While I may have covered the various rankings permutations during my previous post here, with the real action getting underway this Saturday, the projected seedings list is now going to be changing daily as players move in or out of the safety zone. Click below throughout the week for the latest position, which will be updated each night at the conclusion of play…
Last updated after Tuesday 10th April 2012
- Click here to view the latest projected seedings
- Click here to view the points tariffs for the 2011/12 season
- Click here to view the final PTC Order of Merit
- Click here to view the qualifying draw for the 2012 World Championship
- Click here to view my World Championship rankings preview
At present, the situation looks like this…
59. Alfie Burden – 22260
60. Andy Hicks – 21815
61. David Gilbert – 21420
62. Adam Duffy – 20865
63. James Wattana – 20610
64. Barry Pinches – 20495
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65. Tony Drago – 20475
66. Liam Highfield – 20470
67. Liu Song – 20390
68. Li Yan – 20215
68. Joe Swail – 19660
69. Adrian Gunnell – 19600
71. Ian McCulloch – 19325
The players highlighted in green will be assured of their tour place regardless of whether they finish inside the top 64, those in red must finish inside the top 64 to survive. For those in orange, their fate will depend on who is able to finish inside the top 64.
In addition, as it stands, the eight players currently set to earn a tour card via the PTC list are as follows, with those currently closest to them below the cut-off line:
- Li Yan (4,400)
- Passakorn Suwannawat (3,700)
- Simon Bedford (3,400)
- Dechawat Poomjaeng (3,400)
- (AM) Craig Steadman (3,400)
- Kurt Maflin (3,200)
- David Grace (3,000)
- Liam Highfield (3,000)
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- David Morris (2,800)
At present those inside the top 64 on the projected seedings list will survive along with those on the top eight of the PTC Order of Merit not already in that list, but depending on results both lists could, indeed will change between now and the end of the qualifiers.
As I will be at the EIS at least for this weekend I will not be able to update the page live, but hopefully at the end of each night I will be able to update the list and identify what each player has to do in order to survive…
Saturday 7th April 2012 News:
Movers today were Liam Highfield and Li Yan who with first round wins today climb several places to 63rd and 65th places respectively. For Liam this moves him up into the top 64 provisionally and as it stands in position to retain his main tour status as of right, but with the majority of those below him set to play tomorrow, he probably needs another win in order to make certain of that.
Li Yan meanwhile is already assured of remaining on tour via the PTC list, but with another win could also put himself in contention for a top 64 place.
Another knock-on effect of Highfield moving up into the top 64 is that David Gilbert drops out of that key bracket, which means that he will take one of the eight tour spots available to top performers during the season’s PTC events. As it stands this would be at the expense of David Grace, though if Gilbert can win his opening round match tomorrow against Stuart Carrington, this would soon change again.
Notable losers today were Joe Swail, Matt Couch, Paul Davison, Tian Pengfei and Andrew Pagett – all of whom will now have to enter the Q School if they are to remain on the main tour heading into 2012/13.
Trailing overnight, Ian McCulloch and Kurt Maflin also face a tall order if they are to keep their bid for tour survival going.
Sunday 8th April 2012 News:
Trailing 4-1 and 6-2 in the first session of his match against Stuart Carrington, David Gilbert appeared as though he might finish up on the receiving end of the upset of the round today, before eventually recovering to secure a 10-7 win. Importantly, the result lifts him from 66th to 60th in the latest projected seedings, leaving him well-placed to secure a return to the top 64 at the season’s end.
The result is also a significant one for David Grace, who by virtue of Gilbert moving into the top 64 at the expense of Liu Song, is back among the eight players currently poised to retain a place on the tour via the PTC list.
Elsewhere, tour relegation was confirmed for Ian McCulloch, Sam Craigie, Andrew Norman, Stuart Carrington, Kacper Filipiak, Sam Baird and Lucky Vatnani.
As we move on to the second round, matches to keep an eye on will be those involving Tony Drago, Barry Pinches, Liam Highfield, Adrian Gunnell and Liu Song, all of whom are in the thick of the fight for their tour places…
Monday 9th April 2012 News:
The most dramatic day of the tournament so far regarding the tour survival race saw Andy Hicks record a 10-3 victory against Liam Highfield which for Andy moves him up two places to 59th and all but clear of the drop zone.
For Liam however, the result means that he now drops out of the top 64 and as such his fate rested in the hands of two players, one of whom in Li Yan then lost 10-6 in the final match of the day to James Wattana, meaning that Li will finish the season no higher than 68th.
For Wattana the win sees him shoot up the projected seedings to 62nd place, as it stands set to retain his tour card at the expense of Highfield who drops to 65th.
Highfield must now hope that Adam Duffy is able to finish the season ranked inside the top 64 at the expense of someone other than David Gilbert. To do so, Duffy must at least defeat Adrian Gunnell tomorrow, Gunnell himself needing at least one win if he is to retain his own tour card. If Duffy can win, pushing Tony Drago out of the top 64, then the final PTC place would go to Liam Highfield.
Speaking of Drago, he currently sits on the bubble in 64th place, but regardless of whether Gunnell or Duffy wins their match, one of them is guaranteed to go above him unless Tony can recover his overnight deficit of 7-2 against Justin Astley. Unless Drago can win therefore, he will be off the tour.
Elsewhere, Barry Pinches is also in deep trouble as he also trails 7-2 against Luca Brecel, while Liu Song must defeat Igor Figueiredo if he is to survive, the Brazilian currently 5-4 ahead.
A nervy day awaits…
Tuesday 10th April 2012 News:
Today saw the survival race all but settled today as Adam Duffy’s 10-8 win against Adrian Gunnell moved him up into the top 64 for the first time in his career at the expense of Tony Drago, who despite a brilliant fightback today against Justin Astley, eventually went down 10-7.
Duffy’s success also signalled good news for Liam Highfield who now takes the final place inside the top eight of the PTC Order of Merit of those players not already inside the top 64 on the two-year list. 9th at the start of play, Liam takes the place previously occupied by Duffy, who has retained his tour status as a top 64 player.
Today however also saw tour relegation confirmed for Liu Song, Tony Drago, Rod Lawler and Adrian Gunnell. Another loser was Barry Pinches, however he looks to have just about done enough to stay on the tour, sitting currently in 64th place.
So what can change? Effectively Barry Pinches will be safe unless one of either David Morris or Cao Yupeng is able to reach the quarter-finals at the Crucible, or Luca Brecel can reach the semi-finals.