How the huge cashpot is divided

We’re through to the quarter-final stage this morning.

Here is how the pot is looking for the tournament:

The total pot is a whopping £850,000, including a £5,000 bonus for the highest break.

• Winner: £177,000
• Runner-up: £76,000
• Semi-final: £34,500
• Quarter-final: £22,350

Tomorrow’s semi-final line-up

Three of the world’s top-five ranked stars are in action tomorrow,

And amazingly it’s all-time great Ronnie Sullivan who is the lowest at No5.

The Rocket faces world champ Kyran Wilson, rated No 3 on the planet.

The third and final Englishman in the Xi’an semi-finals is World No2 Judd Trump.

He takes on Wales’ World No 60 Daniel Wells, 36, whose highest global ranking of 52nd came four years ago.

Schedule:
Kyren Wilson vs Ronnie O’Sullivan
Judd Trump vs Daniel Wells

Murphy dreads playing World Champ qualifiers

Shaun Murphy hopes improved form in reaching the last 16 in Xi’an helps stave off one of his biggest fears in snooker.

The 2005 Crucible king hopes to be high enough up the rankings to avoid needing to qualify for next year’s World Championship.

Murphy said of his efforts in China this week: “I suppose that shows that there’s a bit of life in the old dog just yet.

“I celebrated my 42nd birthday last week, so there’s still a bit of life in there.

“The rankings don’t tell lies, and the end-of-season provisional list for me is pretty bleak reading at the moment.

“Although the Shanghai Masters is a massive tournament, this event because it carries the ranking points is equally as big if not more important for me.

“I need to make some inroads on what was a terrible season last year and start climbing that ranking again.

“The last thing I want to do is go to the qualifiers for the World Championship or something, so I’ve got my work to do.”