London, Mar 19 (IANS): World No.1 snooker player Mark Selby has pulled out of next week's Players Championship as well as the China Open later this month.

World Snooker announced here on Friday that Selby has withdrawn from both ranking events for "personal reasons", reports Xinhua.

The Players Championship runs from March 22 to 27 in Manchester. Selby was due to face Andrew Higginson in his opening match on Wednesday.

World Snooker has replaced Selby in the draw with Matthew Selt. The Players Championship field is made up by the top 24 players from the European Tour Order of Merit plus two from the Asian Tour and six from a combined list. Selt was the highest player on the European Tour Order of Merit, as well as the combined list, not otherwise qualified.

The China Open runs from March 28 to April 3 in Beijing. Selby, who won the title last year, was due to play Darryl Hill in the first round on March 28. Hill will be given a bye to the last 64.

The following tournament is the World Championship which starts on April 16 in Sheffield.