Who Is Sweet and Who Is Sour in Snooker’s Shanghai Masters?
After a Covid-19 induced four-year hiatus, Snooker’s Shanghai Masters is back. An invitational non-ranking event since 2018, the competition, which starts on Monday, offers a £825,000 prize fund. That big money appeals to Ronnie O’Sullivan, who has won the last three renditions of the competition and taken the title four times in total.
Unlike his performances in Home Nations events, Ronnie O’Sullivan often plays his best snooker when visiting the Orient. ©Getty
The 2023 Shanghai Masters is open to 24 players. The first round features the eight players listed nine to 16 in the world rankings who will individually play one of eight invited Chinese players: The four highest-ranked Chinese pros who are not among the top 16 in the world rankings and four wildcard players from the Chinese Billiard Snooker Association under-21 rankings.
The winner of these matches will progress to the second round, where one of the world’s top-eight ranked players will be waiting. They are Ronnie O’Sullivan, Luca Brecel, Mark Allen, Judd Trump, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy and Kyren Wilson.
Format for the Favourites, but Who Is the True Fav?
The first rounds of the competition are ‘best of 11 frames’ confrontations. The semi-finals will be decided over a ‘best of 19 frames’ format, and the final will be a race to 11 frames – a ‘best of 21 frames’ setup. The competition will conclude on Sunday, September 17. Eurosport and Discover+ are covering the event live.
Theoretically, long format matches suggest the cream should rise to the top. However, online snooker betting sites appear to have little idea whose game is sweet and whose game is sour. Ronnie O’Sullivan is the favourite to win the competition, but, at 4/1, this £210,000 to-the-winner event appears wide open.
O’Sullivan predictably skipped the European Masters staged in Germany at the end of August. Here, in reaching the final, Judd Trump performed best. Losing in a qualifying match, Neil Robertson had an event to forget.
Has Luca Lost More Than His Cue?
Trump is 5/1 to take the Shanghai Masters, and Robertson, despite his German woes, is third favourite on 7/1. Ignored by the bookmakers – trading at the 14/1 and eighth down the betting list – is reigning World Champion Luca Brecel.
SHANHAI MASTERS 2023
The invitation event will run from September 11 to 17 at the Grand Stage in Shanghai 🇨🇳.
24 players participate: • world’s top 16 • next 4 highest ranked Chinese players • 4 wild cards
video: @WeAreWST pic.twitter.com/YzFdhZyRSv
— Snooker (@SnookerSuper) August 12, 2023
The Belgian exited the European Masters at the third round stage – beaten 5-4 by eventual winner Barry Hawkins. Still, he should be given some latitude for playing without his cue, which had been lost (now recovered) on a flight from Seattle to Frankfurt.
Hawkins is now world-ranked 13 but was not in the top 16 when places in the Shanghai Masters were allocated. In his absence, the player to take from the European Masters is Mark Selby. Another eliminated by Hawkins, the ‘Jester’ recorded three century-breaks during the competition and demonstrated excellent tactical prowess when not potting balls.
Good to Si Selby at Value Odds
Selby will likely meet Hossein Vafaei in his opening Shanghai Masters match. Success will probably lead him to a face-off with Judd Trump. He will be the bookmakers’ underdog if they meet. But, at Betfred’s 13/2, he is considerably bigger than Trump in the outright betting and therefore considered better value at the comparable odds.
Of the Shanghai Masters outsiders, Si Jiahui could once again outplay enormous odds. At the end of April, he held a 14-5 lead over Luca Brecel in the World Championship semi-final but lost the match 17-15.
The 21-year-old produced some magnificent snooker throughout the competition. And if the disappointment of clutching defeat from the jaws of victory in that game has not left scars, the Sheffield-based Chinese player can make his presence felt throughout the season, starting with a notable performance in this event.
Two Bets for Snooker’s Shanghai Masters
- Mark Selby to win the competition outright 15/2
- Si Jiahui to win the competition outright 80/1
