Following the completion of the Grand Prix in Glasgow at the weekend, here is my overview of how the provisional rankings have been affected by the results…
On the up…
Where else to start but with 2009 Grand Prix champion Neil Robertson who with his 7,000 points gained from winning the event moves up to a career high of number three in the provisional rankings. Having reached the semi-finals of the World Championship back in May and now followed it up with his fourth major title, the Australian number one is clearly one of the most in-form players in the game at the moment.
Whether he can catch and pass the ‘big two’ of John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan is however another matter. Though his latest triumph leaves him less than 3,000 behind The Rocket, both O’Sullivan and Higgins have actually gained more points than Neil this season at this early stage. If he can beat John in the last 16 of the UK Championship where they are scheduled to meet in December however, Neil could make a sizeable dent into it…
Unsurprisingly, the other big mover inside the top 16 was runner-up Ding Junhui who from starting the season ranked outside of the top 16 has already ensured that he will finish the season with virtually as many points as he earned during the whole of 2008/9! Though he could not go all the way and take the title, the event was a welcome return to form from one of snooker’s most talented break-builders and he is now well-placed to better his previous best ranking of number nine if he can maintain his improvement.
Also returning to some sort of form were Peter Ebdon and Joe Perry who like Ding began the season ranked outside of the top 16 and both lost out in the last 32 in Shanghai. While neither could produce their very best snooker this week, they nevertheless managed to reach the quarter-finals and secure 3,500 important ranking points. Now lying in 17th and 18th in the latest list they might not yet be in the all-important 16 but they have at least put themselves back into genuine contention ahead of challengers such as Jamie Cope and the quietly improving Matthew Stevens.
Speaking of quietly impressive, a number of qualifiers continued their strong starts to the season and won their opening matches at least to keep them in contention to achieve their respective aims. Stuart Bingham for example made his second venue in a row as he looks to make up for a poor 2008/9 and keep his place inside the top 32, while the likes of Gerard Greene, Jamie Burnett, Mark Davis and most notably Ken Doherty also kept their hopes of finishing in that bracket at the end of the campaign alive. Indeed Ken has performed so well that at the moment he lies up in 10th place on the one-year list!
Looking a little further down the list, Marcus Campbell has also continued his relatively strong start to the campaign, qualifying for the venue and strengthening his grip on a top 48 place, while Robert Milkins’ run to the last eight ensured that his rise back up the rankings will continue.
Finally I can’t finish without mentioning the continuing rise of Matt Selt who having reached his second venue of the season now lies in 55th place, 2,000 points clear of 65th ranked Patrick Wallace and a virtual certainty to retain his tour place by right.
Other consistent performers so far this season have been Rod Lawler who continues to move back up the rankings following a shocking 2007/8 campaign, while Patrick Wallace, Tony Drago, Matt Couch and Simon Bedford have also done well.
On the slide…
While ultimate just five seeded players lost in the opening round in Glasgow, many of these came early on and included Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter and Ryan Day who all lose a place to Neil Robertson and in the process a lot of ground on runaway number one John Higgins.
As ever in snooker it is crucially important for players to win their opening matches and for the second time already this season Mark Selby has fallen victim to an early upset which sees him down in 14th place in the provisional list and 33rd (yes, 33rd), in the one-year list. While it is obviously still very early in the season and of course Shaun Murphy was in a similar position early last season after four opening round losses, it is still not where you expect to see the 2008 Masters and Welsh Open champion.
Also continuing their winless starts to the ranking event season are not only the veteran duo of Steve Davis and Dave Harold, but Bristol youngster Judd Trump. It has been a strange start for Judd as while he has performed well in the Premier League, defeating the likes of Stephen Hendry and Marco Fu, in the ranking events he has now twice been halted by gritty Scot Marcus Campbell. Whether this is due to pressure or simply the fact that Marcus has played really well each time I don’t know but it has left Judd closer to falling out of the top 32 than he is to breaking into the top 16 – not what he would have wanted.
Other players to suffer a slow start to the season are the likes of Andy Hicks and Rory McLeod who are both in danger already of seeing strong 2008/9 campaigns go to waste if their results do not improve. It is again early days however and particularly with the UK Championship coming up things could soon change. Pressure is on though…