WST has shared this article last week:

China Formats This Season Explained

The 2026/27 season is about to get underway and there will be a record seven big events in China, with six ranking tournaments plus the invitational Shanghai Masters. Here’s a guide to the format for each one…

Shanghai Masters
July 27 to August 2
This has been an invitation event since 2018 and the field is 24 players. The world’s top 16 (on the official list at the end of the 2026 World Championship) are invited, plus the next four highest ranked Chinese players, and four local wild cards. The top eight seeds start in the last 16, and the other 16 players start in the previous round. 

China Open
August 8-16
Hosted in the city of Taiyuan in the Shanxi Province, this ranking event returns to the calendar for the first time since 2019. It is a tiered format, matching those of the UK Championship and World Championship. So the lowest ranked players need to win four qualifying matches to make it to China, while those seeded 17-48 must win two matches. The top 16 are all held over to the final stages. Two Chinese wild cards will have the chance to play at the venue, drawn at random against two of the 16 qualifying players. The winners of these two matches will progress to the last 32.

Wuhan Open
August 23-29
The format for this event is changing this season and now closely matches the tiered structure of the German Masters, with three qualifying rounds. The top 16 seeds have their round three (last 64) matches held over to the venue in Wuhan. There are four Chinese wild cards who enter in the second round (last 96) and these four matches are also held over.

We have made these changes to the Wuhan Open, and agreed the format of the China Open, following discussions with WPBSA and the WPBSA Players Board and based on many discussions with players around possible improvements to the Tour. The Wuhan format also allows the number of tables at the final stages to be reduced from eight to four in order to help provide an improved event experience for players, fans and the global television audience. We believe that these changes present a very positive step forward and we are excited to see the results.

Xi’an Grand Prix
September 28 to October 4
We anticipate that this event will have the same format as the Wuhan Open.

International Championship
October 31 to November 7
We anticipate that this event will have the same format as previous seasons, with a flat draw of 128 players, where there is only one qualifying round, and a select number of matches in this round are held over to the venue. A variety of formats across the tour helps each event build its identity and we believe this provides a fair system for all players.

World Grand Prix
February 16-21
As usual, the top 32 players on the one-year ranking list will earn a place at this tournament in Hong Kong, which is the first of the three events in the 2027 Players Series. The event has a flat 32-player draw.

World Open
March 15-21
We anticipate that this event will have the same format as previous seasons, with a flat draw of 128 players, where there is only one qualifying round, and a select number of matches in this round are held over to the venue. 

Personally, I never “agreed” with the idea that the flat draw is “fairer” than the tiered system. Yes, the tiered system means that, to win the event, lower ranked players need to win more matches than the top players. However it also means that they have – in theory at least – more winnable matches in the early stages. Being able to win matches, and to play more matches, is essential for them to build confidence and gain experience. It’s what rookies need. Therefore I welcome the above news about a change of format.

The next step, in my opinion, should be to move to an ELO type of ranking system, or at least to a consistent point system. By “consistent” I mean that there should be consistency in that events with similar formats, requiring similar “efforts”, should yield similar rewards in term of ranking. Ranking should be fair and reflect players “strength”, not be dictated by sponsors’ generosity or lack of it.