Now You can Watch Snookers Masters on BBC Outside UK
Even though snooker is a relatively new cue sport (about 150 years old), it is definitely a very popular sport with loyal fans. People are especially fond of snooker tournaments like Snooker Masters. The Masters are actually one of the oldest tournaments organized for more than 40 years – the first one was organized in 1975. Starting from January 10th and finishing on January 17th, the Masters will definitely bring a lot of fun and exciting moments because almost all of the best snooker players will be in Alexandra Palace venue. The event will be broadcasted on BBC. You can even watch it on BBC outside UK.
Basic info about the Masters
The first tournament was held in 1975 when the best 10 players were invited. Ever since then, this is one of the most popular invitational snooker tournaments. It is worth mentioning that this is one of the tournaments that are part of the Triple Crown events. Before we share the details, it is also good to know that this is not a ranking event, but every snooker players respect it because of its prestigious character.
Although the first tournament included 10 players, their number has increased over the years. In 1981, the World professional Billiards and Snooker Association included 12 competitors and two years later their number increased to 16. In the period between 1990 and 2010, the association allowed two or three wild card places.
Another thing that is interesting about this tournament was the fact that it was sponsored by different tobacco companies for many years, but starting from 2004, the organization had to cancel these deals because tobacco ads were not allowed. This was the year when the tournament was left without a sponsor and the year when Ronnie O’Sullivan made a comeback. While we are talking about sponsors, we must mention that in the last few years, most of the sponsors are popular bookmakers.
The Most Successful Snooker Players in this Tournament
Stephen Hendry, one of the best snooker players of all time is the player who has won the most Masters titles. He was victorious on 6 tournaments. He is followed by another legend in the field of snooker – Ronnie O’Sullivan with 5 titles. In addition, Paul Hunter, Cliff Thorburn and Mark Selby managed to win the title three times. None of these players won the tournament three times in a row which says a lot about the quality of these tournaments and why the fans are eagerly waiting for their start.
When it comes to maximum breaks, we should say that there were only three maximum breaks on all 40 editions of this tournament and none of them were achieved by UK players. Ding Junhui, Kirk Stevens and Marco Fu (last year) were the three players who achieved this interesting accomplishment.
Snooker Masters in Alexandra Palace
Starting from 2012, Alexandra Palace is the venue where these tournaments take place. For those who didn’t know, Alexandra Palace is an entertainment venue in London with long history. It was opened about 140 years ago. Neil Robertson is the only player who managed to win twice on this venue and according to many experts he has the chances to do this again this year. The sponsor of this year’s tournament just like the one before is Dafabet.
What makes this tournament more interesting is the fact that the rest of the players are not very consistent. Some passionate followers of this sport say that mark Selby, Kyren Wilson and Rory McLeod are in good form, but we will have to wait and see. Of course, as previously mentioned, this tournament is the place where the best snooker players in the world meet, so surprises are possible and none of the players comes with certain advantage over the others.
How to watch Snooker Masters in Alexandra Palace on BBC outside UK
As you are probably aware BBC and BBC iPlayer are available only on the territory of the United Kingdom. So, users that will try to access their iPlayer from another country will get a message that they are not allowed to watch the content. If you want to avoid situations like this and you want to watch the next Snooker Masters on BBC outside UK, use a VPN service provided by reputed company like zoogvpn.
Yaroslav S.CEO at ZoogVPN. Yaroslav is a versatile manager with extensive customer support experience. His historical background and a deep passion for philosophy perfectly complete a real desire to create meaningful content and tech products.
