Over Christmas, Mark Selby wins the first of two exhibition events in Macau.

Mark Selby has emerged victorious from the rescheduled Macau exhibition tournament that sparked so much controversy earlier this season.

Because Selby, Ali Carter, John Higgins, Luca Brecel, and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh were scheduled to play the exhibition at the Northern Ireland Open in October, it created a stir early in the season.

The World Snooker Tour expressed displeasure with five players who withdrew from a ranking tournament to participate in a lucrative exhibition in Macau, citing them as violators of their player contracts and warning them of potential sanctions.

After Barry Hawkins was added to the original schedule for the Macau event, it was moved to December 22–24. Selby defeated Carter 6-3 in the championship match.

There was much of high scoring, as one might anticipate from an exhibition event. Selby defeated John Higgins in the semifinals with a score of 147, while Higgins defeated Hawkins in the group stage with a maximum.

The first of two exhibition events taking place in the area during the Christmas season is this one, with the second Macau Masters taking place at the Wynn Palace from December 25 to 29.

Ronnie O’Sullivan, Ding Junhui, Judd Trump, Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson, Si Jiahui, Jack Lisowski, and Marco Fu are among the heavyweight competitors in that tournament.

Since the players’ only chance to earn a welcome festive wedge at the expensive exhibitions is all that’s at stake in these tournaments, none of the outcomes really matter.

Following Christmas, the major circuit will be back in action with the Championship League from January 2–5, followed by the Masters at Alexandra Palace on January 7–8, which is the true 2024 curtain-raiser.