The inaugural Xi’an Grand Prix final will be contested between Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson on Sunday at the Qujiang E-Sports Centre.
Two of the world’s best players at present will go head-to-head for the £177,000 top prize in what is China’s newest ranking event.
By reaching the title-deciding fixture, Trump has already guaranteed his return to the world number one position on the official rankings standings.
The 35 year-old has the same two-year tally as Mark Allen but will usurp the Northern Irishman whatever happens on Sunday based on tournament countback.
It’ll mark the first time since 2021 that Trump has topped the list, but he’ll want to seal the status in style by adding yet more silverware to his cabinet.
Even though he is facing a worthy opponent in the Xi’an Grand Prix final, Trump will be an obvious favourite for glory.
The Englishman has been in supreme form this season, enjoying an undefeated streak so far that has already seen him enjoy success at the non-ranking Shanghai Masters.
Should he emerge with the trophy on Sunday, it would represent a 29th career ranking title that would see him surpass Steve Davis on the all-time list.
Trump comfortably won his semi-final outing on Saturday, beating pal Daniel Wells 6-1 with breaks of 99 and 96.
World champion Wilson, of course, will likely provide a much sterner test.
The Kettering cueist has silenced doubters, who maybe suspected a difficult upcoming season as the reigning Crucible king, with a fine run this week.
Wilson’s 6-4 defeat of Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last four offered a flattering scoreline to his opponent, because it really ought to have been a wider margin of victory.
The 32 year-old is one win away from a seventh career ranking title and prize money that would see him firmly join that world number one race with Trump and Allen.
To do that, however, Wilson will have to beat Trump for the first time in a ranking event since 2020.
The latter has prevailed from six of the pair’s last seven encounters and boasts a superior head-to-head record overall.
They have three times met in ranking event finals, with Wilson leading 2-1.
Two of those meetings required deciding frames, with Wilson edging Trump 10-9 to claim his maiden title in Shanghai in 2015.
Trump later recorded a 4-3 victory at the 2020 Gibraltar Open.
Neutral fans will be hoping their Xi’an Grand Prix final will be just as close.
Live coverage is available for free on the Matchroom Live streaming service.
2024 Xi’an Grand Prix draw
Round of 128
Top Half
Kyren Wilson 5-2 Haris Tahir
He Guoqiang 5-4 Ashley Carty
Anthony McGill 5-0 Xing Zihao
Ricky Walden 5-3 Liam Davies
John Higgins 5-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
Sunny Akani 5-2 Fan Zhengyi
Dean Young 5-3 Robert Milkins
Jimmy Robertson 5-1 Huang Jiahao
Elliot Slessor 5-0 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Chris Wakelin 5-4 Rory Thor
Mark Davis 5-3 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Mark Williams 5-0 Liam Graham
Jamie Jones 5-2 Mostafa Dorgham
Stuart Bingham 5-1 Zhou Jinhao
Xu Si 5-4 Jiang Jun
Ding Junhui 4-5 Alfie Burden
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Wang Yuchen
Révész Bulcsú 5-0 David Grace
Neil Robertson 5-2 Allan Taylor
Yuan Sijun 5-1 Bai Yulu
Zhang Anda 5-1 Oliver Lines
Graeme Dott 5-2 Ma Shaojun
Hossein Vafaei 5-1 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Dylan Emery 5-2 Jackson Page
Amir Sarkhosh 5-3 Joshua Thomond
Si Jiahui 5-4 Jimmy White
Gong Chenzhi 5-4 Anthony Hamilton
Tom Ford 5-3 Stan Moody
Matthew Selt 5-2 Ian Burns
Joe O’Connor 5-3 Duane Jones
Zak Surety 5-2 Sanderson Lam
Hammad Miah w/o Luca Brecel
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-2 Antony Kowalski
Ma Hailong 5-3 Martin O’Donnell
Lyu Haotian 5-2 Baipat Siripaporn
Artemijs Zizins 5-3 Robbie Williams
Jak Jones 5-4 Robbie McGuigan
Tian Pengfei 5-0 Farakh Ajaib
Jack Lisowski 5-1 Ross Muir
Joe Perry 5-0 Mink Nutcharut
Jordan Brown 5-2 Liam Pullen
David Gilbert 5-1 Reanne Evans
Ben Mertens 5-4 Simon Blackwell
Gary Wilson 5-4 Long Zehuang
Paul Deaville 5-3 Wu Yize
Pang Junxu 5-2 Michael Holt
Aaron Hill 5-2 Chris Totten
Mark Selby 5-3 Wang Xinbo
Shaun Murphy 5-1 Mitchell Mann
Jamie Clarke 5-0 Cao Jin
Noppon Saengkham 5-3 Andrew Pagett
Dominic Dale 5-4 Mohammed Shehab
Daniel Wells 5-4 Ali Carter
Julien Leclercq 5-4 Ben Woollaston
Zhou Yuelong 5-1 Haydon Pinhey
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-3 Lei Peifan
Matthew Stevens 5-0 Andrew Higginson
Ryan Day 5-4 Cheung Ka Wai
Scott Donaldson w/o Lim Kok Leong
Barry Hawkins 5-1 Kreishh Gurbaxani
Xiao Guodong 5-2 Iulian Boiko
Stephen Maguire 5-1 Ken Doherty
David Lilley 5-3 Louis Heathcote
Mark Allen 5-2 Liu Hongyu
Round of 64
Top Half
Kyren Wilson 5-2 He Guoqiang
Anthony McGill 3-5 Ricky Walden
John Higgins 4-5 Sunny Akani
Dean Young 4-5 Jimmy Robertson
Elliot Slessor 2-5 Chris Wakelin
Mark Davis 2-5 Mark Williams
Jamie Jones 3-5 Stuart Bingham
Xu Si 5-4 Alfie Burden
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-2 Bulcsú Révész
Neil Robertson 2-5 Yuan Sijun
Zhang Anda 2-5 Graeme Dott
Hossein Vafaei 5-3 Dylan Emery
Amir Sarkhosh 3-5 Si Jiahui
Gong Chenzhi 5-1 Tom Ford
Matthew Selt 5-4 Joe O’Connor
Zak Surety 3-5 Hammad Miah
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-0 Ma Hailong
Lyu Haotian 5-2 Artemijs Zizins
Jak Jones 5-3 Tian Pengfei
Jack Lisowski 5-2 Joe Perry
Jordan Brown 2-5 David Gilbert
Ben Mertens 1-5 Gary Wilson
Paul Deaville 0-5 Pang Junxu
Aaron Hill 0-5 Mark Selby
Shaun Murphy 5-0 Jamie Clarke
Noppon Saengkham 3-5 Dominic Dale
Daniel Wells 5-3 Julien Leclercq
Zhou Yuelong 2-5 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Matthew Stevens 2-5 Ryan Day
Barry Hawkins w/o Scott Donaldson
Xiao Guodong 5-1 Stephen Maguire
David Lilley 1-5 Mark Allen
Round of 32
Top Half
Kyren Wilson 5-3 Ricky Walden
Sunny Akani 3-5 Jimmy Robertson
Chris Wakelin 2-5 Mark Williams
Stuart Bingham 4-5 Xu Si
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-1 Yuan Sijun
Hossein Vafaei w/o Graeme Dott
Si Jiahui 3-5 Gong Chenzhi
Matthew Selt 5-2 Hammad Miah
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-1 Lyu Haotian
Jak Jones 5-4 Jack Lisowski
David Gilbert 5-3 Gary Wilson
Pang Junxu 4-5 Mark Selby
Shaun Murphy 2-5 Dominic Dale
Daniel Wells 5-4 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Ryan Day 3-5 Barry Hawkins
Xiao Guodong 2-5 Mark Allen
Round of 16
Kyren Wilson 5-4 Jimmy Robertson
Mark Williams 4-5 Xu Si
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Hossein Vafaei
Gong Chenzhi 4-5 Matthew Selt
Judd Trump 5-1 Jak Jones
David Gilbert 5-4 Mark Selby
Dominic Dale 1-5 Daniel Wells
Barry Hawkins 5-3 Mark Allen
Quarter-Finals (bo9)
Kyren Wilson 5-1 Xu Si
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-4 Matthew Selt
Judd Trump 5-2 David Gilbert
Daniel Wells 5-3 Barry Hawkins
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Kyren Wilson 6-4 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Judd Trump 6-1 Daniel Wells
Final (bo19)
Kyren Wilson 10-8 Judd Trump
Featured photos credit: WST
