Neil Robertson won’t be at the 2025 edition of the Masters in London after failing to sufficiently improve his world ranking position.
The top 16 players from the official world ranking list after the conclusion of this week’s UK Championship will be invited to the Masters in January.
Robertson is a two-time former Masters champion but will definitely miss the prestigious invitational for the first time since 2018.
The Australian already knew that his place was in jeopardy coming into this week’s UK Championship in York, which he had to qualify for.
After successfully emerging from the preliminary stages, Robertson was handed arguably the toughest of first-round draws against world number one Judd Trump.
It looked promising for the Melbourne man when he established a 3-1 interval advantage, but Trump responded by winning the remaining five frames to advance to the last 16 instead.
Robertson was still provisionally ranked inside the world’s top 16, but with Barry Hawkins beating David Gilbert on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals at the Barbican Centre, the reigning English Open champion has slipped down to number 17.
Hawkins, who pipped Gilbert in a deciding frame to back up his earlier triumph over Ronnie O’Sullivan this week, is currently occupying the 16th and final qualifying position.
But the two-time Masters runner-up is looking over his shoulder in the standings and faces threats from Jak Jones, Jack Lisowski, and Stuart Bingham.
A victory for Jones over Michael Holt in Thursday’s remaining round-of-16 fixtures would see the World Championship finalist move above Hawkins again.
It could be to and fro between Hawkins and Jones for the remainder of the tournament as they tussle for that coveted ticket to the Ally Pally.
Chris Wakelin, provisionally in 15th as things stand, could additionally be reeled into the scrap depending on how the results at the UK Championship materialise in the coming days.
Lisowski, meanwhile, beat Ali Carter 6-4 on Wednesday to reach the last eight and maintain his aspirations of landing a maiden ranking crown.
The 33 year-old would need to at least reach the final to have any chance of breaking back into the top 16.
Former Masters champion Bingham’s only hope of returning to the Ally Pally is to win the UK Championship and secure a career Triple Crown.
A very specific and unlikely sequence of results could result in John Higgins dropping out of the top 16 as well, but the Scot looks safe enough in 14th.
The likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, and Kyren Wilson are already safely assured of featuring in the 2025 Masters draw.
The provisional Race to the Masters rankings are available at snooker.org.
2024 UK Championship draw and schedule
Round 1 (bo11)
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-6 Barry Hawkins
Xiao Guodong 4-6 David Gilbert
Shaun Murphy 6-5 Zhao Xintong
Ding Junhui 6-5 Robert Milkins
Mark Selby 4-6 Jack Lisowski
Ali Carter 6-4 Ryan Day
Si Jiahui 4-6 Wu Yize
Mark Allen 6-4 Jackson Page
Judd Trump 6-3 Neil Robertson
John Higgins 6-0 He Guoqiang
Zhang Anda 6-3 Lei Peifan
Mark Williams 5-6 Stuart Bingham
Luca Brecel 5-6 Jak Jones
Gary Wilson 1-6 Michael Holt
Chris Wakelin 6-4 Matthew Selt
Kyren Wilson 6-0 Stephen Maguire
Round 2 (bo11)
Barry Hawkins 6-5 David Gilbert
Shaun Murphy 6-5 Ding Junhui
Jack Lisowski 6-4 Ali Carter
Wu Yize 4-6 Mark Allen
Judd Trump 6-5 John Higgins
Zhang Anda 6-5 Stuart Bingham
Jak Jones 5-6 Michael Holt
Chris Wakelin 2-6 Kyren Wilson
Quarter-Finals (bo11)
Barry Hawkins 6-2 Shaun Murphy
Jack Lisowski 3-6 Mark Allen
Judd Trump 6-2 Zhang Anda
Michael Holt 3-6 Kyren Wilson
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Barry Hawkins 6-5 Mark Allen
Judd Trump 6-2 Kyren Wilson
Final (bo19)
Barry Hawkins 8-10 Judd Trump
Featured photo credit: WST
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