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World Grand Prix Line-Up Complete

A semi-final defeat for Duane Jones in the German Masters on Saturday means that the World Grand Prix line-up is now complete.

Next week’s lucrative event will feature the top 32 players from the one-year money list in this season’s ranking tournaments.

The majority of the World Grand Prix line-up was already known ahead of this week’s action at the Tempodrom but there was still an opportunity for a few competitors to make a late bid for contention.

With so many of the outsiders crashing out early on in Berlin, though, world number 90 Jones was an unlikely final hopeful.

The Welshman needed to lift the German Masters title to force his way into the field at Cheltenham Racecourse.

But making his maiden appearance in the last four of a ranking event was always going to be a difficult enough proposition and World Open runner-up Gilbert duly took advantage to seal a resounding 6-1 success.

While the result finalises the World Grand Prix line-up, the seeding positions can still change depending on the outcome of the remainder of the German Masters.

World Grand Prix Line-Up

(Seeding subject to change depending on the outcome of the German Masters)

  1. Mark Allen
  2. Ronnie O’Sullivan
  3. Mark Selby
  4. Mark Williams
  5. Neil Robertson
  6. Judd Trump
  7. David Gilbert (final)
  8. Jack Lisowski
  9. Stuart Bingham
  10. Kyren Wilson (final)
  11. Joe Perry
  12. Jimmy Robertson
  13. Stephen Maguire
  14. John Higgins
  15. Barry Hawkins
  16. Martin O’Donnell
  17. Ali Carter
  18. Ryan Day
  19. Noppon Saengkham
  20. Mark King
  21. Mark Davis
  22. Tom Ford
  23. Zhao Xintong
  24. Ding Junhui
  25. Yan Bingtao
  26. Matthew Stevens
  27. Stuart Carrington
  28. Xiao Guodong
  29. Yuan Sijun
  30. Shaun Murphy
  31. Marco Fu
  32. Gary Wilson

The World Grand Prix represents the first tournament of three in a lucrative new series known as the Coral Cup.

It will be quickly followed by the 16-man Players Championship and a prestigious Tour Championship, that will feature only the top eight competitors on the one-year list.

All three events are set to be staged on ITV, which has done a lot in recent seasons to re-establish itself as a major broadcasting player in snooker alongside the BBC and Eurosport.

Judd Trump, recently a major champion again after triumphing in the Masters at Ally Pally, said: “All of the top players enjoy playing in these ITV events.”

“They have really taken off because the fields are very strong, they are tough to win, similar to the Masters in a way.”

“Cheltenham is close to where I come from so it’s a tournament that I want to do well in.

“I’ll have a few friends and family up from Bristol and hopefully some local support as well.

“I’ve never been to the venue but Jack Lisowski has told me it’s a lovely place.”

The top prizes at the three Coral Cup events will be £100,000, £125,000, and £150,000 respectively, and any player able to capture all three titles will have his total rounded up from £375,000 to £500,000.

Finally, the player earning the most overall prize money across the three events will receive the inaugural Coral Cup.

The World Grand Prix is from February 4th to 10th in Cheltenham.

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  1. Pingback: German Masters Final: Kyren Wilson vs David Gilbert - SnookerHQ

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