Rankings Change Gets Player Support
Former World Champion Mark Williams believes that a new ranking system being brought in this season by World Snooker will be fairer for the players and more exciting for fans.
The new system will see the rankings updated at three 'cut-off points' during the season. It will be a two-year rolling list, so ranking points earned at the corresponding tournaments in the 2008/09 season will be taken off at each stage.
Unlike previous years, players currently in the official top 16 at the end of the 2009/10 season are not guaranteed to be in the Masters in January or at the Crucible in April.
Instead, they will have to perform throughout the season to maintain their ranking. The old system updated rankings only once at the end of the season following the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship.
"The system needed a shake-up," said Williams, Crucible King in 2000 and 2003. "The way it was before, a top 16 player could lose every match, and still be there at the end of the season. The players who are getting to the later stages of tournaments should have a chance of getting into the top 16 during the season.
"The way it will work now is very cut-throat," added the Welshman, who is currently ranked eighth in the world.
"If you have a bad run you could drop like a stone. But it opens it up for players lower down the rankings to climb up quickly which has got to make things more interesting for everyone. We couldn't have done it this way in the past because there weren't enough tournaments. But now we have the 12 extra Players Tour Championship events which have ranking points - and those are a great idea."
Fresh from his win at the new South West Snooker Academy, World No 24 Michael Holt agreed with Williams' assessment, saying, "It makes the rankings more up to date and more about current form.
"It's still a two-year list, so you've still got protection from points you've earned in previous seasons. But if you have a purple patch you can end up being in the Masters or not having to qualify for the Crucible, and that's the way it should be, as those events should have the best players. A few years ago Ding Junhui won the UK Championship but then he lost in World qualifying so he wasn't at Sheffield, which wasn't right."
One of snooker's brightest prospects, Judd Trump added: "It's good because there will be more pressure for the players and more movement up and down the rankings. It's taken me quite a few years to climb up, but now players breaking through will be able to do it more quickly."
