Marco Fu will be aiming to avoid an upset at the Guildhall in Preston on Thursday when he takes on Elliot Slessor in the Kaspersky Riga Masters Qualifiers.

Hong Kong’s Fu turned professional in 1998 and he has enjoyed an impressive career to date, having won three rankings event and five non-ranking tournaments. The 40-year-old, whose last win on tour came at the 2016 Scottish Open, is also a three-time gold medallist at the Asian Games, winning the team event in 1998 and 2002, as well as the singles in 2010. He is a two-time world championship semi-finalist and the ‘Pride of Hong Kong’ will be confident of picking up the win in Preston to move into the main draw of the Riga Masters.

However, Englishman Slessor is no slouch and he heads into the contest on the back of his best season, having reached the semi-finals of the 2017 Dafabet Northern Ireland Open. The 23-year-old, who managed to earn his tour card in 2016 after dropping off the scene for a year, also made it to the quarter-finals of the Indian Open last year. Slessor, who has made 11 century breaks during his career, is quickly becoming one of the brightest prospects for England and will be hoping to cause an upset in Preston.

Fu does have the mental edge heading into the contest after he thrashed his opponent 4-0 the last time they met, but that was back in 2012 at ET 3 and a lot has changed since. Slessor is the 2.75 outsiders to pick up the win, while Fu, who fell in round one at the 2016 Riga Masters in his only appearance at the tournament, is the firm 1.40 favourite.