The top 16 seeds for the upcoming 2025 World Snooker Championship – based off the official world rankings – are now known.
As usual, the top 16 players from the official two-year list qualify automatically to compete at the venue stages at the Crucible Theatre.
This week’s Tour Championship is yet to finish, but all eight remaining players in Manchester have already safeguarded their spots at the season finale.
Wu Yize was the last player who stood a chance of securing a last-gasp ticket straight through to the last 32 in Sheffield.
The world number 22 needed to reach the Tour Championship final in order to usurp Jak Jones and send the Welshman into the qualifying competition instead.
However, Wu was unable to produce his best as he suffered a narrow defeat to fellow Chinese cueist Xiao Guodong for the second event in a row.
Last year’s World Championship runner-up Jones will be a relieved man, with it now certain that he’ll avoid the qualifiers for the first time in his career.
Jones endured a disappointing campaign and didn’t qualify for either the Players or Tour Championships, leaving his fate out of his hands.
But helped by the huge ยฃ200,000 cheque that he accrued from reaching the 2024 world final, the 31 year-old has secured the 16th seeding position for Sheffield.
The 15 other seeds above Jones were already assured of their positions in the first-round draw for the World Snooker Championship.
Some of the specific positions will likely change depending on how results continue to pan out at the ongoing penultimate ranking event of the term.
Kyren Wilson, though, will definitely be the top seed as the reigning world champion with world number one Judd Trump representing the second seed.
Four-time world champion Mark Selby is looking like he’ll be the third seed, with Ronnie O’Sullivan provisionally down as the fourth seed.
Whether or not O’Sullivan actually participates in this edition of the World Snooker Championship is something everyone is increasingly curious about.
The Rocket has made it a habit of withdrawing from tournaments this season, so it will be interesting to see if he’ll mount a challenge for a record-breaking eighth Crucible title at all.
A stipulation in the player’s entry pack for the tournament has stated that if a top 16 seed withdraws before the third qualifying round of four, a replacement can be permitted.
In this case, if O’Sullivan were to withdraw before that time frame, world number 17 Gary Wilson would be promoted to the main draw with his scheduled qualifying opponent receiving a bye through to Judgement Day.
However, if a top 16 seed withdraws after the third qualifying round starts, his opponent in the first round draw would receive a bye in the competition.
Multiple world champions Mark Williams and John Higgins, meanwhile, will be among the top eight seeds this year, with Luca Brecel and Mark Allen provisionally in that bracket too.
Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui, Barry Hawkins, Zhang Anda, Si Jiahui, Xiao Guodong, and Shaun Murphy occupy the remaining positions down to 15th.
It marks the first time that there will be four Chinese seeds at a World Snooker Championship.
The qualifiers begin on April 7th and run until April 16th, with the main event at the Crucible Theatre commencing on Saturday, April 19th.
Provisional World Snooker Championship Seeds
| Prov. Seeding | Player | Prov. Total | Still in TC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyren Wilson | ยฃ1,334,300 | Y |
| 2 | Judd Trump | ยฃ1,884,200 | Y |
| 3 | Mark Selby | ยฃ728,000 | Y |
| 4 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | ยฃ690,000 | |
| 5 | Mark Williams | ยฃ688,600 | |
| 6 | John Higgins | ยฃ661,250 | Y |
| 7 | Luca Brecel | ยฃ623,900 | |
| 8 | Mark Allen | ยฃ592,900 | |
| 9 | Neil Robertson | ยฃ557,050 | Y |
| 10 | Ding Junhui | ยฃ566,000 | Y |
| 11 | Barry Hawkins | ยฃ545,050 | Y |
| 12 | Zhang Anda | ยฃ506,550 | |
| 13 | Si Jiahui | ยฃ470,200 | |
| 14 | Xiao Guodong | ยฃ439,000 | Y |
| 15 | Shaun Murphy | ยฃ405,900 | |
| 16 | Jak Jones | ยฃ374,800 | |
| — | — | — | — |
| 17 | Gary Wilson | ยฃ368,900 |
Featured photo credit: WST
Provisionally number 15 seed Shaun Murphy looks like an interesting each way bet for worlds glory to me. Coincidentally on the 20th anniversary of his breakout win.
Of course, Gary Wilson might still be called up, if one of the top-16 withdraws before the qualifier draw is made.
Essentially, it’s now possible to work out most of the qualifier draw, subject to further withdrawals. There are three players who haven’t played all season, and some others who have made rare appearances, but who are ranked outside the top 112 in any case. The first round is usually drawn randomly.
Trump leads Murphy 16-10 in meetings outside the Championship League. This includes their last six clashes. They first met in the 2007 World Championship, when Trump was just 17, and Murphy triumphed 10-6. Trump has emerged victorious in two of their three final meetings.
I meant Trump has won their last six clashes.