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Following the conclusion of the German Masters yesterday, there is just one event remaining for the players to earn precious ranking points that in some cases could make the difference between having to win one, two, three or four matches to qualify for the Crucible – or none at all.

Click below for my look at who has to do what ahead of the Welsh Open qualifiers which start this Wednesday…

• Click here to view the draw for the Welsh Open
• Click here to view the latest projected seedings

Battle for the top eight

While being a member of the top eight does not give make a difference in terms of qualification, in theory at least it allows a slightly easier draw as those inside that group are guaranteed to avoid each other until the quarter-final stages.

Mathematically, the race will be run between the following four players:

• 7th – Stephen Maguire – 51160
• 8th – Graeme Dott – 50705
• 9th – Ding Junhui – 49440
• 10th – Mark Allen – 48365

Best placed is recent German Masters finalist Stephen Maguire who to make sure of a place inside of the top eight at the Crucible requires a run to the quarter-finals in Newport. This is because with both Ding and Dott both in the top quarter of the draw, with a quarter-final run only one would be able to overtake him, while Mark Allen would also be too far back.

A last 32 defeat for Stephen however and the door would be open for Graeme to leapfrog him with a win, while Ding would need a quarter-final in order to pass him. A last 16 defeat for Stephen and it would take Ding defeating Graeme in the quarter-finals before progressing to at least the final in order to oust Maguire.

Turning to Graeme, his position is not as secure as Stephen’s, however if he were to lose his opening round match Ding would still have to win two matches in order to pass him, while Mark Allen would require at least a run to the semi-finals. An opening round win for Graeme and Ding would require a semi-final, while only the title would do for Allen.

As a bare minimum, Allen would require a run to the semi-finals in order to stand a chance, with both Dott and Ding falling at the first hurdle.

Battle for the top 16

With automatic places at the Crucible up grabs, this is the most important cut-off of them all and mathematically at least the players involved are as follows:

• 13th – Matthew Stevens – 44315
• 14th – Stephen Lee – 43875
• 15th – Ronnie O’Sullivan – 43040
• 16th – Stuart Bingham – 42315
• 17th – Ricky Walden – 41630
• 18th – Mark Davis – 40875

Having qualified for the tournament on the final black against Fergal O’Brien last season, Matthew Stevens will be hoping to spare himself the ordeal in 2012 and he looks to be reasonably safe, barring a rather specific run of results that could see him miss out with an early exit. Indeed, if Matthew were to lose his last 32 match, then four of the following five results would need to happen:

• Lee to reach the last 16, O’Sullivan to reach the quarter-finals, Bingham to reach the semi-finals, Walden to reach the final, Mark Davis to win the title

An opening round for Matthew however and with O’Sullivan and Bingham in the same quarter of the draw, the Welshman would be mathematically safe.

Turning to Stephen Lee, if he were to lose in the opening round at Newport, it would take three of the following four results to occur in order to see him have to qualify for the Crucible:

• O’Sullivan to reach the last 16, Bingham to reach the quarter-finals, Walden to reach the semi-finals, Davis to reach the final

As with Stevens however, a last 32 win in Newport would absolutely confirm his place at the Crucible with both O’Sullivan and Bingham in the same section of the draw.

On the subject of O’Sullivan, while it has been suggested on websites such as the BBC that he the danger of him losing his top 16 place has now passed following his victory at the German Masters yesterday, he is not out of the woods just yet. Up four places from the start of that tournament however, he is in a much improved position and with his fate firmly in his own hands.

As a minimum, if Ronnie were to lose his opening match then it would take two of the following to leave him needing to qualify for the World Championship:

• Bingham to reach the last 16, Walden to reach the quarter-finals, Davis to reach the semi-finals

If Ronnie were to win his opener however then no less than the semis would do for Walden, while Bingham would need to reach the semi-finals and Davis the final.

It is Stuart then who having at one point been in good shape to challenge for a place in the top eight following his victory in the Australian Goldfields Open, is now in the most danger of losing his top 16 place ahead of the Crucible cut-off. It is a fact that demonstrates how with the increased number of events on the calendar now, the players can afford few slip ups if they are to be assured of their place among the elite these days.

With Ricky Walden requiring just one win in order to leapfrog Stuart in the latest projected list, Stuart may well need to win his opening match in Newport if he is to give himself some breathing space. Importantly however, if Bingham can win his first match then Ricky would need to reach at least the quarter-finals, while Mark Davis would need to reach the final.

Looking at Davis, as a minimum he needs to reach the quarter-finals, though I somehow think that will not be quite enough…

The top 32

The difference between having to win two matches and to having to win just one to make it to the Crucible this April, the battle for the top 32 is fairly open, with those most immediately in the fight being as follows:

• 30th – Fergal O’Brien – 31455
• 31st – Mark King – 31015
• 32nd – Ken Doherty – 30565
• 33rd – Rory McLeod – 30560

Needing a win then is Rory McLeod, who will face either David Gilbert, Ben Woollaston or Liang Wenbo in his last 48 match at the Welsh Open. If he can win it, then Ken Doherty, who begins his campaign a match earlier in the tournament due to his previous seeding, would then have to win two matches in order to repass Rory.

One win for Doherty and McLeod though would leave Mark King ranked provisionally outside of the top 32 and needing to at least win his opening match to qualify for the venue in Newport. If Mark can win his opener however, then McLeod and Doherty would both have to reach the last 16 in order to pass him.

Fergal O’Brien too is not quite safe yet, though if he were to lose his opening match it would take one win from King and two apiece for Doherty and McLeod to leave him outside of the top 32. Victory for Fergal meanwhile would all but secure his place in the final qualifying round of the World Championship.

Aside from these four, Anthony Hamilton has an outside chance of claiming a place but would require a run to the quarter-finals to stand any chance of doing so. Similarly, Michael Holt would require at least a run to the semi-finals, while there are a string of players who with a run to the title could mathematically do enough thereafter.

The Top 48

If the fight for the final few top 32 places is tight however, then on the face of it, that for the top 48 is tighter still with a group of players separated by barely a couple of thousand points. Upon closer inspection however the situation can be broken down and those most obviously in the fight are as follows:

• 46th – Alan McManus – 25465
• 47th – Joe Jogia – 25405
• 48th – Jimmy White – 25220
• 49th – Xiao Guodong – 24525
• 50th – Ben Woollaston – 24430

If he were to lose his opening round match against either Michael White or Ian McCulloch, Jimmy White would be vulnerable to both Xiao Guodong and Ben Woollaston who are immediately behind him. Importantly however, either Xiao and Woollaston would have to win not one, but two matches in order to pass him which while both are capable, does give Jimmy some breathing space.

Looking at those below Ben, next in line are Jimmy Robertson and Mark Joyce, though both would require at least a run to the last 16 if they are to pass White.

If White can win his opener however, then those in danger would be Joe Jogia and Alan McManus, however such is the gap to Xiao and Woollaston that either would need to qualify for the venue stages in order to leapfrog Jogia, both to leave McManus needing a win.

The Top 64

The first thing to say about the battle for the top 64 is that there is a touch of ambiguity concerning the minimum points that will be awarded to the players who despite being ranked outside of the top 64, have been seeded straight through to the second round due to the high number of non-entries for the event.

Will they be treated effectively as seeded losers and awarded 325 points if they lose, or will they be given points as if they had won their round one matches, so 650? Attempts to obtain clarification have so far proven unsuccessful, however in my list as it stands I have elected to give them the minimum 325 and will alter it should I hear any different.

So how does it stand on that basis? Very tight is the answer as while Joe Swail is currently in 64th spot, the next six players each require just one win in order to pass him if the Northern Irishman were to lose early to Dave Harold on Thursday. The players in contention are as follows:

• 62nd – Andy Hicks – 19940
• 63rd – Liu Song – 19935
• 64th – Joe Swail – 19070
• 65th – Alfie Burden – 19045
• 66th – Li Yan – 18985
• 67th – David Gilbert – 18785
• 68th – Yu Delu – 18725
• 69th – Rod Lawler – 18650
• 70th – Ian McCulloch – 18510

63rd place Liu Song and those just above him are not completely safe, but have enough of a cushion to ensure that Swail would have to win two matches in order to pass them, while the likes of Alfie Burden and Li Yan would require three, and David Gilbert would need to reach the last 16 in Newport.

How do you see the tiers finishing up?

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Congratulations to Ronnie O’Sullivan who has tonight defeated Scotland’s Stephen Maguire in a classic final to win his first ranking event title since the 2009 Shanghai Masters. Having trailed 6-3, Ronnie won six of the next seven frames to secure a well-deserved victory, click below for more…

Ronnie O’Sullivan 9-7 Stephen Maguire

111-26 (111), 0-130 (130), 8-106 (106), 5-132 (128), 58-73 (O 58), 63-8, 20-69 (55), 75-24 (75), 0-115 (69), 96-40 (96), 78-0 (54), 68-59 (M 52), 94-37 (67), 75-31, 43-75 (75), 66–41

It feels like a long time ago now, but what would prove to be a high-quality final began in style as between them Ronnie and Stephen notched up four century breaks prior to the mid-session interval, one from O’Sullivan before three from Maguire including a tournament high 130, put him 3-1 ahead.

The first turning point of the match however was to come in frame five as having missed on 58, O’Sullivan was to eventually lose the frame as Maguire cleared to pink following a tense battle on the final red. It appeared for a moment as though frame six might go the same way as O’Sullivan missed a red to the right-centre on 43, but this time the Scot was not to capitalise as Ronnie soon made it 2-4. The final two frames of the session were to be shared, 55 from Stephen and 75 from Ronnie ensuring that Maguire would end the session with a narrow 5-3 advantage.

Following the resumption of play for the evening session, I wondered whether Maguire would be able to sustain the level that he had produced throughout the afternoon, and initially at least it appeared as though he could as breaks of 69 and 46 moved him three clear again at 6-3.

From there however the momentum was to shift, breaks of 96 and 54 bringing O’Sullivan to within just one frame at 6-5, before what would prove to be the most significant frame of the match. Maguire made the early running with an initial break of 52, but having then broken down, he later spurned a second chance with a miss on the yellow from which Ronnie would eventually steal the frame. The importance of the frame was not lost on O’Sullivan as unusually for him, he celebrated with a clenched fist as he went into the mid-session interval level at 6-6.

With all of the momentum, O’Sullivan swiftly added the next two frames to extend his winning streak to five and leave himself needing just one more for the title. It appeared as though that would come in frame 15 as he moved 43 points ahead, but a missed black was to give Stephen another chance. Under the most intense pressure, Maguire produced what was a fantastic clearance to close to 7-8 and keep himself in the match.

For a while it looked like Maguire might force an unlikely decider, but despite some late drama as Ronnie went in-off the blue when Maguire was playing for snookers, O’Sullivan was to eventually get over the line and secure the title.

For Ronnie it represents his first full-ranking event title since the 2009 Shanghai Masters and one that evidently meant a great deal to him judging not only by his reaction after the match, but tellingly by his demeanour around the table throughout the match. We have all seen O’Sullivan on occasion appearing to be disinterested perhaps, but today he looked to be as focused and as determined to win as I have ever seen him. He tried his absolute hardest out there and with his long game back on song, thoroughly deserved the title.

Whether that motivation came from his top 16 fight only he will know, but this result was just what he needed in terms of his ranking and lifts him four places on the provisional list to 15th and with his fate in his own hands heading into the Welsh Open. A full post will follow detailing the various ranking permutations, but it now looks more than likely that he will not have to qualify for the right to play at the Crucible in April.

As for Stephen, he was understandably disappointed during his post-match interview, but in time will hopefully be able to take the positives from what was a terrific performance from him. During the afternoon session in particular his form was devastating and if he can maintain that form it will not be long until he is back among the winners circle at a major tournament.

Overall it has been another terrific tournament in Berlin, like last year the crowd loving every moment, leading Ronnie to describe the venue as the best that the players play in at the moment. It is a shame that more of the final could not have been televised by Eurosport, however given the fact that but for their coverage we probably wouldn’t even have this tournament at the moment, I find it hard to be too scathing.

Next stop – Sheffield for the start of the Welsh Open qualifiers on Wednesday.

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A 6-4 winner against Stephen Lee yesterday, Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on Stephen Maguire over the best of 17 frames today in the final of the 2012 German Masters after the Scot recorded a resounding 6-0 win against old rival Shaun Murphy. PTC events aside, O’Sullivan is chasing his first full-ranking title since the 2009 Shanghai Masters while Maguire looks for his first since the 2008 China Open.

Chat about the action below from 1pm UK time…

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Day three completed in Berlin and with it the last four line-up for the German Masters has been set as 12 became 4. Click below for a round-up of the day’s action…

• Click here to view the updated draw
• Click here to view the latest projected seedings

The first man through to the last four this evening was Ronnie O’Sullivan, though not without a scare as he came back from 3-1 down at the mid-session interval to defeat Matthew Stevens 5-3.

Having taken the opening frame Ronnie was to drop the next three, but breaks of 62, 56 and 54 from O’Sullivan were enough to see him through to the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time since the 2010 World Open in Glasgow and importantly boost his chances of remaining among the top 16 ranked players at the next seedings revision.

Next up for the three-time world champion will be a clash with Stephen Lee who with a 5-3 win against defending champion Mark Williams is through to his first full-ranking event semi-final since the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy, an incredible statistic for a player of his calibre. 14th on the latest projected seedings list, Lee is well-placed to secure an automatic place at the Crucible and will be hoping to make certain with a win against O’Sullivan tomorrow.

In the other half of the draw, Shaun Murphy knocked out world number one and 2011 finalist Mark Selby with a 5-3 victory this evening, Selby having already come through a tough match with Scotland’s Graeme Dott earlier in the day. From 4-1 down it appeared as though Mark might at one stage force a decider as he potted yellow and green in frame eight, but a miss on the brown was eventually to let Murphy in to move into the semi-finals.

There he will meet old rival Stephen Maguire after the Scot recovered from 4-2 down to defeat Judd Trump 5-4, following a terrific clearance of 57 under the circumstances in the decider. Whilst Maguire has consistently remained ranked among the top eight players in the world during the past few seasons, at times he has struggled for results against his fellow top players but of late with wins against the likes of John Higgins, Mark Selby and Judd Trump, looks to be as dangerous as he has for a while.

The action resumes at 2pm local time with the first semi-final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Lee.

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Day two in Berlin as the first round came to a conclusion and what a day it was as Ronnie O’Sullivan fought back to secure a crucial victory, while John Higgins suffered his first whitewash in a professional event in 16 years…

• Click here to view the updated draw
• Click here to view the latest projected seedings

Trailing 4-0 at the interval against Andrew Higginson, the writing looked to be on the wall as far as Ronnie O’Sullivan’s place inside the top 16 was concerned ahead of the final seedings cut-off of 2011/12. The three-time world champion however showed once again that he can never be written off as a five-frame burst upon their resumption with breaks of 86, 67, 66, 60, 56 and 48 saw him recover to take a 5-4 victory.

While Ronnie would still require a run to the final of this event in order to leapfrog Ricky Walden into 16th place in the latest projected seedings list, this result crucially keeps his fate in his own hands with the remainder of this tournament and the Welsh Open still to come.

Next up for O’Sullivan will be a clash with Joe Perry, a 5-4 winner against Ali Carter in a re-match of their 2008 World Championship semi-final. While the result will not come as a shock to some given Ali’s form of late, judging by the breaks made during the match it looks to have been a much-improved performance from Carter despite the eventual result. Breaks of 94, 71 and 102 from Perry were enough for him to take a deserved winner however and earn himself a shot at O’Sullivan tomorrow.

Elsewhere it was generally a day for the favourites in the remaining last 32 matches, although Ding Junhui proved the exception as he fell to a 5-3 defeat against countryman Yu Delu as his mixed 2011/12 season continued. Although Yu was to fall to a resurgent Stephen Lee in the next round, it has been an excellent event for the tour rookie as he closes in on a top 64 place for the first time in his career.

Like Ding, John Higgins has experienced an indifferent season to date and that continued today as he lost out to countryman Stephen Maguire for the second time in as many ranking tournaments, this time by an astonishing 5-0 scoreline. A winner in German soil last month at the PTC12 event, next up for Stephen will be Judd Trump who overcame Mark Allen this evening in a repeat of the UK Championship final.

The action continues tomorrow…

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Day one in Germany and it has so far been a good one for the big names as defending champion Mark Williams was among those through to the last 16 stage today. Click below for a summary of today’s action…

• Click here to view the updated draw
• Click here to view the latest projected seedings

Today began with an eight-match wildcard round, although that was to be reduced to seven as James Wattana received a walkover following the non-appearance of Mario Wehrmann. Generally it was to be a good round for the professionals as seven made it through, but there was to be disappointment for Mike Dunn who having made a 147 break during the qualifying rounds, fell 5-3 to leading amateur Craig Steadman.

Elsewhere, the last 32 began with victories for old rivals Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy this afternoon, Maguire comfortably defeating friend Ryan Day by a 5-1 scoreline, while Murphy won a high-quality match with Shoot Out winner Barry Hawkins from 4-3 down.

Next up for Maguire will be countryman John Higgins, after the reigning world champion severely dented Mark Davis’ chances of moving up into the top 16 at the next seedings revision with a 5-1 victory this evening. A solid win for Higgins against a man in good form during the recent Championship League, he will now be hoping for swift revenge against Maguire following his loss to Stephen at December’s UK Championship.

Also through this evening was defending champion Mark Williams, who aside from a brilliant fourth-frame century break, was solid if not spectacular in defeating old rival Ken Doherty without the loss of a frame. For Ken however it was a disappointing evening as he struggled badly from the off in Berlin, as indeed he had done against Mark during their Australian Goldfields Open semi-final earlier in the season.

Arguably the tie of the round on form however was that between Martin Gould and Ricky Walden, but following an opening frame break of 102, Ricky was never really to look back on his way to an important 5-1 win. With every point crucial as he bids to return to the top 16 in time for the Crucible, he will now be hoping to secure an even greater haul with victory against Shaun Murphy in the next round.

Also securing important top 16 points was Stephen Lee, who won the last two frame of his match against Adrian Gunnell to earn a 5-2 victory. Up to 13th place provisionally, he now awaits the winner of tomorrow’s place between Ding Junhui and Yu Delu.

At the time of writing, Stuart Bingham, currently occupying the final top 16 place on the latest provisional list, has fought his way back from 2-0 and 3-1 down to find himself all-square with 2002 world champion Peter Ebdon in what could prove to be a crucial match for him…

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Tomorrow sees the start of the season’s fourth full-ranking event, the 2012 German Masters as Welshman Mark Williams looks to defend his title. Click below to view my tournament preview…

Click here to view the draw for the tournament.

The winner of my ‘New Tournament of the Year’ award in my 2011 Awards, the German Masters returns this February for its second staging at the Tempodrom in Berlin and if the crowd are half as enthusiastic as last time then we are in for a treat.

So then, to the draw…

The Top Quarter

Heading up the draw is defending champion Mark Williams who looks set to begin his campaign with a classic contest against 1997 world champion Ken Doherty, the two having met previously on several high profile encounters. Their first clash since Doherty’s comments about Mark in his recent book, you can be sure that both will be trying their hardest to win, though on form Williams has to start as favourite.

The winner will face either Stuart Bingham or Peter Ebdon in the last 16, those two meeting for the first time since their Crucible clash last April, from which Stuart emerged a 10-8 winner. In the months that have followed, Bingham has of course gone from strength to strength with his victory at the Australian Goldfields Open and rise into the top 16. Ebdon on the other hand has struggled for wins of any sort, though encouragingly perhaps did show improved form in the Championship League recently, as well as having defeated Jimmy White to qualify for this event.

Elsewhere in the section, Stephen Lee awaits the winner of the wildcard round clash between Adrian Gunnell and Peter Bullen. Back among the top 16, Lee will be hoping for a run in the tournament having fallen at the first hurdle in both the UK Championship and Masters tournaments, while Gunnell will be hoping to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time since the 2008 Grand Prix.

Whoever wins will progress to a meeting in all likelihood with Ding Junhui, though Yu Delu and Chris Norbury who meet in the wildcard round will have something to say about that. Yu in particular recorded strong wins against Barry Pinches, Alfie Burden and Jamie Cope to reach this stage, while Norbury is a former professional. Ding meanwhile has had a quiet start to the season, though he did reach the quarter-finals of the UK Championship in December and as evidenced by his two 147 breaks in three days later that month, remains a class act.

The Second Quarter

The lowest ranked seed in the quarter he may be, but this section is all about Ronnie O’Sullivan as the three-time world champion looks for the run that he craves in order to avoid the unthinkable – having to qualify for the Crucible. His fate will not be decided at this event, the Welsh Open soon to follow, but his opening round match against Andrew Higginson remains crucial nonetheless.

Higginson meanwhile qualified for the tournament with a 5-2 victory against Jamie Jones and has generally been consistent in qualifying for venues in addition to his victory at the PTC5 events. With defeats to former world champions in Australia and Shanghai already however, will Ronnie complete a hat-trick here?

The winner will face either Ali Carter or Joe Perry who meet in a repeat of their 2008 World Championship semi-final, won eventually by Carter. Four years on however and Carter’s form is not currently at the same level, Ali even hinting at retirement on Twitter following his recent defeat to Mark Allen the UK Championship. While that was said in the heat of the moment, he has not looked at ease around the table for a while now and Joe, in good form having reached the final of PTC12 last month, will be hoping to take advantage.

Rounding off the quarter is recent Masters champion Neil Robertson, though there are question marks over the Australian given the fact that he was forced to miss last week’s Shoot Out event due to a chest infection that had previously bothered him during the Championship League. That said, he was still able to win the group at Crondon Park and given his competitive nature I would still not be surprised to see him go far. Hoping that is not the case however will be opponent Marcus Campbell, the Scot an increasingly familiar face at this stage of events recently and hoping to go a step further on this occasion.

The Third Quarter

Headlining the third section of the draw are former world champions Graeme Dott and Shaun Murphy, who could meet at the quarter-final stage in Berlin. With the level of quality elsewhere in the section however, this is far from a certainty, Graeme with a match against James Wattana to negotiate before in all likelihood facing world number one Mark Selby at the last 16 stage.

It will be interesting to see how Selby, a runner-up at this tournament back in 2011 and a winner in Germany already this season at the PTC event staged in Furth, will acquit himself following what has been a relatively barren run for the world number one of late. Will this tournament mark a return to form for the Jester from Leicester?

Murphy meanwhile faces a tough opener against Barry Hawkins who will come into the match riding the crest of a wave following his victory in the recent Snooker Shoot Out. That said, Shaun looked to be playing as well as he has for some time on his way to the Masters final last month and has a formidable record overseas which will stand him in good stead.

One of the more eye-catching ties of the first round however is that between Martin Gould and Ricky Walden, two of the tour’s form players at the moment who for me are impossible to split.

The Bottom Quarter

The best however has perhaps been saved until last with a quarter which houses John Higgins, Mark Allen, Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire amongst others.

Despite his defeat to Neil Robertson at the Masters last month, Judd Trump remains one of the men to beat these days and will be hoping to ease his way into the tournament with victory against qualifier Paul Davison or wildcard Krzysztof Wrobel. If he can, a tie against either Mark Allen or Tom Ford will await, Leicester’s Ford hoping to reverse a trend against Allen who has defeated him at the same stage of the Welsh Open, UK and World Championship in recent seasons.

Further down the draw, Stephen Maguire and Ryan Day meet at the last 32 stage, with the winner facing a possible clash against John Higgins if the Scot can come through against Mark Davis. Having narrowly missed out on a top 16 place at the last seedings revision, Mark will be hoping to secure as many points as possible so as to give himself a chance of making the jump following the Welsh Open.

Higgins meanwhile has shown signs recently of a return to form, if perhaps not the intensity that he so obviously had a year ago…

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Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Irishman Fergal O’Brien will be among the snooker kings heading to the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals in Galway, Ireland in March, with tickets now on sale…

Click here to view the draw.

The tournament at the Bailey Allen Hall from March 14-18 is the climax of this season’s Players Tour Championship series. There have already been 12 tournaments around the UK and Europe, with the top 24 in the Order of Merit going through to Galway.

TICKETS ARE EXPECTED TO SELL FAST, SO BOOK NOW.

Republic of Ireland customers should call 0818 719 300, otherwise call 0844 847 2455. Or book online at www.ticketmaster.ie

The draw for the first round of the Grand Finals is:

Dominic Dale v Xiao Guodong (winner to face new sensation and current UK Champion Judd Trump)
Current World Champion John Higgins v Jamie Jones (winner to face Andrew Higginson)
Ben Woollaston v China’s top player Ding Junhui (winner to face World No 1 Mark Selby)
Martin Gould v Stephen Lee (winner to face Michael Holt)
Shoot-Out champion Barry Hawkins v Jack Lisowski (winner to face new Masters champion Neil Robertson)
Irish favourite Fergal O’Brien v Joe Perry (winner to face former World Champion Graeme Dott)
Mark Davis v Tom Ford (winner to face former UK Champion Stephen Maguire)
Ricky Walden v Matthew Stevens (winner to face three-time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan)

The match schedule can be found at www.worldsnooker.com

A spokesman for World Snooker said: “It’s a tremendous line up of leading players, with a great mixture of legends of the sport and rising stars.

“We know there’s a great appetite for snooker in Ireland and we hope that when fans see who is in the field for this tournament they will snap up the tickets.

“There will be a top prize of £70,000 from a total prize fund of £250,000 plus a lot of ranking points at stake in the Grand Finals, so this will be an event the top players really want to win.

“The event, which is co-promoted by T.H.E Agency Ireland, will be televised by channels around the world including Eurosport, Shanghai TV, Beijing TV, Guangzhou TV and Now TV, bringing Galway into the spotlight on a global scale.”

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Somewhat belatedly after the season’s second mid-season seedings revision earlier this month, here is my round-up of all the key changes to the seedings following PTC12 which will take effect for the World Open, Welsh Open and China Open tournaments…

• Click here to view the final standings at the second mid-season seedings revision
• Click here to view the new projected seedings list, looking forward to revision three

The Top 16

No Change

There was to be no change to the members of the top 16 at the season’s second seedings revision, however there were to be a few near misses, none more so than Mark Davis who leading Anthony Hamilton 3-2 at PTC11 required just one more frame to claim a place among the elite place at the expense of Ronnie O’Sullivan, only to lose 4-3.

Ricky Walden was another who gave himself a chance, but was not able to gain the points needed from the final two PTC events to usurp O’Sullivan.

17-32

IN

• Rory McLeod

Having knocked on the door of a top 32 place for some time now, Rory McLeod managed to take the final spot at the second seedings revision thanks largely to his successful qualification for the UK Championship with wins against Adam Duffy and Barry Hawkins.

Though he lost narrowly at the venue to Scotland’s John Higgins, he had done just enough to edge out former world champion Ken Doherty.

OUT

• Ken Doherty

Having started the season in fine form, Ken Doherty has dropped outside of the top 32 for the first time since the 2009/10 season, primarily due to his last-gap defeat to Peter Lines in qualifying for the UK Championship in a match that he had at one stage led 5-3.

He is however currently back inside the top 32 on the latest projected seedings list thanks to his dramatic 5-4 victory against Sam Craigie to qualify for the German Masters, having trailed 4-0 at the mid-session interval.

33-48

IN

• Jimmy White

With nothing to defend on the two-year anniversary of his stint on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, crowd-favourite Jimmy White is back up inside the top 48 for the first time since the 2006/7 season.

While he could not qualify for the televised stages of the UK Championship, an opening match win against Passakorn Suwannawat followed by a steady accumulation of points in the PTC events were enough to see him up to 47th place.

OUT

• Dave Harold

Despite a run to the quarter-finals of PTC10, dropping out of the top 48 is Stoke Potter Dave Harold who crucially lost out to Adrian Gunnell in qualifying for the UK Championship.

With the points from his only successful venue qualification of the 2009/10 season to be deducted at the next cut-off, Dave will require a strong run at the Welsh Open if he is to stand any chance of reclaiming that place in time for the World Championship.

49-64

IN

• Michael White
• Li Yan

Having come so close at the season’s first seedings revision, Michael White has now moved up firmly into the top 64 in 57th place, thanks largely to a semi-final appearance on home soil at the PTC7 event in Gloucester, as well as a run to the last 48 of the UK Championship in December. Can he now stay there?

Joining him is another man who excelled at the UK Championship, China’s Li Yan who without doubt has been the most impressive newcomer so far this season. Winning four matches to make it through to the venue stages in York, he showed enough promise for Shaun Murphy to label him as the most naturally gifted player to have come out of China that he has seen.

OUT

• Alfie Burden
• Joe Swail

Having struggled for consistency for a while, both Alfie Burden and Joe Swail dropped out of the top 64 at the second mid-season seedings revision having lost their opening matches at the UK Championship qualifiers in Gloucester.

Can they reclaim their top 64 places before the end of the season or will the be forced to enter the Q School if they are to remain on the main tour in 2012/13?

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Congratulations to Barry Hawkins who has tonight has defeated Graeme Dott 61-23 to capture his first televised title and the £32,000 top prize at the 2012 Snooker Shoot Out…

Through to the final with wins against Dave Harold, Mark Davis and Stephen Maguire earlier in the day, Barry Hawkins found himself up against former world champion Graeme Dott who had himself overcome Tom Ford, Dominic Dale and 2011 finalist Robert Milkins previously.

The first chance fell to Barry following a missed red from Graeme and it proved to be an important visit as with the black tied up, he made good use of the blue to open up a 46 point lead. A missed red with the rest at this stage gave Dott the chance that he wanted, but he soon found himself with nothing on but a tricky red to right-centre and as it caught the near-jaw his chance was gone.

He was to find himself back in the balls with seconds to spare but despite a great plant it always looked like a long shot and Barry soon sealed victory with a fluke.

A professional of over 15 years, this victory gives Barry surely his biggest payday to date and is one that eclipses his previous pro titles at the Masters qualifying event in 2007 and Pro Challenge Series Event Five in 2010. As is evident from the numerous messages of congratulations from his peers on Twitter, the victory is a popular one and one that is thoroughly deserved.

Earlier in the day, the most exciting match was that between Barry Pinches and Liang Wenbo which saw the man from Norwich steal it with moments to spare as he potted red and blue to take the match 43-41. Barry was though to fall at the quarter-final to Sight Right stablemate Tom Ford.

In terms of quality however, Martin Gould’s performance against Jamie Jones was the stand-out as he recorded a stunning total clearance of 135 to progress into the next round, only to be thwarted by Stoke’s Dave Harold.

Aside from the action on the table, there was also to be some debate on Twitter amongst fans and players alike as to the success of the tournament, Mark Williams and Mark Allen notably criticising the tournament.

For what it’s worth, I think that the event is a good addition to the calendar, good fun and an opportunity to see the world’s top 64 on Sky Sports which is good exposure for them and for the game as a whole. Is it as good as traditional snooker or something that is going to revolutionise the game? No, but nobody is saying that it is (except perhaps for Sky, though I respect the fact that they have a product to sell). Personally I am no fan of shot clocks, rowdy crowds and ball-in-hand at all, but in a three day, non-ranking event then I do not see the harm.

Anyway, the snooker circus marches on with the start of the German Masters on Wednesday, as well as the Snookerbacker Classic tomorrow, a great initiative from my fellow blogger to try and give amateurs a helping hand onto the main tour for 2012/13. Good look to SB and all involved in that one.