Neil Robertson’s Masters win against Chris Wakelin could have led to a fortunate bettor securing a 17 million to one jackpot following a remarkable series of outcomes. The 43-year-old advanced to the second round of the tournament with a 6-2 victory on Wednesday.
While Robertson’s triumph alone may not seem unusual, when combined with the other first-round results, it created an exceptional string of scores. All eight initial matches in the competition concluded with the same 6-2 scoreline.
Chinese duo Xiao Guodong and Wu Yize defeated Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy, respectively, while Zhao Xintong moved past Gary Wilson. Mark Allen also claimed a 6-2 victory over Mark Williams.
The extraordinary sequence of results continued as John Higgins overcame Barry Hawkins, and Kyren Wilson defeated Si Jiahui. Wednesday’s matches concluded in a similar fashion, with Robertson triumphing over Wakelin.
Reflecting on his win, Robertson expressed, “I wasn’t even thinking about winning the match – I was thinking just win it 6-2. 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.”
According to Ladbrokes, an accumulator predicting the correct scores would have been offered odds exceeding 17 million to one. Judd Trump continued the trend with his own victory against Ding Junhui.
“I feel confident and have got to a few finals recently and it has taken some good players to stop me,” Trump stated. “I am full of confidence and hopefully I can go one better this tournament. I have had a month off tournaments but still been putting the work in.”
Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry was astonished by the series of results, noting, “It is phenomenal. You would normally at least three 6-5 scores because of the nature of the tournament. It has been incredible. After the interval, players have really stepped up.”
The Masters progresses with a doubleheader of quarter-final matches on Thursday. John Higgins faces Zhao Xintong, while Trump squares off against Allen in the evening session. Ladbrokes is offering odds of 400/1 for all quarter-finals to finish 6-2.
Reigning champion Shaun Murphy will not defend his title after being eliminated in the opening round.