Ronnie O’Sullivan to keep world number one spot in snooker rankings

Ronnie O’Sullivan won’t be caught this week in the world snooker rankings – prolonging his stint as the number one on the list.

Following his last-minute withdrawal in the British Open, O’Sullivan left the door ajar for his nearest challengers to claim the world number one position.

World champion Luca Brecel needed to only reach the last 32 in Cheltenham but bowed out at the opening hurdle on Monday.

That provided Mark Allen, the current world number three, an opportunity to become the leading player in the rolling two-year standings.

The Pistol needed to claim the £100,000 champion’s cheque that is being awarded for capturing the British Open title this week, but he lost in the last 64 to Kyren Wilson on Wednesday.

With more points to defend between now and the end of the 2023/24 snooker season, it’s still likely that O’Sullivan will be usurped as number one in the world rankings race at some point.

Still, for now the recent Shanghai Masters champion maintains his coveted status – a position he has held since April in 2022.

Meanwhile, defending champion Ryan Day bowed out of the British Open on day three after a 4-2 reverse against Ali Carter.

John Higgins and Stuart Bingham were other notable names to fall following respective defeats to Robbie Williams and Ishpreet Singh.

There are still plenty of heavy hitters left, including the likes of Wilson, Mark Selby, Jack Lisowski, and European Masters champion Barry Hawkins.

The tie of the fourth round in the random draw sees Mark Williams entertain Ding Junhui at The Centaur.

By the end of Thursday’s play, the eight quarter-finalists in what is the third ranking event of the campaign will be known.

British Open draw and schedule

Last 128

(held over fixtures)

Robert Milkins 4-2 Jiang Jun
Judd Trump 4-2 Anton Kazakov
Ali Carter 4-3 Allan Taylor
Luca Brecel 3-4 Ding Junhui
Gary Wilson 4-1 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Neil Robertson 4-1 Jamie Clarke
Mark Allen 4-1 Anthony McGill
Mark Williams 4-1 Peng Yisong
Mark Selby 4-2 Ben Woollaston
Ryan Day 4-0 Sean O’Sullivan
Kyren Wilson 4-1 Martin O’Donnell
Steven Hallworth 0-4 Jimmy Robertson
Shaun Murphy 4-1 Rebecca Kenna
Jack Lisowski 4-3 Joe O’Connor
John Higgins 4-1 Long Zehuang
Barry Hawkins 4-1 Stan Moody

Last 64

Xu Si 4-0 Ali Carter
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 1-4 Oliver Lines
Ma Hailong 4-0 Mohamed Ibrahim
Yuan Sijun 4-0 Ben Mertens
Judd Trump 3-4 Hammad Miah
Oliver Brown 2-4 Hossein Vafaei
Lyu Haotian 3-4 David Gilbert
Noppon Saengkham 2-4 Fergal O’Brien
Si Jiahui 4-1 Neil Robertson
Stephen Maguire 2-4 Mark Williams
Scott Donaldson 4-0 Liam Graham
Jamie Jones 0-4 Julien Leclercq
Robert Milkins 1-4 Barry Hawkins
Ken Doherty 3-4 Matthew Stevens
Jimmy Robertson 4-3 Wu Yize
Andy Hicks 2-4 Graeme Dott
Jack Lisowski 4-3 Shaun Murphy
Gary Wilson 4-3 Chris Wakelin
Anthony Hamilton 0-4 Xiao Guodong
Rod Lawler 4-1 Dominic Dale
Ryan Day 4-1 Thor Chuan Leong
Ding Junhui 4-3 Liu Hongyu
Fan Zhengyi 4-1 Ross Muir
He Guoqiang 4-1 Muhammad Asif
John Higgins 1-4 Robbie Williams
Mark Selby 4-2 Tian Pengfei
Daniel Wells 2-4 Ashley Carty
Matthew Selt 4-1 Zak Surety
Mark Allen 0-4 Kyren Wilson
Stuart Bingham 2-4 Ishpreet Singh
Tom Ford 4-3 Ashley Hugill
David Grace 3-4 Sanderson Lam

Last 32

Matthew Stevens 3-4 Fergal O’Brien
Yuan Sijun 2-4 Hossein Vafaei
Mark Williams 4-2 Gary Wilson
Hammad Miah 3-4 Ma Hailong
Graeme Dott 4-0 Ashley Carty
Ali Carter 4-2 Ryan Day
Julien Leclercq 0-4 Ding Junhui
Oliver Lines 1-4 He Guoqiang
Scott Donaldson 4-1 Robbie Williams
David Gilbert 4-1 Ishpreet Singh
Xiao Guodong 4-1 Sanderson Lam
Barry Hawkins 4-1 Kyren Wilson
Si Jiahui 1-4 Mark Selby
Jimmy Robertson 0-4 Tom Ford
Rod Lawler 2-4 Fan Zhengyi
Jack Lisowski 4-2 Matthew Selt

Last 16

Ding Junhui 2-4 Mark Williams
Graeme Dott 2-4 Hossein Vafaei
Ali Carter 2-4 Xiao Guodong
Tom Ford 4-1 Scott Donaldson
Barry Hawkins 3-4 He Guoqiang
Fan Zhengyi 4-1 Ma Hailong
David Gilbert 3-4 Mark Selby
Jack Lisowski 4-2 Fergal O’Brien

Quarter-Finals

Mark Williams 5-1 Fan Zhengyi
Hossein Vafaei 5-2 He Guoqiang
Tom Ford 3-5 Xiao Guodong
Mark Selby 5-4 Jack Lisowski

Semi-Finals

Mark Williams 6-3 Hossein Vafaei
Xiao Guodong 0-6 Mark Selby

Final

Mark Williams 10-7 Mark Selby

Featured photo credit: WST