Tour Survival 2015/16 – Player by Player

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As the nights draw in and the clocks go back, it is also that time of the year when I take a close look at the battle for tour places from the start of the 2016/17 season. As regular readers will be well aware, to fully understand how each of the current tour players are currently placed, it is necessary to analyse a number of different ranking lists and orders of merit.

With two of the biggest money events to come in the International Championship and UK Championship tournaments, today I take my first player-by-player look at the current state of play and flag up some of the surprise names with work to do if they are to remain on tour for another season…

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Tour Survival 2016: The Early Running

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Two ranking tournaments into the 2015/16 campaign, already it is possible to identify some of the players who are sure of being on the main tour next season and perhaps more importantly, those whose places are at real risk.

With every pound, dollar or euro to be earned during the remainder of this season likely to be crucial, today I take my customary look at the likely qualification criteria and look at some of those to follow over the coming months…

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World Snooker Rankings 2015/16: Revision Two Round-Up

Wilson9As the dust settles on Kyren Wilson’s remarkable victory at the Shanghai Masters, the official world rankings will now be revised for the second time this season as Kyren is rewarded for his victory with a 32 place rise up the list.

Continue reading for more information on the key changes to the seeding list, which will now be used to determine the seedings for the International Championship…

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2015/16 – Stories to Follow

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While the wait goes on for information as to the various seeding cut-offs and other ranking information for the 2015/16 season, the action is now very much underway with the qualifiers for the Australian Goldfields Open this week in Crawley.

As was the case last year, it is interesting then to take a look at the current world ranking list and try to pick out a few potential stories that may well develop during the next months.

After all, already a year ago it was possible to see that Ding Junhui would have an excellent chance of claiming the world number one ranking (which he did in December), while players such as Stephen Maguire and Nigel Bond would have work to do in order to stay inside the top 16 and top 64 respectively…

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Magic Max For India’s Mehta

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Congratulations to India’s Aditya Mehta, who has this evening made his first maximum 147 break in professional competition at the 2014 Paul Hunter Classic in Germany.

The break came in the third frame of his last 32 encounter with Stephen Maguire and represents the first competitive maximum break by an Indian player and the 106th 147 in total.

Mehta’s break earns him £1,500 from the rolling 147 pot, provided of course that the break is not equalled during the remainder of the event.

The break was refereed by Luise Kraatz, working at her first professional tournament and officiating only her third match in total.

Click here to view the updated 147’s list.

2014/15: Money To Defend, Themes To Follow

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For those of us who like to keep an eye on all things rankings related, during each season there are usually a number of themes to follow just from a look at the various ranking lists.

For example a couple of seasons ago, it was only a matter of time before Judd Trump became number one, given the relative lack of points that he was defending compared to those above him, while last season it was the likes of Neil Robertson and Ding Junhui who were well placed to climb to the top of the list due to lesser performances two years previously.

This year has of course seen a change to a prize-money based ranking list, but the premise of a two-year rolling system remains the same and so below I take a look at a few themes that I will be following as the season progresses.

To assist, @joanneballantyn has also helped to put together the usual ‘money to defend’ lists (available here), which show which points will be coming off at each cut-off point.

Click below for more…

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Indian Open 2013: Tournament Preview

Don’t panic, two players who will certainly not be withdrawing from the inaugural Indian Open are Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta, but today it has become clear that at least seven of the 64 qualifiers will not be making the trip to India for the venue stages of the event.

Click below for a round-up of what we know so far, as well as a few other pointers ahead of the tournament…

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Picture Perfect: World Games 2013

While it was an event which for the majority of snooker fans will likely have flown somewhat under the radar, the 2013 World Games event won by India’s Aditya Mehta in Cali, Colombia, was an event of some importance for snooker and the WPBSA’s continued efforts to strengthen snooker’s hand on the world stage.

One man behind this push in particular is WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson and when I caught up with him at the recent Bluebell Wood Open tournament in Doncaster, he was kind enough to provide me with a selection of his photos from the event for PSB.

Click below for a flavour of the event…

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