Barry Hawkins is back into the top ten of the official snooker rankings after triumphing at the 2026 Welsh Open at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno.
Hawkins beat Jack Lisowski 9-5 to claim his fifth career ranking crown, a first in the Home Nations Series, and the £100,000 top prize.
The Welsh Open was an important week on the calendar for a number of reasons, so let’s take a look at how the action impacted the snooker rankings.
Barry Hawkins up to number nine
It had been a consistent if unspectacular 2025/26 season for Hawkins, who before the trip to Wales hadn’t gone beyond the quarter-final stage of any event on the calendar.
But securing his first victory since 2023 at this level sees the Hawk, who at 46 became the eighth-oldest ranking event champion, move up five spots and into the top ten at number nine on the official two-year list.
All eight places above him stay unchanged, with Judd Trump still way out in front as the world number one ahead of Kyren Wilson, Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, and Zhao Xintong.
After his run to the semi-finals, John Higgins continues to occupy sixth ahead with Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy just behind.
Xiao Guodong completes the top ten, with Wu Yize rising to a career-high ranking of 11th in front of Ronnie O’Sullivan, who didn’t play again.
Chris Wakelin and Ding Junhui are in 13th and 14th respectively, while Mark Allen drops six rungs on the ladder to 15th after his points from winning the 2024 Players Championship were deducted from his rolling two-year tally.
Si Jiahui completes the top 16, with finalist Lisowski hoping to soon mount a challenge to return to the elite bracket as he moves up to 18th.
Race to the Crucible
A victory for Lisowski would have seen him replace Ding Junhui in the automatic spots for the season-ending World Championship at the Crucible Theatre.
Ding won’t play again until Sheffield and is in a precarious position, boasting just a small buffer over Stuart Bingham and Lisowski who are both in the upcoming World Open at the very least.
Provisionally in 15th, Si is in a much stronger position compared to his esteemed countryman but also hasn’t qualified for the World Open and could be reeled in depending how the chasing pack fare.
Race for tour survival
The provisional end-of-season rankings continue to paint a grim picture for a number of familiar players and former ranking event champions.
Jordan Brown, Jamie Jones, Mark Davis, Sanderson Lam, and Robert Milkins occupy the positions from 63rd down to 67th.
As usual, only the top 64 at the conclusion of the campaign will be assured of their tour safety and a renewed card for another term.
From those outside the top 64, Milkins is holding onto the fourth and final ticket for a fresh two-year card from the one-year list as things stand.
But the World Championship, with its huge prize fund, will be the determining factor in who ultimately avails of those second chances.
Ben Mertens stands just above Brown in 62nd but remains in the World Open as his qualifying match against Xiao Guodong was held over to the venue stages of the competition.
| Official 2-Year World Rankings | Mar 2, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Judd Trump | £1,782,550 |
| 2 | Kyren Wilson | £1,374,600 |
| 3 | Neil Robertson | £1,168,050 |
| 4 | Mark Williams | £994,400 |
| 5 | Zhao Xinting | £962,550 |
| 6 | John Higgins | £898,350 |
| 7 | Mark Selby | £818,350 |
| 8 | Shaun Murphy | £756,800 |
| 9 | Barry Hawkins | £641,850 |
| 10 | Xiao Guodong | £634,900 |
| 11 | Wu Yize | £591,900 |
| 12 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £570,250 |
| 13 | Chris Wakelin | £548,200 |
| 14 | Ding Junhui | £537,850 |
| 15 | Mark Allen | £520,750 |
| 16 | Si Jiahui | £474,400 |
| — | — | — |
| 17 | Stuart Bingham | £418,700 |
| 18 | Jack Lisowski | £401,000 |
| 19 | Jak Jones | £398,300 |
| 20 | Elliot Slessor | £368,050 |
| 21 | Zhang Anda | £351,950 |
| 22 | Ali Carter | £344,050 |
| 23 | Gary Wilson | £304,700 |
| 24 | David Gilbert | £298,700 |
| 25 | Stephen Maguire | £297,950 |
| 26 | Zhou Yuelong | £296,250 |
| 27 | Pang Junxu | £286,900 |
| 28 | Joe O’Connor | £282,700 |
| 29 | Lei Peifan | £256,800 |
| 30 | Yuan Sijun | £255,300 |
| 31 | Tom Ford | £242,050 |
| 32 | Jackson Page | £221,750 |
Hawkins in contention for Tour Championship spot
After moving up to eighth on the one-year snooker rankings list, Hawkins is all but assured of his ticket to the Tour Championship later this month.
There is just one counting tournament left on the calendar before the cut-off point for the 12-player field in Manchester.
In immediate danger of missing out are John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan, and Mark Allen in 10th, 11th, and 12th respectively.
Xiao Guodong is in 13th, but the player who ends in that spot will be keeping a keen eye on what O’Sullivan decides to do given how frequently he pulls out of tournaments in the UK these days.
Lisowski is in 14th but will look to carry his form forward to the World Open where another deep run could see him simultaneously welcomed to both the Tour and World Championships.
| 1-Year Snooker Rankings | Mar 2, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neil Robertson | £648,500 |
| 2 | Zhao Xintong | £452,550 |
| 3 | Mark Selby | £424,350 |
| 4 | Shaun Murphy | £389,900 |
| 5 | Mark Williams | £343,800 |
| 6 | Judd Trump | £339,350 |
| 7 | Wu Yize | £312,300 |
| 8 | Barry Hawkins | £288,800 |
| 9 | Chris Wakelin | £264,800 |
| 10 | John Higgins | £254,600 |
| 11 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £251,750 |
| 12 | Mark Allen | £242,350 |
| — | — | — |
| 13 | Xiao Guodong | £233,400 |
| 14 | Jack Lisowski | £230,400 |
| 15 | Elliot Slessor | £210,300 |
| 16 | Zhou Yuelong | £203,200 |
| 17 | Zhang Anda | £189,400 |
| 18 | Gary Wilson | £167,300 |
| 19 | Stephen Maguire | £143,200 |
| 20 | Stuart Bingham | £139,300 |
| 21 | Kyren Wilson | £136,300 |
| 22 | Ali Carter | £136,250 |
| 23 | Si Jiahui | £135,200 |
| 24 | Chang Bingyu | £133,100 |
| 25 | Ding Junhui | £114,850 |
| 26 | Yuan Sijun | £109,700 |
| 27 | Anthony McGill | £108,400 |
| 28 | Jak Jones | £108,000 |
| 29 | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh | £102,100 |
| 30 | Joe O’Connor | £98,450 |
| 31 | Pang Junxu | £97,500 |
| 32 | Aaron Hill | £89,300 |
Home Nations Series concludes with bonus won by Jackpot
While Lisowski may have left North Wales in disappointing fashion having lost in a ranking event final for the seventh time in his career, there was still plenty to celebrate.
The 34 year-old’s dramatic semi-final victory over Higgins ensured that he snatched the £150,000 Home Nations bonus away from Mark Allen, the sum awarded to the highest-earner across the four events on the series.
The jackpot doesn’t count towards any official ranking list, but the success will do his bank balance and overall confidence a world of good.
When is the next snooker event?
Many people probably expected at the start of the season that this gap period in early-March would be filled with a new tournament.
That hasn’t materialised, meaning there is a pretty long respite of two weeks before the next tournament on the World Snooker Tour schedule.
That’ll be the World Open, which is set to run from March 16th to 22nd in Yushan.
Featured photo credit: WST
