Michael Judge and Aaron Hill will begin their quest for a place at this year's World Snooker Championship tomorrow.
Judge is hoping to return to the Crucible later this month for the first time in 15 years, starting with a first to 10 frames match against Austria's Florian Nuessle. The Dubliner made the last of his three appearances at snooker's Mecca in 2008 and he thought his pro days were behind him when he fell off the tour in 2011.
But he kept playing away, winning a couple of national championships in Ireland, entering and then winning some events on the World Senior Tour, before getting within one match of a shock return to the Crucible as an amateur back in 2019.
His run, which was eventually stopped by James Cahill - who would go on to knock out Ronnie O'Sullivan that year - got him thinking that maybe there might be life in the old dog yet.
"I was playing the seniors tour, which I'd done quite well in, and I won the UK Seniors Championships in Hull, where I beat Jimmy White in the final," the 48-year-old says as he begins to explain his return.
"Ian Spawton, who is now a good friend of mine, and is my manager, text me in the run up to the 2021 Q School and asked me if I'd consider giving it a punt.
"A few weeks before that the thought had crossed my mind, after sitting on my backside for so long with Covid, maybe now was the time to give it a go again.
"We have a four-year-old boy and when he was born I had put any thoughts of a return to one side. But it had been on my mind, although I was considering doing it the next year, because, in those Covid times, I didn't think I'd be able to get enough practice in.
"But two friends of mine, Tony Corrigan and Andrew Campbell, who have tables in Blanchardstown, came through for me and allowed me to use their space privately.
"So I went over to Q School, ended up securing a tour card, and that's when all the problems started," he jokes.
"With Ian's backing and help, we've given it a go, and we've had a couple of years on the road. My results could have been better, but I haven't played badly for the majority of my matches.
"I feel like I've made mistakes, but I haven't had a massive amount of luck either, so I'm hoping that I'm owed something this week."
Things had changed quite a bit since Judge's previous time as a pro.
The 19 years he spent on the tour were in the period after the game's 1980s heyday, but before the real impact of Barry Hearn's arrival had been felt.
"When I was last on tour there might have been seven or eight tournaments in a season," Judge points out.
This season there were 15 ranking events, as well as some of the big invitational events, including the Masters in London. And that doesn't include events in China, which have been off the calendar since the start of the pandemic, but are expected to be reintroduced over the coming seasons as their restrictions are removed.
Further, players in the 22/23 season were guaranteed a minimum of £20,000 (roughly €22,500) before they'd won a match, something World Snooker called, 'security in a difficult economic climate'.
"It's a much better tour now, you've got so much more to look forward to. Even if you have a bad tournament, you're not waiting around too long to play the next," Judge continues
"I'd love to be Aaron [Hill's] age and be starting again with this tour. It's a proper tour now. We could do with the China events coming back.
"Some players are even complaining that there's not enough tournaments, but I think there are plenty, having been used to having less than 10 a season when I was on the tour previously."
Ultimately, getting back on tour is all well and good, but the results driven nature of the sport means that Judge's ranking has slipped to 107 on the one-year list.
He won two matches last season, in the Scottish and World Championship qualifiers, and has done the same so far this season, reaching the last 64 at the European Masters in Germany, before winning a qualifier for the UK Championship.
Final preparations for tomorrow's match brought himself and Hill, arguably Ireland's hottest prospect, up north this week for two days of practice with Jordan Brown and Mark Allen, who has had an exceptional season.
With all that in mind his survival on the tour is going to take something special, but Judge is still backing himself to come up with the goods.
"I always love being the underdog, and I always feel that I can pull the rabbit out of the hat. I know in my own mind that if I get going, and play the way I play in practice, that I can still qualify, and that will keep me on the tour.
"I don't really want to think about the idea of having to go to Q School again until I have to. But with that new guarantee [of income] that they've put up, it'll probably be worth my while going back and having another go, if I did fall off [the tour].
"What stopped me in the past, and I'm sure what stopped a lot of players, was the cost of covering your next season once you got through Q School.
"This year Q School will be the busiest it's ever been, with that guarantee in place now. So it's worth it now, knowing your expenses would be covered if you got through.
"But I haven't given up hope of staying on the tour by qualifying for the Crucible, and staying on the tour that way. It'd be lovely to get there at this stage of my career. I usually feel that my first match is my hardest, and once I win that I can beat anybody.
"I'm looking forward to the challenge, to give it a go, and to see what happens."
Another Irishman starting a journey tomorrow that he hopes will take him to the Crucible is Cork's Aaron Hill, with women's World Champion Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan awaiting in his opening qualifier.
His reputation, as the hottest prospect in Irish snooker, has been built upon victories over the likes of O'Sullivan and Judd Trump in tournament play.
He claimed a tour card through the Q School last summer, meaning the pressure of trying to stay on the tour isn't on the Cork 20-year-old's shoulders as he faces into the Crucible qualifiers.
But he says that he still has a lot more to give, despite some high profile victories in his career.
"Good in patches," Hill says of his 22/23 season.
"There's still a lot more left in the tank. I could have done better, but I've been unlucky in a few of the matches I've lost this season. There's now many that I've played badly in throughout the season.
"I feel like my safety has been really good this season," he adds when asked about where his game has come on."
What about reaching snooker's biggest stage?
"There's this side of me that just wants to win so bad here, but you just have to zone out of all that noise and focus on yourself and your game, and get yourself ready the best you can.
"It was brilliant playing with the lads this week. You couldn't ask for better players to practice against. Mark [Allen] has a great set up, and has his table in excellent condition all the time. Doing well against them gives you that confidence that you can take anyone on in the qualifiers.
"I've been guilty in the last couple of years of coming to Sheffield and putting some unnecessary pressure on myself. There's enough pressure there without pilling more onto yourself.
"I plan to just take it game by game, baby steps. I've only played one best of 19 frames match before. Even though most snooker players would say they prefer that format, it's new to me.
"All you can do is break the match down and see how it goes. If I can bring the best version of myself I'll be a threat to anybody."
Two players at different ends of their careers, but both with the same goal.
