1. PARTICIPANTS
...
1.2. The current World Champion shall be automatically qualified.
1.3. Seventeen (17) additional players shall qualify through the Continental Cups or an equivalent type of tournament.
...
1.5. If a host association player is already qualified through items 1.2 or 1.3 above, then an additional player shall be added from the Continental Cups.
...
1.7. There shall not be more than 2 players from an Association.
2. CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION SYSTEM
...
2.2. The winner of each Continental Cup, plus the second (2nd) and third (3rd)highest finishers from Asia and Europe and the second (2nd) highest finisher from Pan America shall qualify, for a total of ten (10) players.
2.3. Seven (7) additional players shall be selected from the Continental Cups based on their order of finishing and their World Ranking:
2.3.1. The highest ranked player amongst players finishing second (2nd) in Africa and Oceania,third (3rd)in Pan America, and fourth (4th)in Asia and Europe, shall be selected.
2.3.2. The highest ranked next player from the remaining players in the topmost place on the qualifying positions from each Continental Cup, shall be selected, and so on, until the seven (7) players are selected, or eight (8) players if the host association player has already qualified.
3. SUBSTITUTIONS
...
3.2. If the World Champion is not available or withdraws, he or she shall be replaced by the remaining highest ranked and highest finisher from the Continental Cups according to the system described in item 2.3.2 above.