Luca Brecel is one of a number of players desperately trying to qualify for the German Masters this week. He is currently sitting in 34th spot on the one-year ranking list, just over £3,000 shy of a top-32 berth.

The D88.com German Masters is the final counting event in the race to reach February’s World Grand Prix, so this week’s qualifiers in Barnsley will be vital to those players sitting on either side of the cut-off line.

Shaun Murphy catapulted himself from 65th to 31st after making Sunday’s Scottish Open final, where he went down 9-7 to Mark Allen.

Securing a place in the German Masters field will ensure players have the final chance to get into that all-important top-32 before the World Grand Prix.

The World Grand Prix will run from February 4-10 in Cheltenham, with the German Masters in Berlin scheduled to finish on February 3, after which the final line-up for Cheltenham will be confirmed.

The qualifiers in Barnsley run from Tuesday to Friday this week with all players needing to win two matches to book their spot in Germany in the spring.

Brecel starts against Matthew Stevens on Tuesday evening in one of the more eye-catching day one tussles.

Belgium’s Brecel is 1.80 favourite to edge Stevens on Tuesday, with the Welshman priced at 1.95 win their best-of-nine duel.