The 2024 Xi’an Grand Prix concluded on Sunday, and there were plenty of significant changes in the snooker rankings.
The inaugural staging of the new tournament in China was won by Kyren Wilson, the world champion beating Judd Trump 10-8 in the final.
It was a seventh career ranking success for Wilson, who banked £177,000 for his exploits at the Qujiang E-Sports Centre.
Let’s take a look at what impact the results last week had on the snooker rankings lists.
Race to become the world number one
Judd Trump may have ended the Xi’an Grand Prix in disappointment having failed to land a 29th career ranking crown.
But the Englishman earned enough prize money to guarantee his return to top spot on the official two-year rankings list.
The £76,000 runner-up cheque takes Trump’s rolling tally to £974,000, which is incredibly the exact same as Mark Allen’s total over the same period.
Trump, though, usurps the Northern Irishman on the basis of countback to become the sport’s world number one for the first time since 2021.
Not far behind that pair now is Kyren Wilson, whose earnings see him draw to within just £25,500 of the summit.
With several big-money events to come, including the mega Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, expect more changes to the world number one spot this season.
Top 16
Ronnie O’Sullivan moves to fourth after reaching the semi-finals, while Mark Selby also advances one place to fifth.
Luca Brecel’s struggles see the Belgian slip to sixth, and the 2023 world champion is now down to as low as number 58 on the provisional end-of-season standings.
Shaun Murphy, Ding Junhui, Mark Williams, and Ali Carter complete the top ten ahead of Gary Wilson and Zhang Anda.
Tom Ford, Jak Jones, John Higgins, and Barry Hawkins are the remaining members of the top 16.
Who were the other movers?
Daniel Wells impressed en route to making only a third ever appearance in the semi-finals of a ranking event.
The Welshman has risen to no.53 in the world as he nears breaking into the top 50 for the first time in his career.
Xu Si rises nine places to no.49 following his run to the quarter-finals, while Dominic Dale and Matthew Selt both improved by four positions to stand just outside the top 32.
| Official 2-Year World Rankings | Aug 26, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Judd Trump | £974,000 |
| 2 | Mark Allen | £974,000 |
| 3 | Kyren Wilson | £948,500 |
| 4 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £689,500 |
| 5 | Mark Selby | £660,500 |
| 6 | Luca Brecel | £654,500 |
| 7 | Shaun Murphy | £498,900 |
| 8 | Ding Junhui | £466,500 |
| 9 | Mark Williams | £458,000 |
| 10 | Ali Carter | £439,500 |
| 11 | Gary Wilson | £426,400 |
| 12 | Zhang Anda | £407,350 |
| 13 | Tom Ford | £343,850 |
| 14 | Jak Jones | £332,500 |
| 15 | John Higgins | £309,850 |
| 16 | Barry Hawkins | £297,850 |
| — | — | — |
| 17 | Ryan Day | £290,400 |
| 18 | Robert Milkins | £286,000 |
| 19 | Jack Lisowski | £265,900 |
| 20 | David Gilbert | £264,850 |
| 21 | Hossein Vafaei | £255,500 |
| 22 | Si Jiahui | £249,400 |
| 23 | Chris Wakelin | £234,400 |
| 24 | Zhou Yuelong | £227,850 |
| 25 | Stuart Bingham | £221,900 |
1-year snooker rankings
As usual, the separate one-year snooker rankings list will play an important role in determining the fields for key events later this term.
The World Grand Prix, Players Championship, and Tour Championship fields are all established using this list.
Those tournaments won’t take place until the second half of the 2024/25 campaign, but it’s still important to get off to a good start.
Wilson jumps to pole position in front of Trump, Wells, and O’Sullivan.
David Gilbert’s consistency so far this season – his quarter-final reverse to Trump was his first defeat this term – sees him move to fifth.
Championship League Snooker winner Ali Carter lost in the first round in Xi’an so drops from first to sixth.
Matthew Selt, Xu Si, Mark Williams, and Jackson Page complete the top ten ahead of Barry Hawkins and Jak Jones.
Last season, the top 32 qualified for the World Grand Prix, the top 16 for the Players Championship, and the top 12 for the Tour Championship.
| 1-Year Snooker Rankings | Aug 26, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyren Wilson | £179,000 |
| 2 | Judd Trump | £76,000 |
| 3 | Daniel Wells | £36,500 |
| 4 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £35,500 |
| 5 | David Gilbert | £33,350 |
| 6 | Ali Carter | £33,000 |
| 7 | Matthew Selt | £24,350 |
| =7 | Xu Si | £24,350 |
| 9 | Mark Williams | £23,000 |
| 10 | Jackson Page | £23,000 |
| 11 | Barry Hawkins | £22,350 |
| 12 | Jak Jones | £20,000 |
| =12 | Hossein Vafaei | £20,000 |
| 14 | Scott Donaldson | £16,350 |
| 15 | Stuart Bingham | £15,400 |
| =15 | Gary Wilson | £15,400 |
| 17 | Dominic Dale | £15,000 |
| =17 | Gong Chenzhi | £15,000 |
| 19 | Shaun Murphy | £14,400 |
| =19 | Ryan Day | £14,400 |
| =19 | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh | £14,400 |
| =19 | Jack Lisowski | £14,400 |
| 23 | Jimmy Robertson | £14,000 |
| =23 | Mark Selby | £14,000 |
| =23 | Mark Allen | £14,000 |
| 26 | Chris Wakelin | £13,400 |
| =26 | Si Jiahui | £13,400 |
| 28 | David Lilley | £13,350 |
| 29 | Yuan Sijun | £11,400 |
| =29 | Ricky Walden | £11,400 |
| =29 | Pang Junxu | £11,400 |
| 32 | Hammad Miah | £10,400 |
| — | — | — |
| =39 | Neil Robertson | £9,350 |
| =52 | John Higgins | £6,350 |
| N/R | Ding Junhui | £0 |
| N/R | Luca Brecel | £0 |
What is the next snooker event?
Next up on the 2024/25 calendar is a big one, the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in Riyadh.
There is a whopping £2.3 million prize fund, meaning that there’ll imminently be plenty of further changes to the snooker rankings.
CLICK HERE:
Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters draw
The controversial new ranking event, which has already been dubbed the “fourth major” by the World Snooker Tour, takes places from August 30th to September 7th.
The provisional calendar for the rest of this season on the professional circuit 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
SEPTEMBER
12th to 22nd
English Open (including qualifiers)
(Brentwood Centre, Brentwood)
23rd to 29th
British Open
(The Centaur, Cheltenham)
28th to 30th
Northern Ireland Open qualifiers
(Ponds Forge, Sheffield)
OCTOBER
1st to 3rd
International Championship qualifiers
(Ponds Forge, Sheffield)
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
(Tianjin, 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
Would be embarrassing for Luca Brecel to drop off the tour but I reckon he’d be given sn invitational tour card as a former world champion.
Hummm,perhaps Luca is spending too much time in the Feraaaari instead of on the Table ?.