The 2023 European Masters (officially the 2023 BetVictor European Masters) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 22 to 27 August 2023 at the in Nuremberg, Germany, the first time that the main stage of a professional ranking event was held in that city. The 25th edition of the European Masters, it was the second ranking event of the 2023–24 snooker season, following the Championship League and preceding the British Open. It was the second of eight tournaments in the season's European Series. The event featured a prize fund of £427,000, with the winner receiving £80,000.
Qualifying took place from 25 to 29 July 2023 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England, although qualifying matches involving the top eight ranked players were held over and played in Nuremberg. The world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan withdrew for medical reasons.
Kyren Wilson was the defending champion, having defeated Barry Hawkins 9–3 in the final of the previous season's event, but he lost 3–5 to John Higgins in the quarter-finals. Hawkins reached a second consecutive European Masters final, where he defeated Judd Trump 9–6 to win his fourth ranking title. It was his first ranking title since the 2017 World Grand Prix, following four consecutive defeats in ranking finals. He re-entered the top 16 in the world rankings after the tournament, moving up from 19th to 13th place.
A total of 50 century breaks were made during the main stage, and a further 41 in qualifying. Sean O'Sullivan made the tournament's highest break, a maximum break in his qualifying match against Hawkins.
Format
The 2023 European Masters was a professional ranking snooker tournament played between 22 and 27 August 2023 at the in Nuremberg, Germany. The 25th edition of the European Masters tournament—first held as the 1989 European Open—the tournament was the second world ranking event of the 2023–24 season, following the Championship League and preceding the British Open. It was the second of eight tournaments in the season's European Series, which carries a £150,000 bonus for the player who earns the most prize money across the series. Matches were played as the best of nine until the semi-finals, which were best of 11. The final was a best-of-17-frame match played over two . Kyren Wilson was the defending champion, having defeated Barry Hawkins 9–3 in the final of the previous event.
The tournament marked the first time that the final stages of a professional ranking event had been held in Nuremberg. The event was broadcast on Eurosport across Europe. In China, the event was broadcast on Superstar online, Liaoning TV, Migu, Youku and Huya Live. It was also broadcast on Premier Sports in the Philippines; on Now TV in Hong Kong; on True Vision in Thailand; and on Astro SuperSport in Malaysia and Brunei. In all other locations, the event was broadcast by Matchroom Sport.
Prize fund
The event featured a prize fund of £427,000, with the winner receiving £80,000. The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:
Winner: £80,000
Runner-up: £35,000
Semi-final: £17,500
Quarter-final: £11,000
Last 16: £7,500
Last 32: £4,500
Last 64: £3,000
Highest break: £5,000
Total: £427,000
Summary
Qualifying round
Qualifying for the event took place between 25 and 29 July at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England. The 12th seed Robert Milkins was defeated by Ben Woollaston, 14th seed Gary Wilson was defeated by Ben Mertens, and 15th seed Ryan Day was defeated by Zak Surety. Additionally, the 17th seed Anthony McGill, 27th seed Matthew Selt, and 30th seed Fan Zhengyi were defeated by Dominic Dale, Anthony Hamilton, and Lyu Haotian, respectively. Sean O'Sullivan made his first maximum break in professional competition against Barry Hawkins, but lost the match.
Qualifying matches featuring the top eight ranked players were played in Nuremberg on 22 August. Graeme Dott was scheduled to play eighth seed Shaun Murphy, but he withdrew for personal reasons and was replaced in the draw by Steven Hallworth. World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan withdrew for medical reasons and his opponent, Andy Hicks, received a bye to the last 64. Seventh seed Neil Robertson lost 3–5 to Wu Yize.