As a number of you have already pointed out to me yesterday, with today’s publication of the draw for the inaugural World Open it is now looking highly probable that Australia’s Neil Robertson will become just the eighth player to be ranked number one since the introduction of the world rankings back in 1976… It has been on the cards for some time now with the absence of John Higgins from the start of this season but subject to some sort of appeal from Higgins to have his minimum points reinstated, he is now certain to fall behind Neil Robertson when the rankings are first revised later this year.
This means that barring something very strange happening, for example Neil losing early in upcoming events such as the Shanghai Masters and World Open, with say Ali Carter winning both, it is likely that Neil will become Australia’s first number one player.
Full reaction to the draw will follow from myself later today, together with updated provisional rankings to reflect the fact that John Higgins will not be participating in the event.