The latest snooker rankings update follows the conclusion of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, the 2025/26 season’s second ranking event.
Neil Robertson won his 26th career ranking title courtesy of a 10-9 victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan in a thrilling finale at the Green Halls in Jeddah.
The Australian led 7-2 only to see his esteemed opponent fight back to move 9-8 in front, but Robertson prevailed with breaks of 101 and 87 to clinch it.
With prize money matching the hefty sums on offer at the World Snooker Championship, the Saudi Arabia Masters provided players with opportunities to make big moves in the rankings lists.
Let’s briefly touch on how the action over the last week or so has affected the two main standings.
Top 16
There was quite a lot of movement inside the top 16, although there are no new additions to the elite bracket.
Despite losing in his first round (the last 32), Judd Trump stays in top spot with a huge lead of almost £630,000 to Kyren Wilson in second.
Neil Robertson’s largest ever payday of £500,000 sees the Australian rise back to number three on the rolling two-year list.
It’s quite a turnaround for the 43 year-old, who this time last year entered the inaugural Saudi Arabia Masters with a ranking outside the top 16.
The £200,000 runner-up prize has Ronnie O’Sullivan returning to the top four ahead of Mark Williams and John Higgins, who both drop two rungs on the ladder.
Ding Junhui, Barry Hawkins, Mark Selby, and reigning world champion Zhao Xintong complete the top ten.
Below that is Mark Allen, who has a lot of points to defend this term and is provisionally down at number 20 on the end-of-season rankings.
Zhang Anda is in 12th ahead of Chris Wakelin, whose impressive run to the semi-finals sees him advance three spots.
Xiao Guodong decided to skip Saudi in favour of competing at the World Games, where he won a gold medal for China.
The 36 year-old drops to 14th but stays in front of compatriot Si Jiahui and reigning Masters champion Shaun Murphy.
Quarter-finalist Ali Carter misses out on a return to the top 16 by just £3,600, meanwhile.
Other Movers
Elliot Slessor was the most significant mover outside the top 16 with the Englishman benefiting from his semi-final windfall of £100,000.
The 31 year-old won four matches on the spin in deciding frames to reach the last four of a ranking event for the fifth time in his career.
Although he’ll be disappointed to have missed out on a maiden final, Slessor has made new ground in the official rankings and rises to a career-high 23 in the world.
Elsewhere Oliver Lines is nearing a position inside the world’s top 64 after earning £30,000 for featuring at the last-16 stage of the competition.
The Leeds potter is up to number 66 and, with no points to defend this season, looks in good shape to challenge for a top-50 berth for the first time in his career later this term.
| Official 2-Year World Rankings | Aug 17, 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Judd Trump | £1,978,200 |
| 2 | Kyren Wilson | £1,348,300 |
| 3 | Neil Robertson | £1,047,050 |
| 4 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £940,000 |
| 5 | Mark Williams | £885,600 |
| 6 | John Higgins | £781,250 |
| 7 | Ding Junhui | £636,000 |
| 8 | Barry Hawkins | £590,050 |
| 9 | Mark Selby | £588,000 |
| 10 | Zhao Xintong | £540,000 |
| 11 | Mark Allen | £522,900 |
| 12 | Zhang Anda | £496,550 |
| 13 | Chris Wakelin | £481,400 |
| 14 | Xiao Guodong | £461,000 |
| 15 | Si Jiahui | £446,200 |
| 16 | Shaun Murphy | £432,900 |
| — | — | — |
| 17 | Ali Carter | £429,300 |
| 18 | Gary Wilson | £374,900 |
| 19 | Wu Yize | £365,600 |
| 20 | Tom Ford | £359,950 |
| 21 | Stuart Bingham | £356,900 |
| 22 | Jak Jones | £332,800 |
| 23 | Elliot Slessor | £321,750 |
| 24 | David Gilbert | £312,650 |
| 25 | Hossein Vafaei | £293,300 |
| 26 | Stephen Maguire | £280,750 |
| 27 | Joe O’Connor | £265,750 |
| 28 | Jack Lisowski | £260,600 |
| 29 | Pang Junxu | £258,400 |
| 30 | Yuan Sijun | £231,600 |
| 31 | Lei Peifan | £210,000 |
| 32 | Zhou Yuelong | £208,050 |
1-year snooker rankings
As has become common in the last few years, the one-year snooker rankings list will determine qualification to a few events in the second half of the season.
The top 32 will qualify for the World Grand Prix, the top 16 will then participate at the Players Championship, before a 12-strong field will eventually assemble for the Tour Championship.
Unsurprisingly, Robertson has taken the front and is already guaranteed to feature in all three of those lucrative tournaments.
O’Sullivan immediately rises to second ahead of Saudi Arabia Masters semi-finalists Slessor and Wakelin.
Championship League Snooker winner Stephen Maguire, who lost to Ding Junhui in the last 32, drops to fifth.
Ali Carter, Barry Hawkins, Kyren Wilson, Mark Williams, and Joe O’Connor complete the top ten.
There are a few high-profile names who are currently ranked outside the top 32.
Most notably, Judd Trump, John Higgins, and Xiao Guodong have failed to accumulate any ranking points so far this term.
It’s still early days, though, with plenty of ranking events to come during the remainder of the calendar year.
Lines, Chang Bingyu, Farakh Ajaib, Iulian Boiko, and Steven Hallworth are among the lower-ranked players on the official two-year list who are positioned impressively on the one-year list thanks to their strong efforts in Jeddah.
Note: Ranking points earned from the Wuhan Open and British Open qualifiers are provisional and have not been included in the below list.
| 1-Year Snooker Rankings | Aug 17, 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neil Robertson | £500,000 |
| 2 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £200,000 |
| 3 | Elliot Slessor | £106,000 |
| 4 | Chris Wakelin | £104,000 |
| 5 | Stephen Maguire | £53,000 |
| =6 | Ali Carter | £52,000 |
| =6 | Barry Hawkins | £52,000 |
| =8 | Kyren Wilson | £50,000 |
| =8 | Mark Williams | £50,000 |
| 10 | Joe O’Connor | £43,000 |
| 11 | Stuart Bingham | £34,000 |
| =12 | Chang Bingyu | £32,000 |
| =12 | Si Jiahui | £32,000 |
| 14 | Oliver Lines | £31,000 |
| =15 | Shaun Murphy | £30,000 |
| =15 | Ding Junhui | £30,000 |
| =15 | Mark Selby | £30,000 |
| =15 | Zhao Xintong | £30,000 |
| =19 | Wu Yize | £25,000 |
| =19 | Yuan Sijun | £25,000 |
| 21 | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh | £24,000 |
| =22 | Ben Woollaston | £22,000 |
| =22 | Gary Wilson | £22,000 |
| =22 | Long Zehuang | £22,000 |
| =22 | Martin O’Donnell | £22,000 |
| 26 | Farakh Ajaib | £21,000 |
| =27 | Iulian Boiko | £20,000 |
| =27 | Steven Hallworth | £20,000 |
| 29 | Pang Junxu | £20,000 |
| 30 | Ben Mertens | £18,000 |
| 31 | Matthew Stevens | £17,000 |
| =32 | David Gilbert | £16,000 |
| — | — | — |
| =32 | Jack Lisowski | £16,000 |
| =32 | Sam Craigie | £16,000 |
| =125 | John Higgins | £0 |
| =125 | Judd Trump | £0 |
What is the next snooker event?
There is a week’s respite on the World Snooker Tour before the next ranking on the calendar.
The 2025 Wuhan Open is scheduled to take place from August 24th to August 30th with Xiao Guodong defending his maiden ranking crown in China.
The opening event on the European Q Tour series is in Stockholm from August 28th to August 31st.
Elsewhere, the new season on the World Women’s Snooker Tour will commence soon with the UK Women’s Championship at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds from August 29th to August 31st.
More news updates on all of these snooker events will be available here on SnookerHQ.com in the coming weeks.
Featured photo credit: WST
Until this week I was wondering if I would be checking Ronnie O’Sullivan’s ranking points before and after each ranking events but he’s put that to bed in Saudi Arabia. Instead it’s looking like it will be Mark Allen and, more expectedly, Shaun Murphy who will be counting every quid won each month. In contrast the rebuilding job on Neil Robertson is complete: top 3, what a resurgence!
The first two editions of this controversial event have seen 91 centuries made. O’Sullivan made 11 this year.
I would also like to congratulate Jan Verhaas on an outstanding 35 year career as a referee. I’m in agreement with Dave Hebdon who called him the GOAT. The big Dutchman officiated 18 Triple Crown finals (8 Masters, 6 World and 4 UK). A trailblazer for non British referees, Perhaps exuded authority and can never recall player ever taking issue with him.
Predictive text led Verhaas becoming perhaps in that last sentence 😆