The qualifying round for the 2023 International Championship started yesterday in Ponds Forge, Sheffield. This is the first time this season that fans have the opportunity to watch qualifying matches live. The matches are best of 11, which is a nice change from the best of 7 that has become the norm in most UK events.

Here is the report by WST on what happened yesterday:

Hawkins Scores Whitewash To Earn Tianjin Place

Barry Hawkins continued his superb start to the season by beating Andrew Pagett 6-0 to qualify for the final stages of the International Championship.

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The qualifying round in Sheffield runs until Saturday this week, with all winners going through to Tianjin in China in November.

Hawkins captured the BetVictor European Masters title in Germany last month and is now on a streak of ten consecutive wins. He needed just 85 minutes to beat Pagett with top breaks of 52, 59 and 103.

Ryan Day made the fourth 147 of his career, as well as a 128, during a 6-1 victory over Mink Nutcharut. Ross Muir scored an impressive 6-3 defeat of Wu Yize, knocking in runs of 51, 92, 51, 68 and 112.

Jordan Brown recovered a 5-2 deficit to beat Sean O’Sullivan 6-5, taking a 35-minute deciding frame by potting brown, blue and pink.

Tian Pengfei came from 2-0 down to beat Stephen Hendry 6-3, while Stephen Maguire top scored with 80 in a 6-2 success against Peng Yisong. Long Zehuang came from 5-3 down to edge out Yuan Sijun 6-5, making breaks of 102 and 89 in the last three frames.

Matthew Selt recovered from the loss of the opening frame to beat Jimmy White 6-1, while Robbie Williams top scored with 135 in a 6-3 defeat of Ben Mertens.

One of the highlights of the day was … Day’s 147.

Day Makes Sheffield Maximum

Ryan Day crafted the fourth 147 break of his career during a clash with Thailand’s Mink Nutcharut at International Championship qualifying in Sheffield.

Welshman Day made the break in the fourth frame of the match to move 3-1 ahead. Day has now compiled two perfect breaks in 2023, having also made a 147 during last season’s Tour Championship.

It’s the 191st official maximum in snooker history and the second to be made this season, following Sean O’Sullivan’s 147 at European Masters qualifying. The break puts Day in line to take the £5,000 high break prize for the International Championship.

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

It may sound strange given he was beaten by 6-3, from 2-0 up, but yesterday was the best I saw from Hendry in a very long time. Recently, Hendry said that he retired mainly because he had lost all confidence. This lack of confidence was evident again yesterday. He started the match well. Ok, he still made mistakes, but he was playing ok. As soon as he lost a frame, there was a noticeable change in his demeanour around the table. He didn’t totally give up though, contrary what he often did in the last couple of years in his (first) pro career. He continued to try, which was good to see. Maybe the presence of a crowd helped him.

Although he was beaten by 6-3 by Jackson Page, I enjoyed watching Liam Graham. I believe that he is much better than most UK youngsters, notably better than some who for some reason are talked about a lot more than him.

Long Zehuang also impressed me. The rookie came from 5-3 down to beat Yuan Sijun and he looked very solid mentally in doing so.

Ross Muir scored heavily yesterday, in beating Wu Yize. I’m happy for him: there was a time when his career looked over as ocular migraine – a ver painful condition – prevented him to play to his full potential and even forced him to withdraw from matches on occasions.

Robbie Williams beat Ben Mertens by 6-3. Ben wasn’t at his best but there was more to it than that. Robbie Williams is typically the type of hard match player who will cause younger opponents problems. Most young players are “potters”, the hard-graft match play is not their thing. They have to learn that side of the game to succeed as pros, and hopefully Ben will learn from yesterday’s match. The young John Higgins was a notable exception, he was an all-rounder right from his beginnings, but … well, he’s a an exceptional player.

In other – anecdotic – news, Ronnie DID offer the Shanghai trophy to a friend

This guy is a long time close friend to Ronnie and the owner of a Chinese restaurant… You may have noticed him in the crowd, watching many of Ronnie’s matches live over the past years, notably during the Masters.

Ronnie won the 2023 Shanghai Masters beating Luca Brecel by 11-9.

Congratulations Ronnie!

Ronnie has now won this title four times in a row, and five times in total. He’s undefeated at this event since 2017. Since the event has become invitational, he’s won all the finals by the same score: 11-9.

Here are the detailed scores (source: snooker.org)

Luca was the heaviest scorer during the match, although it was Ronnie who made the highest break of the match, and of the tournament, the 143 he scored in frame 16.

Here is WST report on the first session:

Rocket Leads The Bullet

Defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan emerged from the opening session of the Shanghai Masters final leading World Champion Luca Brecel 6-4.

The clash is a meeting between world number one O’Sullivan and the world number two Brecel. The last time they faced each other was at the Crucible last year, when Brecel scored a 13-10 win and went on to capture a stunning maiden world title. He rallied from 10-6 down in the final session of that match and will be hoping for a similar turnaround this evening.

O’Sullivan is aiming for a fourth straight Shanghai Masters title and will require five more frames to do that in tonight’s concluding session. The winner of this best of 21 final will earn a £210,000 top prize.

When play got underway this afternoon O’Sullivan took the opening frame, before a sublime break of 134 from Brecel saw him restore parity at 1-1. Despite that moment of magic, it was the Rocket who took the following two frames to lead 3-1 at the mid-session.

After the break, Brecel imposed his break building power on proceedings and fired in contributions of 75, 98 and 103 to take three on the bounce and earn a 4-3 advantage. The tie then swung back in O’Sullivan’s favour, with the seven-time World Champion taking three in a row, including a break of 75, to end 6-4 in front.

And the report by WST on the second session

Rocket Extends Shanghai Dominance

Rocket Extends Shanghai Dominance

World number one Ronnie O’Sullivan won a fourth straight Shanghai Masters title, beating World Champion Luca Brecel 11-9 in a thrilling final.

The Rocket is unbeaten in the city for seven years, with his last defeat coming at the hands of Michael Holt back in 2016. The Englishman’s winning streak in the event now stands at 19 matches.

O’Sullivan won the title in consecutive years between 2017 and 2019, beating Judd Trump, Barry Hawkins and Shaun Murphy in the respective finals. He has a total of five Shanghai Masters crowns to his name, having also been victorious in 2009, and is the standout player in the tournament’s history.

Today’s final was the latest edition of what could become the defining rivalry in modern snooker. Earlier this year 28-year-old Brecel produced a devastating burst to beat O’Sullivan 13-10 from 10-6 behind at the Crucible, where he would go on to capture his maiden world title. O’Sullivan got his revenge today and now leads the head-to-head standings between the pair 4-2.

Victory sees O’Sullivan pocket the £210,000 top prize with Brecel earning £105,000 as the runner-up. However, with the event being an invitational tournament it doesn’t count towards the world rankings and seven-time Crucible king O’Sullivan’s lead over world number two Brecel remains a slender £5,000.

O’Sullivan has had to show his battling qualities this week, most notably rallying from 5-2 down to beat John Higgins 6-5 in the quarter-finals. He needed to dig deep again in the afternoon session today, emerging 6-4 ahead after trailing 4-3.

The opening frame of the evening saw Brecel apply pressure with a break of 65 to make it 6-5. O’Sullivan immediately restored his two frame cushion by winning the 12th, but it was Brecel who then crafted breaks of 55 and 56 to head into the mid-session all-square at 7-7.

When play resumed O’Sullivan produced a devastating burst for the finish line. He fired in breaks of 143 and 120 on his way to three in a row, leaving him one from the title at 10-7.

The 39-time ranking event winner had opportunities to get over the line in a dramatic 18th frame, but Brecel eventually extended the tie with a stunning table length double on the final black to make it 10-8.

The Belgian then strung together 83 to pull with a single frame at 10-9. The 20th frame was another tense one, but this time O’Sullivan did get the job done on the blue to secure the title.

“I just tried hard. I mentally thought that plan A was to go out there, dominate and score breaks. Plan B was to keep my focus and emotions in check. I tried not to lose it out of frustration. It was one of those tournaments. I was well below par, but in moments I played alright when I had to. I wasn’t on auto pilot, everything was a bit of a struggle from start to finish,” said 47-year-old O’Sullivan.

“When you are in the sweet spot and hitting the ball well it feels like an easy game. It feels like you can do what you want on the table. When you aren’t, you get scared of even coming to the table. It is frightening. This game can be so difficult some days and others it can be so easy. I’ve gone two or three years without feeling that I’d missed a ball. I was flying. There were some balls out there that I was missing and I was laughing to myself.

“I’m not surprised Luca has done as well as he has. He’s not a surprise World Champion. He’s got an amazing gift to play this game. The performance he put on in Sheffield was unbelievable. He has improved a lot as a player and he loves the game. He has his girlfriend here with him and they seem to be having a great time. I wish I was at his stage of his career. He is a young man with a lot of years ahead of him. Snooker is getting bigger in China so it is a good time to be a professional snooker player.”

Meanwhile here are some pictures shared on twitter and Weibo

What this shows is that when Ronnie is fully up for it, he’s still a formidable player. This week he showed an iron will to win. He has won everything there is to win in his sport, he has broken almost every record. He is 47 years old and this season is his 32d as a professional, so it is understandable that he finds it hard to get fully motivated for every event, and we should accept that. But this is an elite tournament, played in a city he loves, in front of a huge, enthusiast crowd for every match. This is the kind of event that gets his juices flowing. We should enjoy those moments as we don’t know how many more the future will bring. Thank you Ronnie!

Here is the last frame of the match as shared by ES on YouTube

And this is what Ronnie had to say on twitter after the match:

Wow, what a few days!! To win my fifth Shanghai Masters is something I’m really proud of. And to have won playing such a talented player in Luca, means a lot. Thank you to all the fans and everyone out here for your support, it doesn’t go unnoticed. ❤️

The 2023 Shanghai Masters Final will be played tomorrow between Luca Brecel, the reigning World Champion and World number 2, and Ronnie, the Defending Champion and World number 1. This is really a dream final line-up for the tournament that marks the return of World professional snooker in China.

The format is best of 21, first to 11.

Here are the scores

And the reports by WST

First Session

Brecel Secures Shanghai Lead

World Champion Luca Brecel holds a 6-3 advantage over Australia’s Neil Robertson heading into the concluding session of their semi-final showdown at the Shanghai Masters.

Belgium’s Brecel has never beaten Robertson, having lost all three of their meetings on the World Snooker Tour. He requires just four more frames to rectify that in today’s best of 19 encounter. The winner this evening will progress to face seven-time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan over the best of 21 frames tomorrow for the title and the £210,000 top prize.

This morning’s match got off to a cagey start, with Brecel eventually winning a 43-minute opening frame. He then took the second on the black, before making it 3-0 courtesy of a break of 68. Robertson crucially composed a break of 95 to take the fourth and remain in contention at 3-1 heading into the mid-session interval.

When play resumed Robertson closed the gap to a single frame, before Brecel made his move and pulled clear. Breaks of 99 and 56 helped the 28-year-old on his way to three on the bounce and a 6-2 advantage.

Brecel then led 40-0 in the last frame of the session, but a loose safety allowed 2010 World Champion Robertson in to compose a steely 90 and reduce his arrears to 6-3 ahead of this evening.

Second Session

Brecel Reaches Shanghai Showpiece

World Champion Luca Brecel is through to the final of the Shanghai Masters after defeating 23-time ranking event winner Neil Robertson 10-7 in their last four clash.

Victory for Brecel sets up a mouth watering showdown with world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan in tomorrow’s title match. The clash will be contested over the best of 21 frames, with the winner taking home the £210,000 top prize. The last time the pair met came at last season’s World Championship, when Brecel prevailed 13-10 and went on to pick up a sensational maiden Crucible crown.

Belgian Brecel spurned the opportunity to usurp O’Sullivan at the top of the world rankings at the recent European Masters. He needed to make the semis to go to world number one, but was beaten 5-4 by eventual tournament winner Barry Hawkins in the last 16. There will be no movement in the rankings after tomorrow’s final, with the Shanghai Masters being an invitational event.

Today’s win is Brecel’s first ever victory over Robertson, who won their first three meetings. The Australian will have to wait in his quest for a first individual title since the 2022 Tour Championship. His only tournament victory last season came at the World Mixed Doubles.

The afternoon session saw Brecel emerge with a commanding 6-3 lead, but Robertson dug deep to remain in contention when play got underway this evening. The 2010 World Champion took the opening frame on the black to reduce his arrears, but a break of 84 in the 11th saw Brecel regain his three frame lead at 7-4.

Robertson continued to scrap his way back into contention and then took the next two frames to head into the mid-session one behind at 7-6. When play resumed Brecel moved two ahead with a break of 123, before the steely Robertson again responded with 109 to make it 8-7.

From there Brecel made his move to get over the line, taking two tight frames consecutively to emerge with a 10-7 victory and clinch his place in a first Shanghai Masters final.

“This was a tough game. We struggled a bit, but I’m happy to be in the final. Playing Ronnie is going to be hard, he hasn’t lost here for seven years so it will be a big challenge,” said four-time ranking event winner Brecel.

“I think I am much more attacking than Ronnie, he is a bit more tactical than me. I think I’m more attacking than anyone. Ronnie’s shot selection is a bit different from mine and he refuses more than me. In the balls he is the best, so if I miss my chances he will win easily. If I play well then I have a chance to win.

“I always want to win. It doesn’t matter who I play. I think my goal was to get to the semis at least. Now I’m into the final I look at it differently. It is about playing well and entertaining more than winning. That has always been my mindset, even when I played Selby in the world final. I tried to entertain, play quick and play well. I will try the same tomorrow.”

There were quite a few mistakes, from both players … just like yesterday. The conditions appear to be very humid. Luca was the better player right from the start, but Neal deserves a lot of credit for the way he fought; he was 6-2 down at one point.

here are some pictures shared on Weibo by various sources

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.

This is WST report about the first session – Ronnie 4-5 Mark Selby

Selby Leading O’Sullivan In Shanghai

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.

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And this is WST report on the second session and the match – Ronnie 10-7 Mark Selby

O’Sullivan Into Fourth Straight Shanghai Final

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

All four quarter-final matches were played yesterday in Shanghai.

Ronnie beat John Higgins in a deciding frame, by 6-5, having trailed 2-5. He struggled for most of the match, battled hard and eventually found some form as he finished with two centuries. My report on that epic is here.

Here is WST report on the other matches:

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Selby will be full of confidence heading into the last four, after he earned his place courtesy of a 6-1 demolition of Judd Trump.

The win is Selby’s first over Trump since 2015, having lost their previous five encounters. Today’s result is a dramatic reversal of fortunes against Trump for the four-time Crucible king.

It was Trump who took the opening frame this afternoon with a break of 70, but from there it was Selby who took full control of the tie. Breaks of 63, 75, 87, 80 and 83 helped him to six on the bounce and a place in the last four.

“As it turned out, Judd didn’t perform anywhere near as well as he can. When people like Judd play like that you have to try and capitalise. It doesn’t come round very often. Normally he is very good and unplayable or he plays to a good level,” said four-time World Champion Selby.

“China is an important part of our calendar and to not have it for three or four years has been tough. To come back with no restrictions is great and I speak on behalf of all of the players that we are happy to come back here.”

Australia’s Neil Robertson confirmed his place in the last four with a comprehensive 6-1 demolition of China’s Fan Zhengyi.

Robertson looked in deep trouble in his opening match against Ding Junhui, trailing 5-3, but he rallied to take the final three frames and emerge a 6-5 victor. Things were more straightforward for the 23-time ranking event winner this evening.

Breaks of 77, 62 and 107 helped 23-time ranking event winner Robertson to victory in just over two hours. He’s just one match from sealing a maiden appearance in the Shanghai Masters final. Standing in his way is World Champion Luca Brecel.

Brecel overcame Welsh Open champion Robert Milkins to book his semi-final slot. The Belgian had trailed 2-0 and 3-2 in this evening’s clash, but strung together four frames on the bounce to ensure he progressed to Saturday’s second semi-final.

I can’t comment on the Selby v Trump and the Robertson v Fan matches as I saw nothing of them. One observation though: strangely, whilst Ronnie and John Higgins have played each other a zillion times, Selby and Trump have clashed relatively rarely, considering they both reach the latter stages of events regularly. In general Trump had had the upper hand. Yesterday, Selby appeared very happy after the match, so he must be playing well.

Ronnie and Mark will play the first semi-final over two sessions – best of 19 – in Shanghai today. They will ply 9 frames in the first session, and a possible 10 in the second session. Based on what they have shown so far this week, I have to make Mark Selby favourite. That said, Ronnie yesterday really showed an iron will to win, so I certainly don’t write him off.

Neil Robertson won easily – by 6-1 – but it’s not as if he made a century in every frame. Fan was the only Chinese player remaining in the draw and that added a lot of pressure on his young shoulders? Comments from those who watched that match are welcome…

Luca Brecel beat Robert Milkins by 6-3 and this was a strange one. Milkins looked by far the stronger player in the first half of the match. He lead 2-0 and 3-2. After that, he appeared to lose both his game and his confidence. Luca didn’t score particularly heavily, but he came up with a lot of creative and unconventional shots, and got most of them. That type of game is difficult to play against.

Neil and Luca will play their semi-final tomorrow.

Here are some images of yesterday matches, minus the Ronnie v Higgins one), shared on Weibo by Sina Billiards

And also some pictures shared by Neil Robertson on Weibo. He’s meeting the fans after his win over Ding Junhui.