Ding is the provisonal world number four

The 19-year-old has been told by his home country that he must compete for them in the forthcoming Asian Games.

Ding's berth in the play-offs, set to take place on 2 and 3 December, will be taken up by the fifth-placed player from the group stages.

It has been agreed that 50% of the replacement player's winnings will be handed to the Paul Hunter charity.

606 DEBATE: Who will replace Ding?

Stephen Hendry, Jimmy White, Graeme Dott, Ken Doherty and Steve Davis are all in with a chance of qualifying.

Barry Hearn, chairman of the event sponsors, said: "With �50,000 for the champion, �25,000 for the runner-up and �12,500 for the beaten semi-finalists hopefully the charity will get off to a flying start."

Ding is said to have made a donation to the charity.