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Road to the World Snooker Championship 2022 – Players to Watch

The Tour Championship hasn’t yet concluded but having said that, we have a reasonable picture of some of the star performers this season as we approach the marathon of the World Championship. There have been a few standouts that make a significant case for their claim at the trophy but is the 2022 story going to be any different? Or is the World Championship once again going to end up with one of the usual suspects?

Neil Robertson – Best in the World?

Arguably the best player in the world currently, Neil Robertson has triumphed on three occasions this season: the English Open, Masters and Players Championship. Given that Robertson has been one of the top performers over the past several seasons, it’s surprising that he hasn’t gone beyond the quarter-finals on these occasions. He will definitely be referenced as the ‘form player’ as we enter the WSC, but can Robertson maintain his foothold for the full length of the tournament?

Ronnie O’Sullivan – World No. 1

Despite the many retirement claims thrown around by viewers any time Ronnie O’Sullivan reaches a final but doesn’t quite clinch the trophy, he is set to return to the top of the rankings as we enter the WSC. By recent standards, O’Sullivan has had a reasonably good season by reaching multiple ranking finals and winning his first event since his WSC win in 2020 with a triumph at the Grand Prix. While he probably wouldn’t be a favourite to win, he will definitely be a wildcard for me.

Mark Selby – Defending Champion

Mark Selby has established a reputation that will likely stick until he hangs up the cue. That reputation is always being one of the top favourites to win the WSC, as the player who seemingly is best suited for the occasion. Selby has had an understandably quiet season yet that shouldn’t diminish the perception of his chances at the Worlds. If Selby manages to get in the right mindset, don’t be surprised if there’s another successful defence.

Judd Trump – Finding Form at the Right Time?

As the Champion of Champions and recent winner of the inaugural Turkish Masters, Judd Trump has been able to return to picking up silverware following his drought after the several brilliant seasons he has had. A lot has come into question about Trump’s recent ability to perform and convert at the Triple Crown however, if he can reignite that confidence he had in 2019, he will be difficult to stop.

John Higgins – Never Count Him Out

Having reached three out of the four Home Nations finals this season, John Higgins is still competing at a level that many thought would have been phased out many ago by the current crop. Higgins always manages to produce the best at the WSC and, similar to Selby, isn’t one I would count out as long as he is competing.

Zhao Xintong – A New Winner?

Probably the most impressive player this season, Zhao Xintong is finally getting the recognition he deserves with the talent he brings to the table. Xintong won his maiden ranking title at the UK Championship and continued his formidable display with an emphatic victory at the German Masters. Having only previously qualified for the WSC once before, Xintong will enter this year as a seed with a significant number of eyes on him. How will he cope with this newfound pressure?

Luca Brecel – Will He Surprise Us?

Alongside Xintong, Luca Brecel is having the season of his career so far with a terrific run to the UK Championship final, followed by a victory at the subsequent Scottish Open. These victories have given Brecel the confidence in his ability to win trophies and compete at a high level. Brecel needs to keep his head held high and not retreat into his shell if he wants to make an impact at this years WSC.

Yan Bingtao – His Time?

His record at the WSC hasn’t been all that great, and neither has his current season. However, Yan Bingtao always attracts a lot of eyes when he competes and he has already established himself as a Triple Crown winner with the Masters a couple of years ago. Age is on Bingtao’s side and given that he already plays at top level suggests that it’s a matter of time before he ventures deep into the Worlds.

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Does the Format of the Masters Need to Change?

The format of the Masters has primarily remained unchanged since its inception, yet there seems to be a dispute as to whether the qualifying structure of the event could be improved, particularly where it relates to the seeding cut-off. It’s something that has come into discussion recently for this year’s edition of the Masters where Luca Brecel was unable to qualify despite being one of the form players this season. So how does it all work?

In order to qualify for the Masters, a player must reside in the Top 16 of the World Ranking list (i.e. the two year money list). The defending champion is seeded at No. 1, the World Champion at No. 2 and the remainder seeded based on their ranking position. The top half of the rankings are then drawn against the bottom half and the tournaments progresses from there. Places are topped up based on ranking if players are unable to compete (case in point, Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski last year).

The cut-off point in order to determine the participants of the Masters lies at the end of the UK Championship. This gives players a clear visual point in the season calendar where they would need to string together a series of good performances to qualify for the upcoming Masters, especially if they’re already hovering around the Top 16 position. While this may seem like a reasonable checkpoint to set as the cut-off, is it really the optimal choice?

Central to the debate surrounding this matter is that there are a further two ranking tournaments (this season, that is – sometimes this can vary) which are considered irrelevant for the purpose of Masters qualification. So if a player has two strong performances which boost their world ranking it won’t impact their eligibility in competing at the Masters as the draw has been finalised.

This was the case with Luca Brecel who had a brilliant performance at the UK Championship, falling short to Zhao Xintong in the final. While his ranking did drastically improve (from 40th to 18th), he was unable to qualify for the Masters. The real talk followed the next week as Brecel claimed the Scottish Open trophy; a victory that pushed him to No. 15 in the world. Despite this win and the points he would have earned from the subsequent Grand Prix, Brecel was ineligible to compete in the Masters due to the cut-off technicality.

Given the current structure, does it make more sense for the cut-off to lie at the final event before the Masters takes place? Obviously, for WST the commercial reasons behind announcing the Masters draw during the UK final makes more sense but could this be at the expense of the players that should deservedly be involved? Having said that, I doubt that they would want to change the announcing of the Masters draw to an event on a competing broadcaster, during a tournament that potentially gets fewer views.

Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins were vocal during/after the Scottish Open to state their positions on Brecel being unable to compete in the Masters. Similar to the viewpoints of others, they believed that it was a wasted opportunity that an in-form player such as Brecel wasn’t allowed to compete in the Masters given his recent performances.

O’Sullivan offered a potential solution involving the allowance of one wildcard to be considered if they had a strong end-of-year performance. He suggested the Top 15 players competing with a wildcard, if an argument could be made for said player. Is this a plausible solution? Wildcards were formerly used in the Masters from the 1990s to late 2000, where players would compete against No. 15/16 (or however many wildcards were given) which would provide them the opportunity to reach the main stage event.

This would seem like a reasonable alternative if the cut-off wasn’t changed., but what do you think? How would you change the format of the Masters, if at all? Let me know in the comments!

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Snooker Shorts Snooker Memories (#200)

For the 200th post on Snooker Shorts, I thought I would share some of my favourite snooker memories over the years and the ones which resonated the most. There have been many matches, moments and tournaments over the decades which stand the test of time and even though making an entire list would be endless, I’m going to highlight a few below.

World Championship 2020 Semi-Final Finish (click here to read)

It’s easily one of my favourite days in snooker history. Kyren Wilson and Anthony McGill battled until the very end of their semi-final contest, with a final frame decider that included a number of twists and turns resulting in a 103-83 score line favouring Wilson. Subsequently, Ronnie O’Sullivan fought from 16-14 down to overthrow Mark Selby in three of the best and dramatic frames you could ever hope to watch.

Alex Higgins 69 Break (click here to read)

Continuing the semi-final theme, WSC 1982 saw one of the greatest breaks that still holds true to this day. As opposed to a carefully crafted break with precise positioning, Alex Higgins produced a spectacular contribution that involved some of the wildest single pots that you wouldn’t see in matches of current standards. And that blue. You know which one.

Black Ball Masters Final 1998

Mark Williams vs. Stephen Hendry at the 1998 Masters was one of the most crowd-involved matches I have ever heard. Hendry was on the cusp of winning his 7th Masters title with a 9-6 lead and despite Williams staging a comeback, Hendry still had the lead in the deciding frame. Nevertheless, a young Williams was able to force a re-spotted black which eventually went his way after Hendry’s failed attempt to left middle.

World Championship Final 1985

The golden age of snooker contained the match that many still consider to this day as snooker’s greatest moment. 18.5 million viewers were up past midnight, eager to see the epic finish between Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor as they fought to the deciding frame, spending almost 30 minutes alone on the final colours. Eventually, Davis overcut an attempt on the black to clinch the match/title after Taylor’s various attempts at potting from any position. However, Taylor was able to hold his nerve to pot the black needed to secure the 1985 WSC.

Ronnie O’Sullivan 1000th Century (click here to read)

A very memorable moment for such a historic milestone which occurred during the Players Championship 2019, as broadcasters and fans alike were counting down the centuries as O’Sullivan was closing in on the famous 1000 landmark. Indeed, the magical moment happened during the winning frame which turned a tame and civil snooker crowd into one that rivalled a football stadium.

Marco Fu World Championship 2017 (click here to read)

Fu’s first two round matches at WSC 2017 are among the finest things I have witnessed. In Round 1, Fu was heavily down and seemingly out against Luca Brecel with deficits of 5-0 and 7-1, but in the evening session was able to stage a monumental comeback to progress with a 10-9 victory. Following this win, Fu had an equally enthralling contest against Neil Robertson in Round 2 where he was similarly on the back foot but was able to keep with his opponent through to the end of the match where he turned a 10-8 deficit into a 13-11 triumph.

Ronnie O’Sullivan Overtakes Stephen Hendry

O’Sullivan broke records when he won his first ranking title at the age of 17, and 25 years later he was still doing the same thing at the same event as he overtook Hendry’s major tally of 18. O’Sullivan also broke Davis’s record of 6 UK titles as well as a number of milestones for successfully defending the championship. This achievement was met with a joyous reaction from the participating crowd as O’Sullivan jumped into the audience to celebrate amongst them.


How many of these memories do you recall? Of course, there are many more moments that I would add to this list but this is Snooker ‘Shorts’ at the end of the day so I had to keep things limited. Which memorable snooker moments would you add to this list?

I’m not sure how many Shorts you’ve read over the past couple of years, but thanks for reading No. 200. Happy New Year and see you in the next one!

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Snooker Rankings Update (December 2021)

As the end of the year approaches, we have a ranking list that isn’t as one-sided as it once was. There’s now a more competitive balance residing in the Top 3 where a ranking event win for any player could result in a changing of the top spot. Meanwhile, recent impressive results have seen other players make a breakthrough in the Top 16 while others have dropped to a worryingly low position.

Mark Selby regained the No. 1 spot earlier in the season during the British Open, thanks to his World Championship success. Whilst Judd Trump had a phenomenal couple of seasons that propelled his ranking with no one else in sight, it was always going to be a struggle later down the line if he was unable to maintain his ranking with further wins. Of course, Trump is still in a very strong position at No. 2, with most still considering him the best currently, but the race to the top is now a lot closer particularly with Ronnie O’Sullivan’s recent Grand Prix win. A ranking win for any of these three will see them secure the No. 1 position, and there are numerous ranking events left in the season to accomplish this.

Neil Robertson will soon be losing 80,000 points from his European Masters win a couple of years ago which will slightly narrow the gap for Kyren Wilson to take the No. 4 spot. On the other hand, the rest of the Top 16 remains in close contention with the field in and around the 200-300,000 ranking points range. Zhao Xintong and Luca Brecel have seen their rankings improve to No. 9 and 16 due to their UK Championship performances (plus Brecel’s Scottish Open victory). This has also put them in positions 1 and 2 on the one-year ranking list, which should see them comfortably entered into the Players and Tour Championships.

The field is so competitive at the moment it’s difficult to believe that players like Jack Lisowski and David Gilbert aren’t in the Top 16. It’s also concerning to see how Ding Junhui has fallen down the rankings to No. 29, especially after him being well within the Top 16 since the 2007/08 season. Ali Carter and Gary Wilson are also in a vulnerable spot to fall out of the Top 32 which could make things difficult for them should they not automatically qualify as a seed for the World Championship.

Lastly, an unexpected observation in the rankings lies at No. 50 where Thepchaiya Un-Nooh stands to lose 11,000 ranking points which will have a substantial impact on his position, to the point where it could affect his ability to remain in the Top 64. However, a reasonable venture in a ranking tournament to at least a quarter-final will aid his rank significantly and improve his position by at least 10 places.

What are your ranking predictions for the remainder of the season? Who will be the player in the No. 1 spot, and which players are in danger of falling out of the Top 16/32/64?

Fun fact: Only four players out of the Top 16 come from outside the UK (Robertson, Xintong, Bingtao and Brecel).

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