Ding Junhui will be looking to start the journey towards his second Masters victory when he takes on Jack Lisowski in a first-round classic at Alexandra Palance

The number eight ranked Chinese player will be the heavy favourite against Lisowski, ranked 16th, with Ding hoping to repeat his performances from 2011 when he won the competition after beating Hong Kong’s Marco Fu 10-4 in the final.

“In 2011 I played really well against Marco.” he said.

“I’ve only won the competition once so I’m looking forward to this one. It’s a real test for us players to show how good we really are.”

Ding and Lisowski have only faced off once before, with the former overcoming the Brit 5-1 in the last-16 of the 2014 Shanghai Masters.

But although Lisowski has never won a major tournament before, Ding will be well aware of the task ahead of him and should be wary of complacency, with this being his 15th Masters.

“It always shows the crowd the best of snooker, the best players and this is a chance for us to prove we are the best in the world.” he said.

“The Masters is not a ranking tournament but the history makes it very special.

“It’s the best 16 players in the world and I think it’s even better than the world snooker championship because although they have the qualifiers and a few matches more, the Masters is a real fight.”

Whilst he may not be amongst the favourites for the tournament, it would take a brave man to bet against the most successful Asian player in the history of snooker adding to his trophy count, with the 31-year-old able to boast of 13 titles in ranking tournaments, four in minor rankings and a further four in non-ranking competitions.

Should he overcome Lisowski, Ding could potentially face a tricky looking quarter final tie against top seed and defending champion Mark Allen, against who the Chinese cueman has lost two finals in the past.

Watch the London Masters LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds