11.2.11

SWEATING IT OUT

The next week will decide which players will be seeded directly through to the Crucible and which will have to sweat it out at the Betfred.com World Championship qualifiers.

The new rolling ranking system is fairer than the one previously in place. It rewards success, ensuring those players who do well rise up the list immediately rather than having to wait a whole year to see any improvement.

It looks like around 14 of the top 16 places are pretty much set but there are a number of players who can sneak in under the wire through good runs at the Wyldecrest Welsh Open.

Marco Fu played himself into contention by reaching the semi-finals of the German Masters last weekend, which meant he rose from 18th to 15th but he may have to qualify for Newport to remain on track to regain his top 16 place.

Ricky Walden is seeded directly through and a first round victory would probably see him secure.

There are then five players – Stuart Bingham, Stephen Lee, Mark Davis, Andrew Higginson and Mark King – separated by around 800 points.

Bingham would need Fu to lose in Sheffield today and qualify himself and he would grab 16th place – but that’s not factoring in what the players do behind him. He would have to do better than them to squeeze in.

Further down the list, the same calculations are being made for the top 32, 48 and 64.

Players who wish to go mad studying the various machinations should check out prosnookerblog’s excellent running ranking/seedings list, which provides daily updates as to where everyone stands.

20 comments:

Sparky said...

How come Ronnie gets 700 points for his not-showing-up at the German Masters?

In comparisation, Jimmy Michie got 0 points for not-showing-up at the Welsh Qualifiers (I know he's presumably retired, but that shouldn't matter as there is no official statement).

Seems very arbitrary if you get your 700 points or not? Ronnie got lots of 0 points at the various PTC he didn't show up at this autumn, and we all remember Bahrain when Higgins, Selby et al got 0 points because of the clash.

So, again, why does Ronnie get 700 points for his withdrawal a couple of days befor his match at the German?

(Because Barry doesn't wanna risk letting him slip out of the top-16?)

Dave H said...

He had a medical certificate

Anonymous said...

medical schmedical

kildare cueman said...

The ranking list from next season will have a different complexion than usual, in that there are now so many tournaments, that consistency will determine your status.

No longer will it be possible to have a poor season, then win two matches in Sheffield, and keep your top 16 place.

Players like Murphy, Williams and Higgins, who play in everything, and invariably reach the later stages will benefit, while O'Sullivan will and Hendry will find that one good tournament only moves them up a place or two.

Another feature of the new ranking system is the small amount of points separating players on the list. The PTC's may be even more important next season.

Betty Logan said...

Also, we don't know how many points Michie has got for the Welsh qualifiers since the points haven't been awarded. But generally, if you have a doctor's note you get your points.

On the subject of Jimmy Michie is there a particular reason why he's retired halfway through the season? I can understand why Patrick Einsle quit — the PTC was completed, he wasn't going to finish in the top 64 so he may as well save his money and go home to Germany and then take a crack at the qualifying school to get back on the tour. But in Michie's case I find it strange that he didn't see it through to the end — a good run to a QF or SF isn't inconceivable.

Sparky said...

With all the new tournaments, the World Championship is getting less and less special.

A couple of seasons ago, there were only 6 ranking tournaments, so the tariffs were altered, so that the total amount of points would remain the same as the previous season. Some tournaments were raised from 5000 to 7000.

With all the new tournaments, the tariffs should go back, because with lots of 7000 p tournaments, there is not so much difference to the WC:s 10 000.

Maybe...
WC 10 000
UK 8 000
China, German, World 6 000
Shanghai, Welsh, and the new tournaments 4 000.

As for now, 5 000 is considered "little". It should be considered "normal", as the WC is "double".

Betty Logan said...

I'd personally like to see a move towards a "money list" where the rankings are concerned. Obviously you can't have a complete shift because of the invitationals and the qualifiers are disproportionately lower than what they should be, but if the ranking point allocations were alligned with the prize money at the televised stages of ranking events then the rankings would better reflect professional success. What would you rather win: the German Masters and Welsh Open or the world championship? The World Open or the China Open? Three/four PTCs or the Shanghai Masters? The ranking points should ideally reflect the relative importance of events.

Anonymous said...

Money lists are useless .

if a money list was determined this seasons Rankings Neil Robertson would be so far ahead as appose to being no 3.

World Open winner gets £100,000 and the Winner of the Welsh Open gets £30,000 a difference of £70,000.

winning 3 Welsh Opens would just about get you near What Robertson got.

it should always be Point based that way it can be distributed in a fair way.

Anonymous said...

Is Ray Reardon playing at the Welsh open ?

I miss the Welsh vampire.

Betty Logan said...

winning 3 Welsh Opens would just about get you near What Robertson got.

Eh, what sort of logic is that, anon? If the World Open wins you three times as much as the Welsh Open then obviously it's better to win the World Open! That's the whole point, and the rankings should reflect that.

Matt said...

Thanks for the mention Dave.

Regarding some of the points raised, as has been said, O'Sullivan will get his 700 points because he has produced a valid medical certificate.

With Michie and Davies I have put 0 in there as I don't know of any medical reason and normally players missing an event are given 0 before the medical certificates come through later and the points are added on.

Regarding Patrick Einsle, I believe he resigned his place for health reasons, though I have no idea what they were.

On the rankings tariffs, I agree that the Worlds should be raised. That said I wouldn't say that it has become less special...less valuable to the rankings maybe but the prestige of actually winning the tournament remains.

Anonymous said...

OMG how ?

Less Frames to win

you cant Rate Same types of Tournament based on how much money the Sponsors can Fork Out.

if the China Open Sponsor could afford more than the UK Sponsor would that be Right in the scheme of Rankings and Prestige of a Event.

Dexter said...

I hope that a character like Nigel Bond qualifies to the later stages.

Not enough cheery, jovial and down-right 'top geezers' in the game today.

Anonymous said...

youre obviously a barrel of laughs Dexter. on a blog at 11.03pm on a friday night having a dig at someone who doesnt show how much of a clown he is when trying his best "at work".

you obviously should have went to the circus tonight to try to find someone like ron performing.

southerner said...

Why isn't the Welsh Open being shown on the BBC website?

Anonymous said...

What a horrible list of qualifiers for the welsh. Apart from White and Lisowski we have a snorefest consisting of Bond, Fu, Burnett, Perry, Mcleod, Lawlor and Harold.
You couldnt dream up a worse line up

Anonymous said...

i enjoy watching 5 of the 7 snorers you dislike 11.45

go watch the circus if you want peanut performing monkeys

Anonymous said...

Jimmy hasn't officially Qualified yet..

he plays a qualifier at newport.

Anonymous said...

hi Dave,could you settle an argument if possible.How many people in china watched the masters final between ding and fu?Thanks in advance for your help

Dave H said...

I haven't seen the figures