Many of the Shanghai Masters lineup for the 2023 draw has been confirmed with Ronnie O’Sullivan lastly trying to defend his title in China.
As soon as a staple of the annual schedule, the event hasn’t been performed since earlier than the pandemic.
O’Sullivan triumphed when it was final staged in 2019, beating Shaun Murphy 11-9 within the last a yr after he overcame Barry Hawkins by the identical margin.
Beforehand labeled as a rating event, which O’Sullivan additionally received twice, the Shanghai Masters’ standing was modified to an invitational in 2018.
Roll of honour
Rating Occasion
2007: Dominic Dale
2008: Ricky Walden
2009: Ronnie O’Sullivan
2010: Ali Carter
2011: Mark Selby
2012 John Higgins
2013: Ding Junhui
2014: Stuart Bingham
2015: Kyren Wilson
2016: Ding Junhui
2017: Ronnie O’Sullivan
Invitational Occasion
2018: Ronnie O’Sullivan
2019: Ronnie O’Sullivan
Because the reigning champion, O’Sullivan would be the prime seed within the 2023 Shanghai Masters draw.
There will likely be 24 gamers in whole invited to participate subsequent month, comprising the present prime 16 on the earth rankings, the following 4 highest-ranked Chinese language cueists, and 4 younger Chinese language wildcards.
The highest eight seeds will obtain a bye via to the final 16, with the remaining contenders drawn in opposition to one another in spherical one.
O’Sullivan awaits the winner of the encounter between Ali Carter and one of many wildcards, who will likely be chosen following an upcoming CBSA Tour under-21 occasion in China.
World champion and quantity two seed Luca Brecel, in the meantime, will face both Mark Williams or Pang Junxu.
Mark Allen, Judd Trump, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, and Kyren Wilson make up the remaining eight seeds.
The standout draw within the first spherical of the Shanghai Masters is an all-Chinese language conflict between Ding Junhui and Si Jiahui.
Boasting a complete prize fund of £825,000 the place the champion is ready to earn an enormous sum price £210,000, it’s assured to be a keenly contested week of motion.
Including to its status is an extended format than a whole lot of different occasions on the calendar, with best-of-11 matches for the primary three rounds.
The last-four stage will then be performed over 19 frames earlier than a 21-frame title decider.
The event runs from September eleventh to September seventeenth on the Shanghai Grand Stage.
2023 Shanghai Masters draw
Final 24
Ali Carter (11) vs Wildcard
John Higgins (10) vs Wildcard
Hossein Vafaei (16) vs Wildcard
Jack Lisowski (13) vs Zhou Yuelong
Gary Wilson (14) vs Fan Zhengyi
Ding Junhui (15) vs Si Jiahui
Robert Milkins (12) vs Wildcard
Mark Williams (9) vs Pang Junxu
Final 16
Ronnie O’Sullivan (1) vs Carter/Wildcard
Kyren Wilson (8) vs Higgins/Wildcard
Mark Selby (5) vs Vafaei/Wildcard
Judd Trump (4) vs Lisowski/Zhou
Mark Allen (3) vs G.Wilson/Fan
Neil Robertson (6) vs Ding/Si
Shaun Murphy (7) vs Milkins/Wildcard
Luca Brecel (2) vs Williams/Pang
Featured photograph credit score: WST