As we reach the semi-final stages of the ongoing UK Championship, the identity of the 16 players who will compete at the 2015 Masters has now been confirmed, with defeat for Mark Davis meaning that nobody else can break into the all-important top 16 places in the rankings.
He might have fallen to the unheralded James Cahill at the last 32 stage of the 2014 UK Championship yesterday, but after this tournament Ding Junhui will become world number one for the first time in his career, replacing Mark Selby at top spot.
With the UK Championship set to get underway tomorrow, click below for my latest in-depth, player by player updates on the race for main tour places for the 2015/16 season, up to date after the ET4 event as I look at how each player stands on each of the relevant ranking lists…
With the advent of flat draws in snooker, not all of the mid-season seedings revisions that we see in the sport are as important as they once were, but as we head into this week’s UK Championship at the Barbican Centre in York, there are a number of key placings to be determined ahead of the December revision.
In particular, we have a three-way fight for the world number one ranking, while there remain places available at the Masters in January. Click below for a round-up of the various permutations following the ET4 event and links to all of the important lists…
Following Ricky Walden’s victory at the International Championship last week, there are now just two more events to run before one of the most important ranking revisions of the season, as the field for the 2015 Masters is set.
While the situation is now more open than in previous seasons due to the introduction of a prize money based ranking list, it nevertheless remains a race worth looking at and in reality can still be narrowed down to a few key contenders…
Ricky Walden’s win at the International Championship today yesterday brought us to the third mid-season seedings revision of the 2014/15 season, with Mark Selby retaining his spot at number one, but with points to defend at the upcoming UK Championship, he faces a battle if he is going to stay there.
Click below for a round-up of all of the key changes to the seeding list…
Ahead of his anticipated return to ranking event snooker, World Snooker and the WPBSA have today announced that Ali Carter’s seeding will be frozen at 13 for the remainder of the 2014/15 season, ensuring that he will qualify as of right for both the Masters and World Championship tournaments this season, as well as potentially the Champion of Champions.
Click below for my thoughts and why I think that this is on balance a positive move, in the short-term at least…
Last season a very popular feature here at PSB proved to be my in-depth, player by player updates on the race for main tour places for the 2014/15 season, as I attempted to untangle the various overlapping ranking lists and orders of merit.
Although we are still only in September, already taking a look at how this season’s battle is shaping up (particularly with only six European Tour events scheduled to take place this season instead of last year’s eight), there are a few interesting themes developing and therefore I have below taken my first look at just who will need to have a strong finish to the season if they are to remain on tour for 2015/16, with some surprise names currently in the drop zone…