The 2025/26 snooker season hasn’t even gotten under way yet, but the first rankings lists have already been devised.
Among those is the provisional end-of-season snooker rankings, a considerably useful guide that is always available over at the excellent snooker.org website.
In recent days, that site has published its new end-of-season post that will help us follow the tour survival stories to come during the upcoming campaign.
Last season, a number of high-profile players were relegated from the World Snooker Tour after failing to make the top 64 cut.
Both Joe Perry and Anthony Hamilton, former ranking event winners and members of the top 16, dropped off and announced their respective retirements after more than three decades of professional service.
Reigning world seniors champion Alfie Burden and seasoned main tour participant Tian Pengfei were among the other notable names to suffer demotion.
As things stand, there are 16 ranking events on the calendar for the 2025/26 snooker season, giving plenty of opportunities to players to earn valuable points.
Yet there are several established competitors who could get drawn into the battle for tour survival come the end of the campaign and the World Championship next April.
Let’s take a look at some of those who are in a spot of bother ahead of the new season.
Matthew Stevens
It has been several years since Matthew Stevens, once a mainstay of the top 16, featured at the business end of a tournament.
The Welshman boasts a decent buffer of around £15,000 to the top 64 cut-off point for tour survival, but he’ll be after a quick start to the new season in an effort to avoid any drama later on.
In the batch of qualifiers at the end of June that will launch the 2025/26 season, Stevens faces Canadian rookie Sahil Nayyar and Huang Jiahao in the Wuhan Open and British Open respectively.
Provisional end-of-season ranking: 53 (£63,550)
Lyu Haotian
Lyu Haotian was ranked as high as number 24 in the world a few years ago, but the former Indian Open runner-up has struggled in recent seasons.
Still only 27 but on the tour for the best part of 12 years, Lyu has an official two-year ranking of 38 currently but is set to slip down rapidly when his points for reaching the 2023 Wuhan Open semi-finals are substracted.
Lyu meets Bai Yulu and Robbie McGuigan in the upcoming qualifiers and a quick start would be welcome.
Provisional end-of-season ranking: 56 (£61,500)
Mark Davis
In some ways, every extra season that Mark Davis plays these days is a bonus.
The Englishman was set to suffer relegation in 2023 when he was dramatically beaten by Joe Perry in that year’s World Championship qualifiers.
But Davis was given a reprieve after spots opened up through the Chinese match-fixing suspensions at that time, and he has made the most of it since then.
After Perry and Hamilton’s demise, plus the departure of Dominic Dale, Davis is one of the longest-serving professionals left on the circuit.
Indeed, only Jimmy White and Ken Doherty have been professional players for longer.
Provisional end-of-season ranking: 58 (£57,650)
Graeme Dott
The situation surrounding Graeme Dott remains unclear as he continues to contest very serious allegations made against him.
The former world champion was suspended earlier this year after it was revealed that he was in court on charges pertaining to the sexual abuse of minors.
Depending on the outcome of that ongoing case, Dott may or may not be banned from the main tour permanently.
But if he is to return, the Scot’s ranking situation is also perilous with a buffer of just £3,450 to the top 64 cut-off point following a dismal spell of form.
Provisional end-of-season ranking: 60 (£51,800)
Anthony McGill
Another Scot who is in trouble in the provisional end-of-season snooker rankings list and in danger of getting embroiled in a tour survival battle is Anthony McGill.
A lot of people had tipped McGill as a qualifier for the season-ending World Championship, but he lost in his opening clash at the preliminaries.
McGill has accumulated stock based on his status as a former ranking event winner and a Crucible semi-finalist.
But the fact of the matter is that he has been struggling with inconsistency for years, and his perilous position in the snooker rankings isn’t really that much of a surprise.
Provisional end-of-season ranking: 61 (£51,540)
Jordan Brown
When Jordan Brown famously beat Ronnie O’Sullivan to win the 2022 Welsh Open, he was ranked at number 81 in the world.
Just over a year later, the Northern Irishman had leapfrogged his way up to a career-high of number 22.
But Brown has been on a steady downward curve since then, and with his points from a run to the 2023 International Championship semi-finals to come off his rolling two-year tally this term, he looks to be in trouble.
In fact, Brown is teetering right on the top-64 cut-off point and there will be immense pressure on his shoulders from the off.
Provisional end of season ranking: 64 (£48,650)
Robert Milkins
Perhaps the biggest surprise among all of these players is Robert Milkins, who has collapsed down the pecking order of late.
Milkins was ranked as high as 12th in the world rankings as recently as 24 months ago – helped by his victories in both the 2022 Gibraltar Open and 2023 Welsh Open.
Since then, though, positive results have been hard to come by and Milkins has plummetted to just inside the top 50 on the official two-year list.
If the Milkman is to extend his long tenure on the main tour, he’ll have to start delivering on the baize again and quickly.
Provisional end-of-season ranking: 70 (£37,700)
Featured photo credit: WST
