PREVIEW: 2019 Shanghai Masters

This is the third time already we will be going to China this season. After the World Cup and the International Championship, we have the Shanghai Masters! After a successful first stint as a non-ranking event, it is back with the best sixteen players of the world and eight Chinese wildcards. And yes, Ronnie O’Sullivan is back for the first time this season to defend his title.

Already billed as the ‘Chinese Masters’ it has the makings of an amazing tournament. It has a fantastic history when it was a ranking event. The prize pot is a cool £725,000, with £200,000 going into the winner’s kitty. The semi-finals are a BO19 and the final a BO21. Also, Ronnie O’Sullivan.

What do we think of the Shanghai Masters as an invitational event?

However, I honestly don’t feel too excited about this event. Yes, it has a fantastic history but it was mangled beyond all proportions. It was one of the best ranking tournaments with a tiered qualifying format. The highlights included John Higgins scoring a maximum to beat Judd Trump 10-9 in 2012, despite being 5-0 and 7-2 down. Who could forget then-No.54 seed Kyren Wilson who won three qualifying matches, a wildcard round and five more matches to lift his first ranking title in 2015? Yet all of this was scrapped for a knock-off flat draw like every other ranking event. Then it was finally replaced with this revamped invitational event.

It felt to me that they chucked all of their history in the bin. It will definitely take me a few years to accept it, even though it has longer matches. Hell, I would be tempted to say the mess over the Shanghai Masters has upset me more than the confusion surrounding the Paul Hunter Classic. A number of professional players have complained of the increase of invitational events and decrease of ranking events recently. They claimed that these are protecting the Top 16 further by giving them greater opportunities for more wealth and playing time. This is the opposite effect players were hoping for.

Right no tournaments for 6 weeks now. Nearly a part time tour again 😂if anybody would like me to do an exhibition for cheap in your club give me a message or know somebody that may be interested give me a message cheers.
— Elliot Slessor (@sless147) August 18, 2019

Wildcards, Prizes and Invitational Places

As well as the Top 16, there are eight wildcards. They consist of the four highest ranking Chinese players, which are Yan Bingtao, Xiao Guodong, Lyu Haotian and Liang Wenbo. There are also two wildcards from the CBSA under-21 rankings (Zhao Jianbo and Wu Yize) and two from China’s Amateur Masters series (Zhang Yi and Cao Jin). Amateurs being in an invitational event is causing a bit of a stir, as some wonder whether other professional players should be invited instead to earn a living.

Not much is known about the Chinese amateurs. Zhao Jianbo lost 6-3 to Anthony McGill in the 2019 International Championship. However, some people are already aware of Wu Yize. The 15-year-old forced a decider against John Higgins in the 2019 International Championship, before losing 6-5. In the recent Six Reds World Championship in Thailand, he reached the knockout stages before being edged out against John Higgins at 6-4.

Anyways, there is now more at stake than a wonderful trophy and cash.

This is one of the last opportunities for one of the top players to get a spot in the Champion of Champions. In this draw, O’Sullivan, Trump, Allen, Wilson, Robertson, Higgins, Maguire, Bingham and Yan are already in that event.

This means there may be extra pressure on sportspeople such such Mark Selby, Mark Williams and Ding Junhui. Very exciting stuff here indeed. If an invited players wins this tournament, then 2019 World Women’s Snooker Champion Reanne Evans and 2019 World Seniors Champion Jimmy White will have a greater chance of getting into the Champion of Champions. John Higgins, who has already qualified, won the recent Six Reds World Championship. This means just one more repeat winner will mean Evans will qualify for the Champion of Champions.