Ronnie O’Sullivan will not take up his place in the Players Championship draw, meaning his old foe John Higgins comes into the 16-man field.
The top 16 on the one-year ranking list qualify for the ranking event in Telford, which boasts a top prize of £150,000.
The Rocket has won the event twice before, but will not be playing next week at the Telford International Centre despite being number eight on the one-year list, giving Higgins a blockbuster opening round tie instead.
The Wizard of Wishaw joins the fray and will take on top seed Neil Robertson in the first round.
Last week’s World Grand Prix, featuring the top 32 on the one-year ranking list, settled the field for the Players Championship, which gets underway on Tuesday February 17.
World champion Zhao Xintong lifted the trophy in Hong Kong after a superb 10-6 victory over Zhang Anda in the final.
The Cyclone knocked in five centuries in a sublime performance and pocketed £180,000 for his efforts.
Both Zhao and Zhang booked their places in the Players Championship thanks to their great runs to the final in Hong Kong, with the runner-up adding £80,000 to his rankings.
Narrowly missing out on a trip to Telford thanks to their success was Gary Wilson, who sits 18th on the one-year rankings.
There will be no defending champion at the Players Championship
The most surprising omission from the Players Championship draw is world number two and reigning champion Kyren Wilson, who has won both the Masters and Shanghai Masters this season.
Players Championship draw
- Neil Robertson v John Higgins
- Chris Wakelin v Xiao Guodong
- Judd Trump v Zhou Yuelong
- Mark Williams v Barry Hawkins
- Shaun Murphy v Zhang Anda
- Zhao Xintong v Elliot Slessor
- Wu Yize v Mark Allen
- Mark Selby v Jack Lisowski
However, they are both non-ranking events and his performances in ranked tournaments have only seen him reach number 22 on the one-year list.
He won the tournament in March last year, beating Judd Trump 10-9 in the final, but will not be back to defend his title.
The Warrior will be back in action at the Welsh Open, which runs from February 23 to March 1 in Llandudno.
O’Sullivan will not be playing in Wales, but is in the draw for the World Open in Yushan, China, which begins on March 16.
The Rocket’s struggles for form of late continued in Hong Kong, beating Joe O’Connor in his opening match but losing to Xiao Guodong in the second round.
He has not stated why he isn’t playing in Telford, but his light schedule in the UK continues since moving to Dubai, having only played at the UK Championship this season on home soil.
The World Grand Prix at the Kai Tak Arena proved to be an historic event as it was the first ever ranking tournament to feature four Chinese semi-finalists.
Zhao beat Xiao Guodong 6-3, while Zhang edged past Zhou Yuelong 6-5 to reach the showpiece match on Sunday.
The 16-man Players Championship draw features just five from China, so the country is not dominating the sport just yet, but that appears to be the direction of travel.
The only three players under 30 years old in the field for the Players Championship are Chinese.
Of the 32 players at the World Grand Prix, eight were under 30 and seven of those were Chinese, with Ireland’s Aaron Hill the other young player to appear in Hong Kong.
With China’s current world champion looking in sparkling form at the Grand Prix, the present and the future looks extremely bright for Chinese snooker.