Ding Junhui lost in the final of last year’s World Grand Prix but he will be bidding to go one step further this year.

The Chinese star was comprehensively beaten 10-3 by Ronnie O’Sullivan in last year’s final and his form this season has been patchy at best, as he has only reached the quarter-finals of one ranking event, although that was at last week’s German Masters.

Indeed, Ding will be hoping his performance in Berlin will stand him in good stead this week, as he prepares to face Jack Lisowski in the opening round of the World Grand Prix.

The 31-year-old will certainly fancy his chances, despite being seeded lower than Lisowski, as he has won their two previous meetings by an aggregate score of 11 frames to two. Ding is priced at 1.73 to make it three wins in a row over Lisowski on Tuesday, while the Englishman is available at 2.10 to book his place in round two.

That contest is not the only interesting one taking place at The Centaur venue in Cheltenham on Tuesday, as reigning world champion Mark Williams will also be in first round action when he takes on Chinese teenager Yuan Sijun. Williams has rather surprisingly never made it beyond the first round of the World Grand Prix and he lost his previous meeting with Yuan at the 2016 Six-red World Championship.

Other notable first round matches on Tuesday include Judd Trump’s clash with fellow Englishman Stuart Carrington and Scot Stephen Maguire taking on the experienced Mark King.