Today has seen the start of the final qualifying round for Sheffield and the results are now starting to come in. Click below for more information and to see what the results mean for the rankings.
Note that I will also be updating my rankings pages throughout the day.
First man through to the Crucible is Liang Wenbo who has recorded an emphatic 10-2 victory over Rod Lawler this afternoon. As well as booking a third straight appearance at the venue stage, Liang in the process has given his hopes of moving up into the top 16 for the first time a huge boost, climbing to 13th on the latest list. Having already lost in the China Open qualifiers however he will probably need another win at the Crucible to make absolutely sure.
Rod Lawler meanwhile lies in 48th position on the latest provisional list, but his stay there could be shortlived with Fergal O’Brien poised to defeat Alan McManus and jump ahead of him. Rod though is still in the China Open so could add to his tally over in Beijing.
Ryan147
Joining Liang at the Crucible will be veteran Steve Davis who has completed an excellent 10-4 victory over Adrian Gunnell. While it will be Liang’s third appearance, this will be Steve’s 30th visit to the Crucible which really puts things into perspective! It was a much-needed victory as far as his ranking is concerned and lifts him up to 23rd place at the moment and perhaps more importantly, 39th on the one-year list, which will help his cause significantly next season.
For Adrian this defeat leaves him down in 43rd place and although there are players behind him who can still push him further down, he looks fairly likely to remain in the top 48 for another season with potential to improve next season.
Third man through is Fergal O’Brien who continues his recovery from his poor start to the season with an excellent 10-4 victory over Scot Alan McManus. At 4-2 down it looked like Alan might improve on an already brilliant head to head record against Fergal, but from there Fergal won eight straight frames across the two sessions to complete an important victory. Not only has it secured his first appearance at the Crucible since 2007 but it has lifted him from 52nd to 46th on the provisional list at the expense of Rod Lawler. Even more impressively, on the one year list he has climbed from 51st place to 33rd!
Ryan147
Like Fergal Alan experienced a tough start to the season with three straight defeats, but has recovered somewhat to stabilise his position in the rankings and leave himself well-placed to retain his top 48 spot too.
The penultimate match to finish saw Mark Davis add some icing to his top 32 cake with a 10-7 victory over a battling Dave Harold. For a while it looked like Dave might be able to get back into the match as he close from 8-4 to 9-7 but Mark eventually got over the line to push himself up to 25th in the two-year list, easily his highest position to date. He also lies 12th in the one-year list, an excellent starting point heading into next season! The last time he qualified for the Crucible back in 2007 he was on the brink of losing his main tour status but since beginning work with coach Steve Feeney he has really started to perform well on a consistent basis and is now reaping the rewards.
Disappointment for Dave though who slips to 31st place and can now do nothing more this season to hold off any potential challengers to his top 32 status.
Ryan147
And finally, Marcus Campbell has defeated Matthew Stevens 10-9 after a real marathon match tonight to book his place at the Crucible for the first time since 2001! An excellent result for the Scot, this moves him up one place to 39th in the provisional rankings and perhaps more notably, up to 25th on the one-year list.
Matthew Stevens though will be devastated to miss out on an appearance at the Crucible for a second successive year, having previously not missed out in over a decade. Not only does this ensure that he will spend another season ranked outside the world’s top 16 players but having already lost his China Open qualifier, it also means that by the end of the season his one-year ranking is likely to drop significantly.