Worldsnooker has today published the daw and format for the International Championship 2017
The draw and format for the qualifying round of the 2017 International Championship is now available.
The qualifiers run from Tuesday September 26 to Friday September 29 at the Guild Hall in Preston. Tickets are available and cost just £5 – for details click here
Ronniehas entered the event and will play his last 128 qualifying match on September 29 at 7pm local time. His opponent is Gerard Greene. Not the easiest draw at this stage and, should he win he could meet the dangerous Yan Bingtao as first opponent at the venue in China.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Any word on whether Ronnie will play in either the European Masters or the English Open, prior to the International Championship…?
Ronnie will NOT be at the European Masters, he’s not entered it and the qualifiers have already be played. He had accepted other commitments even before any news was out about the event. As for the Home Nations series, I expect him to play in them and he has been filming with Eurosport to promote the English Open.
Thanks, Monique.
Yes, you are right! The four young Chinese players participating in the Asian Indoor Games are not scheduled in the September 26-29 qualifiers. If that means their matches are held-over to Daqing, then that’s quite a coup for them! Hossein Vafaei and Soheil Vahedi, who are also in Turkmenistan, will have to make it back for their qualifiers on 29th September.
Level playing field he?
Ronnie against Yan Bingtao in Daqing would indeed be a fascinating match, but that assumes Yan returns from Turkmenistan in time to play his qualifier. The Chinese boys are currently playing snooker and pool events at the Asian Indoor Games, which finishes on 26th September. Unless Victoria has chartered a special flight it could be tough for them to get back!
If you look at the format carefully, a lot of the matches involving Chinese players are not there… which means they are held-over to the venue. Probably at the request of CBSA or the sponsors so that the players involved the Asian games don’t need to be in Preston.