Thepchaiya Un-Nooh secured his spot in the Tour Championship after winning the 2026 World Open in spectacular fashion on Sunday.
The popular player from Thailand produced an incredible finish to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-7 and claim a second career ranking crown.
With the scores locked at 7-7, Un-Nooh finally unlocked his true potential after years of underachievement by demonstrating his full capabilities when it mattered the most.
He compiled a hat-trick of total clearances to power home to victory – a blistering run that included a magnificent maximum 147 break.
The World Open was the snooker season’s third-last event and had significant implications on the two main rankings lists.
Ding Junhui holds onto his top 16 spot for now
Exiting in the qualifying round of the World Open proved to be costly for Ding Junhui, whose points for reaching the final of the 2024 World Open were deducted from his rolling tally.
That has sent China’s greatest down to 16th on the official two-year rankings, a position he also holds in the provisional Race to the Crucible standings.
Un-Nooh’s victory, through which he earned his biggest payday of £175,000, has seen the 40 year-old leapfrog his way up to number 22 in the world.
The Thai is the only player who could send Ding to the qualifiers for the World Championship, but he’ll have to win the Tour Championship as well in order to do so.
Elsewhere, a positive week for O’Sullivan ended in disappointment, but the Rocket does return to the top ten of the world rankings.
The top eight positions remain unchanged, with Judd Trump continuing to occupy the world number one spot ahead of Kyren Wilson, Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, and Zhao Xintong.
Further down, a maiden run to the last 16 of a ranking event for Artemijs Zizins has done his chances of achieving tour survival the world of good.
The Latvian is up to number 68 which is below the crucial top 64 cut-off point, but Zizins is well-placed to regain his tour card through his elevated status in the one-year rankings.
The provisional end-of-season rankings are still looking perilous for the likes of Jordan Brown (63), Jamie Jones (64), Mark Davis (65), and Robert Milkins (68).
These players, among others, will be relying on their performances at the World Championship qualifiers to save their professional statuses.
| Official 2-Year World Rankings | Mar 23, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Judd Trump | £1,645,550 |
| 2 | Kyren Wilson | £1,367,100 |
| 3 | Neil Robertson | £1,135,550 |
| 4 | Mark Williams | £1,003,400 |
| 5 | Zhao Xinting | £976,550 |
| 6 | John Higgins | £898,350 |
| 7 | Mark Selby | £809,350 |
| 8 | Shaun Murphy | £756,800 |
| 9 | Xiao Guodong | £643,900 |
| 10 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £631,250 |
| 11 | Barry Hawkins | £625,350 |
| 12 | Wu Yize | £615,900 |
| 13 | Chris Wakelin | £539,200 |
| 14 | Mark Allen | £537,750 |
| 15 | Si Jiahui | £469,400 |
| 16 | Ding Junhui | £464,850 |
| — | — | — |
| 17 | Stuart Bingham | £427,700 |
| 18 | Jack Lisowski | £410,000 |
| 19 | Jak Jones | £398,300 |
| 20 | Zhang Anda | £360,950 |
| 21 | Elliot Slessor | £351,550 |
| 22 | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh | £346,600 |
| 23 | Ali Carter | £340,050 |
| 24 | Gary Wilson | £326,700 |
| 25 | Zhou Yuelong | £305,250 |
| 26 | David Gilbert | £298,700 |
| 27 | Stephen Maguire | £288,950 |
| 28 | Joe O’Connor | £282,700 |
| 29 | Pang Junxu | £281,900 |
| 30 | Lei Peifan | £261,800 |
| 31 | Yuan Sijun | £246,300 |
| 32 | Tom Ford | £237,050 |
Un-Nooh completes 2026 Tour Championship lineup
A memorable success for Un-Nooh will bring with it plenty of rewards, including a ticket to the upcoming Tour Championship in Manchester.
The prestigious tournament will boast an elite field of the best-earners across the 2025/26 season in ranking events.
Only 12 players will be invited to participate, with O’Sullivan opting out of entering despite having comfortably qualified.
That means the last player to make the lineup was Mark Allen in 13th, with Xiao Guodong pushed out at the last moment following Un-Nooh’s heroics.
2026 Tour Championship draw
Round of 16 (bo19)
Barry Hawkins (8) vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (9)
Judd Trump (5) vs Mark Allen (12)
Mark Williams (6) vs John Higgins (11)
Wu Yize (7) vs Chris Wakelin (11)
Quarter-Finals (bo19)
Neil Robertson (1) vs Hawkins/Un-Nooh
Shaun Murphy (4) vs Trump/Allen
Mark Selby (3) vs Williams/Higgins
Zhao Xintong (2) vs Wu/Wakelin
When is the next snooker event?
The 2026 Tour Championship will be the penultimate ranking event on the calendar ahead of the campaign-concluding World Championship in Sheffield.
Next week’s event will run from March 30th to April 5th, with £150,000 going to the winner at the Manchester Central.
Featured photo credit: WST
