The first event of the 2024/25 snooker season concluded on Wednesday with not much movement near the top of the world rankings.
Championship League Snooker, which has oddly become the common campaign-opener in recent years despite its uninspiring format, was won by Ali Carter.
The Captain beat Jackson Page 3-1 in the final at the Mattioli Arena to capture a sixth career ranking crown.
Success for Carter will also see him gain an invitation to compete at the lucrative Champion of Champions later this year.
Let’s take a look at what impact the results in Leicester have had on the different snooker rankings.
Official 2-year rankings list
Perhaps underlining Championship League Snooker’s reputation as the weakest ranking tournament on the schedule, there hasn’t been any change to the world’s top 16.
Carter pocketed a total of £33,000 across more than three weeks of action – £20,000 for emerging with the trophy in the final and the rest through winning his three group stages.
Despite this, the 44 year-old Englishman remains as the world no.10, although he has closed the gap to Mark Williams in ninth.
Mark Allen and Judd Trump continue to occupy the top two positions even though neither participated in Leicester.
World champion Kyren Wilson stays in third ahead of Luca Brecel in fourth, with Ronnie O’Sullivan completing the top five.
Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, and Ding Junhui round off the top eight in the rolling two-year standings.
A little further down, Gary Wilson is the world no.11 ahead of Zhang Anda, Tom Ford, and Jak Jones.
Barry Hawkins and John Higgins hold onto their spots in the top 16, with Robert Milkins and Ryan Day not far behind.
Page, meanwhile, rises six places to no.39 – the highest ranking that the young Welshman has achieved in his fledgling career so far.
| Official 2-Year World Rankings | July 5, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Allen | £960,000 |
| 2 | Judd Trump | £909,000 |
| 3 | Kyren Wilson | £851,500 |
| 4 | Luca Brecel | £657,500 |
| 5 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £655,000 |
| 6 | Mark Selby | £646,500 |
| 7 | Shaun Murphy | £497,000 |
| 8 | Ding Junhui | £466,500 |
| 9 | Mark Williams | £461,500 |
| 10 | Ali Carter | £457,000 |
| 11 | Gary Wilson | £421,500 |
| 12 | Zhang Anda | £405,000 |
| 13 | Tom Ford | £338,500 |
| 14 | Jak Jones | £321,500 |
| 15 | Barry Hawkins | £310,500 |
| 16 | John Higgins | £304,500 |
| — | — | — |
| 17 | Robert Milkins | £293,500 |
| 18 | Ryan Day | £288,500 |
| 19 | Jack Lisowski | £261,000 |
| 20 | Si Jiahui | £251,000 |
| 21 | Hossein Vafaei | £244,500 |
| 22 | David Gilbert | £242,500 |
| 23 | Zhou Yuelong | £230,000 |
| 24 | Chris Wakelin | £229,500 |
| 25 | Stuart Bingham | £217,000 |
1-year snooker rankings
Although Championship League Snooker was sponsored by BetVictor as in previous years, the event won’t count towards the bookmaker’s annual bonus this season.
The £150,000 that was trousered last season by Judd Trump will be awarded again this term.
However, WST announced in May that it will be based on the results from the Home Nations series events only this time around.
The Home Nations series comprises the English, Northern Ireland, Scottish, and Welsh Opens.
A new one-year ranking list will begin, though, with the players again vying for qualification into the lucrative Players Series tournaments.
The Players Championship in Telford and the Tour Championship in Manchester have already been pencilled into the calendar in March and April next year.
The series based on the one-year snooker rankings usually commences with the 32-player World Grand Prix.
Dates and a venue for it haven’t been officially announced yet, but it is expected that the World Grand Prix will return again this season.
| 1-Year Snooker Rankings | July 5, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ali Carter | £33,000 |
| 2 | Jackson Page | £23,000 |
| =3 | David Gilbert | £11,000 |
| =3 | Scott Donaldson | £11,000 |
| =5 | Long Zehuang | £9,000 |
| =5 | Mark Williams | £9,000 |
| =7 | David Lilley | £8,000 |
| =7 | Martin O’Donnell | £8,000 |
| =9 | Alexander Ursenbacher | £6,000 |
| =9 | Ben Woollaston | £6,000 |
| =9 | Fan Zhengyi | £6,000 |
| =9 | Gary Wilson | £6,000 |
| =9 | Hossein Vafaei | £6,000 |
| =9 | Jak Jones | £6,000 |
| =9 | Stuart Bingham | £6,000 |
| =9 | Wu Yize | £6,000 |
| =17 | He Guoqiang | £5,000 |
| =17 | Jack Lisowski | £5,000 |
| =17 | Matthew Stevens | £5,000 |
| =17 | Robbie McGuigan | £5,000 |
| =17 | Ryan Day | £5,000 |
| =17 | Shaun Murphy | £5,000 |
| =17 | Stuart Carrington | £5,000 |
| =17 | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh | £5,000 |
| =25 | Ashley Carty | £4,000 |
| =25 | Chris Wakelin | £4,000 |
| =25 | Jamie Jones | £4,000 |
| =25 | Joe O’Connor | £4,000 |
| =25 | Ma Hailong | £4,000 |
| =25 | Michael White | £4,000 |
| =25 | Neil Robertson | £4,000 |
| =25 | Si Jiahui | £4,000 |
| — | — | — |
| =33 | Kyren Wilson | £2,000 |
| =65 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £1,000 |
| N/R | Mark Allen | £0 |
| N/R | Judd Trump | £0 |
What is the next snooker event?
The 2024/25 snooker season continues this month with a prestigious invitational event – the Shanghai Masters from July 15th to 21st.
The top 16 from the two-year world rankings will be joined by the next four highest ranked Chinese players, plus another four wildcards.
There won’t be another ranking tournament on the schedule until August when the inaugural Xi-an Grand Prix is held.
The provisional calendar for the new season is below.
2024/25 WST calendar
Note: Dates are provisional and subject to change
COMPLETED
Championship League Snooker
Champion: Ali Carter
Shanghai Masters
Champion: Judd Trump
Xi’an Grand Prix
Champion: Kyren Wilson
Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters
Champion: Judd Trump
English Open
Champion: Neil Robertson
British Open
Champion: Mark Selby
SEPTEMBER
30th to Oct 2nd
International Championship qualifiers
(Ponds Forge, Sheffield)
OCTOBER
6th to 12th
Wuhan Open
(Wuhan, China)
20th to 27th
Northern Ireland Open
(Waterfront Hall, Belfast)
28th to 30th
Scottish Open qualifiers
(Canon Medical Arena, Sheffield)
NOVEMBER
3rd to 10th
International Championship
(Nanjing, China)
11th to 17th
Champion of Champions
(Toughsheet Community Stadium, Bolton)
16th to 21st
UK Championship qualifiers
(Mattioli Arena, Leicester)
23rd to December 1st
UK Championship
(York Barbican, York)
DECEMBER
4th to 7th
Shoot Out
(Mattioli Arena, Leicester)
9th to 15th
Scottish Open
(Meadowbank Sports Centre, Edinburgh)
16th to 22nd
– German Masters qualifiers
– World Open qualifiers
(Canon Medical Arena, Sheffield)
JANUARY
12th to 19th
The Masters
(Alexandra Palace, London)
27th to February 2nd
German Masters
(Tempodrom, Berlin)
FEBRUARY
10th to 16th
Welsh Open
(Venue Cymru, Llandudno)
MARCH
TBC
World Grand Prix
(TBC)
3rd to 9th
World Open
(Yushan, China)
17th to 23rd
Players Championship
(Telford, England)
31st to April 6th
Tour Championship
(Manchester Central, Manchester)
APRIL
7th to 16th
World Championship qualifiers
(EIS, Sheffield)
19th to May 5th
World Snooker Championship
(Crucible Theatre, Sheffield)
Featured photo credit: WST
