Xiang Wenbo is frequently the public voice among the quartet of billionaires who run equipment manufacturer Sany Group.

FORBES: Xiang Wenbo

But that sacrifice has now paid dividends and with fellow Chinese players Liu Song and Liang Wenbo also in the snooker top 96, Ma Beng forsees a bright future for his countrymen in the sport.

BBC: SPORT | Other Sport... | Snooker | China in Ding's hands

Burnett's presence in the final means that for the fourth year running, one of the finalists in Shanghai will come from outside the world's top 16, keeping up the pattern established by Dominic Dale (2007), Ricky Walden (2008) and Liang Wenbo (2009).

BBC: Carter to take on Burnett in Shanghai Masters final

At the moment Dr Haller, who is now at McGill University in Montreal, is collaborating with Wenbo Tang of Arizona State University and Pak Wai Chan of the Hong Kong Observatory to apply Lagrangian theory to the problem of aircraft taking off and landing in difficult circumstances.

ECONOMIST: Lagrangian coherent structures