The 2013 Shanghai Masters will be the third ranking even of the 2013/14 season with a massive purse of £80,000 going towards the winner. The Shanghai Grand Stage will again the host of this snooker world ranking event and it is Scotland's John Higgins who will be out to defend his title. This will also be the second world ranking tournament held in china this year, following up on the Wuxi Classic back in June. There was a run to the final of the Wuxi Classic for John Higgins as well, stringing together some good form before he was stopped in the showcase match 10-7 by Australia's Neil Robertson. After not making it then to Australia for the Goldfields Open, the second ranking event of the year, the Scot will be keen to get back in the driving seat. However, last year's win was his first at the Shanghai Masters and no player has yet managed to defend their title at the event since being introduced in 2007.
Last year's losing finalist Judd Trump will again be one of the strongest names in the market. He will take some favouritism heading to China, despite not having won this event before. But he could be motivated after only missing out a deciding frame in last year's final. He will have extra to prove in China as well because his visit to the Wuxi Classic earlier this year ended in a shock first round defeat against home talent Li Hang. He missed out on the Australian Goldfields Open too but may use his memories from the Shanghai Grand Stage to get himself towards the title this time around.
England's Mark Selby is one of the front runners as well alongside Trump and Robertson in 2013 Shanghai Masters betting. Selby has won the Shanghai Masters before, taking the title in 2011, and it was another deciding frame which settled it, this time against Mark Williams. Selby showed some decent form at the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open where he was stopped in the semi finals by eventual winner Neil Robertson. That was a vast improvement from the first ranking event of the season, the Wuxi Classic, where he lost his qualifying match against Andrew Pagett.
The other obvious name to take into serious consideration is that of Neil Robertson, who has been pounding out consistent snooker for most of the year. He posted a title against John Higgins at the Wuxi Classic this year and posted a 147 break as well during the qualifying stage. Then at the Goldfields Open, Robertson went to the final there, but was upset by Marco Fu 9-6 on that occasion. But again, it all points to Robertson being bang on top of his game on ranking tournaments, and will be heavily backed for this one, especially after his win in China earlier this year, and he also won the China Open at the back end of last season as well. Trending pretty well out east.
Selby, Trump and Robertson do look to be at the head of the game at the moment, and tagging along on their coat tails is John Higgins. The rest of the field is playing a big of catch up, but of course, while those are the strongest bets you can take, the value will come in long shots like Ding Junhui on his home soil, and others like Graeme Dott and Barry Hawkins. Ali Carter, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Dominic Dale are the only other players to have won the Shanghai Masters besides Higgins and Selby.
Shanghai Masters Odds - Shanghai Masters Betting
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