World Snooker's QSchool is back for another edition next month - with 190 players signed up for it so far.

QSchool is the tournament which could see 12 players reach their ambition on playing a lucrative pro tour with the best of the best - going toe to toe with the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Selby.

Imagine waking up one morning and you're ready to compete in China - playing Shaun Murphy.

Or, imagine waking up on another, and you're up against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the UK?

QSchool will be held in Burton-on-Trent this year starting from May 14 and there's a diverse range of players who have signed up to compete.

The usual suspects are there such as:

Former pro Andy Hicks

Former pro Barry Pinches plus his son Luke

11-time World Ladies Champion Reanne Evans

3-time World Ladies Champion Ng On Yee.

There will also be Daniel Kandi, formerly a DJ, now a six time Danish Snooker Champion, as well as Sean Maddocks, the youngest player to break Ronnie O'Sullivan's record of making a 147 in an amateur competition at 15.

Kandi's proudest moment was making a 147 in the first round of the Danish Snooker Championships.

All of the competitors are hoping to turn pro and make the cut, including pool ace Corey Deuel.

Watch this sneaky snooker he made in last year's event...

The Numbers

QSchool was formed in 2011 and in the first three editions, there were three events.

In those years up to 2013 there was a total of:

In 2011 = 330 players competing

In 2012 = 322 battling

In 2013 = 296 playing

After 2013, there were just two events in QSchool, and they included a total of:

In 2014 279 players contesting the ultimate prize of tour cards...

In 2015, 319 players competing.

In 2016 356 competing.

In 2017, 404 players - a record competed over the two events.

That's a total of 2306 players since 2011 - 17.

And, from 2011 to 2017, the average number of players who've competed in the qualifying event for the World Snooker tour has been 327 players.

The drop in Numbers this year is probably down to the increase in the entry fee from just over half to £1000.

But as they say in life, less is more.

How QSchool Works This Year

There are 12 two year tour cards up for grabs.

Indeed, there will be three knockout tournaments this year and a number of players playing in this event will be eligible to play in the new Challenge Tour to be introduced next season, which will see more tour cards up for grabs.

So far, the new players who will be joining the tour next season are:

England's Harvey Chandler

China's Luo Honghao

Germany's Simon Lichtenberg

World Seniors Champion Aaron Canavan from Jersey is one of a handful of players who will be competing in the World Championship qualifiers before QSchool this month.

He dared to dream.

*Stats on QSchool numbers obtained from the snooker statistics database CueTracker...
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