Eight players will battle it out for the 2019 Paul Hunter Classic title on Sunday at the Stadthalle in Furth.
Kyren Wilson, who triumphed last year, and fellow top 16 member Barry Hawkins were among those to emerge from their first round ties on Saturday.
Wilson faces Dominic Dale in the quarter-finals while Hawkins, the second seed on the opposite side of the draw, meets fellow Englishman Mark King.
The latter is the only other player to have previously won the event, when it was previously staged as the Furth German Open in 2005.
The 2019 Paul Hunter Classic has seen the event lose its ranking event status and staged as a mere invitational for the first time since 2009.
It has left fans disappointed as the tournament was always one of the most well-respected on the calendar, not only because of the name it honours but also thanks to the good atmosphere that an often packed crowd in Furth can generate.
Sponsorship and funding proved difficult to come by, and the top prize of £20,000 last season was small change compared to some of the jackpots on offer in China and the UK.
The winner of the 2019 Paul Hunter Classic will be rewarded even less but the 16 competitors who accepted invitations did so knowing that they were helping a popular pro-am survive.
A high-quality last eight line-up also comprises World Championship semi-finalist David Gilbert, who clashes with Joe Perry.
Luca Brecel is the only player from outside Britain left in the hunt with the Belgian “Bullet” set to face Ricky Walden.
Every match, including the final, will be played over the short best of seven frames format.
Click here to view the 2019 Paul Hunter Classic draw. (Times: CET)
