Mark Selby enjoyed a win on his festive trip to Macau (Picture: Getty Images)
The rearranged Macau exhibition event, which caused so much controversy earlier this season, has been won by Mark Selby.
The exhibition caused a stir earlier in the campaign as Selby, Ali Carter, John Higgins, Luca Brecel and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh were due to play it during the Northern Ireland Open in October.
World Snooker Tour were not happy with five players pulling out of a ranking event in favour of playing a lucrative exhibition in Macau, telling them that they would be in breach of their players’ contract if they did and should expect punishment.
The Macau event was rearranged to run from 22-24 December instead, with Barry Hawkins also included, and Selby has emerged as the winner, beating Carter 6-3 in the final.
As you might expect in an exhibition tournament there was no shortage of heavy scoring, with Selby making a 147 in his semi-final win over John Higgins and Higgins knocking in a maximum in his group stage win over Hawkins.
It is the first of two exhibition events played in the region over Christmas, with a second Macau Masters played at the Wynn Palace from 25-29 December.
It is another heavyweight line-up for that tournament, with Ronnie O’Sullivan, Ding Junhui, Judd Trump, Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson, Si Jiahui, Jack Lisowski and Marco Fu involved.
None of the results matter much as nothing of importance is on the line in the events, just the chance for the players to earn a welcome festive wedge at the lucrative exhibitions.
Action on the main tour resumes after Christmas with the Championship League from 2-5 January before the real curtain-raiser for 2024, the Masters at Alexandra Palace, beginning on 7 January.
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The Jester had the last laugh in Macau.