Zhao Xintong is up to number seven on the official world snooker rankings list after his victory at the 2026 World Grand Prix in Hong Kong.
The 28 year-old beat Zhang Anda 10-6 in an all-Chinese showdown for glory at the Kai Tak Arena, compiling an impressive five century breaks in the process.
It represented Zhao’s first ranking title since lifting the World Championship trophy aloft last May and his fourth career win at that level overall.
Let’s take a look at how the action at the 13th ranking tournament of the campaign affected the two main ranking lists.
Zhao Xintong on the brink of career-high world ranking
Zhao pocketed £180,000 for his triumph, prize money which helps him move up one spot to seventh in the official two-year standings.
That is just one spot shy of his highest position, and it’s almost certain that he’ll go even further up the ladder over the course of the next year.
Zhao has zero ranking points to defend between now and the 2027 World Championship, so a challenge to become the sport’s world number one sometime during the period is very likely.
As things stand, Judd Trump continues to occupy top spot on the rolling two-list list, ahead of Kyren Wilson and Neil Robertson in second and third.
Mark Williams, John Higgins, and Mark Selby are in the following three positions ahead of Zhao, with Shaun Murphy slipping to eighth.
Mark Allen and Xiao Guodong complete the top ten, while Wu Yize climbs to a career-high ranking of 12 behind Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Ding Junhui, Barry Hawkins, Chris Wakelin, and Si Jiahui are also still in the top 16 while Zhang’s £80,000 runner-up cheque has helped him rise back up to number 20.
Race to the Crucible
With a maximum of just four ranking events left before the top 16 seeds for the World Championship are determined, the race to qualify automatically for the Crucible is heating up.
While all the players in the provisional World Championship seeding spots remain the same as the current official top 16, the order is slightly different.
Notably, Allen and Ding drop to 15th and 16th respectively and will need some good results in the coming weeks to avoid the dreaded qualifiers in Sheffield.
Stuart Bingham is the player closest to them, but the 2015 world champion still has almost £30,000 to make up on Ding, so it’ll be tough for any of the chasing pack to force their way in at this stage.
| Official 2-Year World Rankings | Feb 9, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Judd Trump | £1,762,550 |
| 2 | Kyren Wilson | £1,372,200 |
| 3 | Neil Robertson | £1,144,350 |
| 4 | Mark Williams | £979,900 |
| 5 | John Higgins | £839,850 |
| 6 | Mark Selby | £831,350 |
| 7 | Zhao Xintong | £803,550 |
| 8 | Shaun Murphy | £736,800 |
| 9 | Mark Allen | £621,750 |
| 10 | Xiao Guodong | £617,500 |
| 11 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £585,250 |
| 12 | Wu Yize | £558,900 |
| 13 | Ding Junhui | £550,850 |
| 14 | Barry Hawkins | £541,350 |
| 15 | Chris Wakelin | £541,200 |
| 16 | Si Jiahui | £478,900 |
| — | — | — |
| 17 | Stuart Bingham | £405,500 |
| 18 | Jak Jones | £396,800 |
| 19 | Gary Wilson | £394,300 |
| 20 | Zhang Anda | £380,950 |
| 21 | Ali Carter | £374,050 |
| 22 | Elliot Slessor | £370,550 |
| 23 | Jack Lisowski | £345,500 |
| 24 | David Gilbert | £297,800 |
| 25 | Stephen Maguire | £292,550 |
| 26 | Pang Junxu | £281,500 |
| 27 | Joe O’Connor | £280,300 |
| 28 | Zhou Yuelong | £278,050 |
| 29 | Tom Ford | £259,550 |
| 30 | Lei Peifan | £256,800 |
| 31 | Yuan Sijun | £249,900 |
| 32 | Hossein Vafaei | £226,200 |
Zhao and Zhang qualify for the 2026 Players Championship
Before the World Grand Prix, both Zhao and Zhang had been below the top 16 cut-off point for the upcoming Players Championship.
But reaching the final safeguarded both of their spots in Telford, the second of three events on the late-season schedule where the draws are determined through the one-year snooker rankings.
Zhao has risen to number six on this list while Zhang is in 15th.
2026 Players Championship Draw
Neil Robertson vs John Higgins
Chris Wakelin vs Xiao Guodong
Judd Trump vs Zhou Yuelong
Mark Williams vs Barry Hawkins
Shaun Murphy vs Zhang Anda
Zhao Xintong vs Elliot Slessor
Wu Yize vs Mark Allen
Mark Selby vs Jack Lisowski
The other significant thing to mention here is that Ronnie O’Sullivan, despite being as high as number eight on the one-year standings, will not feature at the Players Championship.
The Rocket hasn’t entered the competition, which he won in 2018 and 2019, meaning 2021 champion John Higgins in 17th gets a somewhat fortunate invitation to participate instead.
Last year’s Players Championship winner Kyren Wilson, meanwhile, is down in 22nd on this list and failed to qualify as a result.
The top 12 will later qualify for the Tour Championship, with the cut-off point for that event coming after the World Open in March.
| 1-Year Snooker Rankings | Feb 9, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neil Robertson | £620,300 |
| 2 | Mark Selby | £399,350 |
| 3 | Shaun Murphy | £364,900 |
| 4 | Mark Williams | £309,800 |
| 5 | Judd Trump | £304,350 |
| 6 | Zhao Xintong | £293,550 |
| 7 | Wu Yize | £271,300 |
| 8 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £251,750 |
| 9 | Chris Wakelin | £239,800 |
| 10 | Xiao Guodong | £213,000 |
| 11 | Mark Allen | £202,350 |
| 12 | Elliot Slessor | £190,300 |
| 13 | Zhou Yuelong | £170,000 |
| 14 | Barry Hawkins | £168,800 |
| 15 | Zhang Anda | £165,400 |
| 16 | Jack Lisowski | £165,400 |
| 17 | John Higgins | £163,600 |
| 18 | Gary Wilson | £156,900 |
| 19 | Si Jiahui | £135,200 |
| 20 | Stephen Maguire | £132,800 |
| 21 | Ali Carter | £131,250 |
| 22 | Kyren Wilson | £125,900 |
| 23 | Chang Bingyu | £122,700 |
| 24 | Stuart Bingham | £121,700 |
| 25 | Ding Junhui | £114,850 |
| 26 | Yuan Sijun | £104,300 |
| 27 | Anthony McGill | £98,000 |
| 28 | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh | £97,100 |
| 29 | Jak Jones | £94,000 |
| 30 | Joe O’Connor | £93,050 |
| 31 | Pang Junxu | £92,100 |
| 32 | Aaron Hill | £80,700 |
When is the next snooker event?
We don’t have too long to wait for the next ranking event on the calendar for the ongoing 2025/26 snooker season.
The aforementioned Players Championship takes place next week, running from February 17th to 22nd in Telford, England.
Before that, there is more from the World Snooker Tour with the Winners’ Group of the invitational version of Championship League Snooker on February 10th and 11th.
Also this week is the qualifying stage for the World Open, running from February 10th to 12th in Barnsley.
Featured photo credit: WST
