The draw for the 2025 Shanghai Masters invitational has been published by the World Snooker Tour, and there is set to be a star-studded cast as all of the world's current top 16 players have entered the prestigious tournament in the Far East.
Defending champion Judd Trump added the Shanghai Masters title to his CV, last year | World Snooker Tour
Details about the new 2025/26 professional snooker season are starting to fall into place, with draws for the Wuhan Open, British Open, and Championship League events having recently been sent out to the players. Action from the upcoming campaign starts with qualifying matches for Wuhan at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester from Sunday 22nd June.
The 2025 Shanghai Masters will take place between Monday 28th July to Sunday 3rd August, where the second trophy of the new top-flight term will be lifted. From an overall fund of £825,000, the eventual champion will scoop the top prize of £210,000.
Champion: £210,000
Runner-up: £105,000
Losers in the semi-finals: £70,000 (each)
Losers in the quarter-finals: £35,000 (each)
Losers in the last 16: £17,500 (each)
Losers in the last 24: £10,000 (each)
Highest break: £10,000
Total prize fund: £825,000
Several top stars will be playing their first competitive match of the season, as their round one fixtures for both the Wuhan and British Opens have been held over to the main venue later in the year, and because they didn't enter the Championship League.
One of those big names is defending champion and world number one Judd Trump, who will face either Neil Robertson or Pang Junxu in his opening assignment. Having been a runner-up in the competition three times before, Englishman Trump won his maiden Shanghai crown last year after defeating Shaun Murphy 11-5 in the final.
The Shanghai Masters is one of the most established events on the World Snooker Tour. First held in 2007 and won by Dominic Dale, it was a ranking event until the 2018 edition when it changed to being an invitational.
The world's top 16 players are invited, as are the next four highest ranked Chinese players from the global standings. Four wildcards also receive tickets to complete the 24-player field. At the time of writing, the identity of the four wildcards have yet to be announced. The top eight seeds go straight through to the last 16, while the remaining contestants start in the preliminary round.
Trump reacts to winning #ShanghaiMasters 2024 🏆#snooker @juddtrump pic.twitter.com/thvjBHfvid
— WST (@WeAreWST) July 21, 2024
Elsewhere in the top quarter of the draw are Mark Selby, Murphy, and a wildcard. A little further down but still in the top half, Class of 92 graduates Mark Williams and John Higgins - who are both now 50-years-old - are the highest seeds in a loaded second quarter that also features Mark Allen, Xiao Guodong, and Lei Peifan. The latter two names enjoyed, by far, their best professional seasons last term during which they each collected their maiden ranking event crown.
Who and when is Ronnie O’Sullivan playing at the 2025 Shanghai Masters?
The most successful player in Shanghai Masters history is Ronnie O'Sullivan, who has won the title a record five times. Four of those came in consecutive editions (2017, 2018, 2019, 2023) but his 21-match winning streak in the tournament was stopped by Trump who defeated him 10-3 in last year's semi-finals.
World number five O'Sullivan awaits the winner of Barry Hawkins or Wu Yize in the last 16. This will be O'Sullivan's first competitive outing since his semi-final loss to eventual title winner Zhao Xintong at the Crucible nearly three months before. That World Championship campaign was O'Sullivan's first professional event since the start of January.
This is an event that 'The Rocket' appears to love playing in, so he is expected to be there. His first match is currently scheduled for the evening session of Wednesday 30th July (12:30BST).
Should O'Sullivan advance to the quarter-finals, he would meet either world number two Kyren Wilson, Si Jiahui, or a wildcard.
2025 Shanghai Masters snooker draw:
Round One
Neil Robertson v Pang Junxu
Shaun Murphy v Wildcard
Xiao Guodong v Lei Peifan
Mark Allen v Wildcard
Si Jiahui v Wildcard
Barry Hawkins v Wu Yize
Zhang Anda v Yuan Sijun
Chris Wakelin v Wildcard
Round Two
Judd Trump v Robertson/Pang
Mark Selby v Murphy/Wildcard
John Higgins v Xiao/Lei
Mark Williams v Allen/Wildcard
Kyren Wilson v Si/Wildcard
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Hawkins/Wu
Ding Junhui v Zhang/Yuan
Zhao Xintong v Wakelin/Wildcard
Quarter-Finals
Trump/Robertson/Pang v Selby/Murphy/Wildcard
Higgins/Xiao/Lei v Williams/Allen/Wildcard
Wilson/Si/Wildcard v O'Sullivan/Hawkins/Wu
Ding/Zhang/Yuan v Zhao/Wakelin/Wildcard
At the bottom of the draw is newly-minted World Champion Zhao, who will be playing his first top tier match since his historic triumph at the Crucible in the first half of May. It will also be Zhao's first match back as a full professional having served his ban from the sport that expired last September.
Zhao is ranked the world number 11, but due to the long-standing rule the sport has for reigning world champions, he will be seeded two in Shanghai, and will therefore skip the preliminary round.
The 28-year-old home hero will play his first match as the Crucible king against either Chris Wakelin or a wildcard; Zhao eliminated Wakelin in the quarter-finals en route to his Sheffield success.
A bit further up the drawsheet and a Chinese player is guaranteed to be in the last eight as two-time champion Ding Junhui will face either Zhang Anda or Yuan Sijun. This means that China's original snooker superstar Ding could meet China's first ever world champion Zhao in a blockbuster last eight clash on home soil.
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