The top 16 seeds for the World Snooker Championship are set in stone following the conclusion of the Tour Championship in Hull.
Ronnie O’Sullivan will begin the defence of his world title on April 15th as the top seed at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Mark Selby is the second seed, Mark Allen is in the number three slot, while Shaun Murphy completes the top four after his superb Tour Championship success.
Judd Trump and Neil Robertson, who for so long had occupied spots among the world’s top four, have slipped down to fifth and sixth respectively.
Tour Championship runner-up Kyren Wilson is seventh, with Mark Williams, Luca Brecel, and John Higgins rounding off the top ten.
Ali Carter, Jack Lisowski, Robert Milkins, Stuart Bingham, and Gary Wilson are in the five subsequent spots in front of Ding Junhui.
With his quarter-final victory over Allen at the Bonus Arena last week, Ding usurped Ryan Day to replace the Welshman in the elite bracket of the rankings list.
Day will instead be forced into the qualifiers, which commence at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield on Monday.
World Snooker Championship Top 16 Seeds
(Last 32 draw)
Ronnie O’Sullivan (1) vs Qualifier
Ding Junhui (16) vs Qualifier
Luca Brecel (9) vs Qualifier
Mark Williams (8) vs Qualifier
Judd Trump (5) vs Qualifier
Jack Lisowski (12) vs Qualifier
Robert Milkins (13) vs Qualifier
Shaun Murphy (4) vs Qualifier
Mark Allen (3) vs Qualifier
Stuart Bingham (14) vs Qualifier
Ali Carter (11) vs Qualifier
Neil Robertson (6) vs Qualifier
Kyren Wilson (7) vs Qualifier
John Higgins (10) vs Qualifier
Gary Wilson (15) vs Qualifier
Mark Selby (2) vs Qualifier
Qualifying Tournament
The qualifiers, meanwhile, will take place from April 3-12 with a lot of big names chasing the other 16 coveted spots in the 2023 World Snooker Championship draw.
As in previous years, a tiered structure is in operation for the qualifiers with the first round taking place between the players seeded from 81-112 against those seeded from 113-144.
A number of amateurs have been invited as top-ups – some through invitations by the WPBSA for achievements in the last year and others as replacements for the currently suspended group of professionals.
The players seeded from 49 to 80 – based on the world rankings list – will enter the fray and take on the winners from round one in round two.
Those ranked from 17-48 will finally join the action in round three, with two victories then required to seal one of the 16 coveted spots at the venue stages.
In a move that will please a lot of players and fans, every round will be contested over two sessions and 19 frames.
World Snooker Championship qualifying draw
Qualifier 1
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 1 | A. Hugill vs G. Pragnell | Winner vs L. Kleckers | Winner vs Ryan Day | |
| Winner route 1 vs Winner route 2 | ||||
| 2 | F. O’Brien vs L. Davies | Winner vs S. Donaldson | Winner vs Yuan S. |
Qualifier 2
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 3 | Z Surety vs F. Ajaib | Winner vs Xu S. | Winner vs Jamie Jones | |
| Winner route 3 vs Winner route 4 | ||||
| 4 | K. Doherty vs R. Evans | Winner vs H. Miah | Winner vs Pang J. |
Qualifier 3
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 5 | Ng O.Y. vs M. Holt | Winner vs O. Lines | Winner vs A. Hamilton | |
| Winner route 5 vs Winner route 6 | ||||
| 6 | B. Mertens vs V. Sarkis | Winner vs J. Leclercq | Winner vs J. Robertson |
Qualifier 4
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 7 | R. Thomerson vs I. Martin | Winner vs E. Slessor | Winner vs L. Highfield | |
| Winner route 7 vs Winner route 8 | ||||
| 8 | J. Cahill vs S. Hendry | Winner vs Lei P. | Winner vs Zhou Y. |
Qualifier 5
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 9 | A. Pagett vs Gao Y. | Winner vs D. Jones | Winner vs H. Vafaei | |
| Winner route 9 vs Winner route 10 | ||||
| 10 | O. Brown vs R. Muir | Winner vs J. Page | Winner vs M. Gould |
Qualifier 6
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 11 | A. Lee vs A. Higginson | Winner vs L. Heathcote | Winner vs J. O’Connor | |
| Winner route 11 vs Winner route 12 | ||||
| 12 | S. O’Sullivan vs L. Graham | Winner vs D. Grace | Winner vs S. Craigie |
Qualifier 7
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 13 | Peng Y. vs M. Georgiou | Winner vs M. Davis | Winner vs Lyu H. | |
| Winner route 13 vs Winner route 14 | ||||
| 14 | S. Lam vs L. Pullen | Winner vs M. Mann | Winner vs J. Perry |
Qualifier 8
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 15 | D. Poomjaeng vs M. Nutcharut | Winner vs M. Stevens | Winner vs J. Clarke | |
| Winner route 15 vs Winner route 16 | ||||
| 16 | B. Pinches vs R. Bulman | Winner vs F. Patrick | Winner vs D. Gilbert |
Qualifier 9
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 17 | J. Astley vs S. Hallworth | Winner vs C. Steadman | Winner vs A. McGill | |
| Winner route 17 vs Winner route 18 | ||||
| 18 | H. Jain vs D. Wells | Winner vs B. Woollaston | Winner vs Cao Y. |
Qualifier 10
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 19 | M. Fu vs M. O’Donnell | Winner vs J. White | Winner vs N. Saengkham | |
| Winner route 19 vs Winner route 20 | ||||
| 20 | A. Petrov vs S. Moody | Winner vs Zhang A. | Winner vs Xiao G. |
Qualifier 11
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 21 | J. O’Neill vs B. Révész | Winner vs A. Hicks | Winner vs G. Dott | |
| Winner route 21 vs Winner route 22 | ||||
| 22 | D. Young vs H. Pinhey | Winner vs P. Lines | Winner vs M. Selt |
Qualifier 12
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 23 | M. Ibrahim vs A. Kazakov | Winner vs M. Joyce | Winner vs T. Un-Nooh | |
| Winner route 23 vs Winner route 24 | ||||
| 24 | D. Emery vs Ma H. | Winner vs I. Burns | Winner vs R. Walden |
Qualifier 13
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 25 | M. Judge vs F. Nuessle | Winner vs Si J. | Winner vs T. Ford | |
| Winner route 25 vs Winner route 26 | ||||
| 26 | A. Iqbal vs J. Kendrick | Winner vs D. Dale | Winner vs J. Brown |
Qualifier 14
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 27 | A. Hill vs S. Nuanthakhamjan | Winner vs M. White | Winner vs C. Wakelin | |
| Winner route 27 vs Winner route 28 | ||||
| 28 | A. Taylor vs F. Kalnins | Winner vs Wu Y. | Winner vs Tian P. |
Qualifier 15
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 29 | M. Asif vs I. Boiko | Winner vs S. Carrington | Winner vs Fan Z. | |
| Winner route 29 vs Winner route 30 | ||||
| 30 | A. Burden vs R. Kenna | Winner vs A. Ursenbacher | Winner vs S. Maguire |
Qualifier 16
| Route | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 31 | A. Duffy vs B. Castle | Winner vs Jak Jones | Winner vs R. Williams | |
| Winner route 31 vs Winner route 32 | ||||
| 32 | D. Lilley vs R. McLeod | Winner vs G. Greene | Winner vs B. Hawkins |
Featured photo credit: WST
