2024 Xi'an Grand Prix Snooker: Tournament Preview

A new ranking event on the World Snooker Tour, the 2024 Xi'an Grand Prix carries a prize fund of £850,000, with £177,000 going to the eventual champion. The tournament format consists of a flat draw, meaning all 128 players begin in round one.

However, the majority of round one matches in the event were played at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester a few weeks ago, although several opening fixtures - including those featuring Ronnie O'Sullivan and Kyren Wilson - have been held over to the main venue.

All of the world's top 16 players entered the event, but Luca Brecel and Ali Carter are both already out. Brecel didn't arrive on time for his qualifier against Hammad Miah, while Carter was ousted by Daniel Wells, 5-4.

For details on how to follow the 2024 Xi’an Grand Prix - including the full draw, results, daily schedule, format, prize money and live coverage - please visit our tournament centre, here.

We preview the competition below, looking at the headline stories from each quarter of the draw.

World Champion Kyren Wilson heads quarter one

Current Crucible King Kyren Wilson didn't enjoy his last trip to China last month as he lost 6-0 to Zhou Yuelong in his opening match at the Shanghai Masters.

Wilson has a tricky round one match against Pakistan's rookie professional Haris Tahir, who is currently two wins from two this season. Should Wilson get past Tahir, he would face last season's Rookie of the Year, He Guoqiang.

John Higgins continues to cling on to his top 16 status, but the great Scot has now not won a ranking event for 3-and-a-half years. He faces the returning Sunny Akani in round two; Thailand’s Akani won all three of his matches at the recent qualifiers in Leicester.

Mark Williams meets Mark Davis, while Ding Junhui could play fellow countryman Xu Si if he gets past Alfie Burden in a held over round one tie. Both Davis and Xu won 3/3 in the recent qualifying block.

China's greatest-ever player, Ding has not recorded a ranking event triumph since 2019, and his last one on home soil was in 2017.

Elsewhere in the quarter are ranking event winners Anthony McGill, Ricky Walden, Jimmy Robertson and Chris Wakelin.

Quarter Two: Ronnie O'Sullivan hungry to end Chinese ranking title wait

Although he is no stranger to winning the invitational Shanghai Masters in recent times, Ronnie O'Sullivan has not won a Chinese ranking event since 2017, and that’s a drought he’ll be aiming to stop in Xi’an.

Seven-time world champion O'Sullivan has had a quiet start to his 33rd consecutive season on the professional snooker scene, losing in the opening phase of the Championship League and relinquishing his Shanghai crown to eventual champion Judd Trump in the semi-finals.

If O'Sullivan keeps winning in Xi'an, he could set up a few very intriguing ties. Should he get past Hong Kong's Wang Yuchen, the 48-year-old meets 17-year-old Bulcsu Revesz in the last 64 and possibly Neil Robertson in what would be a lip-smacking round three showdown. Robertson can't look past Yuan Sijun first up, though.

Also in the top segment of this quarter are Zhang Anda and Hossein Vafaei.

The bottom section looks very wide open and difficult to predict, especially with Brecel's early elimination. Tom Ford is the highest ranked player, but Si Jiahui, Matt Selt and Joe O'Connor are also big contenders for a quarter-final place.

Judd Trump and Mark Selby highlight Quarter Three

With seven trophies each, Judd Trump and Mark Selby are the two most decorated winners of Chinese ranking events in professional snooker history. They are also the two highest ranked players in the third quarter of the draw and would meet in the last eight if they navigate their ways through.

Trump won the Shanghai Masters last month and will be looking to add another new accolade to his illustrious career CV.

A winner of five ranking events last season - two of them coming in China - Trump plays home player Ma Hailong in the last 64 having already defeated Antoni Kowalski in round one a few weeks ago.

Elsewhere in Trump's mini section (top half of the quarter) is world championship finalist Jak Jones and Jack Lisowski. Jones and Lisowski could play each other in the last 32.

Four-time world champion Selby still needs to play his opening round match against a local wildcard. Should he pass that test, he would face the Republic of Ireland's number one, Aaron Hill.

Current Scottish and Welsh Open champion Gary Wilson would play the in-form David Gilbert in round three if they get past Ben Mertens and Jordan Brown in the last 64, respectively.

World number one Mark Allen in Quarter Four

Three of Mark Allen's 11 career ranking event titles have come in China, and the world number one begins his campaign in Xi'an with an opening round fixture against home player Liu Hongyu who has not won a match in five attempts this term.

Allen's eight player mini-section is crammed with top tier experience; Matthew Stevens plays Ryan Day, while Barry Hawkins and Stephen Maguire are also present.

World number seven Shaun Murphy is defending a big chunk of prize money on his rankings later this season, so will be keen to take pressure off early with good runs in big-money events such as this.

Murphy is set to share the baize with either Jamie Clarke of a local wildcard in round two.

Noppon Saengkham and Zhou Yuelong have both been knocking on the door of making a really big breakthrough in recent years and they are also located in this mini-section. As too are two of the fastest players on the World Snooker Tour - Julien Leclercq and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.