The International Championship gets underway this weekend and while there is a lot on the line in Nanjing, positions in York are at stake.
The competition in China saw Wu Yize raise the prize 12 months earlier and win a ranking title for the very first time.
It appears like it is going to be the very first of numerous as the 23-year-old has actually because ended up being world champ and included the Wuhan Open to his collection.
Wu won the ₤ 175,000 leading reward in 2015 which is what is on the line once again this time round, an amount which might have substantial implications for the upcoming UK Championship.
The International Championship is the last ranking occasion before the UK, so is the last opportunity to get an area in the leading 16 and protect an area at the Barbican.
All the gamers outside the world’s leading 16 will head to qualifiers in Leicester and fight it out for the opportunity to sign up with the elite in York.
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The qualifiers, particularly the last round on the 2 Judgement Days, are fantastic seeing for fans, however gamers would much rather prevent them than deal with the stress of 
the Mattioli Arena.
The majority of the leading 16 are currently safe in the understanding they will be at the Barbican, however not all of them.
World number 15 Ding Junhui requires a fantastic week in Nanjing to keep hold of his location as he won this competition 2 years earlier and the ranking points he declared for that fall off next week.
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The Chinese legend will require a go to the last to stay in the leading 16 and ensure an area in York, a location he likes to play, having actually won the UK Championship two times there.
The 39-year-old has actually not been to a last given that he beat Chris Wakelin in the 2024 International Championship masterpiece, however, so it would be amazing for him to do so once again in Nanjing next week.
With Ding most likely to move out of the leading 16, Jak Jones remains in prime position to take his location, having actually won the Championship League and British Open currently this season and reached the Northern Ireland Open last. These successes have actually put him 16th in the provisionary seedings.
The Welshman came through certifying to reach Nanjing, where he will handle Wang Xinbo in the last 64.
Jones might be budged out of the leading 16 by anybody to number 32 in the rankings, however, if any of those gamers can spring a surprise and win the International Championship.
The ₤ 175,000 leading reward would catapult anybody to Hossein Vafaei at number 32 worldwide right the method up into the leading 16.
Gamers simply outside the leading 16 might barge their method into the elite group without even raising the prize in Nanjing, with the similarity Zhou Yuelong and Chang Bingyu not far behind in regards to ranking points.
Existing world number 17 Jack Lisowski will not be barging into anything next week, however, as he stopped working to get approved for Nanjing, losing to Ashley Carty in Leicester.
Elliot Slessor remains in the very same boat after being knocked out by Yao Pengcheng at the Mattioli.
International Championship draw/schedule
Saturday October 31
UK times
1.30 am
Zhou Yuelong vs Liam Davies
Liu Hongyu vs Louis Heathcote
Jimmy White vs Mark Selby
Michal Szubarczyk vs Chen Qi’an(pre-qualifier)
Liu Wenwei vs Dong Zihao (pre-qualifier)
Steven Hallworth vs Li Jun(pre-qualifier)
6am
Ben Woollaston vs Yao Pengcheng
Ryan Day vs Lei Peifan
Stuart Carrington vs Hossein Vafaei
Neil Robertson vs Jiang Jun
Ding Junhui vs Sahil Nayyar
Pang Junxu vs Wang Xinzhong
11.30 am
David Grace vs Si Jiahui
Jak Jones vs Wang Xinbo
Wu Yize vs Hammad Miah
Jackson Page vs Szubarczyk/Chen
Judd Trump vs Liu/Dong
Fan Zhengyi vs Hallworth/Li
Zhao Xintong vs Ian Burns
Sunday November 1
1.30 am
Zhang Anda vs Huang Jiahao
Oliver Lines vs Dylan Emery
Ashley Carty vs Julien Leclercq
Stuart Bingham vs Marco Fu
Ishpreet Singh Chadha vs Mark Williams
Lyu Haotian vs John Higgins
Chang Bingyu vs Ross Muir
6am
Stephen Maguire vs Page/Szubarczyk/Chen
Ding/Nayyar vs Gao Yang
Liam Highfield vs Kyren Wilson
Judd Trump/Liu/Dong vs Fan/Hallworth/Li
Joe O’Connor vs Yuan Sijun
Aaron Hill vs Anton Kazakov
11.30 am
Wu Yize/Miah vs Robbie Williams
Pang/Wang vs Mina Awad
Xu Si vs Gary Wilson
Chris Wakelin vs Long Zehuang
Daniel Wells vs Duane Jones
Stan Moody vs Sam Craigie
David Lilley vs Zhao/Burns
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