Neil Robertson has already won a trophy this year and could be on the way towards another after qualifying for the China Championship next month.

The Australian secured his place in the tournament with a 5-3 win over Ross Muir in Preston, helped on his way by a century, his 15th of the season so far. The trophy Robertson has won this year is the Riga Masters where he beat in-form 27-year-old Brit Jack Lisowski in the final.

Lisowski has secured qualification for both China and the European Masters and will be one of the players to watch for the remainder of the 2018-19 campaign.

Shaun Murphy has endured mixed fortunes in Preston. There he failed in qualifying for the European Masters, losing to Gary Wilson but he did return to form to get through to the China Championship, beating Jordan Brown 5-2 in a performance that included a break of 123.

Others through include Masters champion Mark Allen who overcame Sean O’Sullivan and Ryan Day, a winner over Jak Jones. Marco Fu is back on the circuit following eye surgery and he is also through after a 5-2 victory over Sam Baird and Joe Perry was another winner, overcoming Ashley Hugill by the same scoreline. Young Chinese player Lyu Haotian qualified for one of this home tournaments, beating compatriot Li Yuan.

The China Championship takes place in Beijing in September, the winner being decided on the best of 19 frames. The defending champion is Luca Brecel who won his first ranking tournament, beating Shaun Murphy in the final last year.

Tuesday’s qualifiers see John Higgins who is 1.04 to beat Duane Jones priced at 8.50. Peter Ebdon is 1.36 to beat Harvey Chandler who is 2.80.