Defending champion Murphy to face Wu at Masters

4 months ago 26

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Murphy beats Wilson in thrilling Masters final - best shots

BySteve Sutcliffe

BBC Sport journalist at York Barbican

Defending champion Shaun Murphy will play Wu Yize in the first round of the 2026 Masters at Alexandra Palace.

World number one Judd Trump will face Ding Junhui in a repeat of this week's UK Championship quarter-final, which the Englishman won 6-2.

Mark Selby or Ronnie O'Sullivan will face Xiao Guodong or Neil Robertson depending on the result of Sunday's UK Championship final.

The tournament, in which only the top 16 in the world rankings compete, will run from 11-18 January.

Two-time Masters winner Robertson takes on eight-time champion O'Sullivan or Selby, who has won the event three times, in the standout tie of the round.

However, the match between left-handers Mark Williams and Mark Allen, plus John Higgins' tie against Barry Hawkins, also promise to be intriguing contests.