By World Snooker Tour

Mark Allen has pulled out of this month's Shanghai Masters for personal reasons and has been replaced by Ali Carter.

Allen said: "I would have loved to play in Shanghai but I'm not able to make it this year for family reasons. I'd like to apologise to the fans, our partners in Shanghai and my sponsors Liberwin and Omin as I have always enjoyed playing in this fantastic event. I'll be working hard to make sure I'm in it next season."

Allen was due to meet a wild card player in the opening round on Tuesday July 29th, instead Carter will replace him in the draw.

The invitation event runs from July 28 to August 3, for the match schedule click here.