The World Snooker Tour heads to mainland China for the first time since 2019 next month for the 2023 Shanghai Masters, with Ronnie O’Sullivan defending the title against snooker’s biggest stars.
The invitation event will run from September 11 to 17 at the Grand Stage in Shanghai. It’s a field of 24 players, comprising the world’s top 16, the next four highest ranked Chinese players, and four wild cards. The names of the wild cards players will be announced by August 19, following the completion of the CBSA Under-21 event.
New World Champion Luca Brecel will open against either Mark Williams or Pang Junxu, while Judd Trump will meet either close friend Jack Lisowski or Zhou Yuelong.
All matches up to and including the quarter-finals are best of 11 frames, with the semi-finals best of 19 and then the final will be best of 21.
Details of how to watch the event will be announced soon. Snooker’s return to China will continue with two ranking events – the Wuhan Open in October and the International Championship in Tianjin City in November.
Shanghai Masters prize money:
Winner £210,000 Runner-up: £105,000 Semi-finals: £70,000 Quarter-finals: £35,000 Last 16: £17,500 Last 24: £10,000 High Break: £10,000 Total £825,000
The CBSA under-21 Event mentioned by WST is the same event Lewis wrote about in the comments section of the 2023 CBSA Team Event final day post.
Ronnie hasn’t a particularly easy draw to say the least. OK, he starts in the last 16 but there he will probably meet Ali Carter a player he doesn’t particularly like to play. Should he reach the QFs, he could face John Higgins, and should he reach the SFs, Judd Trump or Mark Selby… This is an elite event and there are no really easy draws of course.
The 2023 Wine Cellars Women Snooker US Open – Day 1
Jamie Hunter is the defending champions. She and all favourites won all their matches yesterday. The current HB is a 121 scored by On Yee Ng.
Table 1 is streamed on this page and commentary is provided by David Burney and Christian Youngers. If you missed anything you will be able to watch it back on the OxBilliards YouTube page. Yes… even last year event.
I really enjoy their commentary style. For a start they are kind and positive. They know it’s a hard game. They react to good shots with “oh!”, “ah!” and “wow!” aplenty. they clearly enjoy what they see and it is contagious. They tell us a bit about the US and Canadian players… wishing to see more of those Canadians “coming down here” as they say. BTW the ladies are not wearing trousers… no, no, no … they are wearing slacks 😉.
The club looks really lovely, a bit old-fashion. If I understood correctly the players are playing on Star tables, fitted to pro competition standards, and freshly recovered ahead of this event.
The action will continue today… this evening that is for us Europeans.
Here are some images shared on social media by WPBSA
The 900 Qualifiers Week Two starts today
By the end of the week-end, two more players will have booked their spot in the main event.
All the action is streamed on SportyStuffTV YouTube page. If you missed last week-end action it’s there too.
4 thoughts on “News: 2023 Shanghai Masters, 2023 Women Snooker US Open News & The 900 Qualifiers Week 2.”
Yes, the reason for the depleted field can only be travel costs. After the 4 semi-finalists, the next highest player in the women’s rankings is Jaique Ip, at No.30. Reanne Evans and Siripaporn Nuantakhamjan are in their first year of a 2-year card, so don’t need the WWS ranking points, and Bai Yulu is has been involved in events in China and Russia. It would be unfortunate if the women’s tour simply became qualification events for the WST tour places.
I agree Lewis, it would be a shame, and that’s why I try to promote this event a bit more than other women events. The OX Billiards Club puts a fantastic effort in this event: tables to professional standard, streaming, commentary involving the players. They regularly remind the fans who watch the stream that they are welcome to head to the club, watch everything close-up and meet the players. The chat with Maryann was lovely. They are in Seattle, not far from the Canadian border and Vancouver is just on the other side of it. They are are tirelessly trying to get more Canadian players interested, reminding them that they have a glorious history in snooker. High potential women players must try and play on the main tour eventually, but the women tour is a safe and friendly place for young girls to start and get involved in competition. It has an important purpose and must be supported.
I truly enjoyed Mink. The opponent was unremarkable, so of course, safety exchange and getting in are incomparable to the main tour, but she cued and potted beautifully. Playing like this would certainly win her more matches, than she did so far.
Thoroughly enjoying the event especially the commentary, quirky knowledgeable and respectful. Well done Ox Billiardd and the team.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Yes, the reason for the depleted field can only be travel costs. After the 4 semi-finalists, the next highest player in the women’s rankings is Jaique Ip, at No.30. Reanne Evans and Siripaporn Nuantakhamjan are in their first year of a 2-year card, so don’t need the WWS ranking points, and Bai Yulu is has been involved in events in China and Russia. It would be unfortunate if the women’s tour simply became qualification events for the WST tour places.
I agree Lewis, it would be a shame, and that’s why I try to promote this event a bit more than other women events. The OX Billiards Club puts a fantastic effort in this event: tables to professional standard, streaming, commentary involving the players. They regularly remind the fans who watch the stream that they are welcome to head to the club, watch everything close-up and meet the players. The chat with Maryann was lovely. They are in Seattle, not far from the Canadian border and Vancouver is just on the other side of it. They are are tirelessly trying to get more Canadian players interested, reminding them that they have a glorious history in snooker. High potential women players must try and play on the main tour eventually, but the women tour is a safe and friendly place for young girls to start and get involved in competition. It has an important purpose and must be supported.
I truly enjoyed Mink. The opponent was unremarkable, so of course, safety exchange and getting in are incomparable to the main tour, but she cued and potted beautifully. Playing like this would certainly win her more matches, than she did so far.
Thoroughly enjoying the event especially the commentary, quirky knowledgeable and respectful. Well done Ox Billiardd and the team.