Gu, who suffered a shock round-of-32 defeat against world number 63 Stefano Scepi of Italy at the last Grand Prix stop in Seoul, heads a star-studded men’s individual field due to compete at the Russian capital’s VTB Ice Palace.

He will be joined by the likes of world number two Áron Szilágyi of Hungary, the gold medallist in Seoul after beating home favourite Kim Jung-hwan in the final.

Also in action will be the United States’ Eli Dershwitz, Hungary’s András Szatmári and Italy’s Luca Curatoli, who are ranked third, fourth and fifth in the world respectively.

In the women’s individual event, world number two Rossella Gregorio of Italy is considered the favourite with world number one Olga Kharlan of Ukraine not scheduled to compete.

Kharlan won the Seoul Grand Prix final at the expense of Hungary’s Anna Márton, the world number three who is also likely to be in contention for glory in Moscow.

Romania’s Bianca Pascu and the French trio of Cécilia Berder, Charlotte Lembach and Manon Brunet could also be contenders.

Action in Moscow is due to begin tomorrow with the round of pools and the preliminary round up to the last-64 in the men’s event.

The same stages of the women’s event begin the competition on Saturday (May 12), while the men’s event will come to an end with the direct elimination rounds and final.

The women’s event will conclude on Sunday (May 13) with the direct elimination rounds and final.