Bristol snooker ace Judd Trump begins his bid to qualify for the China Open this morning.

Trump, 19, will take on Huddersfield's Kuldesh Johal at Pontins in Prestatyn as he attempts to book his ticket for the tournament in Beijing, which takes place between March 30 and April 5.

Should world number 41 Trump come out on top in the best-of-nine-frame encounter, he will face a stern test against former World Champion Ken Doherty in the final qualifying round tomorrow.

Trump arrives at Prestatyn in good shape after a promising debut in the Masters a fortnight ago, where he racked up an impressive 123 break on his first outing as a wildcard at Wembley. He eventually lost the preliminary-round clash 6-4 to world number 16 Mark Allen, but was "generally pleased" with his all-round performance after also registering a break of 96 in a run that saw him in with an outside chance of a 147.

Trump will be looking to earn a place in the final stages of a ranking event for the seventh time this season after qualifying for the Northern Ireland Trophy, Shanghai Masters and both the UK and Bahrain snooker Championships.

He also reached the semi-finals of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix after beating world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan along the way before debuting at Wembley.

Johal, 28, is currently unranked, but earned a place on the tour this season for the second time after finishing top of the PIOS rankings last year with a record points tally.

Meanwhile, fellow Bristol potter Andrew Norman is also bidding for a place in China.

Norman – ranked 54 – beat Stephen Craigie 5-4 in his first qualifying match yesterday. He will face Jimmy Michie later today and the winner will take on world number 28 Dave Harold in the final qualifying round tomorrow.