Wu Yize and He Guoqiang withdraw from Northern Ireland Open; Donaldson and Slessor get byes

World champion Wu Yize has withdrawn from the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open for medical reasons, two days before the event starts at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, the World Snooker Tour announced on Friday 16 October. He Guoqiang has also pulled out, also for medical reasons. The tournament runs from Sunday 18 to Sunday 25 October.

Wu pulls out in form. He won the Shenzhen Open on 4 October, beating Yuan Sijun 10-5 in the final, his first title since he won the world championship at the Crucible in May.

Who goes through

• Scott Donaldson, Wu's first-round opponent, gets a bye to the last 32.
• Elliot Slessor, who was due to play He Guoqiang on Sunday, also goes straight into the last 32.

WST did not give details of either player's condition.

Other first-round matches to watch

According to WST's match centre and the draw published by SnookerHQ, Sunday's opening day includes:

• Jack Lisowski (defending champion) vs Huang Jiahao, afternoon session
• Stephen Maguire vs Anthony McGill, afternoon
• Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Aaron Hill, afternoon
• Mark Selby vs Louis Heathcote
• Hossein Vafaei vs Matthew Selt
• Gary Wilson vs Mateusz Baranowski
• Si Jiahui vs Wang Xinbo and Xiao Guodong vs Sam Craigie, morning

SnookerHQ also lists Ronnie O'Sullivan against Cheung Ka Wai on Sunday, Neil Robertson against Ricky Walden on Sunday evening, and Judd Trump, John Higgins, Kyren Wilson, Zhao Xintong and Mark Williams opening on Monday. It reports that Ding Junhui is not playing.

Format and prize money

Matches are best of 7 frames up to the last 16, best of 11 in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, and best of 17 in the final. The winner takes £100,000, SnookerHQ reported, which is about Rs 36.7 million at today's rate of Rs 367.24 to the pound on our GBP to PKR page. Lisowski won last year's title by beating Trump 9-8 for his first ranking event.

Northern Ireland Open times in Pakistan

Belfast is on British Summer Time, four hours behind Pakistan, until the final day:

The UK clocks go back on Sunday 25 October, so on final day Belfast is five hours behind: a 7pm session that day starts at midnight in Karachi and Lahore. SnookerHQ lists WST Play as the broadcaster for all territories without a TV deal, which includes Pakistan.

All dates, results and the rest of the season are on our snooker calendar, which we update after every event.