The tournament was quickly brought back and moved to this space on the calendar starting on Monday and concluding next Saturday, with both the last 16 and quarter-finals taking place on Thursday as the tournament is a day shorter than most Chinese tournaments.
Once again a £150,000 top prize is on offer for the players who have successfully come through the last 128 qualifying round in Wigan a month ago. There are a few high profile names who did not come through though. Shaun Murphy lost out to young Yuan Sijun, Neil Robertson suffered a hit to his Masters hopes by losing to Chris Totten, while Kyren Wilson and Anthony McGill will also not be making the journey. Stuart Bingham did qualify initially but has since been banned, so Akani Songsermsawad receives a walkover into the last 32 for the second event in a row. Ding Junhui did have his last 128 match with Mei Xiwen heldover but has since chosen to withdrawn.
A number of games have been held over this week, with Mark Selby John Higgins and Liang Wenbo all being spared the task of travelling to Wigan for last 128 action, along with players like Billy Castle and Soheil Vahedi who drew wildcards in the preliminary round, and subsequently their respective first round opponents Stuart Carrington, Rory McLeod and Sam Baird.
Quarter 1
Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Mei Xiwen Vs Adam Duffy
Tom Ford Vs Jimmy Robertson
Kurt Maflin Vs Lee Walker
Ryan Day Vs Yu De Lu
Fergal O'Brien Vs Mitchell Mann
Mark Allen Vs Yan Bingtao
Michael Holt Vs Cao Yupeng
Jack Lisowski Vs Chris Totten
Defending champion Ding Junhui was the leader in this opening quarter though he has been suffering from conjunctivitis of late according to reports on social media, and has subsequently withdrawn from this event to give Mei Xiwen a walkover into the last 64. With his non-entry for Northern Ireland next week we will next see the Chinese number one in the UK Championships. A big week awaits for Ryan Day as he looks to get into the Masters and is in a battle currently with Neil Robertson who has not qualified this week. There is a good chance for him to get on a run in this quarter if he plays more like he did in the first of his two matches in the recent Champion of Champions. Day is still getting used to his new cue which may explain a little inconsistency in his performances of the last couple of months, but if he can find consistency in Shanghai it could be a big week for the Welshman.
International semi-finalist Yan Bingtao is back in action here with a first round tie against the man who brought upon his eventual downfall in Daqing. That week was a big breakthrough and with the talents he has shown things will continue to get better and better for the young man. Jack Lisowski was one of Yan's victims in Daqing falling at the last 16 stage and the left-hander has been on a great run of late. As well as reaching the last 16 in China last time out, he made the quarter-finals in Barnsley and was unlucky to lose to Mark Selby in the last 16 of the European Masters. Looking at the draw he could certainly get on another big run here in Shanghai and these recent weeks may well have given him the confidence to carry on rising up the rankings for the rest of the season. Jimmy Robertson impressed me with some of the scoring he displayed in Daqing and if he can come through a close encounter with Tom Ford this could be an ever better week.
My opening quarter choice though is someone who has been firing in China so far this season, and that of course is Mark Allen. The Northern Irishman has had a very good start to the 2017/2018 campaign, currently sitting fourth on the one-season money list with only the winners of the first three Chinese events sitting above him. As well as making the International Championship final and giving Selby a stern test before just losing out, and he was also only narrowly beaten in the World Open semi-finals and the European Masters quarter-finals. He also has a decent record here in Shanghai making the final in 2014 and the semi-finals the next year. Yan Bingtao will provide a tough test for him in round one, but he will confident having seen him off comfortably in the International semi-finals, and thereafter the draw is one that I would fancy Allen to negotiate if he continues playing well and scoring as heavily as he has been.
International semi-finalist Yan Bingtao is back in action here with a first round tie against the man who brought upon his eventual downfall in Daqing. That week was a big breakthrough and with the talents he has shown things will continue to get better and better for the young man. Jack Lisowski was one of Yan's victims in Daqing falling at the last 16 stage and the left-hander has been on a great run of late. As well as reaching the last 16 in China last time out, he made the quarter-finals in Barnsley and was unlucky to lose to Mark Selby in the last 16 of the European Masters. Looking at the draw he could certainly get on another big run here in Shanghai and these recent weeks may well have given him the confidence to carry on rising up the rankings for the rest of the season. Jimmy Robertson impressed me with some of the scoring he displayed in Daqing and if he can come through a close encounter with Tom Ford this could be an ever better week.
My opening quarter choice though is someone who has been firing in China so far this season, and that of course is Mark Allen. The Northern Irishman has had a very good start to the 2017/2018 campaign, currently sitting fourth on the one-season money list with only the winners of the first three Chinese events sitting above him. As well as making the International Championship final and giving Selby a stern test before just losing out, and he was also only narrowly beaten in the World Open semi-finals and the European Masters quarter-finals. He also has a decent record here in Shanghai making the final in 2014 and the semi-finals the next year. Yan Bingtao will provide a tough test for him in round one, but he will confident having seen him off comfortably in the International semi-finals, and thereafter the draw is one that I would fancy Allen to negotiate if he continues playing well and scoring as heavily as he has been.
Best of the Rest: Jack Lisowski and Jimmy Robertson
Quarter Choice: Mark Allen
Quarter 2
Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Robbie Williams Vs Yuan Sijun
Graeme Dott Vs Xiao Guodong
Luca Brecel Vs Matthew Stevens
Mark King Vs Jamie Jones
Stephen Maguire Vs Rory McLeod, Billy Castle or Zhang Jiankang
Ali Carter Vs Stuart Carrington, Li Zhen or Chen Feilong
Ben Woollaston Vs Michael Georgiou
Judd Trump Vs Alfie Burden
Judd Trump is the headliner of this second section and you can never rule Trump out from having a good week. He made the quarter-finals in the International Championship before a narrow loss to Mark Allen, before a flying visit to Coventry where he was the victim of Brecel's brilliance. Luca Brecel is in the top half of this section though faces a short turnaround to play in Shanghai after losing in the semi-finals in the Champion of Champions on Saturday night. In a quite honest interview straight after the match he mentioned that he was tired from a hectic schedule in recent weeks, that has seen some of these players have events in UK, China, back in the UK and now back in China in the space of four weeks. It was also quite comical when he sarcastically mentioned how much he was looking forward to another China trip, and it looks as though he needs a break to me which is why it would not be surprising to see an early exit for him here.
Stephen Maguire has gone a bit quiet since making the Riga Masters final in June and once again he has a tough mini section to get through if he were to have a run this week. By comparison, the top half of this mini section is a top player light and looks like it could be anyone's. Robbie Williams had a nice run to the quarter-finals in Daqing with wins against Joe Perry and Neil Robertson along the way, and that should give him a lot of confidence ahead of a stern test with Yuan Sijun. The young Chinese talent overcame Shaun Murphy to qualify and followed that up the following week with a win over Joe Perry in the English Open, though that week accounts for three of his four wins in his debut season so far. Watch out as well this week for Xiao Guodong who was a runner-up in Shanghai in 2013, and is coming back to some of that form again. He is someone who I think could do very well this week.
My overall quarter choice is someone who has impressed in China so far this season, Ali Carter. Carter is a former champion in Shanghai and was a quarter-finalist in this event last season. Not qualifying for the European Masters and Indian Open and not entering a few other events means that Carter this will be only the fourth ranking event of the season when Carter has been involved at the venue. Despite that, he was a semi-finalist at the China Championship before narrowly losing out to Shaun Murphy and it was also a close match when he fell to Martin Gould in the quarter-finals in Daqing. Carter's good record in China also goes back to last season when he picked up his second ranking title in China by winning the World Open. Looking at the draw, he has favourable records against two of the major players in this section, and if he can get off to a good start I could see this being a very good week for him.
Stephen Maguire has gone a bit quiet since making the Riga Masters final in June and once again he has a tough mini section to get through if he were to have a run this week. By comparison, the top half of this mini section is a top player light and looks like it could be anyone's. Robbie Williams had a nice run to the quarter-finals in Daqing with wins against Joe Perry and Neil Robertson along the way, and that should give him a lot of confidence ahead of a stern test with Yuan Sijun. The young Chinese talent overcame Shaun Murphy to qualify and followed that up the following week with a win over Joe Perry in the English Open, though that week accounts for three of his four wins in his debut season so far. Watch out as well this week for Xiao Guodong who was a runner-up in Shanghai in 2013, and is coming back to some of that form again. He is someone who I think could do very well this week.
My overall quarter choice is someone who has impressed in China so far this season, Ali Carter. Carter is a former champion in Shanghai and was a quarter-finalist in this event last season. Not qualifying for the European Masters and Indian Open and not entering a few other events means that Carter this will be only the fourth ranking event of the season when Carter has been involved at the venue. Despite that, he was a semi-finalist at the China Championship before narrowly losing out to Shaun Murphy and it was also a close match when he fell to Martin Gould in the quarter-finals in Daqing. Carter's good record in China also goes back to last season when he picked up his second ranking title in China by winning the World Open. Looking at the draw, he has favourable records against two of the major players in this section, and if he can get off to a good start I could see this being a very good week for him.
Best of the Rest: Xiao Guodong
Quarter Choice: Ali Carter
Quarter 3
Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
John Higgins or Alexander Ursenbacher Vs Ian Preece
Zhou Yuelong Vs Sanderson Lam
Liang Wenbo or Rod Lawler Vs John Astley
David Gilbert Vs Mark Joyce
Martin Gould Vs Li Yuan
Akani Songsermsawad W/O Stuart Bingham
Robert Milkins Vs Lu Haotian
Marco Fu Vs Hossein Vafei
The third quarter of the draw for me looks wide open. There is obviously the absence of Bingham due to his suspension, while some of the other top players in this section are not in the best of form. Marco Fu has had a poor start to the season that has seen him lose in the first round of each of the Champion of Champions, International Championship, English Open while also not entering a couple of tournaments. He also faces tough opening round opposition in Hossein Vafei providing that the Iranian avoids the visa problems that troubled him at the International Championships. This week is a big one for Liang Wenbo who can go clear of Neil Robertson in the race for the Masters, especially with his last 128 match being heldover. His section of the draw looks reasonable but he is yet to gain any real momentum so far this season, having not played in all of the tournaments and also having a couple of early exits.
John Higgins has played in a lot of events so far this season without much break and I worry that with the trips to China some of this may catch up with him and produce an uncharacteristic early exit. He did have a few days off to get back from China to Coventry, though a 6-0 loss to Ronnie O'Sullivan may effect his confidence. It is a much shorter turnaround to get back to China where he will play on Monday morning in his heldover last 128 tie. Higgins also looked out of sorts at times in the International Championship and despite already beating him twice this season he faces tough last 128 opposition in Alexander Ursenbacher. The swiss player will be in his first tournament since making the semi-finals of the English Open with victories along the way against Anthony Hamilton, Shaun Murphy and Michael White. Zhou Yuelong is a player I would like to see have another run this week. He made the quarter-finals of the China Championship in August and the semi-finals of the European Masters, before the death of his father saw him withdraw from the English Open. It is going to be an incredibly tough time for him but hopefully he can continue his amazing progress of 2017 so far.
My third quarter pick is a semi-finalist from the last Chinese tournament and that is Martin Gould. The Englishman looked good in Daqing beating Ali Carter in the quarter-finals and coming from 4-0 down to defeat Kyren Wilson in the last 32. He was certainly due a run after a slower start to the season than he would like, but I feel like the draw presents an opportunity for him this week. He could have much tougher opponents than the one he faces in the last 64 and the top 16 player he would have been due to face in the last 32 has been removed. Meanwhile, some of the other top players in this section are either out of form or in the middle of a hectic stretch of tournaments and perhaps more vulnerable because of it. Another of Gould's better runs this year also came in China as he made the last 16 of the China Championship before losing out to Zhou Yuelong. If Gould can follow on from his performance in Daqing then I see no reason why he could not have a very good week in Shanghai.
John Higgins has played in a lot of events so far this season without much break and I worry that with the trips to China some of this may catch up with him and produce an uncharacteristic early exit. He did have a few days off to get back from China to Coventry, though a 6-0 loss to Ronnie O'Sullivan may effect his confidence. It is a much shorter turnaround to get back to China where he will play on Monday morning in his heldover last 128 tie. Higgins also looked out of sorts at times in the International Championship and despite already beating him twice this season he faces tough last 128 opposition in Alexander Ursenbacher. The swiss player will be in his first tournament since making the semi-finals of the English Open with victories along the way against Anthony Hamilton, Shaun Murphy and Michael White. Zhou Yuelong is a player I would like to see have another run this week. He made the quarter-finals of the China Championship in August and the semi-finals of the European Masters, before the death of his father saw him withdraw from the English Open. It is going to be an incredibly tough time for him but hopefully he can continue his amazing progress of 2017 so far.
My third quarter pick is a semi-finalist from the last Chinese tournament and that is Martin Gould. The Englishman looked good in Daqing beating Ali Carter in the quarter-finals and coming from 4-0 down to defeat Kyren Wilson in the last 32. He was certainly due a run after a slower start to the season than he would like, but I feel like the draw presents an opportunity for him this week. He could have much tougher opponents than the one he faces in the last 64 and the top 16 player he would have been due to face in the last 32 has been removed. Meanwhile, some of the other top players in this section are either out of form or in the middle of a hectic stretch of tournaments and perhaps more vulnerable because of it. Another of Gould's better runs this year also came in China as he made the last 16 of the China Championship before losing out to Zhou Yuelong. If Gould can follow on from his performance in Daqing then I see no reason why he could not have a very good week in Shanghai.
Best of the Rest: Zhou Yuelong and Liang Wenbo
Quarter Winner: Martin Gould
Quarter 4
Last 64 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Barry Hawkins Vs Daniel Wells
Michael White Vs Mark Davis
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Gary Wilson
Joe Perry Vs Matthew Selt
Mark Williams Vs Wang Yuchen
Gerard Greene Vs Sam Baird, Soheil Vahedi or Ma Chunmao
Alan McManus Vs Dominic Dale
Mark Selby or Ian Burns Vs Chris Wakelin
The bottom quarter if packed with talented players who could all have a big run in Shanghai this week. An ideal starting place is with world number one Mark Selby who picked up the last Chinese title at the International Championship. He played superbly there and showed his dominance over anything that could be considered a slightly "longer format" on today's calendar. Even with jet-lag at the Champion of Champions he still came close to making it into the semi-finals and with a bit more recovery time he will have a massive say in the outcome of this tournament. Barry Hawkins will be looking to get his season started after a pretty poor run since the World Championships. His round one exit at the Champion of Champions followed last 64 defeats in both the International Championship, English Open and World Open. In six ranking events this season he has only reached the last 32 once and is yet to pass this stage. Daniel Wells poses tough first round opposition for him this week.
Michael White has impressed me with some good form in the last couple of months. A winner at the Paul Hunter Classic he has backed that up by making the quarter-finals of the English Open with a win over Ding Junhui in the process. He looked good again last week in the Champion of Champions beating Marco Fu before losing a tight quarter-final with Shaun Murphy. Interestingly he has failed to beat his last 64 opponent in any of their previous nine meetings. This ranges from the Championship League, to European Tour events, a meeting in the 2015 Shanghai Masters and the UK Championships also.
The main man Ronnie O'Sullivan is also in this quarter but at the time of writing he is in the final of the Champion of Champions which concludes on Sunday night. He would then face a race against time to be in Shanghai though his match has been moved to a Wednesday morning slot to give him more time. It would not surprise me at all if he were to have withdrawn given that circumstance and a big home nations event immediately following events in Shanghai. Last time out in China it was a flying visit as he exited 6-1 to the dangerous Yan Bingtao and Gary Wilson here will be no walk in the park. He played O'Sullivan at the Crucible last season and gave a good account of himself and despite not doing much this season, he is more than capable of victory here given the best-of-9 frame format and a short turnaround for Ronnie.
My final quarter choice is someone I have been touting a lot already this season, and that is Mark Williams. Much like my three other quarter selections, I think Williams will benefit from having a week off while some of the other top players in this event have hectic schedules. Williams started the season with a run of making the quarter-finals in each of the first four ranking events he played. This came to an end when an in-form Jack Lisowski overcame the Welshman in the last 32 of the English Open, while in Daqing last time out he fell at the last 16 stage to eventual champion Selby. The general theme of the season is that it has taken players playing very well to get past him and and I would strongly fancy Williams to make the last 16 this week before potentially facing someone in good enough form to beat him, if his own form comes up. With Selby's hectic schedule and the tired performances he showed in Coventry I would favour Williams over him there if he looks similar this week. I'm also still of the opinion that Williams has another ranking title in him and that he will win one before this season is done and dusted.
Michael White has impressed me with some good form in the last couple of months. A winner at the Paul Hunter Classic he has backed that up by making the quarter-finals of the English Open with a win over Ding Junhui in the process. He looked good again last week in the Champion of Champions beating Marco Fu before losing a tight quarter-final with Shaun Murphy. Interestingly he has failed to beat his last 64 opponent in any of their previous nine meetings. This ranges from the Championship League, to European Tour events, a meeting in the 2015 Shanghai Masters and the UK Championships also.
The main man Ronnie O'Sullivan is also in this quarter but at the time of writing he is in the final of the Champion of Champions which concludes on Sunday night. He would then face a race against time to be in Shanghai though his match has been moved to a Wednesday morning slot to give him more time. It would not surprise me at all if he were to have withdrawn given that circumstance and a big home nations event immediately following events in Shanghai. Last time out in China it was a flying visit as he exited 6-1 to the dangerous Yan Bingtao and Gary Wilson here will be no walk in the park. He played O'Sullivan at the Crucible last season and gave a good account of himself and despite not doing much this season, he is more than capable of victory here given the best-of-9 frame format and a short turnaround for Ronnie.
My final quarter choice is someone I have been touting a lot already this season, and that is Mark Williams. Much like my three other quarter selections, I think Williams will benefit from having a week off while some of the other top players in this event have hectic schedules. Williams started the season with a run of making the quarter-finals in each of the first four ranking events he played. This came to an end when an in-form Jack Lisowski overcame the Welshman in the last 32 of the English Open, while in Daqing last time out he fell at the last 16 stage to eventual champion Selby. The general theme of the season is that it has taken players playing very well to get past him and and I would strongly fancy Williams to make the last 16 this week before potentially facing someone in good enough form to beat him, if his own form comes up. With Selby's hectic schedule and the tired performances he showed in Coventry I would favour Williams over him there if he looks similar this week. I'm also still of the opinion that Williams has another ranking title in him and that he will win one before this season is done and dusted.
Best of the Rest: Michael White
Quarter Choice: Mark Williams
Tournament Winner Selection: Ali Carter
A deal was eventually struck to get this tournament on to Eurosport TV and Eurosport Player (after the qualifying rounds were not on the player) and in addition the evening sessions in Shanghai (11.30am session in the UK) will be broadcast on freeview channel Quest for what should be another exciting week of snooker.
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