What are the quarter-finals at the 2026 Shanghai Masters snooker? Draw, schedule, stats

All four quarter-finals (best of 11 frames) will be played on Thursday in the Far East before the £825,000 invitational tournament turns to a multi-session format for the best of 19 semi-finals, and Sunday’s best of 21 final.

The top eight seeds (who all entered the fray in the round of 16) have all made it through to the last eight. All eight have won the world title before.

Kyren Wilson v Mark Williams (07:00BST)

Only one player has ever successfully defended the Shanghai Masters title, but Kyren Wilson remains on course to join Ronnie O’Sullivan on that list.

Wilson and O’Sullivan are the only players to have won both the ranked and invitational versions of the event, and it was ‘The Rocket’ who the current title holder knocked out in the last 16 to get to this stage.

Eliminating him for a second year in-a-row, Wilson came from behind and resisted a hat-trick of centuries from O’Sullivan, producing his own inspired spell of scoring to take the final three frames for a 6-4 win.

Number eight seed Williams was in trouble early on in his encounter with Chris Wakelin, but recovered from 3-0 down to sneak through with a 6-5 victory.

Three-time world champion Williams has never won this crown, although he was runner-up in 2011. The last time he featured in the semis was in 2012.

In terms of their career head-to-head record, Wilson holds a strong advantage, and won their most recent meeting at the 2025 Players Championship. They have played each other only once in China on the professional circuit before; on that occasion Wilson won 5-1 - with three tons - in the quarter-finals of the 2017 World Open.

Zhao Xintong v Neil Robertson (07:00BST)

In what will be a repeat of last season's Riyadh Season Championship, Robertson and Zhao - the world numbers two and three - navigated their opening assignments in contrasting fashion.

Despite his opponent Xiao Guodong making breaks of 74, 133, 95, 94, and a maximum 147 in going 5-2 up, Robertson strung together the final four frames for a 6-5 comeback win.

Meanwhile, Zhao comfortably dispatched Chinese snooker's original superstar Ding Junhui, 6-2, racking up a trio of centuries in the process.

The Shanghai Masters is one of only a few titles that Robertson does not have on his CV; in fact, he's never made it to a final. Zhao has not appeared in the final before either, although he has had far fewer attempts than his quarter-final opponent.

Removing a couple of Championship League Invitational fixtures from earlier this year (for the record, they each won and lost one), Robertson and Zhao have faced each other just twice before on the professional circuit - Zhao has won both (2019 English Open, 4-0 in last 32, 2025 Riyadh Season Championship, 5-2 in the final).

Judd Trump v John Higgins (12:30BST)

One of the most replayed clashes on the World Snooker Tour in recent times, Trump and Higgins - who have both defeated the other in a World Championship final at the Crucible before - add another chapter to their ongoing green baize saga.

With neither having played in the Championship League earlier this summer, both are making their debuts for the new season this week. Trump crafted a brace of centuries in getting past Barry Hawkins, 6-4, whilst Higgins survived a deciding frame, black ball finish to his meeting with Jack Lisowski.

Since winning this title in 2012 - when he made a 147 break and came back from 7-2 down to deny Trump, 10-9, in a memorable final - Higgins’ best result is a semi-final finish in 2017. After being runner-up in 2012, 2015 and 2017, Trump finally got his hands on the Shanghai trophy in 2024.

If you include all their matches on the professional circuit - including short-format ones - the head-to-head between Trump and Higgins is 28 wins each, and one draw.

In recent years, Trump held a dominant record over the four-time world champion, but Higgins - who turned 51-years-old in May - famously ended that long, big stage streak in January when he came back from 5-3 down to win 6-5 in the Masters semi-finals. Only a few weeks later in the last four of the Players Championship, Higgins repeated that scoreline. Those were their last two meetings on the top-flight.

Shaun Murphy v Wu Yize (12:30BST)

The standout tie of the quarter-finals is surely Murphy versus Wu in a rerun of their memorable World Championship final that went the distance just a few months ago.

Neither cueman had to play in the recent qualifiers, nor did they enter the Championship League, so the Shanghai Masters is their first outing of the new top tier campaign. And after just one match each since Sheffield, they clash again.

But it was nearly an all-Chinese affair, as Murphy had to recover from 4-2 down to oust Zhou Yuelong, 6-5, in round two.

Wu, on the other hand, was relatively comfortable in seeing off Si Jiahui, 6-2, ending in supreme style with contributions of 108, 140, and 140 again, across the final three frames.

That was the 22-year-old's first match win at the Shanghai Masters, although he had only competed in the tournament twice before, and one of those was as an amateur wildcard in 2019. Murphy is a two-time runner-up in this competition, in 2019 and 2024.

Wu and Murphy have met three times before on the pro tour, and those encounters all came last season. Murphy won the first one at the Xi'an Grand Prix in China (5-4 in the last 32), but Wu claimed the next two at the Masters when Murphy was the defending champion (6-2, first round) and the world final (18-17).

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 Shanghai Masters snooker invitational, visit our tournament information centre here.