There are 64 players still hoping to beat the clock and collect the £50,000 top prize.
Half of this year’s contenders have already been knocked out with the second round of the Snooker Shoot Out set to take place on Saturday.
The random draw has thrown up several interesting fixtures, with Thepchaiya Un-Nooh’s date with John Higgins probably the tie of the round.
Un-Nooh triumphed in the quick-fire event two years ago while Higgins has never made it beyond the last 32.
The Scot fought to overcome countryman Scott Donaldson in his first-round encounter on Friday with a narrow 16-6 scoreline, but Thailand’s Un-Nooh saw off the challenge of Brandon Sargeant in a more convincing fashion.
A few of the other intriguing clashes on day three of the competition are reigning champion Michael Holt’s battle with Matthew Stevens and a meeting between Mark Williams and Hossein Vafaei.
Popular part-time YouTube comedy rapper Peter Devlin’s reward for edging past Jack Lisowski is a match against another top-16 member in David Gilbert.
Legends Jimmy White and Ken Doherty entertain Gerard Greene and Mitchell Mann respectively, while Barry Hawkins faces Zhou Yuelong.
Former winner Michael White, who plays Rory McLeod, is one of 14 amateur top-ups still in with a shot of ranking-event glory this weekend.
Two of those, Leo Fernandez and Declan Lavery, meet each other in an all-Ireland battle with a berth in the last 32 at stake.
Mark Selby remains the bookies favourite, although making a prediction is unwise in this format – underlined by the fact that no current member of the top 16 in the world rankings has ever emerged with the silverware.
Selby plays Barry Pinches, Mark Allen encounters Dylan Emery, and Shaun Murphy takes on Allan Taylor in a some of the other matches in the second round of the Snooker Shoot Out involving high-profile competitors.
Snooker Shoot Out Second Round Draw
(Matches begin at 1pm in Milton Keynes)
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs John Higgins
Robert Milkins vs Ben Mertens (a)
Xiao Guodong vs Robbie Williams
Noppon Saengkham vs Nigel Bond
Jimmy White vs Gerard Greene
Leo Fernandez (a) vs Declan Lavery (a)
Martin O’Donnell vs Simon Lichtenberg
Andy Hicks vs Ian Martin (a)
Hossein Vafaei vs Mark Williams
Eden Sharav vs Liang Wenbo
Duane Jones vs Hamim Hussain (a)
Mark Joyce vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Mitchell Mann vs Ken Doherty
Michael White (a) vs Rory McLeod
Louis Heatchote vs Sean Harvey (a)
Matthew Stevens vs Michael Holt
(Matches begin at 7pm in Milton Keynes)
Mark Allen vs Dylan Emery (a)
Alan McManus vs Martin Gould
Jamie Wilson vs Craig Steadman (a)
Chris Wakelin vs Joe Perry
David Gilbert vs Peter Devlin
Lyu Haotian vs Jordan Brown
Elliot Slessor vs Sam Craigie
Saqib Nasir (a) vs Ben Hancorn
Barry Pinches vs Mark Selby
Ryan Day vs Ashley Carty
Haydon Pinhey (a) vs Riley Parsons
David Grace vs Kuldesh Johal (a)
Zhou Yuelong vs Barry Hawkins
Sunny Akani vs John Astley (a)
Liam Highfield vs Connor Benzey (a)
Shaun Murphy vs Allan Taylor
What is the Snooker Shoot Out?
Each match lasts only one ten-minute frame, with a 15-second shot clock in operation for the first five minutes and a 10-second shot clock required for the remaining time.
Players lag to determine who breaks off, every shot must result in a ball hitting a cushion or being potted, and there is ball-in-hand for any foul committed.
A permanent fixture on the Main Tour schedule since 2011, no current top-16 player has ever emerged as the winner.
How to Watch
Live coverage will be available in Ireland, the UK, and across Europe via Eurosport.
Other options are available for viewers around the world, which you can view by clicking here.
As has become the norm this season, the tournament in Milton Keynes will be staged behind closed doors.
