The latest snooker rankings update follows the conclusion of the 2025 Players Championship, the season’s 16th ranking tournament.
Kyren Wilson outlasted Judd Trump in a dramatic Players Championship final on Sunday that needed all 19 frames to determine the winner.
A topsy-turvy tie ebbed one way and then the other as the top two ranked players in the world went toe to toe in Telford.
Despite there being concerns over the playing conditions – especially the reaction of the cue ball – Wilson and Trump combined to conjure a memorable match.
The latter got off to a quick start to win the opening couple of frames before his opponent responded to restore parity at the mid-session interval.
By the end of the afternoon bout of play, the scores were still locked with both players enjoying leads but everything tied up at 4-4.
Trump won a scrappy opening frame of the evening session to regain the advantage, but Wilson then went on a four-frame winning flurry to lead 8-5.
The world number two was pushed all the way, though, and Trump forced a decider with the final’s only century break in the penultimate frame.
Both contenders had opportunities to clinch it, but it was the world champion who eventually moved past the winning line to claim a maiden Players Series title.
Wilson’s tenth career ranking event success was also his fourth of a prolific 2024/25 snooker season, with three of those being won courtesy of victories over Trump in the final.
Let’s see how the action at the Telford International Centre last week impacted the snooker rankings.
Top 16
Kyren Wilson took home the champion’s cheque worth £150,000, but that only makes a small dent into the huge lead that Judd Trump boasts as the world number one.
Trump still has a buffer of almost £500,000 to Wilson and will be difficult to catch in the foreseeable future.
Mark Selby, Ronnie O’Sullivan, and Mark Williams all stay in third, fourth, and fifth respectively.
A run to the semi-finals for John Higgins has helped the Scot move up to sixth and ahead of Luca Brecel, Mark Allen, and Ding Junhui.
Neil Robertson completes the top ten, with the Australian swapping places with Shaun Murphy.
Barry Hawkins, Zhang Anda, Si Jiahui, Xiao Guodong, and Ali Carter occupy the remaining positions in the top 16.
| Official 2-Year World Rankings | March 24, 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Judd Trump | £1,843,200 |
| 2 | Kyren Wilson | £1,364,300 |
| 3 | Mark Selby | £738,000 |
| 4 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £690,000 |
| 5 | Mark Williams | £668,600 |
| 6 | John Higgins | £631,250 |
| 7 | Luca Brecel | £623,900 |
| 8 | Mark Allen | £612,900 |
| 9 | Ding Junhui | £576,000 |
| 10 | Neil Robertson | £547,050 |
| 11 | Shaun Murphy | £535,900 |
| 12 | Barry Hawkins | £515,050 |
| 13 | Zhang Anda | £506,550 |
| 14 | Si Jiahui | £450,200 |
| 15 | Xiao Guodong | £409,000 |
| 16 | Ali Carter | £378,300 |
| — | — | — |
| 17 | Jak Jones | £374,800 |
| 18 | Gary Wilson | £368,900 |
| 19 | Stuart Bingham | £353,900 |
| 20 | Chris Wakelin | £353,400 |
| 21 | Tom Ford | £350,950 |
| 22 | Wu Yize | £322,600 |
| 23 | David Gilbert | £302,600 |
| 24 | Hossein Vafaei | £284,300 |
| 25 | Jack Lisowski | £274,600 |
Race to the Crucible
Ali Carter is ranked 16th on the official two-year snooker rankings list as things stand.
But the Captain will definitely be forced into the qualifying competition for the season-concluding World Snooker Championship.
The Captain hasn’t qualified for the Tour Championship and has points coming off his rolling tally, meaning he’ll drop outside the crucial bracket before Sheffield.
Jak Jones is the provisional beneficiary – last year’s World Championship runner-up in line to earn an automatic spot at the Crucible for the first time.
However, the Welshman could still be usurped depending on how Wu Yize gets on at the second-last ranking tournament of the campaign.
Wu would send Jones into the dreaded qualifiers if he can win three matches at the Tour Championship and reach the final in Manchester.
All of the other current members of the top 16 are safely assured of their tickets to the Crucible Theatre this year.
Kyren Wilson will be the top seed as the defending champion with Judd Trump representing the second seed on the opposite side of the draw.
The other specific seeding positions could change depending on how results transpire at the Tour Championship.
Provisional World Championship seeding
| Prov. Seeding | Player | Prov. Total | Tour C’ship |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyren Wilson | £1,334,300 | Y |
| 2 | Judd Trump | £1,884,200 | Y |
| 3 | Mark Selby | £718,000 | Y |
| 4 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £690,000 | |
| 5 | Mark Williams | £688,600 | Y |
| 6 | John Higgins | £661,250 | Y |
| 7 | Luca Brecel | £623,900 | |
| 8 | Mark Allen | £592,900 | |
| 9 | Neil Robertson | £577,050 | Y |
| 10 | Ding Junhui | £556,000 | Y |
| 11 | Barry Hawkins | £535,050 | Y |
| 12 | Zhang Anda | £506,550 | |
| 13 | Si Jiahui | £470,200 | Y |
| 14 | Xiao Guodong | £429,000 | Y |
| 15 | Shaun Murphy | £405,900 | Y |
| 16 | Jak Jones | £374,800 | |
| — | — | — | — |
| 17 | Gary Wilson | £368,900 | |
| 22 | Wu Yize | £342,600 | Y |
1-year snooker rankings
The one-year snooker rankings list was used to determine the 32 players at the World Grand Prix and the 16 players at last week’s Players Championship.
At the Tour Championship in Manchester, only the top 12 will be invited to participate.
It results in a very similar looking tournament to the one we just experienced a week ago, with many of the same players and, indeed, many of the same matches.
All four of the first-round ties at the Tour Championship replicate first-round fixtures that took place in last week’s competition.
2025 Tour Championship Draw
Round 1 (bo19)
Shaun Murphy (8) vs Barry Hawkins (9)
Xiao Guodong (5) vs Wu Yize (12)
Mark Selby (6) vs Si Jiahui (11)
Mark Williams (7) vs Ding Junhui 10)
Quarter-Finals (bo19)
Judd Trump (1) vs Murphy/Hawkins
John Higgins (4) vs Xiao/Wu
Neil Robertson (3) vs Selby/Si
Kyren Wilson (2) vs Williams/Ding
When is the next snooker event?
As mentioned, the next snooker event on the calendar will be the 2025 Tour Championship at the Manchester Central.
The penultimate ranking tournament of this term will run from March 31st to April 6th with £150,000 again going to the winner.
Beyond that, the World Snooker Championship qualifiers commence on April 7th with the Judgement Days on the 15th and 16th.
The venue stages of the sport’s blue-riband event subsequently starts on April 19th.
Featured photo credit: WST
