Last week’s Players Championship boasted a big prize fund, so let’s see how it impacted the various snooker rankings lists.
Mark Allen collected the ยฃ125,000 champion’s cheque courtesy of a hard-fought 10-8 triumph over Zhang Anda in Sunday’s final in Telford.
It represented a third success of the season for the Northern Irishman, who also won the Snooker Shoot Out and the invitational Champion of Champions towards the end of 2023.
Top 16
With his victory at the Telford International Centre, Allen remains as the world number three on the official two-year snooker rankings standings.
However, the Pistol has drawn significantly closer to the two players ahead of him, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump.
The latter pair will have a lot of points to defend between now and the end of this campaign – putting Allen in a strong position to challenge for the world number one spot.
In fact, when looking at the provisional end-of-season snooker rankings, Allen is way out in front with a buffer of more than ยฃ200,000.
There are several big-money events on the horizon – including the World Open, the Tour Championship, and the blue-riband World Championship – which insures that there’ll be a lot of movement before the term’s conclusion.
Back on the official list, it’s mostly as you were at the top after the Players Championship.
World champion Luca Brecel stays in fourth ahead of Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, and Ali Carter.
Those top eight players are set to receive invites to the inaugural Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker in Saudi Arabia next week.
Ding Junhui and John Higgins complete the top ten ahead of Kyren Wilson, whose disappointing season has seen him consistently slide down the pecking order.
Zhang Anda’s superb effort to reach the Players Championship final has seen the vastly improved Chinese competitor rise to a career-high of number 12 in the world.
Gary Wilson, Robert Milkins, Neil Robertson, and Tom Ford are in the remaining top-16 positions.
Behind them lie the likes of Jack Lisowski, Barry Hawkins, Ryan Day, Zhou Yuelong, and Hossein Vafaei.
Lisowski has failed to qualify for the World Open, meaning he’ll almost definitely have to attend the World Championship qualifiers this year.
The others will be among those hoping for a strong month or so ahead in order to break into the top 16 and secure an automatic berth at the Crucible Theare.
| Official 2-Year World Rankings | Feb 27, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | ยฃ1,075,000 |
| 2 | Judd Trump | ยฃ985,000 |
| 3 | Mark Allen | ยฃ946,500 |
| 4 | Luca Brecel | ยฃ730,000 |
| 5 | Mark Selby | ยฃ644,500 |
| 6 | Shaun Murphy | ยฃ474,000 |
| 7 | Mark Williams | ยฃ431,000 |
| 8 | Ali Carter | ยฃ419,500 |
| 9 | Ding Junhui | ยฃ408,500 |
| 10 | John Higgins | ยฃ399,000 |
| 11 | Kyren Wilson | ยฃ385,500 |
| 12 | Zhang Anda | ยฃ384,000 |
| 13 | Gary Wilson | ยฃ383,500 |
| 14 | Robert Milkins | ยฃ328,000 |
| 15 | Neil Robertson | ยฃ312,500 |
| 16 | Tom Ford | ยฃ310,000 |
| — | — | — |
| 17 | Jack Lisowski | ยฃ285,500 |
| 18 | Barry Hawkins | ยฃ271,000 |
| 19 | Ryan Day | ยฃ252,500 |
| 20 | Zhou Yuelong | ยฃ237,500 |
Race to the Tour Championship
The Players Championship was the second of three tournaments that make up the Players Series, where qualification is based on the one-year snooker rankings.
While the top 16 from that list qualified for Telford, only the top 12 will feature at the Tour Championship in April.
The World Open is the final counting event towards the one-year tally.
Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Zhang Anda, Mark Allen, Gary Wilson, and Mark Williams will feature in Manchester, with the Tour Championship boasting a top prize of ยฃ150,000.
Ding Junhui, Barry Hawkins, Tom Ford, and Ali Carter are in prominent positions to qualify as well.
Four-time world champions Mark Selby and John Higgins are provisionally in 11th and 12th respectively and in the most danger of missing out.
Hossein Vafaei leads the chasing pack in 13th and could potentially break into the top 12 with a run to the semi-finals of the World Open.
However, the others from behind will need to reach the final in Yushan or capture the title itself in order to qualify for the Tour Championship.
| Race to the Tour C’ship (1-year list) | Feb 27, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Judd Trump | ยฃ541,000 |
| 2 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | ยฃ421,500 |
| 3 | Zhang Anda | ยฃ329,000 |
| 4 | Mark Allen | ยฃ239,500 |
| 5 | Gary Wilson | ยฃ211,500 |
| 6 | Mark Williams | ยฃ203,000 |
| 7 | Ding Junhui | ยฃ183,000 |
| 8 | Barry Hawkins | ยฃ182,000 |
| 9 | Tom Ford | ยฃ172,000 |
| 10 | Ali Carter | ยฃ165,500 |
| 11 | Mark Selby | ยฃ159,000 |
| 12 | John Higgins | ยฃ137,500 |
| — | — | — |
| 13 | Hossein Vafaei | ยฃ114,000 |
| 14 | Noppon Saengkham | ยฃ109,500 |
| 15 | Zhou Yuelong | ยฃ103,000 |
When is the next snooker event?
Groups 6 and 7 of the invitational version of Championship League Snooker are taking place this week in Leicester.
Next week (March 6-8), the World Masters in Riyadh will be staged for the first time with the world’s top eight to be joined by two wildcards in the field.
The next snooker ranking event is the World Open in China from March 18-24.
Featured photo credit: WST
Looking at the rankings at this stage of the season, where the world championship is such a large % of the remaining points, and knowing how uncomfortable Neil Robertson is when playing at the Crucible compared to other players it looks like he could drop out of the elite by seasons end.
Ali Carter looks like he’s building up form at the right time of the year: if he were a horse I’d be backing him each way in the National.
Neil will drop out of the top 16 before the World Championship if he fails to win the World Open (his points from the 2022 Tour Championship soon to be deducted), so we might not even see him at the Crucible this year.
I hadn’t realised that he was carrying so many crucial points from this stage of the season two years ago. I don’t think that he has any love at all for the Crucible but it would be a shame if he misses out due to dropping into the qualifiers.
It would be fascinating to see his name come out in the first round draw as a qualifier and draw one of the elite contenders. It would probably be the greatest first round draw in history.
Yes, that would be a sensational start. Box office stuff!
Hendry vs White in 1998 is the biggest for me. Hard to top that, especially as it wasn’t that many years after all their finals.
I’d agree at the moment but Robertson is a greater player than White and if he draws O’Sullivan or Trump then I’d argue it has a case to be the biggest ever. What you say about the finals is a strong argument for it remaining number one.