Sixteen players including Marco Fu absent from World Snooker Championship qualifying

China's world number 22 Zhou Yuelong, who stunned Mark Allen in the first round last year, is the highest-ranked player on the list of withdrawals, which also includes two-time semi-finalist Marco Fu.

The majority of withdrawals are Chinese players who have cited coronavirus and quarantine concerns. However, former finalist Ding Junhui has confirmed he will play in the tournament.

Among those to benefit with an invitation to compete is 14-year-old Ukrainian Iulian Boiko, who will become the youngest player ever in the qualifying rounds.

Boiko, who does not turn 15 until September, has recently been granted a tour card for the next two seasons.

Also among those in the qualifying draw, which is set to be made this week, are former champion Ken Doherty and six-time runner-up Jimmy White.

Full World Championship list

Players listed in order of seeding; top 16 begin at first round stage

1. Judd Trump

2. Neil Robertson

3. Mark Williams

4. Mark Allen

5. John Higgins

6. Ronnie O’Sullivan

7. Mark Selby

8. Kyren Wilson

9. Stephen Maguire

10. Shaun Murphy

11. Ding Junhui

12. David Gilbert

13. Jack Lisowski

14. Stuart Bingham

15. Barry Hawkins

16. Yan Bingtao

17. Joe Perry

18. Ali Carter

19. Gary Wilson

20. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh

21. Graeme Dott

22. Scott Donaldson

23. Jimmy Robertson

24. Michael Holt

25. Tom Ford

26. Matthew Selt

27. Lyu Haotian

28. Matthew Stevens

29. Mark Davis

30. Martin O’Donnell

31. Liang Wenbo

32. Hossein Vafaei

33. Ryan Day

34. Luca Brecel

35. Ben Woollaston

36. Anthony McGill

37. Ricky Walden

38. Noppon Saengkham

39. Kurt Maflin

40. Stuart Carrington

41. Mark King

42. Robert Milkins

43. Anthony Hamilton

44. Chris Wakelin

45. Lu Ning

46. Daniel Wells

47. Alan McManus

48. Tian Pengfei

49. Sunny Akani

50. Robbie Williams

51. Andrew Higginson

52. Liam Highfield

53. Martin Gould

54. Sam Craigie

55. Michael Georgiou

56. Ken Doherty

57. Luo Honghao

58. Joe O’Connor

59. Michael White

60. Mark Joyce

61. Jak Jones

62. Elliot Slessor

63. Fergal O’Brien

64. Craig Steadman

65. Jordan Brown

66. Alfie Burden

67. Mike Dunn

68. Sam Baird

69. John Astley

70. Nigel Bond

71. Lee Walker

72. Oliver Lines

73. Ian Burns

74. Ashley Carty

75. Harvey Chandler

76. David Grace

77. Dominic Dale

78. Alexander Ursenbacher

79. Louis Heathcote

80. Jamie Clarke

81. Mitchell Mann

82. Kishan Hirani

83. Chen Feilong

84. Fan Zhengyi

85. Hammad Miah

86. Jackson Page

87. Si Jiahui

88. Thor Chuan Leong

89. Gerard Greene

90. Soheil Vahedi

91. Eden Sharav

92. Igor Figueiredo

93. James Cahill

94. Kacper Filipiak

95. Adam Stefanow

96. Billy Castle

97. Barry Pinches

98. Rod Lawler

99. David Lilley

100. Brandon Sargeant

101. Simon Lichtenberg

102. Jamie O’Neill

103. Duane Jones

104. Peter Lines

105. Fraser Patrick

106. Jimmy White

107. Andy Hicks

108. Amine Amiri

109. Alex Borg

110. Riley Parsons

111. Ashley Hugill

112. Lukas Kleckers

113. Andrew Pagett

114. Aaron Hill

115. Ross Bulman

116. Iulian Boiko

117. Sean Maddocks

118. Reanne Evans

119. Dylan Emery

120. Ross Muir

121. Dean Young

122. Ben Mertens

123. Wu Yize

124. Hayden Staniland

125. Brian Ochoiski

126. Connor Benzey

127. Adam Duffy

128. Oliver Brown

129. Allan Taylor

130. Patrick Whelan

131. Rory McLeod

132. Jake Nicholson

133. Tyler Rees

134. Ian Preece

135. Paul Davison

136. Hamza Akbar

137. Chae Ross

138. Christopher Keogan

139. Robin Hull

140. Sydney Wilson

141. Daniel Womersley

142. Florian Nuessle

143. Antoni Kowalski

144. Ivan Kakovskii