There has been a late change to the Xi’an Grand Prix draw, with Scott Donaldson withdrawing from the event which starts on Tuesday.
The Chinese tournament was new to the World Snooker Tour calendar last season, boasting a chunky top prize of £177,000.
Kyren Wilson pocketed that winner’s cheque last year, beating Judd Trump 10-8 in the final to get his hands on the impressive trophy.
Wilson, Trump and a host of other top stars are back in action at the Xi’an Grand Prix again next week, but sadly Donaldson will not be.
The 31-year-old former Championship League winner has withdrawn due to family reasons and has he had already won his opening qualifying round, he cannot be replaced in the draw.
Three-time world champion Mark Williams will play either Thai professional Chatchapong Nasa or Chinese wildcard Zhou Jinhao in his opening game. The winner of that match will receive a bye to the last 32.
It is a shame for Donaldson, who had beaten Robbie McGuigan 5-1 in qualifying to reach this stage and thrashed Antoni Kowalski 6-0 in International Championship qualifying just on Wednesday.
The other quirk in the draw is that Kyren Wilson or Haris Tahir will also get a bye to the last 32 as Marco Fu has had to withdraw due to a fractured elbow.
The three-time ranking event winner posted on social media: ‘Ouch I’ve just fractured my elbow haha…..don’t ask me how. Nothing too serious, but will be out of action for roughly 2 months. Sadly l need to withdraw from a number of tournaments, hopefully l can get back on the table ASAP. Thank you for your support, take care and see you soon.’
He too had won his qualifier, beating Sanderson Lam, so it is a bye for the defending champion Wilson or Tahir.
The event, unusually, starts on a Tuesday and ends on a Monday, running from October 7-13.
It is being shown live on TNT Sports and Discovery+, starting at 3am UK time on Tuesday.
The event also sees the return of Ronnie O’Sullivan, who will be playing for the first time since losing out in an epic final of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters to Neil Robertson.
The Rocket was beaten 10-9 by the Thunder from Down Under on August 16 and hasn’t played since, but will take on Iulian Boiko in his opener in Xi’an.
Xi'an Grand Prix draw and schedule
Tuesday October 7
UK times
3am
Yuan Sijun vs Jamie Jones
Ricky Walden vs Elliot Slessor
Jackson Page vs Louis Heathcote
Farakh Ajaib vs David Lilley
Chatchapong Nasa vs Zhou Jinhao
Kyren Wilson vs Haris Tahir
Gary Wilson vs Zhang Xiao
Chris Wakelin vs Zhang Hao
7am
Stephen Maguire vs Robbie Williams
Jak Jones vs Dylan Emery
He Guoqiang vs Xu Yichen
Wnag Yuchen vs Lyu Haotian
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Jiang Jun
Neil Robertson vs Leone Crowley
Judd Trump vs Ng On Yee
Zhao Xintong vs Wang Xinbo
12.30pm
Stuart Bingham vs Matt Selt
Ryan Day vs Zhou Yuelong
Liam Pullen vs Michael Holt
Noppon Saengkham vs Michal Szubarczyk
Huang Jiahao vs Aaron Hill
Ding Junhui vs Sam Craigie
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Iulian Boiko
Mark Williams vs Nasa/Zhou
Wednesday October 8
3am
Shaun Murphy vs Long Zehuang
Daniel Wells vs Dave Gilbert
Fan Zhengyi vs Si Jiahui
Jimmy Robertson vs Joe O’Connor
7am
Wu Yize vs Xu Si
Jordan Brown vs Ding/Craigie
Sunny Akani vs Wilson/Wildcard
Mateusz Baranowski vs Wakelin/Wildcard
Trump/On Yee vs Matthew Stevens
Ali Carter vs Stan Moody
12.30pm
Oliver Lines vs Mark Allen
O’Sullivan/Boiko vs Yao Pengcheng
Ishpreet Singh Chadha vs Robertson/Crowley
David Grace vs Barry Hawkins
Mark Selby vs Mark Davis
Rob Milkins vs Zhao/Wildcard
Xi’an Grand Prix prize money
Winner: £177,000
Runner-up: £76,000
Semi-finals: £34,500
Quarter-finals: £22,350
Last 16: £14,000
Last 32: £9,400
Last 64: £5,350
High break: £5,000