Ashley Hugill’s loss in the English Open on Friday means that the 32 snooker players set for the World Grand Prix are now known.
Hugill gave himself an opportunity by reaching the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time in Brentwood.
But a 5-0 defeat to Mark Allen ensures that Hugill will fall short, and the top 32 players on the one-year ranking list ahead of Cheltenham are now confirmed.
Allen leads the way this season with the most ranking points earned – reaching the final of the British Open before winning both the Northern Ireland Open and the UK Championship.
The Pistol will take on David Gilbert in the first round of the World Grand Prix, the out-of-form Englishman just about scrambling into the field in the last position.
Gilbert was actually set to miss out, but Lu Ning’s suspension from the tour last week opened up another position in the order.
Most of the top 16 players have qualified for what is the first of three lucrative tournaments on the Cazoo Series.
The most notable name absent from the list is John Higgins, whose run to the last 16 of this week’s English Open has been his best performance of an otherwise forgettable season so far.
Chinese duo Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao also finished outside the top 32 in the rankings, although the latter wouldn’t have featured anyway as he is also currently suspended pending a match-fixing investigation.
The World Grand Prix, which starts after the Masters on January 16th, will be the next ranking event on the 2022/23 snooker calendar.
World Grand Prix Lineup
The seeding positions may change depending on the outcome of the English Open
- Mark Allen
- Ryan Day
- Kyren Wilson
- Ding Junhui
- Gary Wilson
- Luca Brecel
- Jack Lisowski
- Zhou Yuelong
- Judd Trump
- Tom Ford
- Barry Hawkins
- Mark Williams
- Mark Selby
- Shaun Murphy
- Neil Robertson
- Joe O’Connor
- Lyu Haotian
- Xiao Guodong
- Ali Carter
- Jamie Jones
- Ronnie O’Sullivan
- Sam Craigie
- Hossein Vafaei
- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
- Robert Milkins
- Joe Perry
- Anthony McGill
- Noppon Saengkham
- Stuart Bingham
- Robbie Williams
- Ricky Walden
- David Gilbert
Featured photo credit: WPBSA
No Maguire either.