David Gilbert replaces Yan Bingtao at 2023 Cazoo Masters after Chinese player fails to appeal suspension
David Gilbert has been given a place for the 2023 Masters and will face Mark Williams in his first-round match.
The 2023 edition of the tournament will take place at Alexandra Palace in North London, with Gilbert’s match-up against the former world No. 1 coming on Tuesday January 10, at 7pm.
Gilbert was not originally due to feature in the tournament, but was called up as a replacement for Yan Bingtao. Bingtao has been suspended by the WPBSA and missed the 14-day window to appeal his suspension, meaning that he will miss the event.
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As the world No. 17, Gilbert was next in line to feature at the competition.
Gilbert has twice played at the Cazoo Masters, making his debut in 2020 and his most recent appearance in 2021.
He reached the semi-finals on both occasions and will be looking for another good run at the tournament.
41-year-old Gilbert has just one ranking title to his name but that came recently, at last season’s Championship League.
His best finish of the season so far has been a quarter-final exit in the Northern Ireland Open, the same as he reached last year.
David Gilbert
Image credit: Eurosport
In the previous campaign he also reached the quarter-finals of the European Masters, British Open, and Scottish Open.
Bingtao will miss out in London due to a suspension that was put in place after the emergence of a match-fixing investigation that also saw another seven players suspended from the professional tour.
The Cazoo Masters is a non-ranking tournament as it is open to just the 16 top-ranked tour players, and the 2023 edition will be the 49th occasion it is held.
It is considered one of the Triple Crown events of the snooker calendar, alongside the UK Championship and World Snooker Championship.
The defending champion is Neil Robertson, who returns to Alexandra Palace for his first-round match against England’s Shaun Murphy. Judd Trump, Mark Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan are also set to take part.
The Cazoo Masters will take place from January 8-15 next year.
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