2023 Shanghai Masters

The 2023 Shanghai Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Shanghai Grand Stage in Shanghai, China from 11 to 17 September 2023. The 13th edition of the Shanghai Masters, first held in 2007, it was the first professional tournament played in mainland China since the 2019 World Open, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It featured 24 players, the top 16 players in the world rankings, as they stood after the 2023 Championship League, and eight invited Chinese players. The tournament was broadcast by local channels in China, Thailand, and Hong Kong, by Eurosport and Discovery+ in Europe, and by Matchroom Sport in all other territories. The winner received £210,000 from a total prize fund of £825,000.

The defending champion was Ronnie O'Sullivan, who defeated Shaun Murphy 119 in the 2019 final. After beating Ali Carter 63 in the last 16, John Higgins 65 in the quarter-finals, and Mark Selby 107 in the semi-finals, O'Sullivan defeated the reigning world champion Luca Brecel 119 in the final to win his fifth Shanghai Masters title, his fourth consecutively. The final was the 18th consecutive match he had won at the tournament since 2017. He also made the event's highest break, a 143 in the 16th frame of the final.

Overview
The inaugural 2007 Shanghai Masters was won by Dominic Dale, who trailed 26 in the final against Ryan Day, only to win eight consecutive frames for a 106 victory. Staged as a ranking event from 2007 to 2017, the Shanghai Masters in 2018 became a non-ranking invitational event comprising 24 players. Ronnie O'Sullivan was the tournament's most successful player to date, having won four previous titles in 2009, 2017, 2018, and 2019. The only other player to claim the title more than once was Ding Junhui, who won in 2013 and 2016.

The 2023 edition was the first staging of the tournament in four years, and the first professional snooker tournament held in mainland China since the 2019 World Open, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It featured the top 16 players in the world rankings as they stood after the 2023 Championship League, the four highest-ranked Chinese players outside the top 16 (Zhou Yuelong, Fan Zhengyi, Si Jiahui, and Pang Junxu), and four wildcard players from the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association's under-21 rankings (Deng Haohui, Dong Zihao, Bai Yulu, and Gong Chenzhi). O'Sullivan was the defending champion, having won the 2019 edition of the tournament with an 119 victory over Shaun Murphy.

Format
The tournament took place at the Shanghai Grand Stage in Shanghai, China from 11 to 17 September 2023. Matches were played as best of 11, except for the semi-finals, which were best of 19 frames, and the final, which was best of 21 frames. Players were in the tournament by their world ranking following the 2023 Championship League. The top eight seeded players received byes to the second round. Each invited Chinese player faced one of the players seeded 916 in the first round.

The tournament was broadcast in China on Superstar online, Migu, Youku, and Huya.com; in Thailand on True Sports; in Hong Kong on Now TV; and in Europe on Eurosport and Discovery+. In all other territories, the tournament was broadcast by Matchroom Sport.

Prize fund
The total prize fund was £825,000, with the winner receiving £210,000. The breakdown of prize money is shown below:


 * Winner: £210,000
 * Runner-up: £105,000
 * Semi-final: £70,000
 * Quarter-final: £35,000
 * Last 16: £17,500
 * Last 24: £10,000
 * Highest break: £10,000
 * Total: £825,000

First round
First-round matches took place on September 11 and 12, featuring eight Chinese invitees against players seeded nine through 16. Two-time winner Ding Junhui led 2023 World Championship semi-finalist Si Jiahui 31 at the mid-session interval and went on to clinch the match 62. John Higgins whitewashed Chinese wildcard Deng Haohui 60, making back-to-back century breaks of 102 and 141 in the third and fourth frames. The 141 was Higgins's 950th century in professional competition, making him the second player after O'Sullivan to reach that milestone. Hossein Vafaei made three centuries of 120, 117, and 108 as he defeated Chinese wildcard Gong Chenzhi 61. Jack Lisowski defeated Zhou Yuelong 65, making an 84 break in the deciding frame. Fan Zhengyi defeated Gary Wilson 62. Wilson offered a handshake after Fan won the sixth frame, thinking the match was best of nine rather than best of 11. Mark Williams and Robert Milkins advanced with 61 wins over Pang Junxu and Bai Yulu respectively.

Round of 16
The round of 16 took place on September 12 and 13, featuring the first-round winners against players seeded one through eight. Having withdrawn from the 2023 Championship League and the 2023 European Masters, O'Sullivan played his first match of the 202324 season against the 2010 winner Ali Carter. O’Sullivan led 31 at the mid-session interval but Carter responded with breaks of 68 and 83 to tie the scores at 33. O’Sullivan then won three consecutive frames with breaks of 101, 74, and 81 for a 63 victory. Higgins defeated the 2015 winner Kyren Wilson by the same score. Lisowski faced three-time runner-up Judd Trump. With the scores tied at 55, Lisowski took a 42-point lead in the deciding frame, but Trump secured victory with a 74 break. Mark Selby defeated Vafaei, also in a deciding frame.

Luca Brecel faced Williams, who won the first frame on the black, and then won the second with a 74 break. Brecel won three consecutive frames with breaks of 77, 92, and 107 to lead 32 before Williams tied the scores with a 110 century. However, Brecel won three of the last four frames for a 64 victory. Milkins faced Shaun Murphy, whom he had defeated 97 in the previous season's 2023 Welsh Open final. The scores were tied at 22, but Murphy took a 42 lead with breaks of 95 and 134. Milkins won three consecutive frames to lead 54, including making a 120 century. Murphy forced a deciding frame, but Milkins secured a 65 victory with a 64 break. Trailing Ding 35, Neil Robertson made breaks of 72 and 71 to tie the scores and then made a 65 break in the decider to win the match. Fan faced world number three Mark Allen, who made a 135 break in the opening frame. The scores were tied at 22 at the mid-session interval. Allen won frame five, but Fan then won four consecutive frames with breaks including 88, 91, and 84 to secure a 63 victory. Allen scored only nine points in the last four frames of the match.

Quarter-finals
The quarter-finals took place on September 14. Higgins made breaks of 103, 115, 71, and 74 as he moved into a 52 lead over O'Sullivan. He took a 56-point lead in the eighth, but O'Sullivan won the frame on the pink. Higgins also had chances to clinch the match in the ninth, but O'Sullivan took the frame and then made back-to-back centuries of 100 and 130 to secure a 65 win. "[Higgins] should have put me away, really. He had enough chances. He was 52 up and in control of the game", O'Sullivan said afterwards. Trump won the first frame against Selby, but Selby then won six consecutive frames to secure a 61 victory; it was the first time he had beaten Trump since 2015, having lost their previous five encounters. Robertson made breaks of 77, 62, and 107 as he defeated Fan 61. Between frames five and six, referee Zhu Ying asked Robertson to stop eating a banana. Paul Collier, referee at three World Championship finals, later clarified on social media that eating between frames did not contravene any rules and stated that the issue would be addressed with the event's referees. Brecel lost the first two frames against Milkins but won six of the next seven for a 63 victory.

Semi-finals
The first best-of-19-frame semi-final took place over two sessions on September 15. O'Sullivan played Selby, the first time the two players had faced each other since Selby defeated O'Sullivan 93 in the 2020 Scottish Open final. Selby led 54 after the first session. O’Sullivan levelled the scores at 66 after winning the 12th frame on the pink, but Selby won the 13th with a 77 break. In the 14th, Selby missed a frame ball pink off the spot while on a break of 65. O’Sullivan made a 66 clearance to tie the scores at 77 and then made breaks of 69, 109, and 118 to clinch a 107 victory and reach a fourth consecutive Shanghai Masters final. In frame 15, referee Wang Wei called a foul against O'Sullivan, stating he had not hit the brown while attempting to lay a snooker, but reversed his decision after O'Sullivan objected. "It was difficult, but I was pleased to find some form at the end", O'Sullivan said of the match.

The second semi-final took place on September 16. Brecel faced Robertson, who had won all three of their previous encounters. Brecel won the 43-minute opening frame, took the second on the black, and extended his lead to 30 with a 68 break in the third. Robertson won frame four with a 95 break, and also took frame five, reducing Brecel's lead to one at 32. Brecel then won three consecutive frames to lead 62 and led by 40 points in the ninth, but Robertson produced a 90 break to leave Brecel leading 63 after the first session. When play resumed, Robertson won the 10th frame on the black, but Brecel won the 11th with an 84 break. Robertson won the next two frames, again reducing Brecel's lead to one at 76. Brecel made a 123 break to take the 14th, and Robertson responded with a 109 to win the 15th. However, Brecel won both the 16th and 17th frames to clinch a 107 victory. Afterwards, Brecel said: "This was a tough game. We struggled a bit, but I'm happy to be in the final. Playing [O'Sullivan] is going to be hard, he hasn't lost here for seven years so it will be a big challenge".

Final
The best-of-21-frame final took place over two sessions on 17 September. The reigning world champion Brecel was playing in his first Shanghai Masters final, while the world number one and defending champion O'Sullivan was contesting his sixth final at the event, having won four and lost one previously. Ten frames were played in the opening session. O’Sullivan took the first, but Brecel won the second with a 134 break. O'Sullivan won the next two to lead 31 at the midsession interval, but Brecel won three consecutive frames with breaks of 75, 98, and 103 to lead 43. O'Sullivan won the last three frames of the session, including a 78 break in frame nine, to restore his lead at 64. When play resumed, the first two frames were shared, but Brecel then won two consecutive frames to tie the scores at 77. O'Sullivan responded with three consecutive frames, including back-to-back centuries of 143 (the tournament's highest break) and 120, to move one from victory at 107. The 18th frame came down to a duel on the final black, which Brecel potted by doubling it the full length of the table. Brecel won the 19th frame with an 83 break, narrowing O'Sullivan's lead to one. However, O'Sullivan won the 20th frame on the pink to secure an 119 victory. It was the 18th consecutive match O'Sullivan had won at the tournament since 2017, giving him his fifth Shanghai Masters title, his fourth consecutively. "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”, commented O’Sullivan afterwards.

Main draw
The tournament results for the event are shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote their seeding, and players in bold denote match winners.


 * Note: w/c = wildcard

Century breaks
A total of 35 century breaks were made during the tournament.


 * 143, 130, 120, 118, 113, 109, 101, 100 – Ronnie O'Sullivan
 * 141, 115, 103, 102, 100 – John Higgins
 * 135 – Mark Allen
 * 135 – Shaun Murphy
 * 134, 123, 107, 103 – Luca Brecel
 * 129, 120 – Kyren Wilson
 * 127, 120 – Robert Milkins
 * 122 – Ali Carter
 * 120, 117, 108 – Hossein Vafaei
 * 119 – Jack Lisowski
 * 117 – Ding Junhui
 * 110, 107 – Mark Williams
 * 109, 107, 102 – Neil Robertson
 * 101 – Mark Selby