It is quarter final day at the Shanghai Masters on Thursday with all four matches being played across two sessions of snooker where by the end of proceedings we will know the four players who will go into the two-session semi-finals on Friday and Saturday.
Only two of the top eight players failed in their quest to come through the second round of the tournament on Wednesday which means that the cast list that we have for Thursday is an extremely high level one.
Afternoon Session
Judd Trump vs Mark Selby
The first of the quarter finals on the main table on Thursday sees two former world champions going at it when Judd Trump continues the defence of his title when he takes on a Mark Selby who will be looking to win a first tournament in China since the 2018 China Championship.
Trump came past Neil Robertson in the second round with some devastating scoring. He made three centuries against the Australian and if he has that form with him here then he is going to take some stopping. One man who might be capable of doing it is Selby though. He walloped Shaun Murphy 6-0 on Wednesday, making at least a 50 break in every frame including two centuries and restricted Murphy to just 52 points in the entire match. There is a genuine case to be made for Selby here, especially as he beat Trump in this round of this tournament two years ago, but the world number one looked so good in his opening match that it is hard to take him on. I’ll tentatively sit this one out but I won’t be surprised with a Selby win.
Xiao Guodong vs Ali Carter
While the two former world champions are going at it on the main table, over on table two Xiao Guodong will look to reach the last four of a home event once again when he faces off against the 2010 champion Ali Carter.
Carter is clearly of the belief that he is playing with the house money this week having been a late replacement for Mark Allen and he has enjoyed a couple of wins to make the most of his opportunity. The fact he came from 5-2 down to beat Mark Williams in the previous round could further add to his belief that his name might be on the trophy this week. He is up against a class act here though because in the last 12 months there is a case to be made that Xiao Guodong is the most improved player on the circuit as he goes in search of a second Chinese title in that time. Guodong took care of John Higgins with some brilliant scoring in the previous round and you get the feeling he will take some beating here. The same could be said about Carter. To come from 2-5 down to Williams tells us he is up for the fight this week and so that makes me think that over 9.5 frames is the way to play this match. Both men covered this line in the last round and whichever way you look at this match it is hard to see anything other than a 6-4 or 6-5 score either way. I’ll play the over.
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Evening Session
Ding Junhui vs Zhao Xintong
It will be an all-Chinese clash on the main table in the evening session as the reigning world champion Zhao Xintong faces off against the man who many expected to be the first winner of the World Championship from China in Ding Junhui.
You can’t quite call this clash the master against the apprentice anymore but it will be interesting to see if the dynamic of the battle has changed with the new status of Xintong. He seemed to wear the tag of being world champion well against Chris Wakelin in the previous round, coming through 6-2 with a century and some other notable breaks. Ding had a rollercoaster of a match on Tuesday when having led Zhang Anda 5-2 he really fell over the line in a 6-5 win but Zhang made a 147 in that contest and came back strong at him so he did well to get the win in the end. Ding will need to keep his foot on the gas much better than he did in the previous round but I’m not sure anything worries Xintong these days. I can’t really work out an angle in so this one is one to watch and enjoy two of the best from China going at it rather than bet on.
Kyren Wilson vs Ronnie O’Sullivan
The quarter final over on table two in the evening on Thursday will see two former world champions and past winners of this tournament battling it out when Kyren Wilson takes on Ronnie O’Sullivan for the right to face the winner of the Chinese clash in the semi-final.
Both men had to come through a deciding frame to make it into this quarter final. Wilson got the better of Si iahui in an absolute classic contest where the pair shared six centuries, which would have been seven had Wilson not showboated on the black for another. O’Sullivan didn’t score as heavily numerically but some of the breaks he made in a deciding frame win over Barry Hawkins were enough to suggest that he has been putting work into his game in the close season and you get the impression that the seven-time world champion is going to enjoy flying under the radar with the attention more on Trump, Xintong, Wilson and others this season. In saying that, Wilson has operated at a very high level since he won the world title in 2024 and not beating the Crucible Curse might only have fuelled him to find another gear if he had that in him. That was certainly the case in the previous round when runs of 120, 82, 114, 114, 83 and 97 is tough for anyone to beat. O’Sullivan looked good against Hawkins but he did give his opponent chances that were they offered to Wilson are much more likely to be taken. I expected Wilson to be a narrow favourite here but the fact that bookmakers are struggling to split these makes me comfortable backing Wilson to win. He has won their last two meetings away from the Championship League and I expect him to win hee too.
Tips
Back X.Guodong vs A.Carter – Over 9.5 frames for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Paddy Power
Back K.Wilson to beat R.O’Sullivan for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Betfred
