Mark Davis has earned the final place in the 888casino Champion of Champions as the highest-ranked player not to have already qualified following the conclusion of the Indian Open, won by Ding Junhui.
Ding beat Aditya Mehta 5-0 in Friday's final but as PTC Grand Finals winner the Chinese star had already secured his place in snooker's prestigious new big-money event. That meant the entry reserved for the Indian Open winner was awarded to the highest player on World Snooker's Ranking List who had not yet booked his place at Coventry's Ricoh Arena - Mark Davis.
Davis has shown the best form of his career over the past two years and has climbed to number 13 in the world. He will be joined at the 888casino Champion of Champions by Shaun Murphy, who gained his place by the same criteria after the Bank of Communications Shanghai Masters, also won by Ding.
Murphy takes his place in Group B and will face Mark Selby, while John Higgins is up against Stephen Maguire. Davis joins Group A and will have to overcome Rocket Ronnie O'Sullivan if he is to make it to the group final.
Ding and Barry Hawkins will contest the other Group A match.
Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn said: "Mark and Shaun have earned their place in the line-up through consistently performing to a very high standard and it means we have the top ten in the World Rankings all taking part. I'm excited about this event because it brings together the elite of the sport - the people of Coventry are in for a treat."
The tournament features 16 of the world's top players - including Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump and Neil Robertson - all vying to be crowned the 'Champion of Champions'. The event has a £270,000 prize-fund with £100,000 going to the winner, and will be broadcast live throughout on ITV4.
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