Professional Snooker Tournaments - Seeded Players
Ever wondered how the players are seeded in major tournaments?
The general opinion is that the Top-16 in the world rankings is the holy grail for a professional snooker player.
However, the way that World Snooker 'seed' its players for each event follows a standard formula.
Number 1
defending champion in each event takes the highest seeding at the top of the draw
Number 2
the current world champion automatically becomes the highest seed behind the defending champion of each event
Number 3
the next highest in the official world rankings becomes number three seed and the remaining seeds are sorted according to the player's official world ranking. Where a player or players do not enter an event, the next highest player on the official rankings will take their respective seeding.
In 2005, Ian McCulloch ended the season in 16th place on the Official World Ranking list. Had Matthew Stevens defeated Shaun Murphy in the final of the world championship, McCulloch would have entered each event in the last-32 stage. But whilst Murphy was celebrating his victory and ensuring a minimum seeding of two in every event the next season, McCulloch was left to play an extra round in each event. He has since failed to regain his top-16 place.
