With the 2010 Shanghai Masters rapidly approaching, seven of the eight wildcards who will be involved in the competition have now been announced and it is a strong line-up with three players who were on the professional circuit during 2009/10…
The view the wildcards and the draw in full, please click here.
As you can see, perennial dangerman Tian Pengfei has been paired with Scottish veteran Jamie Burnett with the winner poised to meet Ronnie O’Sullivan at the last 32 stage. Having already dealt the former world number one a 5-3 defeat at the China Open recently, it would be very interesting to see if he would be able to repeat the feat in Shanghai.
Elsewhere, regular readers will know that I am a fan of young Li Hang who was relegated from the tour last season and he will meet Martin Gould for the right to play Stephen Hendry in the first round proper.
Jin Long and Mei Xiwen are also players that may be familiar to snooker fans having also been relegated at the end of 2009/10 and they will meet Robert Milkins and Mike Dunn respectively.
As well as Yu Delu and Li Yan who are often involved in these tournaments as wildcards, Rouzi Maimaiti will also be involved and comes up against Andrew Higginson who will be making his debut as a top 32 player at the event.
The final wildcard who is yet to be announced will meet former world champion Ken Doherty.