The Shanghai Masters field is close to being announced after the cut-off for the world’s top 16 and the next four highest-ranked Chinese players was confirmed.

Defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan is set to return to Shanghai and world champion Judd Trump will also be involved.

Shaun Murphy managed to secure his place with a strong performance at the International Championship. He is due to take on Mark Allen in the semi-finals of the Daqing event on Saturday.

Murphy is 2.50 to claim the win and Allen can be backed at 1.50.

Allen, Mark Williams, Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui, Barry Hawkins, Jack Lisowski, David Gilbert, Stuart Bingham, Stephen Maguire and Ali Carter make up the rest of the world’s top 16.

The four next highest-ranked Chinese players are Riga Masters champion Yan Bingtao, Xiao Guodong, Lyu Haotian and Liang Wenbo.

The final four players to complete the 24-man field will come from the CBSA China Tour and China’s Amateur Masters series, and are yet to be confirmed.

The Shanghai Masters is due to begin on September 9 and will conclude on September 15.

Before then, the players will compete in qualifying for the China Championship, while the invitation events, the Paul Hunter Classic and the Six Red World Championship, are due to take place.