Ding, Liang advance in China international snooker while O' Sullivan absent

HEFEI, East China, May 14 (Xinhua) -- With the absence of Ronnie O' Sullivan, home favorites Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo were directly promoted to vie with other oversea stars like Stephen Hendry and Mark Williams in the 2008 Huangshan Cup Snooker All-star Game in China.

Due to unsolved matter of lewd performance during a press conference at the earlier China Open, O' Sullivan changed his schedule and let slip the international snooker event started on Wednesday.

According to Song Daoqin, an official of the organizing committee, China's top snooker player Ding received a bye at the national selection and was directly promoted to the international competition.

Liang, 21, also gained a free pass to the international part for his outstanding performance in this month's world championship.

The game consists of two-day national selection and three-day international competition.

In the national selection which starts on Wednesday, other fourteen Chinese players will compete for two positions in the international games.

The tournament, due on Wednesday to Sunday, will be held in Hefei, capital city of East China's Anhui province.