As the snooker circuit moves on to Blackpool this week for the World Seniors Championship and Shoot Out events, World Snooker have also published the draws and formats for the final stages of both the upcoming Indian Open and China Open tournaments.
As well as confirming the match schedules for each of the events (though note that China is subject to change depending on who goes furthest at the Players Championship Grand Finals), the wildcards for each of the events and their professional opponents have also been confirmed.
In India, there will be six wildcard matches are as follows, with former professional and 2013 Indian Open quarter-finalist Pankaj Advani standing out as someone who could not only win his opening match, but go on to do some real damage in the tournament:
- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh [49] v Neeraj Kumar
- Sam Baird [63] v Brijesh Damani
- Lü Haotian [65] v Dharminder Lilly
- Adam Duffy v Sumit Talwar
- Nigel Bond [51] v Faisal Khan
- Rhys Clark v Pankaj Advani
In Beijing meanwhile, there will be just four wildcards, although with Zhao Xintong, Yan Bingtao and Zhang Yong all having defeated professional opposition already this season, they are not to be taken lightly:
- Alex Davies [76] v Zhao Xintong
- Robin Hull [69] v Yan Bingtao
- Peter Lines [61] v Yuan Sijun
- Zhou Yuelong [83] v Zhang Yong