Worldsnooker has this morning published this:

Friday 30 Jun 2017 09:47AM

World Snooker is currently in discussions with two different promoters in China about the ranking event to be staged from September 18 to 24.

The tournament, televised on CCTV, will either be the Shanghai Masters or the World Open in Yushan.  Both proposals from promoters, currently under discussion, are based on a flat draw of 128 players. As ever, our intention is to secure the best outcome for our players and fans.

This is the current position and we will confirm the location once discussions are complete. We will also then be in position to confirm the prize money breakdown for the whole 2017/18 season.

The qualifying round for this ranking event will take place at the Guild Hall in Preston on August 6 to 9.

So the “Shanghai Masters” as refered to in the calendar might not actually be the Shanghai Masters, it could be the World Open. And, in any case it would become a flat draw event. For me, it would really be a shame to scrap one of the oldest and best tournaments in China. Even if it stays in Shanghai, it will not be the same with its distinctive tiered structure gone.

There were other news too, albeit with less impact: the English Open will move from Manchester to Barnsley – not sure that will attract more viewers – and the Northern Ireland Open will move from the Titanic to the Waterfront in Belfast, so it’s back to one of the historic venue of the Northern Ireland Trophy. The two other Home Nations events will be at the same venues as last season, in Glasgow for the Scottish Open and Cardiff for the Welsh Open.