Zhang Anda beat Tom Ford in last year’s International Championship final (Picture: Getty Images)
The International Championship gets underway on Sunday and the world’s best snooker players are heading to a new venue for the event.
The tournament which was first played in 2012 has previously been held in Chengdu, Daqing and Tianjin but has now moved to Nanjing and will be staged at the South New City National Fitness Center (SNCNFC).
It is a busy time of the season with the Champion of Champions straight after this tournament and then the UK Championship coming up in York, but the International Championship is a big competition in itself.
The £175,000 top prize is big money and with one spot left to fill in the Champion of Champions, it would come with further bonuses if a non-qualified player lifted the trophy.
It was a surprise final last season as Zhang Anda beat Tom Ford, but there are plenty of familiar names looking to make it a more recognisable winner this time around.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is back in action after missing recent events, while stars of the season so far Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson are looking to add yet more trophies to their mantlepieces.
The event gets underway on Sunday in the very early hours for those in the UK.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is looking for his first title of the season (Picture: Getty Images)
International Championship draw and schedule
Sunday 03 November
1.30am (UK time)
Haydon Pinhey vs Lyu Haotian (Rd 2)
Stan Moody vs Xi Si (Rd 2)
Ryan Day vs Daniel Womersley (Rd 2)
Zhang Anda vs Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Rd 1)
David Grace vs Wildcard TBC (Rd 1)
Si Jiahui vs Andrew Pagett (Rd 1)
Hossein Vafaei vs Wildcard TBC (Rd 1)
6am
Simon Blackwell vs Matthew Stevens (Rd 2)
Zak Surety vs Chris Wakelin (Rd 2)
Jiang Jun vs Amir Sarkosh (Rd 2)
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Mink Nutcharut (Rd 1)
Ali Carter vs Wildcard TBC (Rd 1)
Noppon Saengkham vs Wildcard TBC (Rd 1)
Kyren Wilson vs Mitchell Mann (Rd 1)
Women’s world number one Mink Nutcharut plays Ronnie O’Sullivan (Picture: Getty Images)
11.30am
John Higgins vs Ben Woollaston (Rd 2)
Pang Junxu vs Elliot Slessor (Rd 2)
Ricky Walden vs Xiao Guodong (Rd 2)
Robbie Williams vs Stuart Carrington (Rd 2)
Dean Young vs Gary Wilson (Rd 2)
Jamie Clarke vs Mark Selby (Rd 2)
Ding Junhui vs Reanne Evans (Rd 1)
Monday 04 November
1.30am
Zhang/Chadha vs Grace/Wildcard
Anthony Hamilton vs Shaun Murphy
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Stuart Bingham
Judd Trump vs Sanderson Lam
Judd Trump has twice won the International Championship and is favourite this year (Picture: Getty Images)
6.30am
Mark Davis vs Mark Williams
O’Sullivan/Mink vs He Guoqiang
Gong Chenzhi vs Jack Lisowski
Ben Mertens vs Si/Pagett
Jimmy Robertson vs Saengkham/Wildcard
Joe Perry vs Barry Hawkins
Andrew Higginson vs Wu Yize
Liu Hongyu vs K Wilson/Mann
11.30
Carter/Wildcard vs Ross Muir
David Gilbert vs Jackson Page
Aaron Hill vs Mark Allen
Joe O’Connor vs Anthony McGill
Michael Holt vs Yuan Sijun
Ding/Evans vs Martin O’Donnell
Vafaei/Wildcard vs Dylan Emery
Fan Zhengyi vs Neil Robertson
The tournament runs from 3-10 November in Nanjing.
How to watch the International Championship
The tournament will be shown on Eurosport and Discovery+ in the UK.
International Championship prize money
Winner: £175,000
Runner-up: £75,000
Semi-final: £33,000
Quarter-final: £22,000
Last 16: £14,000
Last 32: £9,000
Last 64: £5,000
Highest break: £5,000
International Championship previous winners
2023 – Zhang Anda
2019 – Judd Trump
2018 – Mark Allen
2017 – Mark Selby
2016 – Mark Selby
2015 – John Higgins
2014 – Ricky Walden
2013 – Ding Junhui
2012 – Judd Trump
Ricky Walden lifted the trophy in 2014 (Picture: Getty Images)
International Championship odds
Judd Trump 5/2
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5/1
Kyren Wilson 15/2
Mark Selby 15/2
Neil Robertson 8/1
Mark Allen 11/1
Ding Junhui 12/1
Shaun Murphy 12/1
John Higgins 14/1
Mark Williams 14/1
Si Jiahui 16/1
Zhang Anda 25/1
Ali Carter 25/1
Jack Lisowski 25/1
Stuart Bingham 25/1
Barry Hawkins 25/1
David Gilbert 30/1
Wu Yize 40/1
Chris Wakelin 40/1
Xiao Guodong 40/1
Xiao Guodong won his first ranking title this season at the Wuhan Open (Picture: Getty Images)
Pang Junxu 40/1
Hossein Vafaei 40/1
Gary Wilson 40/1
Anthony McGill 50/1
Yuan Sijun 70/1
Elliot Slessor 70/1
Noppon Saengkham 70/1
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 70/1
Ryan Day 75/1
Jimmy Robertson 75/1
Ben Woollaston 75/1
Odd courtesy of Betfair, full list available here.