Just like last year, Kyren Wilson proved to be too strong for Ronnie in Shanghai: he beat him by 6-4 in front of a good crowd.

Here is the report shared by WST:

Shanghai Masters Day Two

Defending champion Kyren Wilson got his season underway in earnest with a superb 6-4 win over seven-time Crucible King Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Shanghai Masters. 

Wilson captured the title here in Shanghai 12 months ago, beating Ali Carter 11-9 in a fiercely contested final. The Warrior went on to win a momentous maiden Masters crown later on in the campaign. Despite those invitational successes, Wilson didn’t progress beyond the quarter-finals of any ranking events during the season.

Away from the table, he and his family have endured a difficult summer after their home was burgled. Wilson has brought his wife Sophie and children Finley and Bailey to Shanghai this week, and they were there to watch him produce an outstanding display against snooker’s greatest player.

With 34-year-old Wilson leading 3-1 at the mid-session interval, it was the Rocket who then came out flying. Three consecutive century runs of 100, 111 and 141 saw O’Sullivan wrest the lead from his English compatriot. 

Wilson restored parity, before a sublime 79, with the balls in difficult positions, moved him to the verge at 5-4. He powered over the line with 97 in the tenth. Next up it is three-time World Champion Mark Williams, who overcame Chris Wakelin in a 6-5 thriller. 

Wilson said: “It is always great playing in Shanghai and somebody of the class of Ronnie O’Sullivan. You know the crowd are going to come out in their numbers when he is playing. It inspires me and makes me want to play snooker. I have my kids with me and I wanted to show them how amazing snooker is out here. I hope they enjoyed that one. 

“It has been really tough off the table, not just on me but on all of the family. That is life. You have to move on and you have to deal with it. Coming into this tournament it has been nice to just play snooker again and get that noise out of my head. It is never going to go away completely but playing in front of such a wonderful crowd in Shanghai makes you appreciate being a snooker player.“

Australia’s Neil Robertson won an epic clash with China’s Xiao Guodong 6-5 to seal his place in the quarter-finals. 

The Thunder from Down Under was on the brink of falling at his first hurdle when he trailed Xiao, who made a stunning 147 in the third frame, by a 5-2 scoreline.

2010 World Champion Robertson dug deep and made breaks of 115 and 62 en route to sealing four consecutive frames and a narrow victory, earning a meeting with either Ding Junhui or Zhao Xintong.

Afterwards he elaborated on having created his own language to enable him to have a technical checklist in his cue case, which opponents won’t be able to read. 

“It is like with golfers and swing thoughts. I have a little code where I write down a few things. If I miss a few long balls I’ll look at it and think what I’m not doing. Nobody has any chance of being able to decode that. It is a language that only I can understand,” said 44-year-old Robertson. 

“I’ve played Ding quite a few times in China and Xintong was the player of the season last year. Ding will be motivated by the other Chinese players winning tournaments as well and want to stay with them. It is going to be a fantastic match between them.”

World number one Judd Trump beat Barry Hawkins 6-4 to set up a tie with either age-old rival John Higgins or close friend Jack Lisowski. The latter came through a first round meeting with Zhang Anda this morning, holding off a fightback and winning 6-4 after leading 5-0. 

China’s Si Jiahui overcame Pang Junxu 6-4 and his reward is a showdown with compatriot and current World Champion Wu Yize, who will be making his first appearance since winning the sport’s biggest event back in May.

Here are the scores for Ronnie’s match

All the detailed results are on snooker.org as usual.

Bac to back centuries from Ronnie

And the last frame:

Both videos shared by WST on YouTube.

Unfortunately … I’m not surprised. Ronnie recently said that after two hours of practise he needs to rest for three hours. If that’s true, he’s not going to be able to stay at his best in longer matches. Today he made three consecutive centuries, then scored only ten points in the last three frames. Maybe I read too much in this outcome ? … or maybe not? What is obvious to me is that Ronnie isn’t physically fit at the moment. He’s has put weight on … too much of it. Staying fit becomes more difficult as one ages, it’s normal as the metabolism slows down, but … it’s not great. It certainly doesn’t help if you are a professional sportsperson.

Don’t get me wrong, Kyren is a top player and I’m not trying to downplay his merit. I’m just seeing a pattern forming … a pattern I don’t like. But then, no matter how hard we try or how much we want it, none of us can go on forever. Time waits for no one. At nearly 72, I know that only too well …

And Xiao Guodong made a 147 …

It’s Xiao fourth career 147. it came in frame 3. It’s the 246th maximum in professional snooker and already the fifth this season.

Yesterday, Ronnie beat Liu Linhao, a young wildcard, by 6-1 but it wasn’t as straightforward as the score suggests and Ronnie was full of praise for his young opponent afterwards.

Here is the report shared by WST:

Shanghai Masters Day One

Seven-time Crucible King Ronnie O’Sullivan got his season underway with a 6-1 win over wildcard Liu Linhao at the Shanghai Masters, before declaring that the 2028 World Championship is likely to be his last.

…

The Rocket, who turned 50 last December, stated earlier this year that a potentially record breaking eighth world title was the target for the rest of his career. An epic 13-12 loss at the hands of old rival John Higgins in this year’s event put paid to his chances of achieving that in 2025. 

Talented 18-year-old wildcard Liu was making his World Snooker Tour debut and showcased his potential during the game, including a fine break of 88 to make it 1-1. However, unforced errors crept in and his illustrious opponent punished with runs of 73, 71, 75 and 55 to get over the line and book a mouth watering meeting with defending champion Kyren Wilson.

“I’d love to win another World Championship. I have two attempts at it. If I can find a bit of cueing or some form at Sheffield you never know. If I don’t do it this year or the next it will definitely never happen. I’m happy with my career and how things have gone. I want to enjoy these next two years. I’ll reassess in 2028 and if things are really going well, you can maybe extend it. I have to be realistic though,” said 41-time ranking event winner O’Sullivan.

“I’m 50 now and if I play for two hours I then have to lie down for two or three hours. It is very hard for me. Ok, you don’t have to run around a football pitch but mentally you have to concentrate. When you are younger you can do that for hour upon hour. 

“At the start of the game I thought he wasn’t very good. He had a couple of chances and missed them. Once he started cueing and potting balls I realised this kid is definitely one for the future. He is a phenomenal cueist. I can’t cue the ball like these guys. They are incredible these young Chinese players. 

“I’m glad I’m at the end of my career and I don’t have to face them. They are like machines. There are the obvious ones like Wu Yize, Ding and Zhao Xintong, but there are just so many incredible players now.“

Chinese legend Ding Junhui blitzed to a 6-2 win over wildcard Yao Dongcheng to book a blockbuster showdown with 2025 World Champion Zhao Xintong. 

Ding put on a break building masterclass, with four century runs of 103, 125, 140 and 108 to sweep aside his inexperienced counterpart. 

Next up the 39-year-old will face a far sterner test. He’s lost his last three meetings with Zhao, including at this event last year and most recently at the World Championship. 

Zhou Yuelong came back from the brink to overhaul four-time World Champion Mark Selby 6-5 in a tremendous contest. Consecutive runs of 91, 113 and 112 put Selby 5-4 ahead from 4-2 down. However, Zhou hammered in contributions of 83 and 107 to take the last two and book a last 16 tie with Shaun Murphy. 

Xiao Guodong beat Xu Jiarui 6-5 and progresses to face Neil Robertson, while a 6-0 win over Tang Hewen for Chris Wakelin sees him go on to play Mark Williams.

And here are the detailed scores for Ronnie’s match:

As you can see, Liu actually made the highest break of that match, a match that fearured no century.

Hereafter two videos shared on Youtube, by WST and TNT respectively. They feature the first and the last frames of the match.

Today, Ronnie will face Kyren Wilson and he will need to play better if he is to go deep in the tournament.

All the results are, of course, available on snooker.org.

The only surprise yesterday was the elimination of Mark Selby … if it can be branded a surprise at at all because his opponent, Zhou Yuelong, is a quality player. Between them they scored eleven breaks over 80, mind you, including four centuries.

The 2026 Shanghai Masters will start tomorrow. This is an invitational event now, with a field of 24 players: the current top 16, the next highest ranked Chinese players and four wildcards.

As usual, you will find the draw, and results when they come, on snooker.org.

The top 8 seeds will start in round 2, bur Ronnie, seeded 13th, will start in round 1 against Liu Linhao, a wildcard player. His match is scheduled in the evening session, i.e afternoon for us in Europe. Ronnie has arrived in Shanghai.

As did his friend Zhao Xintong

And the traditional group picture …

John Higgins expressed his views on Ronnie’s persistent use of the “old” chalk, and here is what he had to say, as reported by Phil Haigh:

John Higgins says Ronnie O’Sullivan uses ‘brutal’ tactic to ‘put everybody off’

John Higgins reckons Ronnie O’Sullivan only uses his controversial chalk of choice to put his opponents off their game.

A topic that could scare potential snooker fans off the sport for good, but chalk was a big talking point at the World Championship this year.

O’Sullivan still chalks his cue with a brand that used to be widely used but now almost all players have moved away from.

The vast majority of professionals now use Finnish brand Taom, which has largely eliminated kicks from the game and does not get into the cloth as much.

A kick is a poor contact between two balls, made more common by some types of chalk, which can see the object ball move at an unexpected angle.

They are nightmarish for players but the Rocket is sticking to his guns, which Higgins reckons is just a tactic to unsettle his opponents.

The Wizard of Wishaw reckons O’Sullivan – as the best to ever do it – feels he can handle the conditions better than anyone else, so is happy to wind his opponent up with the controversial chalk.

It was well-documented at the Crucible that O’Sullivan uses a different chalk to everybody else. It’s brutal,’ Higgins said on Not Another Football Podcast.

‘But I think he does it to just put everybody else off when he doesn’t need to, but it’s just a wee thing in the head because he knows it messes with our heads.’

Higgins beat O’Sullivan 13-12 in the second round at the Crucible this year, with the Scot experiencing the chalk situation first hand over 25 frames.

‘It’s a nightmare with kicks,’ he said. ‘The very last shot, I potted a red and I was just rolling through for the black and I’ve got a massive kick and I think I shouted “Oh my God” because your head’s gone into a jam jar.

‘I think he does it because he’s got the best cue ball out of anybody so he can override all these little kicks. So it’s as if he’s like, “right, try and deal with this while I can deal with my own.”

‘It might not be. Listen, I’ve never sat down and asked him the question. Well, I think we have sometimes, but he just thinks with that chalk he gets more grip on the cue ball, that’s what he says. He says he’s tried all the chalk you are using and he feels as if he miscues more. That’s what he says.’

Former world champion Neil Robertson was very outspoken about O’Sullivan’s chalk at the Crucible this year, calling for a ban on it.

‘Ban that crap, please!’ Robertson said after beating Chris Wakelin in the second round of the World Championship. ‘All the players hate it, it destroys the game. You get kicks, you get bounces. Not only that, it makes an absolute mess of the table.

‘I know he [O’Sullivan] is good friends with Damien Hirst, but it’s like he’s doing artwork with chalk all over the cloth.’

The Australian, though, did not have the same view as Higgins as he does not reckon the Rocket does it to bother his opponent.

‘I don’t think he does it to put off anyone, he’s not that way inclined at all, but it’s not great,’ said Robertson. ‘It’s hard enough to play Ronnie O’Sullivan, but he’s the only player, just about, on tour who uses that chalk. Hopefully they bring in a ban, but there’s only a couple of players who use it.’

After beating O’Sullivan in April, Higgins said: ‘He uses the other chalk, so that’s what makes the table play a little bit bouncy and it’s all messy and different things, so it’s tough to play against, but you’ve just got to try and get it out of your mind.

‘Why wouldn’t you take the advantage when you have got a better cue ball control than every other player?

‘So why wouldn’t you have that advantage? Because if you’re going in at a level playing field, everybody’s using the same chalk, no chalk marks, everything, it maybe gives players more chance of beating them.

…

I’m not a snooker player, I’m absolutely useless at it … still there is something here that I honestly do not understand. Ronnie is a perfectionist, nobody who knows him will tell you differently. He’s a rather anxious person who likes to be “in control of the situation”, be it at the table or away from it. Also, as Neil said, he’s not the type of person who would do something just to annoy his opponents. So, if he feels that with the traditional chalk he gets more grip on the cue ball, and more control on how much spin/side he wants to use on the shot, then his choice is the logical one. When everyone used the “old” chalk, it was often mentioned by commentators how Ronnie got statistically significantly less kicks that nearly every other player. He was playing under the same conditions, right? Why would that be the case if kicks are purely “accidents” caused by chalk residue and never the result of imperfect cueing? It makes no sense to me.

It would be interesting to know what chalk “3-cushions” players use. That game is extremely skilful and it’s all about spin, side and control. Of course there may be other factors. The cloth they use is probably different, probably thicker. The cushions probably react differently as well , but…

If you don’t know what 3-cushions is … here goes

Enjoy!