Women’s Snooker Masters 2024 | Tournament Preview
The final World Women’s Snooker Tour event of the calendar year begins this Friday (22 November) as the Women’s Snooker Masters returns to Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon, England.
The annual trip to England’s capital is once again set to welcome a strong field which includes seven of the world’s top 10 ranked players and an impressive 11 countries represented overall.
Reigning world champion Bai Yulu will be installed as top seed for the tournament, with 2022 Masters champion Mink Nutcharut and two-time winner Ng On Yee (2017, 2021) also seeded straight through to the last 16 stage.
With Thailand’s Nutcharut set to defend a significant amount of ranking points at this event (2022 Scottish Open final, 2022 Masters winner), the battle will be on to finish the calendar year as number one with Ng needing to reach at least the final to give herself a chance in Coulsdon.
The remaining 36 players have been drawn into nine groups of four, with the top two players from each group to progress to the knockout stages. The best eight group winners will advance straight to the last 16, with the remaining 10 qualifiers to contest five preliminary round matches.
Alongside the main tournament there will also be side-tournaments held for Under-21 and Seniors players, as well as a Challenge Cup on Sunday for players who do not reach the quarter-finals.
Group A
Former world champion Baipat Siripaporn leads Group A as she makes her second appearance at the Women’s Masters following her run to the quarter-finals in 2022.
With a significant amount of ranking points to defend over the coming months, the Thai player will begin the tournament in an international group comprising four separate nationalities.
Among those set to join her are Germany’s Diana Schuler, who has reached the last 16 at the Masters on five of her previous seven appearances, as well as England’s Zoe Killington who made her Tour debut at this event back in 2018.
Completing the group will be China’s Yiran Zhao, who previously competed at the British Open last year.
Group B
Hong Kong China’s Yee Ting Cheung is the seeded player in Group B and will be looking to continue a run which has seen her reach the quarter-finals of two of her past three ranking events.
The 38-year-old will compete in the Masters for the first time and will be joined by English duo Laura Killington and Sarah Dunn – who reached the semi-finals at Frames in 2023 – alongside Guernsey’s Kate Le Gallez, who has twice reached the last 16 at the event.
Group C
World number eight Tessa Davidson returns to the venue at which she made a memorable century break in 2022 and will be hoping to at least repeat her feat of having reached the quarter-finals stage of the Masters during each of the past two seasons.
The 55-year-old will be joined by compatriots Connie Stephens and Lesley Roberts, as well as Sarah Milne of Scotland who completes the group.
Group D
Another international group with four different nationalities sees Mongolia’s Narantuya Bayarsaikhan seeded for the first time at a UK-based event following her career-best run to the semi-finals in Australia last month.
Standing in her path will be England’s Sophia Drozd following her debut earlier this season at the UK Championship, Iran’s Zeinab Shahi and Yuk Fan Lau of Hong Kong China.
Group E
Former professional player and 2018 Masters finalist Rebecca Kenna returns to Frames hoping to improve upon a run which has seen her reach the semi-finals of the event during each of the past three years.
The world number five finds herself in an all-English group with former British Open finalist Hannah Jones, Selina Dean and 13-year-old Ellise Scott, who has won the past two Under-21 tournaments on the circuit.
Group F
England’s Jasmine Bolsover ended a four year absence from the Tour in 2021 as she reached the last 16 at the Women’s Masters and has enjoyed strong results at the venue with back-to-back quarter-final appearances during the past two years.
The 24-year-old will face opposition in the form of Chu Pu Ying of Hong Kong China – who makes her first Masters appearance since 2017 – England’s Louise Jordan and Tour debutant Yiyi Wang of China.
Group G
Record six-time Women’s Masters champion Reanne Evans will be aiming to reclaim the title for the first time since 2019 this weekend and will begin in Group G.
The current world number four will begin her latest quest with matches against Scotland’s Deborah Fladgate and Hungary’s Annamaria Wilkins, who will both be looking to reach the knockout rounds for the first time in Frames.
The group is completed by Wing Man Shiu of Hong Kong China, with the 30-year-old set to make only her second Tour appearance at the event following her debut at the World Championship in March.
Group H
Former Australian Open finalist Amee Kamani makes her debut at the Women’s Masters as a seeded player as she looks to narrow the gap to the world’s top 10 on the world ranking list.
The Indian player get underway in Group H with matches against Scotland’s Sophie Nix – who will make her professional debut at the Shoot Out next month – as well as English duo Emma Powers-Richardson and Cheryl Calverley.
Group I
Following the late withdrawal of India’s Anupama Ramachandran, Group I will run with just three players as Hong Kong China’s So Man Yan set to begin as the highest seed.
The 2017 Women’s Masters finalist will take on Thai junior Narucha Phoemphul – fresh from reaching her first semi-final at the Australian Open – and England’s Marianne Williams, who makes her first Tour appearance since last year’s Masters.
Under-21 / Seniors
Scotland’s Sophie Nix prepares for her first title defence on Tour as last year’s Under-21 champion heads a field of five players at the Masters junior competition.
Among those aiming to claim the trophy are second ranked Zoe Killington, Ellise Scott – winner of the last two Under-21 tournaments on Tour – and Thailand’s Narucha Phoemphul.
In the Seniors competition, runaway number one Tessa Davidson will be chasing a hat-trick of Senior titles at the Masters following victories in 2022 and 2023. Victory would also see her match her feat in 2022 when she claimed five Seniors titles during the calendar year.
Nine other players will be hoping to stop that from happening, with former Scottish Seniors winner Diana Schuler her highest ranked opposition.
All the action gets underway on Friday from 12:00pm BST, with the latest match results and standings available via WPBSA SnookerScores.
