An unprecedented sequence of results in the first round of the 2026 Masters has delivered some extraordinary figures that may never be seen again.
All eight first-round matches at this year's Triple Crown tournament finished in a 6-2 scoreline, with Wu Yize, Xiao Guodong, Mark Allen, Zhao Xintong, Kyren Wilson, John Higgins, Judd Trump and Neil Robertson securing their place in the quarter-final.
The odds of all eight snooker matches finishing 6–2 are slim, to say the least.
On Wednesday afternoon, tournament favourite Judd Trump breezed past Ding Junhui for the first round's seventh consecutive 6-2 scoreline at odds of 44,000-1.
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And a short while later, two-time Masters winner Neil Robertson completed a 6-2 clean sweep in the evening session. The odds of all eight opening-round matches finishing with that scoreline? 220,000-1.
To put that remarkable sequence into further perspective, the odds of predicting the scores and also correctly naming all eight winners amounted to 20,000,000-1, according to BBC Sport.
Speaking after his 6-2 win over Chris Wakelin, who was a last-minute replacement for Ronnie O'Sullivan, Robertson described the sequence of results as "amazing".
"I wasn't even thinking about winning the match - I was thinking just win it 6-2," joked Robertson.
"I didn't know if someone in the audience had maybe had a pound on all the matches being the same scoreline or something. It is amazing. I hope I have made someone a multi-millionaire. I have never seen anything like that before."
Judd Trump also opened up on the "absolute freak" sequence.
“It’s the way the tables are playing. The table is very quick. If you’re not in and you’re not confident, then it’s very easy for your opponent to score heavily," he said.
“We’re seeing it’s very easy to rattle off a few frames in a row and get a bit of rhythm. We’re seeing players win three or four frames in a row. That’s the only reason I can think of.
“Other than that, it’s an absolute freak. I had convinced myself that my game would be the one that was not 6-2. When I went 3-0 up, I thought: ‘At least I can’t lose 6-2'."
Trump added: “It’s incredible, really. The players are so closely matched. To have every game go that way is really surprising. It has to stop sooner rather than later.”
Stephen Hendry went as far as saying the scorelines were "phenomenal", adding: "You would normally at least three 6-5 scores because of the nature of the tournament. It has been incredible."
Ken Doherty also gave his take on the situation. "I have never seen anything like this in snooker," he said.
The 2026 Masters will take place from January 11 to January 18. You can buy resale tickets on StubHub and Viagogo or watch live via discovery+.
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Topics: Snooker
Jack Kenmare