On Saturday, four days of China Open qualifying will begin in Barnsley with a recent prize money increase announcement adding even more importance to the matches.
When the final stages of the China Open begin on April 1, it will be the last event for players to get into the top 16 and qualify automatically for the World Championships at the Crucible.
News on Sunday that the winner will now receive, £220,000 which has nearly trebled last year's winners cheque, means it will certainly be all to play for in Beijing, with Marco Fu being the only notable non-entry.
On top of this, it will be the penultimate chance for players to make it into the top 64 on the provisional end of season rankings, the crucial mark for tour survival - making these matches even more important for players in that area of the rankings currently.
Liam Highfield is currently 64th on the provisional end-of-season money list with £64,825 on his ranking, £3,575 clear of current 65th place Zhang Anda, but that could all change depending on results over the next few days.
Full Draw:
Preliminary Round: (All matches held over to the venue)
Zhang Yong Vs Wildcard
Wildcard Vs Wildcard
Basem Eltahhan Vs Wildcard
Last 128:
Mark Selby Vs Wang Yuchen - Held over to the main venue
Scott Donaldson Vs Zhang Anda
Ben Woollaston Vs Rod Lawler
Robert Milkins Vs Lee Walker
Ryan Day Vs Lu Haotian
Rory McLeod Vs Liam Highfield
Stephen Maguire Vs James Wattana
Fergal O'Brien Vs Hammad Miah
Mark Davis Vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Michael Holt Vs Akani Songsermsawad
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Ian Burns
Mark Williams Vs Ian Preece
Kurt Maflin Vs Ashley Hugill
Yan Bingtao Vs John Astley
Noppon Saengkham Vs Ken Doherty
Mark Allen Vs Allan Taylor
John Higgins Vs Adam Duffy
Alfie Burden Vs Martin O'Donnell
Anthony Hamilton Vs David John
Jack Lisowski Vs Gerard Greene
Ali Carter Vs Chen Zifan
Gary Wilson Vs Niu Zhuang
Joe Perry Vs Joe Swail
Matthew Selt Vs Chris Totten
Peter Ebdon Vs Zhang Yong/Wildcard - Held over to the main venue
Mark King Vs Leo Fernandez
Andrew Higginson Vs Wildcard - Held over to the main venue
Kyren Wilson Vs Li Yuan
Jimmy Robertson Vs Christopher Keogan
Xiao Guodong Vs Alex Borg
Tian Pengfei Vs Craig Steadman
Ding Junhui Vs Michael Georgiou - Held over to the main venue
Judd Trump Vs Jak Jones
Oliver Lines Vs Nigel Bond
Zhou Yuelong Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Li Hang Vs Chen Zhe
Neil Robertson Vs Robin Hull
Robbie Williams Vs Sanderson Lam
Martin Gould Vs Fang Xiongman
Jamie Jones Vs Sam Craigie
Hossein Vafei Vs Hamza Akbar
Ricky Walden Vs Aditya Mehta
Matthew Stevens Vs Eden Sharav
Stuart Bingham Vs Jimmy White
Mark Joyce Vs Peter Lines
Graeme Dott Vs Mei Xiwen
Chris Wakelin Vs Lukas Kleckers
Shaun Murphy Vs David Grace
Barry Hawkins Vs Josh Boileau
Sam Baird Vs Soheil Vahedi
Michael White Vs Xu Si
Dominic Dale Vs Paul Davison
Luca Brecel Vs Zhao Xintong
Cao Yupeng Vs Kurt Dunham
David Gilbert Vs Billy Castle
Mike Dunn Vs Mitchell Mann
Yu De Lu Vs Duane Jones
Liang Wenbo Vs Rhys Clark - Held over to the main venue
Stuart Carrington Vs Eltahhan/Wildcard - Held over to the main venue
Anthony McGill Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Tom Ford Vs Jamie Barrett
Alan McManus Vs Yuan Sijun
Daniel Wells Vs Elliot Slessor
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Ross Muir - Held over to the main venue
Stuart Bingham is all set to make his comeback from suspension here as he takes on Jimmy White in what is certainly a tough return fixture. The whirlwind defeated Ali Carter in York at the UK Championships and overcame Anthony McGill in German Masters qualifying to show that he is still capable of beating the top stars.
Bingham's last event on tour was the English Open when he exited in the last 32 to Hossein Vafei and he will certainly be looking to make up for lost time by qualifying for Beijing. The Snooker Shoot-Out in a couple of weeks will be Bingham's first full event at a venue, and with his World Grand Prix place in the balance, he will need to start strongly there.
Elsewhere, there are some brutal round one ties including Luca Brecel Vs Zhao Xintong. There is plenty on the line there for Zhao who is in need of victories in order to save his place on the professional tour.
As previously mentioned, Highfield is in the hot seat of 64th on the provisional end-of season list. The man that those below need to catch takes on Rory McLeod in a crucial round one tie that is a must win to keep his head above the line. Zhang Anda in 65th could overtake him with victory over Scott Donaldson if Highfield was to slip up, while 66th placed Mei Xiwen is also close enough to climb out but he faces a tough assignment against Graeme Dott to qualify for Beijing.
67th placed David Grace has an even tougher task against Shaun Murphy, but 68th on the provisional end-of season list is Tian Pengfei who is still seeded in the top 64 in the current seedings and therefore faces a player ranked below him in Craig Steadman. Also vulnerable is 63rd placed John Astley who has a brutal draw against young Yan Bingtao, and Noppon Sanegkham in 62nd could also be overtaken by 65th placed Zhang Anda and fall into the danger zone if he loses to Ken Doherty and other results go against him.
The secondary way to stay on tour is through the one-season money list. The top eight not already qualified for the 2018/2019 season will gain a new two year tour card without going to Qualifying School in May.
Elliot Slessor currently leads this list by a distance and is nearly £15,000 clear of second placed Tian Pengfei. Michael Georgiou, Mei Xiwen, Zhang Anda, Mitchell Mann, Zhao Xintong and Aditya Mehta are the others in position on that list.
However, Alfie Burden and Lee Walker are just £500 behind Mehta with Zhao not much further ahead while Zhang Anda and Mitchell Mann could also both be leapfrogged and fall out of these tour card positions with defeats in Barnsley. Mann faces Mike Dunn in the last 128, while Burden plays Martin O'Donnell, Walker is up against Robert Milkins and the man on the bubble Mehta plays Ricky Walden.
Grace is also within touching distance of the top eight NAQ for next season on the one-year list, but he must turn giant-killer to take advantage. Also within range are Ian Preece (who faces an all-Welsh clash with last year's runner-up Mark Williams), Sam Craigie (who takes on Jamie Jones) and Hammad Miah (up against Fergal O'Brien).
Many others are further back but need a run of victories to climb into either the top 64 on the end-of-season list or the top 8 NAQ on the one-year list. Surprisingly one of the names on that list is Sam Baird, who faces Soheil Vahedi on Tuesday afternoon and is more than capable of stringing some wins together between now and the end of the season.
In terms of the "Race to the Crucible" Mark Allen is number 16 and currently holding the last automatic qualifying spot. He leads 17th placed Ryan Day by just over £27,000 which is quite a lead, but with the money on offer in Beijing and before that crunch time that can soon be eroded.
In order to be in Beijing and have his destiny in his own hands, Day will need to overcome the dangerous Lu Haotian this week, while Allen faces Allan Taylor. Stephen Maguire is another player hunting a top 16 return and he needs to beat James Wattana to keep his destiny in his own hands.
Anthony McGill is 15th on the provisional Crucible seedings list and his last 128 opponent in Barnsley this week is Thor Chuan Leong, while Bingham himself is 14th and at a slight risk too.
There are no such worries for the likes of Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ding Junhui who are all exempt from the Barnsley qualifiers and have their last 128 matches held over to the venue in April. That means Judd Trump is the highest ranked player heading to the qualifiers this week and the former China Open winner plays Jak Jones for the right to play in China's capital.
All matches in the qualifying stages are played over the best-of-11 frames format, mirroring that of the International Championships, with winners in qualifying guaranteed £5,000 by making the last 64 and booking their spots for the penultimate ranking event of the season.
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