Tomorrow’s revised official rankings list will see Shaun Murphy drop outside the top 16 – the first time in almost two decades that he won’t feature inside the elite bracket.
Murphy has occupied a permanent spot within the top 16 since 2006 but will drop to 17th on the rolling two-year standings following this week’s Wuhan Open.
By reaching the final, Gary Wilson has guaranteed his return to the top 16 at the expense of the Magician, who the former beat in the last 32.
After John Higgins briefly dropped outside the top 16 last season, Murphy had taken on the mantle as the player with the longest membership of the highest echelons.
The Englishman memorably won the World Snooker Championship as a qualifier in 2005, but that success only saw him rise to number 21 in the world.
Back in those days, the official rankings were only updated once every year, so Murphy had to wait until the end of the 2005/06 campaign to break into the top 16 for the first time.
For more than 19 years since then, the 43 year-old has continued to proudly hold his own among the very best that the game has to offer.
Murphy’s performances in ranking events over the last couple of years have been below par, however, by his own high expectations.
His best displays during the 2024/25 term came in invitational events that didn’t carry ranking points – reaching the final of the Shanghai Masters and then winning the Masters in fantastic fashion at the Alexandra Palace.
There were only a couple of semi-final runs in ranking events to speak of during that period, which has contributed to his slide down the pecking order.
So far during the fledgling 2025/26 campaign, Murphy has continued that kind of form with early exits at the Championship League and at this week’s Wuhan Open sandwiching his last-16 appearance at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
Dropping outside the top 16 won’t have a significant impact immediately for Murphy, who won the last of his 12 ranking titles in 2023.
However, the four-time Triple Crown event winner will be hoping to reverse his trajectory as soon as possible with more important implications to come later in the campaign.
Murphy is 15th on the provisional Race to the UK Championship standings, with the top 16 qualifying automatically to compete at the Barbican Centre in York.
As the defending champion, he at least won’t have to be concerned about his invitation to the prestigious Masters in January.
On another positive note, Murphy is ranked tenth on the provisional Race to the Crucible rankings.
The record for the longest-serving membership within the top 16, meanwhile, now goes to Mark Selby.
The four-time world champion has been ranked there since 2007, with Mark Allen representing a consistent top 16 member since 2008.
The Wuhan Open concludes on Saturday with the final taking place at the Optics Valley Gymnasium between Gary Wilson and Xiao Guodong.
Wilson, chasing a fourth ranking crown, will move to 13th in the world rankings with victory in China, while Xiao would leapfrog his way to a career-high ranking of number eight if he were to successfully defend his Wuhan Open title.
Featured photo credit: WST
Ronnie O’Sullivan would’ve held the record longer than even John Higgins did if it wasn’t for his sabbatical during the 2012/13 season. He’s never dropped out of the elite bracket based on snooker results.
The magician needs to pull a rabbit out of the hat soon. He should ask Stephen Maguire for advice on how hard it is to get properly back inside the top 16 once it’s relinquished….
He will probably be returning soon given what Dave said about where he sits provisionally at the time of the World Championship.