All but one of the top 16 seeds for the upcoming 2025 World Snooker Championship – based off the two-year world rankings list – are now known.
As usual, the top 16 players from the official two-year list will qualify automatically to compete at the venue stages.
This week’s Players Championship is yet to conclude and there is one more tournament to come before the season finale, with the Tour Championship returning to Manchester.
However, there is only one player left who is currently ranked outside the world’s top 16 but could still break into the elite bracket in time for Sheffield.
Wu Yize suffered an agonising 6-5 defeat to fellow Chinese cueist Xiao Guodong in the first round of the Players Championship on Wednesday.
But with Chris Wakelin suffering a similarly tight reverse against John Higgins, Wu has guaranteed himself a spot at the 12-strong Tour Championship.
Ranked 22nd on the provisional Race to the World Snooker Championship rankings, Wu still has an opportunity to hunt down an automatic ticket to the Crucible.
Last year’s World Championship runner-up Jak Jones is the player sweating it out in 16th, the Welshman holding onto that last automatic qualifying spot as things stand.
Jones endured a disappointing campaign and didn’t qualify for either the Players or Tour Championships, leaving his fate out of his hands.
Wu, twice a finalist in ranking events this term, is guaranteed £20,000 in prize money and ranking points for simply appearing at the Tour Championship.
Yet the 21 year-old will need a further £32,200 if he’s to upset the order and knock Jones into the dreaded qualifying competition.
To do that, Wu will need to win three matches and reach the final at Manchester Central during the first week of April.
Wu made his debut at the Crucible Theatre in 2023 when he lost to Neil Robertson in the first round, but he exited on Judgement Day at the qualifiers 12 months ago.
The 15 other seeds who will definitely feature in the last 32 of the 2025 World Snooker Championship are now known.
Some of the specific positions will likely change depending on how results pan out this week and at the upcoming Tour Championship.
Kyren Wilson, though, will definitely be the top seed as the reigning world champion with world number one Judd Trump representing the second seed.
Four-time world champion Mark Selby is looking like he’ll be the third seed, with Ronnie O’Sullivan provisionally down as the fourth seed.
Whether or not O’Sullivan actually participates in this edition of the World Snooker Championship is something everyone is increasingly curious about.
The Rocket has made it a habit of withdrawing from tournaments this season, so it will be interesting to see if he’ll mount a challenge for a record-breaking eighth Crucible title at all.
Multiple world champions Mark Williams and John Higgins look as though they will be among the top eight seeds this year, with Luca Brecel and Mark Allen provisionally in that bracket too.
Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson, Barry Hawkins, Si Jiahui, Xiao Guodong, and Shaun Murphy could each still upset the order of things.
Murphy had been in a precarious position in the two-year snooker rankings with the points from his 2023 Players Championship and Tour Championship successes coming off his rolling tally this year.
But the Magician has struck form again at the right time, ensuring that January’s Masters champion will definitely be back at the Crucible in 2025.
Zhang Anda is the other guaranteed seed but the world number 12 won’t have any more control over his placement in the draw having not qualified for Telford or Manchester.
Zhang is among four players from China who are assured of seeding status, which will already represent a new record for the country.
But that would become five if Wu can force his way into the top 16 before the action unfolds in Sheffield in April.
Provisional Race to the World Snooker Championship Rankings
| Prov. Seeding | Player | Prov. Total | Still in PC | Still in TC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyren Wilson | £1,194,300 | Y | Y |
| 2 | Judd Trump | £1,824,200 | Y | Y |
| 3 | Mark Selby | £718,000 | Y | Y |
| 4 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | £690,000 | ||
| 5 | Mark Williams | £688,600 | Y | |
| 6 | John Higgins | £636,250 | Y | Y |
| 7 | Luca Brecel | £623,900 | ||
| 8 | Mark Allen | £592,900 | ||
| 9 | Ding Junhui | £556,000 | Y | |
| 10 | Neil Robertson | £552,050 | Y | Y |
| 11 | Barry Hawkins | £535,050 | Y | |
| 12 | Zhang Anda | £506,550 | ||
| 13 | Si Jiahui | £470,200 | Y | |
| 14 | Xiao Guodong | £429,000 | Y | Y |
| 15 | Shaun Murphy | £405,900 | Y | Y |
| 16 | Jak Jones | £374,800 | ||
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 17 | Gary Wilson | £368,900 | ||
| 22 | Wu Yize | £342,600 | Y |
Featured photo credit: WST
