China will be represented by 11 players at the World Snooker Championship this year, breaking the previous record of Chinese stars to reach the Crucible.
Qualifying came to an end on Wednesday night as the 32-man field for this year’s tournament was finalised.
The top 16 head straight to the Crucible and the 16 qualifiers have also booked their places on snooker’s hallowed ground thanks to victories at the English Institute of Sport up the road in Sheffield.
Five of the world’s top 16 are from China, including reigning world champion Zhao Xintong.
Six more Chinese cueists have come through qualifying, taking the tally to 11, which beats the previous record of 10, set last year.
Zhao leads the way of the top 16 players, with Xiao Guodong, Wu Yize, Si Jiahui and Ding Junhui.
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Zhou Yuelong and Pang Junxu came through qualifying on Tuesday, joined by He Guoqiang, Fan Zhengyi, Lei Peifan and Zhang Anda on Wednesday evening.
Also coming through qualifying are six English players, two Welsh, an Iranian and a Pole, with Antoni Kowalski becoming the first to represent Poland at the Crucible.
The draw for the first round at the Crucible will take place on Thursday morning at around 8.45am, made on BBC Radio Five Live.
Each qualifier will be drawn to face a seeded top 16 player, with the main stages of the World Championship starting at 10am on Saturday.
World Snooker Championship field
Top 16
Zhao Xintong
Judd Trump
Neil Robertson
Mark Williams
John Higgins
Kyren Wilson
Mark Selby
Shaun Murphy
Berry Hawkins
Xiao Guodong
Wu Yize
Chris Wakelin
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Mark Allen
Si Jiahui
Ding Junhui
Qualifiers
Hossein Vafaei
Zhou Yuelong
Matthew Stevens
Antoni Kowalski
Dave Gilbert
Stan Moody
Pang Junxu
Liam Pullen
Jak Jones
Ali Carter
He Guoqiang
Fan Zhengyi
Zhang Anda
Gary Wilson
Lei Peifan
Liam Highfield
Stan Moody, Liam Pullen, Kowalski and He Guoqiang will all be making their Crucible debuts this year.
25-year-old He sprung a surprise in the last round of qualifying by beating Northern Ireland Open champion Jack Lisowski 10-5.
Lisowski is ranked 17 in the world, but will miss a trip to the Crucible for the second year on the spin after falling in qualifying 12 months ago as well.
Judgement Day Results
Day One Results
Hossein Vafaei 10-4 Gao Yang
Zhou Yuelong 10-4 Michael Holt
Matthew Stevens 10-7 Stuart Bingham
Antoni Kowalski 10-8 Jamie Jones
David Gilbert 10-6 Aaron Hill
Stan Moody 10-9 Jiang Jung
Pang Junxu 10-8 Jackson Page
Liam Pullen 10-8 Noppon Saengkham
Day Two Results
Luca Brecel 5-10 Jak Jones
Anthony McGill 7-10 Ali Carter
He Guoqiang 10-5 Jack Lisowski
Ben Mertens 4-10 Fan Zhengyi
Zak Surety 3-10 Zhang Anda
Xu Si 9-10 Gary Wilson
Ryan Day 5-10 Lei Peifan
Liam Highfield 10-2 Oliver Lines
The record number of Chinese players in the draw shows the direction of travel for the top in the game which looks set to be evenly split between China and the rest of the world in years to come.
Three more players from China missed out in the final round of qualifying, two in deciding frames, so the record could easily have been more comprehensively broken.
However, debuts for English pair Moody and Pullen and Polish star Kowalski, show that there are strong young European players coming through as well.