As the dust settles on what has been an interesting and unpredictable season of snooker, the time has come to look at how the rankings have finished up and also to the one-year rankings to see who is in pole position for next season…
First things first, as part of an overhaul of this website which will be taking place over the off-season, I have split my rankings/results page and have created a new rankings page here. From here you will be able to access the official rankings, provisional rankings and the one-year lists which once refined will hopefully be an improvement over what I have had before.
For the purposes of this post, here are the lists that I will be referring to:
The Top 16
Back where he belongs, Mark Williams up to 15th
Next season will see just one change to the top 16 of the rankings as Welshman Mark Williams re-enters the elite group at the expense of Graeme Dott who sees his seven year run come to an end. The last time that there was just one change was way back in 1998/9 when Darren Morgan was replaced by Mark King.
Looking at the very top of the list there are few surprises as Ronnie O’Sullivan retains his spot at the head of the rankings for a second successive year (and fifth in total), Stephen Maguire holds on to second and Shaun Murphy remains third.
Following a slightly disappointing season however, Mark Selby drops three places to seventh and Stephen Hendry falls out of the top eight for the first time in 21 years. Given how things were looking going into the last two events of the season though, things could have been a lot worse for the seven times world champion. It was a similar story for Peter Ebdon who before his win in China, looked a certainty to drop out of the top 16 for the first time in several years. Ultimately though he has just about kept hold of his place and drops to 14th place.
Higgins, hot favourite to become world number one for 2010/11
Though he only moves up one place to fourth, 2009 world champion John Higgins has made significant gains as after a poor 2007/8 campaign, he actually came into this season ranked 14th on the provisional list. By winning the World Championship, the Grand Prix and not losing a single last 32 match however, he has scored more than double the points that he earned last season and will start next season very well-placed on the provisional list. In fact he will open with a lead of 6,900 over second placed Ali Carter which will taken on even greater significance if (as expected), there are only six ranking events scheduled for 2009/10.
Elsewhere in the top sixteen there are four players at career high rankings. These are Ali Carter up in 5th, Ryan Day in 6th, Marco Fu in 8th and Mark Allen who following his world semi-final, moves up to number 11.
Looking at the one-year list for those players currently in the top 16, players who will need to perform well in 2009/10 include Stephen Maguire who having finished at number two for the past two seasons, starts next season down in sixth and Ding Junhui who starts way down in 23rd.
17-32
Ken Doherty – drops out of top 32
Outside of the elite group things get more interesting as there have been five changes to the 17-32 group. Those losing their places are Anthony Hamilton, Dominic Dale, Ian McCulloch, Michael Judge and Ken Doherty, who have all struggled for results this season.
Replacing them are Michael Holt and Gerard Greene who both re-enter the top 32 having lost their places in the past, while Ricky Walden, Liang Wenbo and Judd Trump reach that group for the first time – surely they will stay there for a number of years yet.
Looking at the one-years, those best placed to make an assault on the top 16 are Ricky Walden (unsurprisingly after his success in Shanghai), and the legend that is Steve Davis who despite suffering a hammering at the hands of Neil Robertson in Sheffield, enjoyed a very consistent season in 2008/9. While both still have work to do in order to move up into the 16, if they can consistently win their sole qualifying match and have a couple of wins at the venue, they should stand every chance. Ricky of course will also benefit from not having to qualify for Shanghai this year by virtue of having won the event in 2008.
Top 16 chance – Ricky Walden
Also well placed are Dave Harold (who of course enjoyed a great season last year before just falling short), Michael Holt (much improved), Barry Hawkins and Judd Trump (his most consistent season by far). If they can maintain their consistency and win their opening round matches next season, then they will be right up there too.
In trouble however Nigel Bond and Fergal O’Brien who on the back of very poor seasons are ranked 42nd and 48th on the one-year list respectively. If they don’t improve significantly then they could end up having to win three qualifying matches to make the venues rather than the one currently required.
33-48
Further down the list are many of the usual suspects, though one name that does inevitably stand out is that of Ken Doherty who having won just two matches last season, is in deep trouble down in 44th position. Even worse for him is that on the one-year list he is down in 55th and looks likely to lose his top 48 place for 2010/11.
Man on the move, Martin Gould
On a more positive note however, Martin Gould enters the top 48 for the first time having enjoyed a hugely successful season and both Rory McLeod and Mike Dunn are both up inside the top 40 for the first time in their long careers. If they can continue to win matches and maintain their consistency then both have a decent shot at moving up into the top 32 in a year’s time. Mark Davis has also enjoyed a positive season, moving up 11 places from 58th.
49-96
Further down the list, players who have enjoyed a positive season are Jimmy White (up nine places to 56), David Morris (up six to 58) and Andy Hicks (up six to 50th). In addition both White and Hicks in particular are well placed to continue their progression back up the rankings next season and perhaps secure a return to the top 48.
How much longer will he go on?
Those who have struggled however are John Parrott, David Roe, Liu Song, Barry Pinches and Joe Delaney who will all require a strong campaign next season to retain their places on the tour. Due to the way that new tour players receive minimal starter points however, they will start the season with an advantage over their chasers. At least they are on the tour however, unlike David Gray who amazingly has lost his professional status following a poor couple of seasons. Will he get one of the WPBSA invites?
Well done to Jin Long and Peter Lines who on their return to the main tour this season have done enough not only to retain their places, but to move up inside the top 64 which means that they will start next season in the second qualifying round. This is a much bigger achievement than it might appear given the way the tour works and one that will stand them in good stead for next season. Daniel Wells and Li Hang might not have made the 64, but as two young, and talented players, it is good to see that they have kept their places on the tour and will hopefully continue to progress during 2009/10.
Finally though is a very interesting point that was raised by Bryan who commented on a previous article yesterday concerning what would happen should Jamie Burnett be found guilty of any wrongdoing regarding his controversial UK Championship match with Stephen Maguire last season. Could this have any affect on the rankings? To tell you the truth I don’t know what would happen but it is an interesting observation…
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19 comments
Sammy@SnookerSceney says:
May 6, 2009 at 3:01 pm (UTC 0 )
I have to admit Steve had a bit of luck last year and if he plays like he did last year then I don’t think he will be in the TOp 16. Am I the only one who gets quite nervous and expect him to miss pretty much every pot?
Trump will get in the Top 16 along with Walden and possibly Holty (I hope).
Parrot may retire now (if he can) or at the end of the season.
Sammy@SnookerSceney says:
May 6, 2009 at 3:02 pm (UTC 0 )
Also what happens if there are only 6 events this year?
Surely the points will change.
matt2745 says:
May 6, 2009 at 3:04 pm (UTC 0 )
I think the thing with Steve is that he was quite fortunate with some of the draws to avoid the likes of Walden, Trump and Wenbo in his qualifying matches. That said in the early part of the season in particular I think he played ok and was at least competitive. If he can avoid the real danger men in his qualifying matches once again and consistently reach the TV venues then he has to have a chance. Always going to struggle against the top eight though.
matt2745 says:
May 6, 2009 at 3:05 pm (UTC 0 )
There were just six events in 2005/6 and the points were the same apart from the Grand Prix so I’d not be so sure of that.
besiktasjk says:
May 6, 2009 at 3:17 pm (UTC 0 )
good for me i can watch Williams more.
I have a question. why are there only six ranking events next year? the only thing in my mind is economic downturn. sponspors are leaving or don’t want to pay to much??
Sammy@SnookerSceney says:
May 6, 2009 at 3:18 pm (UTC 0 )
World Snooker are the Governing Body, thats why.
matt2745 says:
May 6, 2009 at 3:23 pm (UTC 0 )
We can only speculate as to why but given how much trouble they had finding a sponsor for the World Championship which had blanket coverage on the BBC, then it’s going to be even harder to fund the smaller events like Northern Ireland.
Ranking events aren’t cheap to stage either, the exact figure was in Snooker Scene recently if I remember rightly but I don’t have it to hand. With hiring the venue (for qualifying and the last 32), prize money and other costs though I think it must be approaching £500k.
Rob Donohoe says:
May 6, 2009 at 11:27 pm (UTC 0 )
When will the 96 players for next year be anounced ? Is Muldoon / Goggins knocked off ?
matt2745 says:
May 6, 2009 at 11:31 pm (UTC 0 )
If you look at my links to the rankings near the top of this post, the players in red are gone so yeah, Muldoon and Goggins are gone unfortunately.
Around 75-76 of next season’s 96 are already known now, with another eight to come this week once the PIOS season is completed. Will post something tomorrow saying where the other places will come from.
George McCauley says:
May 7, 2009 at 8:50 am (UTC 0 )
I do think jimmy white should retire now. You have to understand his love for the game, but he is just not finding the results.
I must admit i a realy looking forward to seeing if Martin Gould can continue his rise up the rankings, and higgins if he becomes world number one again!
quintahunter says:
May 7, 2009 at 11:14 am (UTC 0 )
Which will be the ranking events next year?
matt2745 says:
May 7, 2009 at 11:44 am (UTC 0 )
Looks like Shanghai, the Grand Prix, the UK Championship, the Welsh Open, China Open and the World Championship.
On Jimmy White, to be fair to him he’s just had a good season for him, won most of his early matches, got back in the top 64 and is inside the top 48 on the one years. He’s not going to win titles again but he did better last year than players like Doherty and Parrott.
bongo@TSF.com (The Snooker Forum) says:
May 7, 2009 at 8:10 pm (UTC 0 )
One problem can lead to another, hardly any events on out skeleton calandar, which leads on to ranking system problems. World Snooker need to do something and FAST.
dannyboy says:
May 7, 2009 at 10:13 pm (UTC 0 )
Steve Davis finish was so poor it has clouded opinion of his actual overall season. His league form in March was nothing short of amazing given he could hardly pot a ball at the WC. Depending on the table set up (the tables at Sheffield were set up tight) And I know opinion on pockets is that they are standard size but even JP commented in commentary they were running tight so it must be possible to have varying margins of pocket acceptance of the pot.
Steve tends to let matches go once he feels out of contention hence his easy losses against Pettman and Robertson. However if his matches are competitive and the scores stay reasonably close his performance raises a notch or two and he will tend to gain victories. Virtually all his wins this year were deciders 5-4!! Even early on against Robertson the match was winnable but he played so badly he never made anything of the chances. It could have been 3-1 at the interval and around 5-4 after the first session. But since he missed every pot the score ended up 7-2 down. For me he will have some good mathces next year, but ultimately the season is dictated by the BBC events which Steve did well in this year. He won all the qualifiers and made a qf in the grand prix. I think he will get lucky and stay around 20 – 15th ranked by the end of the season. If he gets a lucky draw or two then he may just creep back in to the 16 which will be amazing. However the year after – drop!
nickogs20 says:
May 8, 2009 at 8:38 pm (UTC 0 )
The pockets were running tight in Sheffield? Have a feeling you’d be an extreme minority in thinking that :/
dannyboy says:
May 9, 2009 at 8:29 am (UTC 0 )
I actually went to Sheffield and saw the pockets up close so to speak. They seemed bigger on the TV than in reality. Having discussed this issue before I have been told there is a standard size but I start to doubt the consistency when top players such as JP actually state it in commentary. He used the word TIGHT and I am left thinking the pockets can be cut differently depending on how the cushions are laid even if the width across the cloth is the same. I have no doubt some venues and events have greater margins especially in the way the knuckles cut inwards at the top. nickogs20 I am surprised you question this? Are you saying John Parrott is talking rubbish??
Malcolm says:
May 9, 2009 at 11:56 am (UTC 0 )
You’re having a laugh! Absolutely no way the pockets were tight! There’s been commentary on this in Snookerscene blog, TSF and the BBC even had to justify the pocket sizes! Wille Thorne was commentating with John Virgo and both made comments about how forgiving the pockets were. It may be they were standard sizes, but the cut was forgiving and the cushions seemed to slide which meant that pots that were out
Hendry’s 147 which was great had a couple of pots which were fortunate to go in.
Have a look at Murphy’s pink:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUos3KsVdb4
Both the cummentator and player’s reaction are key here – but I reiterate, tThere are plenty of other examples throughout the 17 days where the players themselves looked frustrated at their ‘miss’ only to see it drop.
Back on topic, It’ll be interesting to see how Ken Doherty does on his second season in the qualifiers – perhaps he’ll be more used to the atmosphere – I don’t think he’ll ever get back in the top 16 again, but I think he’ll have a much better season than last year and hopefully get back to the TV stages of a few events. It would be good to see Jimmy White carry on from last year. Walden will push for a top 16 spot, but this will in my opinion all go down to the WC – Clearly it would be great to have 3 or 4 more events, but with less events, there will be more to play for at the world’s. This should also be a year when Judd Trump pushes on and I think he will also have a chance of top 16 at the end of the season.
Malcolm says:
May 9, 2009 at 11:57 am (UTC 0 )
Should have said for the pink 2:19
matt2745 says:
May 9, 2009 at 12:31 pm (UTC 0 )
Didn’t realise that youtube videos automatically embed themselves in comments, that’s quite cool.
Have to agree though that I didn’t think that the pockets were tight (up until the semi-finals anyway), 84 centuries on tight pockets would have been even more impressive!
On Ken I hope he will do better too, I mean given how good he is/was, you would think that he could only fall so far before bottoming out and coming back stronger. Also while there are no easy opponents, you would think that he will get some better draws now and can at least stabilise his ranking by winning his opening round matches.