Each year my roll call article is one of the most popular pages on this site and 2011 has been no exception as speculation as to who the 96 (now 100), main tour players next season will be has intensified. Today World Snooker have very helpfully decided to post a very similar list during which they have confirmed a few very important details…
- To view the official list please click here.
The first and most obvious issue to arise from the World Snooker list is that as had been speculated during the comments section of my previous article, wildcards have been handed to James Wattana, Luca Brecel, Yu Delu and Lucky Vatnani.
The important clarification however is that these four players will not take the place of others who had already qualified for the tour but they are in addition to the usual figure of 96. I subsequently raised the question of how this will work in terms of the qualification stage of ranking events and it was confirmed to me on Twitter that:
“There will be an extra round with four matches – like the World Championship qualifiers.”
As far as the identities of the other players are concerned there are no surprises, although the Republic of Ireland nomination has yet to be confirmed by World Snooker.
On another note I also asked the guys at World Snooker via Twitter when the details of the rankings points schedule for next season will be released and was told that this would be available very shortly. As soon as this is done I will be able to put together a new provisional rankings list that I know that a few people are keen to see so do stay tuned for that one…