It was when Mark Williams and John Higgins re-emerged for their deciding frame in the quarter-finals, that you knew this was a snooker tournament like no other. The roar of the crowd was deafening, leaving Higgins to simply stand with his hands on the table, drinking it in, before breaking off in the final frame. Two players who have been around for some 30 years, and have just about seen everything in the game, could hardly contain their smiles of disbelief, so deafened were they by one of the most passionate atmospheres ever witnessed at a snooker tournament.
This was the 2022 Masters, an event where snooker truly stepped into the post-pandemic age with a welcome reminder of the intangible, spine-tingling quality that live crowds add to this sport.
There is something so unique about a snooker crowd — the way the violent roars descend to silence, before rising forth once more to a thunderous crescendo with every pot that crashes into the back of the pocket. It is almost orchestral.
The Masters has always been revered for the vociferous crowds that turn out en masse. Many have pined for the days when the tournament was held at the famous Wembley Conference Centre, where London lads Jimmy White and Ronnie O’Sullivan were cheered to memorable triumphs. It may have taken a while, but it finally feels as if Alexandra Palace is equalling Wembley in terms of the atmosphere generated.
The players responded in turn, not least on semi-final Saturday, where we saw two of the most memorable matches in Masters history. Williams looked to have done enough against Neil Robertson when he established a 5-3 lead, but the Australian defied the Betfair snooker betting odds by winning 6-5, having needed snookers in the decider.
Then Judd Trump and Barry Hawkins traded blows, the match see-sawing deliciously before it too reached a deciding frame. South-London native Hawkins, inspired by the raucous crowd on his side, produced a steely break to reach his first major final since 2018. You only needed to see his reaction to understand the effect the atmosphere had on a player who rarely gives anything away emotionally.
The stars aligned at Alexandra Palace to produce one of those weeks where everything falls into place. Superb performances, cracking matches, drama, atmosphere — it all came together to create the kind of tournament that can never be forgotten, blowing all the snooker betting predictions to smithereens.
Last year’s Masters was memorable in its own right, but the fact that the tournament was held behind closed doors in Milton Keynes stripped it of the glamour that an event of this magnitude and stature demands. All the more reason for this year’s crowd to truly revel in the joy of live snooker at one of London’s most iconic venues. The pandemic has made us appreciate things once taken for granted.
Alexandra Palace sits proudly atop a hill in the London Borough of Haringey. From there, the capital stretches out endlessly, receding faintly into the far horizon. It is the perfect location for the gathering of snooker’s best exponents, vying to climb their way to the top of the sport. All those present at the 2022 Masters will have felt something in the air up there — the realisation that snooker’s most prestigious invitational has found a perfect home forever.