Chinese trio Chen Zifan, Zhang Jiankang and Fan Zhengyi have all failed to qualify for the main draw of this year’s China Championship.

World number 81 Chen was looking to reach the first round of the event for the second consecutive year but was beaten 5-2 by Iranian Hossein Vafaei in qualifying on Tuesday.

Zhang was also beaten relatively comfortably, going down 5-1 to experienced Englishman Mark King while Fan did run Gary Wilson close, recording a decent break of 53 but being beaten 5-3.

There will be Chinese players in the main draw for next month’s event in Guangzhou, however, as the likes of Zhang Anda, Lyu Haotian and Yan Bingtao have already qualified, while world number six Ding Junhui’s qualifying match against Lee Walker will be played at a later date.

Ding is perhaps China’s best hope of having a home winner of this year’s China Championship, while he will also be looking to break his World Championship duck later in the season as he has never previously claimed overall glory at the Crucible.

The final day of qualifying for this year’s China Championship will take place on Wednesday, although some matches, including Ding’s clash with Walker, have been held over due to clashes in the schedule. The tournament itself will take place in Guangzhou during the last week of September.