The World Snooker Tour will roll into Belfast tomorrow for a week, with some of the game's biggest players due at the Waterfront Hall.
Home favourite Mark Allen will look to build on his recent English Open victory by claiming a third Northern Ireland Open title by the banks of the Lagan. He begins his bid on Monday evening against Robert Milkins.
Fellow Antrim man Jordan Brown will be the first Irish player on the table when he takes on world champion Zhao Xintong tomorrow afternoon.
In between those two matches, Cork's Aaron Hill will look to continue his fine start to the 2025/26 season.
The Cork man reached the quarter-finals at the English Open, as well as the last 16 in both Wuhan and Xi'an. That has seen the 23-year-old move up to 23rd in the one-year world ranking list.
Hill previously reached the last 16 in Belfast two years ago and he'll be aiming to push on after missing out on a place in the World Championships in April by a single frame in a 10-9, final-round qualifier loss to Dave Gilbert.
Add to that his two 147 breaks in less than a month - the only two ever recorded by a player from the Republic in a ranking event - and it's fair to say Hill is in the form of his pro career, to date.
There'll be no Ronnie O'Sullivan in Belfast for the third year in a row, with the Rocket playing a reduced schedule this season. While Mark Williams, who became the oldest ever winner of a WST event on Monday, has also decided not to travel.
Kyren Wilson is the defending champion but he'll head to the Waterfront Hall in a very different place to where he was this time last year.
Twelve months ago, he made the trip across the Irish Sea as world champion and hit top form after winning his opening two matches against David Grace and Anthony McGill in deciding frames.
By the time the final came around on the Sunday, Wilson was nearly unplayable, handing Judd Trump a 9-3 thumping, the kind of defeat the current world number one doesn't suffer too often. Indeed, it was his heaviest defeat in a ranking event final in nearly seven years, going back to a 10-3 defeat to O'Sullivan at the Shanghai Masters in 2017.
This year, however, has seen the Wilson hit a big dip after winning an invitational event in Shanghai on the August bank holiday weekend.
He lost in the last 64 in Wuhan, as well as at the British and English Opens.
"My wife, she's had some surgery recently and we've been waiting on some results," Wilson tells RTÉ Sport ahead of the beginning of the tournament this week.
"They thankfully have come back all good this week. So with that in mind, we're all on a brighter path now."
While Wilson didn't want to go into the specifics of his wife's health issues, the serious nature of them have naturally played a large part in his underwhelming performances on the baize.
"It's been quite tough, to be honest," he continues. "There's been a lot of strain on the family, for my wife in particular, who's had a bit of a tough time of it.
"But we've had some fantastic news this week, which is certainly going to free up the mind, not just for me, but for all of us together.
"And it's going to make travelling and playing snooker a lot easier again.
"I've tried my best. I've kept going to tournaments when I would have been warranted to stay at home, but that's the kind of ambassador I want to be for the sport. That's how much I want to succeed and do well in the sport.
"I'm prepared to make those sacrifices."
Last year's victory was something of an anomaly for one of the current era's most successful players, with just one semi-final to show for his previous six visits to Belfast, as well as the 2020 running of the event in Milton Keynes due to Covid-19.
Just two years ago, Wilson lost out in a qualifier, missing out on the tournament proper entirely.
But he's hopeful that with his wife's health improving, he can give his title defence a proper go, starting with his first round clash with Oliver Lines on Tuesday.
"I always fly into the international airport (even though) there's a few more options for me," he says of travelling to Belfast.
"So, I always have a half an hour drive into the city. I love listening to the taxi drivers stories that they've got of Alex Higgins. Before the tournament's even started, it gets you quite excited.
"The Irish people, they absolutely love their snooker and I think the Waterfront Hall is a fantastic venue. Last year, it was the first time I experienced it with the one-table set-up. I'll be trying my absolute hardest to make sure I make that occasion again.
"You want to keep hold of your silverware. You want to keep hold of the tag of being the champion. It's a great feeling going back to the tournament, being the defending champion.
"So if I can make that last for another year, that would be fantastic."
