The 2026 Shanghai Masters takes place this week with most of the top 16 players from the world rankings in the draw in China.
Now well established as one of the most prestigious invitational events on the calendar, the tournament provides the new season’s biggest prize on offer so far.
The Shanghai Masters was launched as a ranking event back in 2007 and continued to be open to the entire tour like that up until 2017.
From 2018, however, the event shifted to its current non-ranking guise with just 24 players in the field for each edition.
When is the 2026 Shanghai Masters?
The 2026 Shanghai Masters runs from Monday, July 27 until Sunday, August 2 at the Luwan Gymnasium in Shanghai, China.
It marks the first time this season that there will be snooker staged away from the Mattioli Arena in Leicester and with fans in attendance.
Shanghai Masters prize money
Champion: £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
Who are the former champions?
Ronnie O’Sullivan is a record five-time winner of the event – twice when it was previously staged as a ranking event and three times since its transition to invitational status.
Dominic Dale was the first Shanghai Masters winner back in 2007, while Ali Carter, Stuart Bingham, and Ricky Walden are other prior champions who won’t be involved in 2026.
Along with O’Sullivan, fellow ex-winners John Higgins, Mark Selby, Ding Junhui, Judd Trump, and reigning champion Kyren Wilson are all in the 2026 Shanghai Masters draw.
Who is in the 2026 Shanghai Masters draw?
As it’s a 24-player field, the top eight seeds have been awarded byes through to the last 16 of the competition.
That includes top seed Wilson, who beat Carter in last year’s final, and world champion Wu Yize.
Trump, Neil Robertson, Zhao Xintong, Higgins, Shaun Murphy, and Mark Williams have also bypassed the opening hurdle of the competition.
The remaining contenders enter at the round-of-24 stage, including the likes of O’Sullivan, Selby, and Ding.
The only member from the current crop of top 16 players not involved is Mark Allen, who for the second year in a row has opted to skip the Shanghai Masters entirely.
Allen’s spot in the lineup has been taken by world no.17 Jack Lisowski, who will be hoping to find some form after a poor start to the 2026/27 campaign.
The other eight positions in the lineup are filled by Chinese players – the four highest ranked cueists from China who are not in the top 16 plus an additional four amateur wildcards.
2026 Shanghai Masters draw
Round of 24 (bo11)
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-1 Liu Linhao
Chris Wakelin 6-0 Tang Hewen
Ding Junhui 6-2 Yao Dongcheng
Xiao Guodong 6-5 Xu Jiarui
Barry Hawkins 6-4 Lei Peifan
Jack Lisowski 6-4 Zhang Anda
Mark Selby 5-6 Zhou Yuelong
Si Jiahui 6-4 Pang Junxu
Round of 16 (bo11)
Kyren Wilson 6-4 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Mark Williams 6-5 Chris Wakelin
Zhao Xintong 6-2 Ding Junhui
Neil Robertson 6-5 Xiao Guodong
Judd Trump 6-4 Barry Hawkins
John Higgins 6-5 Jack Lisowski
Shaun Murphy 6-5 Zhou Yuelong
Wu Yize 6-2 Si Jiahui
Quarter-Finals (bo11)
Kyren Wilson vs Mark Williams
Thursday, July 30 – 7:00am BST
Zhao Xintong vs Neil Robertson
Thursday, July 30 – 7:00am BST
Judd Trump vs John Higgins
Thursday, July 30 – 12:30pm BST
Shaun Murphy vs Wu Yize
Thursday, July 30 – 12:30pm BST
Semi-Finals (bo19)
Wilson/Williams vs Zhao/Robertson
Friday, July 31 – 7:00am and 12:30pm BST
Trump/Higgins vs Murphy/Wu
Saturday, August 1 – 7:00am and 12:30pm BST
Final (bo21)
TBC vs TBC
Sunday, August 2 – 7:00am and 12:30pm BST
How to watch the 2026 Shanghai Masters?
There are several options available to watch the Shanghai Masters snooker invitational live, depending on your location.
UK and Ireland
TNT Sports and HBO Max
Mainland Europe and Selected Countries
Eurosport and HBO Max
China
CCTV5
SMG
Huya
Migu
CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel (pay-per-view)
CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin
Hong Kong China
Now Sports
Malaysia
Astro Supersport
Thailand
True Sport
All other territories
WST Play
Featured photo credit: WST
Great report David Caulfield, it is becoming exciting to watch the big time players back at the table. I remember last year I was a little perplexed with the format of this tournament. Just like I learned in school some 40 years ago, I learned that every action causes a reaction. I think especially for this year’s 2026 Shanghai Masters, the Tournament director will have to make a couple of decisions that will not make everyone satisfied. Invitational and non ranking tournaments are necessary to cater to specific clients, I understand that. However this year there are no less than three very hard calls to make.
1) Ali Carter was the runner up in last year’s tournament. It would be nice to see if he could accomplish that feat this year. But he does not reach the limits.
2) Chang Bingyu is not in the tournament as it stands.
3) The wildcards have been for young Chinese players that are not close to being in the top 64.
What happens? Who gets dropped? Do they stay the course? Only time will tell.