Shanghai Masters 2015 - Carter Falls To Grace

The Shanghai Masters qualifiers took centre stage in the Barnsley Metrodome this week, with 16 places up for grabs for the final stages at the Shanghai Grand Stage, China. The big shock was former Shanghai champion Ali Carter falling to a 5-3 defeat at the hands of David Grace.

Read on for the full article...

Article by Adam Brown. 

The Shanghai Masters has become one of the most recognisable and popular events on the calendar, especially for the top 16 players as this is one of the few events that they are exempt from qualifying and progress straight through to the final stages in China.

The final qualifying round saw players ranked 17-32 enter the tournament and it was Ali Carter who was the biggest name to fall as he went down 5-3 to Englishman David Grace after Grace made breaks of 68 and 78 in the final two frames to make his way through. Another casualty of the final round was Chinese sensation Xiao Guodong as he was edged out in a decider by world number 44 Mike Dunn, despite making three frame winning breaks earlier in the match.

World Number 17 Mark Davis edged through a very nervy affair against the ever improving Tian Pengfei. Davis did not make one break over 50 in the match, but managed to take a scrappy deciding frame to ensure his place in Shanghai.

The highest ranked player to make it through to the finals was Stoke’s Jamie Cope. Cope, now world number 94 has suffered a crisis of confidence in the last couple of years, but he managed to put all that behind him after winning four qualifying matches to make it to Shanghai. This included a 5-4 victory over Gary Wilson in the final round despite being 4-3 behind.

The match of the round came between Alan McManus and Rory McLeod, with the Scot edging through in a deciding frame. McManus was 4-2 behind in the match and needed two snookers. After a long battle McManus got the points back and cleared up to go 4-3 and then made breaks of 51 and 60 to steal the match right from under McLeod.

Youngsters Ben Woolaston, Kyren Wilson and Luca Brecel all booked their tickets to Shanghai as did veterans Peter Ebdon, Ryan Day and Robert Milkins to set up a an exciting event in China. See below for the full draw.

The Shanghai Masters will take place in Shanghai, China starting 14th September till 20th September.

Stuart Bingham [1] v Jamie Jones [30]  
Marco Fu [12] v Mike Dunn [44] 
John Higgins [11] v Liang Wenbo [20] 
Barry Hawkins [7] v Martin Gould [24] 
Judd Trump [6] v Robert Milkins [18] 
Ricky Walden [9] v Matthew Selt [27] 
Mark Williams [13] v Tom Ford [60]
Neil Robertson [4] v Jamie Cope [94] 
Ding Junhui [3] v Alan McManus [25] 
Graeme Dott [16] v Ryan Day [19] 
Stephen Maguire [14] v Michael Holt [23] 
Joe Perry [8] v Kyren Wilson [53] 
Shaun Murphy [5] v Peter Ebdon [29]  
Michael White [15] v Mark Davis [17] 
Mark Allen [10] v Luca Brecel [43] 
Mark Selby [2] v David Grace [84]