There was an exciting race to see who could snatch the final positions.
The line-up for next week’s Players Championship is known with no further changes possible to the top 16 line-up on the one-year rankings list.
Jordan Brown’s brilliant 6-1 victory over Stephen Maguire in the semi-finals of the Welsh Open on Saturday ensured that the Northern Irishman grabbed the last available spot in the field.
Shaun Murphy was the unlucky contender in 17th place who just missed out, with his 5-4 defeat to Maguire in the quarter-finals at the Celtic Manor on Friday proving crucial.
Jamie Jones and Zhao Xintong began this week in 15th and 16th respectively, but second-round exits for the pair saw them fail to sufficiently protect their advantages.
Stuart Bingham, however, survived in 16th despite suffering a first-round defeat in Wales and failing to accumulate any additional prize money.
For Brown, his impending inclusion in next week’s prestigious tournament is an extra bonus for his achievement of reaching a maiden ranking event final this weekend.
In addition to Brown, Mark Williams’ stellar run this week saw him shoot up the pecking order and into the top 16 in the race to the Players Championship.
The Welshman takes on Ronnie O’Sullivan in the second semi-final of the Welsh Open later on Saturday.
O’Sullivan, meanwhile, was already guaranteed his qualification for the Players Championship, which boasts a top prize of £125,000.
Judd Trump will definitely be the first seed in the competition, but a lot of the other positions still have to be determined following the outcome of Sunday’s Welsh Open final.
The precise seedings will impact the Players Championship draw, with the number one seed taking on the 16th seed, and so on.
(Provisional) Top 16 in the Players Championship Rankings
| 1 | Judd Trump | £454,500 |
| 2 | Mark Selby | £255,500 |
| 3 | Neil Robertson | £246,000 |
| 4 | Jack Lisowski | £117,000 |
| 5 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £113,500 |
| 6 | Kyren Wilson | £112,000 |
| 7 | Zhou Yuelong | £83,500 |
| 8 | Barry Hawkins | £80,500 |
| 9 | John Higgins | £74,500 |
| 10 | Ryan Day | £73,000 |
| 11 | Martin Gould | £66,000 |
| 12 | Ding Junhui | £65,500 |
| 13 | Jordan Brown | £60,000 |
| 14 | Lu Ning | £59,500 |
| 15 | Mark Williams | £53,500 |
| 16 | Stuart Bingham | £53,000 |
Live coverage of the Players Championship will be available in Ireland and the UK on ITV4 next week with various other options available around the world.
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