The 2023-2024 British Championships have reached the semi-final stage, marking the imminent confirmation of all the places in this season's Masters Tournament. In January next year, the Masters will be held in Beijing time. Ding Junhui has already secured his qualification for the Masters with his outstanding performance in the semi-finals of the British Championships, which also means that China will have two players competing in next year's Masters, namely Zhang Anda and Ding Junhui. Meanwhile, 15 players have already secured a spot in this season's Masters, with the final spot on the horizon and the competition will be between Lisowski and Iran's Vafi Ayuri.
It is worth mentioning that Lisowski's performance this season has not been ideal, and he has dropped to 16th in the world ranking in the first game of the British Championship early. And Ding Junhui's performance in the British Championship allowed him to surpass Lisowski. If veteran Milkins does not perform well this season, he will likely fall out of the top 16 in the world. Vafiayuri will be particularly important in the next semi-finals, and if he makes it to the final, he will replace Lisowski as a new entrant at the Masters. Despite having a semi-final experience this season, Lisowski was saddened to miss out on his seventh ranking final. In this British Championship, his performance was not satisfactory either.
Meanwhile, Vafiayuri showed signs of a comeback in the closing stages of the tournament and is currently just £6,000 off the prize money between him and Lisowski. The game also forced Lisowski to consider the competitive pressure of Vafiayuri, who may need to rely on the help of his big brother O'Sullivan if he wants to secure a spot in the Masters. In addition, there are two Asian players in the top four of this British Championship, adding a bright point to the fierce competition between Asian players and British players. At the same time, celebrities such as O'Sullivan, Luca Brecel, Judd Trump and Mark Allen have also qualified for the Masters in advance. Barry Hawkins has been under relegation pressure this season.
And in the upcoming match, he will face a fierce battle for a seeding spot at next year's World Championships.