By Elliott West
Introduction
With the dawn of a new year and the start of the Masters only a week away, I thought it would be nice to give a personal account of my experiences at this tournament prestigious tournament. I never got to experience this event at the Wembley Conference Centre but from all the accounts, it was definitely a place that captured the thrills and drama of snooker action. A venue that I dearly would have liked to have visited but sadly is now just a snooker memory.
Thankfully the Masters has now found a new home at Alexandra Palace, an arena that grows by the year with more seating and luxurious entertainment, only halted by the grips of the current pandemic. Thankfully the doors will be open again to snooker fans and should be able to be played to a conclusion with strict covid restrictions in place.
My Masters’ Experiences
I first went to the Masters at Alexandra Palace about six years ago. It is a snooker outing that hits you as soon as you walk out of Wood Green tube station and take the W3 bus up the long and winding road to Alexandra Palace. Perhaps the cold, biting wind from the hill hits you before the venue itself but when you get there, you can’t escape the panoramic view that stretches as far the Post Office Tower in Central London and back to Muswell Hill.
Crossing the main road at the traffic lights and walking up a flight of stairs, you have to walk past the ice rink and bar, to get to the set of blue doors that stay firmly closed until
an hour before play begins. However, when they do finally open and your bags have been checked, you are struck by the bustling activity in the Palm Court hallway arena, where a mixture of fans, snooker staff, television crew and the odd player congregate. A place where you are encouraged to purchase a commentary earpiece or Masters programme.
The Player’s Lounge
One of the highlights of my Masters’ experiences has to be getting a pass to go into the player’s lounge. A room that houses all the greats of the game, players, coaches and really anyone who is anyone in snooker. This is a place where you can network with the snooker elite over a cup of tea or coffee and the sponsor usually has a snooker table set up in the room for people to practice on. The last time I went, I potted a cracking long red on it.
I do have to pinch myself sometimes in that I am privileged enough to walk in such hallowed steps and get to see the perspectives of snooker as a fan and as a recognised snooker writer. Nothing beats going to live snooker and it is very different to watching it on television. The buzz disappears when you switch the channel at the end of a match but it lingers until the next, especially at such a special tournament as the Masters.
The Venue
The hall itself where the snooker is played is an experience itself. Funnelled into the arena by an army of stewards via various entrances depending on your ticket number, you have to find your way to your seat and usually don’t get to sit down straight away as you get to experience a Mexican wave as people constantly make you get up to get across to their seats in your row.
The table, surrounded by lights and monitors on rigging above the table, provide a televised and live experience. One that can only be described when experienced. You get to see the players that you have admired for years on a one table set-up that is only reserved for the cream of the crop, the top 16 players of the time.
Whether you attend for the afternoon or evening sessions or both, this is the best UK venue to attend, second only to the Crucible or the German Masters at the Tempodrom, which I was lucky enough to go to several years ago. The applause of the audience is impressive at Alexandra Palace and resonates around the grounds of this former broadcasting establishment, where the BBC was literally devised. Silence is often interrupted by vocal support for their player from the audience, kept in check by the stern look of the referee and his complex body language.
The Masters is a tournament that you have to go to if you haven’t already been and once experienced, a place you will return to on multiple occasions. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, gripped by the drama and where you get to experience the best matches, worth every penny of the ticket that you purchased for it. For a week each January, snooker fans make their pilgrimage to this hallowed ground, for a glimpse of their players and if lucky enough, the odd selfie or prized autograph. The experience is so memorable and one that is treasured in your fond memories.
