Liang Seals Masters Spot

Liang Wenbo will make his debut at the Dafabet Masters next month after the Chinese number two defeated David Grace 6-4 to reach the final of the Betway UK Championship this afternoon.

His victory means that regardless of the outcome tomorrow, Liang is guaranteed to climb to a new career-high ranking of at least 15th when the rankings are revised next week, edging Welshman Michael White out of the top 16.

In respect of outstanding seeding issues for the Alexandra Palace, victory for Mark Selby this evening against Neil Robertson would finalise the top eight positions, while a win for the Australian would see him climb one place from 7th as it stands, to 6th.

With victory in tomorrow’s final, Robertson would effectively complete a successful defence of the prize money he won at this tournament two years ago and climb to third in the final Masters list, although he would be seeded fourth due to Shaun Murphy’s status as defending champion.

Liang meanwhile would climb a further two places to 13th, although with the bottom eight seeds being drawn randomly for the Dafabet Masters, this would not affect his placement in the draw.