Trump & Murphy Seeking Their Maiden Masters Crown

Two of snooker's box office attractions begin their quest for a maiden Masters crown

With potting sensation Judd Trump and UK Championship finalist Shaun Murphy entering the fray at the Alexandra Palace on Tuesday.

Tournament favourite Judd Trump gets proceedings underway in the afternoon session as he takes on fellow left-hander Barry Hawkins in a best of 11 clash from 1300 GMT.

The 23-year-old will be determined to make up for the disappointment of his shock first round exit at the hands of Mark Joyce in the UK Championship last month as he makes only his second appearance at the Masters.

Trump, who reached the semi-final stages of the prestigious invitational tournament at his first attempt last year, holds the event in high regard, telling the media last week, ‘The Masters is massive. I would say it’s the second biggest event. In terms of atmosphere, and crowd wise, there’s nothing bigger apart from the world championship.

‘Wembley was a decent venue but it was really big. Alexandra Palace is great. I think every session was nearly sold out last year, which was really good.

‘And if you look at the winners of the last six or seven years, all the top players have won it.

‘I really want to win this. It would be a big thing for me in my career.’

He takes on the in-form Barry Hawkins who has made huge strides since his last appearance at the tournament several years ago. 'The Hawk' won two televised titles in 2012 - the Shoot-out and the Australian Goldfields Open - and with both players boasting an attacking style of play, we should be in for an excellent encounter.

Tuesday's other clash sees Shaun Murphy take on Ricky Walden in the evening session.

The ever consistent Murphy narrowly lost out to Mark Selby in the final of the UK Championship in December and will be hoping to go one better than his runner-up finish at the Ally Pally last year.

The 30-year-old admitted ahead of his campaign that he is desperate to join the exclusive list of seven players in the history of snooker to win the sport's Triple Crown (UK Championship, The Masters and World Championship).

Murphy told reporters “The Masters is the only current one of the big three tournaments that I have not won and I would absolutely love it if I could complete that Grand Slam set - very few people have managed to do that.”

And he'll be confident of getting off to a winning start against Walden, who has struggled for form of late despite a flying start to the season.

Brendan O'Neill writes for Live-Tennis.com an award-winning tennis, news and live stream website.