The 13th edition of the Shanghai Masters, first held in 2007, it was the first professional tournament played in mainland China since the 2019 World Open, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament was broadcast by local channels in China, Thailand, and Hong Kong, by Eurosport and Discovery+ in Europe, and by Matchroom Sport in all other territories.

After beating Ali Carter 6‍–‍3 in the last 16, John Higgins 6‍–‍5 in the quarter-finals, and Mark Selby 10‍–‍7 in the semi-finals, O'Sullivan defeated the reigning world champion Luca Brecel 11‍–‍9 in the final to win his fifth Shanghai Masters title, his fourth consecutively.

The inaugural 2007 Shanghai Masters was won by Dominic Dale, who trailed 2‍–‍6 in the final against Ryan Day, only to win eight consecutive frames for a 10‍–‍6 victory.

[6] The tournament was broadcast in China on Superstar online, Migu, Youku, and Huya.com; in Thailand on True Sports; in Hong Kong on Now TV; and in Europe on Eurosport and Discovery+.

The breakdown of prize money is shown below:[10] First-round matches took place on September 11 and 12, featuring eight Chinese invitees against players seeded nine through 16.

[14] Two-time winner Ding Junhui led 2023 World Championship semi-finalist Si Jiahui 3‍–‍1 at the mid-session interval and went on to clinch the match 6‍–‍2.

John Higgins whitewashed Chinese wildcard Deng Haohui 6‍–‍0, making back-to-back century breaks of 102 and 141 in the third and fourth frames.

[15][16] The 141 was Higgins's 950th century in professional competition, making him the second player after O'Sullivan to reach that milestone.

Hossein Vafaei made three centuries of 120, 117, and 108 as he defeated Chinese wildcard Gong Chenzhi 6‍–‍1.

[9] Mark Williams and Robert Milkins advanced with 6‍–‍1 wins over Pang Junxu and Bai Yulu respectively.

[14] Having withdrawn from the 2023 Championship League and the 2023 European Masters,[18][19] O'Sullivan played his first match of the 2023‍–‍24 season against the 2010 winner Ali Carter.

With the scores tied at 5‍–‍5, Lisowski took a 42-point lead in the deciding frame, but Trump secured victory with a 74 break.

Brecel won three consecutive frames with breaks of 77, 92, and 107 to lead 3‍–‍2 before Williams tied the scores with a 110 century.

[20] Milkins faced Shaun Murphy, whom he had defeated 9‍–‍7 in the previous season's 2023 Welsh Open final.

Fan faced world number three Mark Allen, who made a 135 break in the opening frame.

[22] Higgins also had chances to clinch the match in the ninth, but O'Sullivan took the frame and then made back-to-back centuries of 100 and 130 to secure a 6‍–‍5 win.

O'Sullivan responded with three consecutive frames, including back-to-back centuries of 143 (the tournament's highest break) and 120, to move one from victory at 10‍–‍7.

The 18th frame came down to a duel on the final black, which Brecel potted by doubling it the full length of the table.

I wasn’t on auto pilot, everything was a bit of a struggle from start to finish”, commented O’Sullivan afterwards.