Ronnie has booked his place in the 2023 Shanghai Masters final by beating Mark Selby by 10-7. It is Ronnie’s fourth consecutive Shanghai Masters Final.
Here are the scores:
As you can see, it was a high quality, hard fought match. Mark Selby was the better player for most of it and lead by 7-6 as they reached the last MSI … then Ronnie produced a sensational “run to the line”, winning four consecutive frames and finishing with two centuries.
Mark Selby edged ahead of Ronnie O’Sullivan after the first session of their Shanghai Masters semi-final, establishing a 5-4 lead.
Today’s encounter marks the return of one of snooker’s most significant rivalries, which has seen the pair face each other in finals at all three Triple Crown events. It’s the first time they have met on the circuit since Selby’s crushing 9-3 win in the 2020 Scottish Open final. However, O’Sullivan leads the head-to-head standings 16-11.
Selby, who won the Shanghai Masters in 2011, has his work cut out if he is to complete the job this evening. O’Sullivan is unbeaten in Shanghai since 2016, having won the previous three runnings of the event between 2017 and 2019.
The opening stages saw O’Sullivan take the first two frames, before Selby pegged him back by winning the third and the fourth to restore parity at 2-2 heading in for the mid-session break.
When play got back underway it was seven-time World Champion O’Sullivan who regained the lead, but he was again reeled back in by Selby after a break of 63 from the Leicester cueman made it 3-3.
The standard was then pushed up a notch when O’Sullivan fired in a century run of 113 to again regain the lead. However, it was Selby who ended the session with back-to-back breaks of 101 and 99 to take the last two frames and move ahead for the first time in the tie at 5-4.
Defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan scored a brilliant 10-7 win over Mark Selby to extend his unbeaten run at the Shanghai Masters and make a fourth consecutive final in the event.
The Rocket has now won 18 consecutive matches in the tournament and hasn’t lost in the city since a defeat to Michael Holt back in 2016. O’Sullivan is a four time Shanghai Masters winner and won all three of the most recent runnings of the event, between 2017 and 2019.
This was the first World Snooker Tour meeting between O’Sullivan and Selby for three years, since the pair met in the 2020 Scottish Open final. Selby scored a comprehensive 9-3 win on that occasion, but today’s result now sees O’Sullivan lead the head-to-head standings between the pair 17-11.
It has been a week where seven-time World Champion O’Sullivan has needed to dig deep to remain in the running. He trailed John Higgins 5-2, before triumphing 6-5 in the quarters and overcame moments of severe pressure throughout today’s match by Selby.
O’Sullivan now progresses to Sunday’s final, where he will face either World Champion Luca Brecel or Neil Robertson over the best of 21 frames. The victor will take home the title and the £210,000 top prize.
The afternoon session saw Selby emerge with a slender 5-4 lead. When play began in the evening they traded the first two frames, before O’Sullivan took the 12th on the pink to level up at 6-6.
Selby regained his lead in the 13th with a break of 77 and then looked set to move two clear for the first time in the match. However, a missed frame ball pink off the spot on 65 allowed O’Sullivan in and he ruthlessly cleared with a stunning break of 66 to restore parity at 7-7.
That proved to be a pivotal moment, with further runs of 69, 109 and 118 from the 39-time ranking event winner making it four frames on the bounce to secure a 10-7 win and a place in the final.
“The start of the match wasn’t so good. Until 6-5 and 6-6 I was struggling a bit. I tried to hang in there and made a little technical change. I thought I had to try something and find some form. I changed my alignment and my shoulder to get closed and more on line to control the white. It was difficult, but I was pleased to find some form at the end,” said 47-year-old O’Sullivan.
“I’ve learned so much over the years (on the mental side of the game), that I know what to do. It is just whether I can be bothered to do it all of the time. Sometimes it is hard to be giving 100% all of the time. I’ve been doing this for 40 years so you get tired and the motivation is not the same as when you are younger. I accept that and it does get harder to keep doing it.
“I’ll have some nice dim sum tomorrow and maybe go for hot pot with friends, watch the snooker on the TV and relax. I’m doing some filming for Tik Tok tomorrow. Everyone likes Tik Tok in China so I will have to do some filming tomorrow.”
My good friend Tai Chengzhe is at the venue and sent me those superb photos. Thank you Tai!
Here is the final frame, shared by ES on their YouTube Channel
And frame 15 with a bit of controversy … Ronnie was right and Mark Selby a good sport there.
Also some more pictures shared on social media, mainly by WST
9 thoughts on “The 2023 Shanghai Masters – SF1 – Ronnie beats Mark Selby by 10-7”
It would’ve been good though if Ronnie had got ranking points along those big two wins over Higgins and Selby. He has got a lot of points to come off at the end of the season.
That’s exactly where a ELO type rating system would help. Every match, provided it’s played in proper conditions and fairly could count towards rating without creating “fairness” issues.
I forgot about that proposal already. I agree, that could be very good indeed.
I didn’t think Selby was the better of the two, though it was disconcerting sometimes as Ronnie did all the hard work and left a good table for his opponent. Still I was afraid at 6-7 that Selby would run away with it, then that miss of frameball must have taken the stuffing out of him, he became truly erratic. Btw Ronnie’s counter-clearence/steal there from 65-0 was a thing of beauty.
yeah Ronnie made 3 centuries and won but somehow on this blog we still have to pretend that Selby was better
I’m not “pretending”. Selby had been the better player in the build-up of this semi-final and in the early stages of the match. Ronnie was happy to find some form after making some changes in his technique. That was a risk but it worked and he was the strongest of the two in the last mini-session, which I’m very happy about.
I didn’t see till 2-2, later watched the first 2 frames and both struggled there: Selby’s break-off in the 2nd frame was unbelievable. But in the afternoon session I thought Ronnie was better, but still might lose because of the odd miss. Good he found his groove. And a good competitive match.
At one point, Mark had made eight breaks over 50 while Ronnie had made only two. He really was the better player for a while. And two of those three centuries came in the very last frames. Yes, Ronnie was excellent in the last frames, starting with that beautiful steal, and serious throughout the game, but he could have been further behind at some point.
I think you should say more often that Ronnie is an underdog cos every time you say it he wins👍
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
It would’ve been good though if Ronnie had got ranking points along those big two wins over Higgins and Selby. He has got a lot of points to come off at the end of the season.
That’s exactly where a ELO type rating system would help. Every match, provided it’s played in proper conditions and fairly could count towards rating without creating “fairness” issues.
I forgot about that proposal already. I agree, that could be very good indeed.
I didn’t think Selby was the better of the two, though it was disconcerting sometimes as Ronnie did all the hard work and left a good table for his opponent. Still I was afraid at 6-7 that Selby would run away with it, then that miss of frameball must have taken the stuffing out of him, he became truly erratic. Btw Ronnie’s counter-clearence/steal there from 65-0 was a thing of beauty.
yeah Ronnie made 3 centuries and won but somehow on this blog we still have to pretend that Selby was better
I’m not “pretending”. Selby had been the better player in the build-up of this semi-final and in the early stages of the match. Ronnie was happy to find some form after making some changes in his technique. That was a risk but it worked and he was the strongest of the two in the last mini-session, which I’m very happy about.
I didn’t see till 2-2, later watched the first 2 frames and both struggled there: Selby’s break-off in the 2nd frame was unbelievable. But in the afternoon session I thought Ronnie was better, but still might lose because of the odd miss. Good he found his groove. And a good competitive match.
At one point, Mark had made eight breaks over 50 while Ronnie had made only two. He really was the better player for a while. And two of those three centuries came in the very last frames. Yes, Ronnie was excellent in the last frames, starting with that beautiful steal, and serious throughout the game, but he could have been further behind at some point.
I think you should say more often that Ronnie is an underdog cos every time you say it he wins👍