narrowly missed out on making the final in York. As for the numbers, Fu can boast high finishes of third place on the average frames per 50+ break, and second on the average break when above 50 list after making a stack of centuries and other big breaks in Glasgow. He has not just been scoring well though as he also comes second in this weeks field for close frames win percentage.
5- Neil Robertson - Things really heat up as we jump to fifth place on the list and our first Masters champion that has made the list. Robertson was a winner at the Alexandra Palace in 2012, before returning to the final and falling short as a runner-up in 2013 and 2015. In 2014 and 2016 he still made the quarter-finals but has not been as impressive this year so far. Robertson fell in the first round of both November invitationals, including his defence of the Champion of Champions title. The disappointing defences did not end there as he lost in the Last 128 of the UK Championships before the TV cameras even arrived. On the stats lists he has slipped down to fifth now on the average aggregate list, but still comes in second for this weeks field on the average frames per 50+ break made.
4- Shaun Murphy - In fourth place, just missing out on the podium is Shaun Murphy. Murphy is another Alexandra Palace champion having won his Masters title in 2015. That came after falling short in the 2012 final and making the semi-finals in both 2013 and 2014. A first round exit last year did not really damage his position on the list as he still fell a way short of third place. This season has been topsy turvy for Murphy but he has had decent finishes in some of the invitational and longer format events in this campaign. He fell just short of making the China Championship final and lost another decider in the International Championship quarter-finals. Despite the token first round exit at the Champion of Champions in Coventry he went on to make the semi-finals of the UK Championship. Having seen all of the six players on the list so far make the top five in at least one of the four stats list used for this week, Murphy has fallen short on each one.
3- John Higgins - Taking the bronze position this week is this seasons invitational king John Higgins. The Scotsman was a winner at both the China Championship and Champion of Champions which have seen him rocket up the list. In recent years at the Masters Higgins has fallen short of his best, making a semi-final in 2012 but not getting past the quarter-finals in four years since. He came close to big runs in the International and UK Championships but fell just short losing in the quarter-finals of each. Given the fantastic form of Higgins this season it is a great surprise that he falls in Murphy's boat of not getting into the top five for this weeks field in any of the four stats list that helped to create the tournament top ten.
2- Mark Selby - Three times Masters champion, and the reigning World and UK Champion Mark Selby has just come up short of the top spot on this weeks list. Of his three Masters wins, only his 2013 triumph counted towards the list, though he did go on to make the final again in 2014. 2016 was a brilliant year for Selby and in the first half of this season he has won the UK and International Championships. In the two invitationals he fell in the quarter-finals of each to Mark Allen. Statistically, Selby features highly with a third placed finish on the close frames win percentage list and a fourth place showing on the average break when above 50 list. His best of the lot comes as he tops the average frame aggregate list for the season so far.
1- Ronnie O'Sullivan - Top of the shop ahead of this weeks Masters is Ronnie O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan is the defending champion after cruising to victory a year ago, and was also a comfortable winner in 2014. In 2015 he lost out in the semi-finals, whilst falling in the quarter-finals of the 2012 edition. 2013 was a non-entry for O'Sullivan at the Palace in his year out of the game. He was also an absentee from this years China Championship, pulling out a couple of weeks prior to the event. This allowed him to concentrate on the Champion of Champions and the UK Championship that followed where he was a runner-up on both occasions. Statistically, O'Sullivan has been pretty dominant this season up to now. On the average frame aggregate list he comes up just short of Mark Selby, but there was no-one that could beat him on either the average frames per 50+ break or the average break whenever he passes 50 as he leads the field in each.
The two obvious favourites are numbers one and two on the list this week but that does not mean that the statistics or the bookmakers will be right.
Don't forget to come back to the blog for the Stat Attack where the full list of each stat used for this week will be published and the full tournament preview ahead of the start of the first match on Sunday afternoon.
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