Former Masters finalist Joe Perry fears this 12 months’s occasion may very well be overshadowed by an ongoing investigation into alleged match-fixing which has seen 10 Chinese gamers suspended from the world snooker tour.
Yan Bingtao, the 2021 winner, and Zhao Xintong relinquished their respective locations within the authentic 16-strong draw with the latter opting to not launch an attraction towards the choice this week.
David Gilbert and Hossein Vafaei have changed the Chinese duo on the match, which begins on Sunday at Alexandra Palace when defending champion Neil Robertson faces Shaun Murphy.
Perry, who reached the Masters ultimate in 2017 the place he was overwhelmed by Ronnie O’Sullivan, mentioned: “There is a pretty big elephant in the room at the moment and I think it will still be there until after at least the first couple of games.
“Hopefully the snooker is so good that it it gets put on the back burner and we don’t need to talk about it all week, but there is no doubt that it is a very serious issue that the game needs to address.”
Perry has backed calls from the likes of Murphy for all times bans to be handed out for these discovered responsible of match-fixing offences, however cautioned that leniency also needs to be proven if these involved are confirmed to have been uncovered to exterior affect.
“If it turns out they have done something out of pure greed and taken advantage of the system, then I’m all for a life ban, but I don’t think it is going to be that straightforward,” added Perry.
“If it shows that they have been under extreme pressure, there needs to be some kind of leniency. I don’t think you can just blanket-ban people who have been found guilty of match-fixing, because there may be circumstances surrounding it.”
Record seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, who begins his marketing campaign towards Luca Brecel on Monday, is favorite to select up one other crown however may very well be pushed by Robertson and a resurgent Mark Selby, contemporary from profitable the English Open in Brentwood final month.
“You always have to put Ronnie at the top of the pile,” mentioned Londoner Perry, who bought his first style of reside snooker when his dad took him to observe Jimmy White’s quarter-final win over Ray Reardon at Wembley Conference Centre in 1984.
“Ronnie has made it his tournament, it is close to home for him and he’s just made for the one-table set-up. But Neil has come close in recent tournaments and will be out to retain his title. I would be surprised if it wasn’t Ronnie or Neil at the end of the week.”
